Antigen processing (TAP, HLA-DM and LMP) genes map within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II region between the HLA-DQB1 and -DPB1 loci, and are involved in the processing of peptides bound to HLA class I or class II molecules. In order to determine the allele frequencies of antigen processing genes and the various linkage disequilibria existing among these genes, we have analyzed TAP1, TAP2, HLA-DMA, and HLA-DMB, LMP2, LMP7 polymorphisms in 184 unrelated healthy Koreans using the rnethod of PCR-SSCP, ARMS-PCR and PCR-RFLP. The frequencies of antigen processing genes were TAP1A (77.7%), TAP1*B (17.1%), TAP1*C (5.2%), TAP2*A (41.6%), TAP2*B (31.3%), TAP2*C (3.3%), TAP2*D (0.8%), TAP2*E (6.5%), TAP2*G (0.8%), HLA-DMA*0101 (81.5%), HLA-DMA*0102 (18.2%), HLA-DMA*0103 (0.3%), HLA-DMB*0101 (42.9%), HLA-DMB*0102 (19.0%), HLA-DMB*0103 (38.0%), LMP2*R (78.8%), LMP2*H (21.2%), LMP7*A (35.3%), LMP7*B (56.0%), LMP7*C (4.9%), and LMP7*D (3.8%). We also analysed two- locus association among each locus. Many significant positive associations were observed between these two loci, such as between HLA-DMB and TAP1, between HLA-DMA and HLA-DMB, between LMP2 and LMP7, and between TAP1 and LMP7. Conversely, any significant linkage disequilibrium was not detected between HLA-DMB and LMP2. These results could be used as control data for disease association and population genetics studies in Korean population.
Antigen Presentation* ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Major Histocompatibility Complex ; Peptides

HLA-A2 is present at high frequency in most populations, as identified by serological and biochemical means. The values of these methods are limited by their failures to discriminate the products of the known allelic HLA-A02 variants. The great majority of genetic polymorphism which defines the allelic variants is found in exons 2 and 3 of the HLA-A02 gene. These exons encode the a-1 and a-2 domains of the HLA class I molecules, and the variation within the genes may influence the peptide binding specificity of the gene products of each allele. To determine the 17 known alleles of HLA-A02 an ARMS-PCR was developed. We applied this ARMS-PCR to 10 standard cell lines and we confirmed the specificity and sensitivity of this method. We defined the HLA-A 02 subtypes in 146 healthy Koreans who were serologically identified as HLA-A2. Five subtypes out of the 17 known A02 alleles were detected (A'0201, 0203, 0206, 0207, '0210) and A'0201 was most frequent (53.4%) and A'0206, '0207, '0203, 0210 (37.0%, 18.5%, 2.7%, 2.1%), were followed respectively. By linkage disequilibrium analysis with HLA-B alleles, A*02 subtypes were defined to be associated with many B alleles (B27, 35, 38, 39, 46, 52, 60, and 61). It is suggested that these findings may be helpful for the selection of patients for the specific immunotherapy with HLA-A02 restricted peptide vaccines and for the unrelated bone marrow transplantation in Korean.
Alleles ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Cell Line ; Exons ; HLA-A Antigens ; HLA-A2 Antigen ; HLA-B Antigens ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Vaccines, Subunit

The thirteen DRB1, 6 DQA1, and 5 DQB1 alleles were defined in 362 healthy Korean controls using reverse dot blot hybridization method. The twenty-four immobilized SSOs for DRB1, 8 for DQA1, and 6 for DQB1 were used for this study. The frequencies of genotypes were DRB104 (17.1'Yo), '09 (13.1%), and '13 (11.6%); DQA1'01 (46.7%), 03 (30.8%), and '05 (11.7%); DQB1*03 (39.5%), '06 '(29.8%), and 05 (16.0%). ...continue...
Alleles* ; Genotype ; Haplotypes* ; HLA-DRB1 Chains

BACKGROUND: Identification of antigen-specific T cells has yielded valuable information on pathologic process and the disease state. Assays for quantification of inflammatory cytokines or lytic-granule molecules have been generally used to evaluate antigen specific T cell response, however their applicability have been hampered due to the limited source of autologous antigen-presenting target cells (APC). METHODS: K562, a leukemic cell line deficient of human leukocyte antigen (HLA), was transfected with a gene encoding HLA-A*02 (K562/A*02) and its function as stimulator cells in inducing activation of HLA-matched T cells was evaluated by IFN-gamma enzyme linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay. RESULTS: The stable transfectant K562/A*02 pulsed with HLA- A*02 restricted peptide could specifically induce IFN-gamma secretion by CD8+ T cells compared to no detectable secretion by CD4+ T cells. However, CD56+ NK cells secreted IFN-gamma in both K562/A*02 with peptide and without peptide. The number of IFN-gamma secreted CD8+ T cells was increased according to the ratio of T cells to K562 and peptide concentration. Formalin-fixed K562/A*02 showed similar antigen presenting function to live K562/A*02. Moreover, K562/A*02 could present antigenic- peptide to not only A*0201 restricted CD8+ T cells but also CD8+ T cells from A*0206 donor. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that K562/A*02 could be generally used as target having specificity and negligible background for measuring CD8+ T cell responses and selective use of K562 with responsder matched HLA molecules on its surface as APC may circumvent the limitation of providing HLA-matched autologous target cells.
Cell Line ; Cytokines ; Genes, vif ; Humans ; K562 Cells* ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Leukocytes ; Peptides ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; T-Lymphocytes ; Tissue Donors

BACKGROUND: Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs is almost exclusively due to spontaneous chromosomal mutations in target genes. Rapid detection of drug resistance to both first- and second-line anti-TB drugs has become a key component of TB control programs. Technologies that allow rapid, cost-effective, and high-throughput detection of specific nucleic acid sequences are needed. This study was to develop a high-throughput assay based on allele-specific primer extension (ASPE) and MagPlex-TAG microspheres to detect anti-TB drug resistance mutations. METHODS: DNA samples from 357 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates and H37Rv were amplified by multiplex PCR using four primer sets, followed by multiplex ASPE using 23 TAG-ASPE primers. The products were sorted on the TAG-ASPE array and detected by using the Luminex xMAP system. Genotypes were also determined by sequencing. RESULTS: Genetic drug susceptibility typing by the TAG-ASPE method was 100% concordant with those obtained by sequencing. Compared with phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) as a reference method, the sensitivity and specificity of the TAG-ASPE method were 83% (95% confidence interval [CI], 79-88%) and 97% (95% CI, 90-100%) for isoniazid. For rifampin testing, the sensitivity and specificity were 90% (95% CI, 86-93%) and 100% (95% CI, 99-100%). Also, the sensitivity and specificity were 58% (95% CI, 51-65%) and 86% (95% CI, 79-93%) for ethambutol. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the TAG-ASPE method is suitable for highly reproducible, cost-effective, and high-throughput clinical genotyping applications.
DNA ; Drug Resistance* ; Ethambutol ; Genotype ; Isoniazid ; Microspheres ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Rifampin ; Tuberculosis ; Viperidae

No abstract available.
Alleles* ; Humans

Carcinoid tumors arise from enterochromaffin cells that are located predominatly in the gastrointestinal mucosa. The vast majority of rectal carcinoid tumors are benign and can be safely treated by local excision. Lesions larger than 2 cm and invading the museular wall of the rectum should be considered malignancy and treated by more radical surgery such as abominoperined resection. We report 6 cases of rectal carcinoid tumor, three cases of them were less than 1 cm in size without metastasis. Two of these, small carcinoid tumor were treated with endoacopic polypectomy and one was treated with segmental resection. The others were 2.0 cm or larger in size with regional or liver mestasis. They were treated with segmental resection or electrical fugalization for tumor and transcatheter arterial embilization for liver metastasis or none.
Carcinoid Tumor* ; Enterochromaffin Cells ; Liver ; Mucous Membrane ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Rectum

The PHIS(Public Health Information System) has been developed, and installed in public health centers nationwide since 1994. Ironically, however, even though infrastructures have been modernized, there is scant published material that has investigated the determinants of success of the PHIS. Therefore, these were evaluated in relation to the concern of user satisfaction, which was composed of overall satisfaction, usability, convenience and satisfaction for the supportive system. These satisfaction factors were also compared according to general user characteristics. The questionnaire response rate was 81.5%. The overall satisfaction and total Likert's scores, 3.078 +/- 0.634 and 3.005 +/- 0.563, respectively, showed that the end-users were relatively satisfied with the PHIS. Also, the overall satisfaction correlated most strongly with the convenience attribute. However, dissatisfaction strongly correlated with the supportive system, i.e. education and training facilities. This article describes our progress, and reports on the lessons learned, which will guide future work in this field.
Education ; Factor Analysis, Statistical* ; Information Systems* ; Iron ; Public Health* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The design of this study was to determine the most influential factor(s) on post-transplant immunological consequences, particularly with regard to the role of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and their ligands (type I human leukocyte antigen (HLA)) in unstable liver function. METHODS: Retrospectively collected data from 319 recipients undergoing adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using a right lobe graft between January 2002 and August 2008 were analyzed. Patients were categorized according to the serum alanine transaminase (ALT) pattern; stable ALT pattern was defined as ALT pattern during 3 months post-transplantation, except for initial 2 weeks post-transplantation, in which 2 times or less additional elevation(s) of serum alanine transaminase (ALT) (> or =80 IU/L) were observed. When a serum ALT pattern showed fluctuating and/or unpredictable nature, it was defined as an unstable pattern. In addition, genetic information of KIRs and HLA-C allotypes received from 68 recipients and 59 donors was analyzed by way of polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) to determine the factor(s) influencing a serum ALT pattern. RESULTS: Among 319 LDLT recipients included in this study, the actual incidences of AR and unstable ALT pattern were 13.4% (43/319) and 42.3% (135/319), respectively. Unstable ALT pattern correlated with poorer survival following LDLT than stable pattern (P<0.000). Genetically, unstable ALT pattern was related to recipients carrying KIR2DL2(+)/KIR2DS2(+) combined with the heterogeneous HLA-C allotype (HLA-C1/C2), (relative risks 45.0, 95% confidence interval 2.160~937.321; P=0.013). CONCLUSION: This study indicates that, when performing LDLT, pretransplant determination of recipient's KIRs and HLA-C allotypes may be beneficial in coping with post-transplant immunological circumstances.
Adult ; Alanine Transaminase ; Genotype ; HLA-C Antigens ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukocytes ; Lifting ; Ligands ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Living Donors ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, KIR ; Retrospective Studies ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This research investigated the association between HLA (human leukocyte antigen) class II alleles and the susceptibility to sudden sensorineural hearing loss, and between HLA class Il alleles and the results of treatment with steroid in the Korean population. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We carried out HLA-DRR1, -DQA1, -DQR1 and -DPRl genotyping in 41 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and in 206 healthy controls. We examined the initial hearing levels at the onset of hearing loss and the final hearing levels after the treatment, and then evaluated for the association with HLA class II alleles. HLA-DRB1, DQA1, BQB1 and DPB1 genotypings were performed by employing the sequence specific oligonucleotide probes (SSOP) method. RESULTS: The frequencies of HLA-DRB1, DQA1, DQB1, and DP31 alleles were not significantly different between the patients and controls. When the association between the results of treatment and HLA alleles was increased, the frequencies of HLA-DRB1X14 (RR= 3.5, p<0.02), -DQA1X03 (RR=4.2, p<0.02) and -DQA1X05 (RR=3.1, p(0.03) significantly increased, but the frequencies of HIA-DQA1X01 (RR=0.2, p<0.004) and -DQB1X06 (RR =0.2, p<0.009) significantly decreased in patients who did not respond to the steroid treatment, compared with the controls. The frequencies of HLA-DQA1X01 (p<0.04) and -DQB1X06 (p<0.02) significantly increased while the frequency of HLA- DQA1X03 (p<0.003) significantly decreased in patients who responded well to steroid, compared with patients who did not. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the presence of HLA-DRB1X14, DQA1X03 and DQA1X05 might be an useful marker that implys poor prognoses whereas the presence of HLA-DQA101 and DQB1X06 might be a marker implying good prognoses in Korean patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
Alleles* ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural* ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Oligonucleotide Probes ; Prognosis