Genes and phenotypes of the human Y chromosome

In Vivo Persistence of Donor Cells following Adoptive Transfer of Allogeneic Dendritic Cells in HIV-Infected Patients

Peripheral blood samples from HIV-seropositive individuals enrolled in a pilot clinical trial investigating the use of allogeneic dendritic cell therapy were evaluated for mixed chimerism. In this study, dendritic cells from HLA-identical, HIV-seronegative siblings were used. Patients received an infusion of dendritic cells pulsed with HIV MN gp160 protein or with peptides from HLA-A2 restricted epitopes of env, gag, and pol proteins every month for 6–9 months. Of the five allogeneic dendritic cell recipients, two showed increases in HIV antigen-specific immune responses. Allele-specific polymorphisms were identified in three sib-pairs that allowed infused donor cells to be detected using sensitive PCR-based molecular methods. Analysis of blood samples from patients showed similar patterns of donor cell persistence after the first infusion, in that cells were detectable for at least 1 week. Also, differences were observed in the kinetics of cell survival between the first and subsequent infusion cycles in all three patients. This suggests variation in HIV-specific immune responses detected among these three patients was not due to differences in persistence of infused donor cells.

The evolution of genomic anatomy

Just as Darwin applied his theory of natural selection to understand the details of natural history, so others have applied the idea to almost every aspect of biology from morphology to medicine. Can we similarly comprehend the rapidly accumulating details of the natural history of genomes or is selection not that strong a force? Recent case histories indicate that selection can affect everything from minuscule details, such as codon usage, to broader scale patterns, such as the linkage arrangement of genes, their chromosomal position and copy number. Although we should not assume that the structure of genomes is exclusively the result of history and chance, few generalities are presently possible because evidence is largely restricted to case-by-case analyses.