Technical Articles

MHC-Ib molecules belong to non classical MHC class I proteins, including subtypes such as HLA-E, HLA-G, MR1, etc. Compared with highly polymorphic classical MHC-Ia (such as HLA-A, B, C), their polymorphism is lower and their expression patterns are more specific.

MHC class I molecules present endogenous antigen-derived peptides. They display short peptides (8 - 11 amino acids long) from the cytoplasm, like viral or tumor - related ones, to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs).