Human Leukocyte Antigen and Disease Associations: A Broader Perspective

HLA molecules play a significant role in immunity and disease susceptibility. GWAS studies underline the critical role of the MHC region in a wide range of diseases and remind us that the HLA genes, included within the MHG, interact extensively with other genomic regions which influence their functions. Recently, MHC/HLA genomic sequences encoding for miRNAs have been reported to interact with targets within and outside the MHC, influencing the expression of many transcripts. High throughput sequencing technologies provide unique opportunities for complete HLA/MHC sequence characterization, helping to elucidate their interactive relationships in a plethora of physiological and disease processes.