HEAT Repeat Containing Protein 1 (HEATR1)

The HEATR1 mHAg fits many of the criteria for an ideal mHAg—it is expressed by the leukemia stem cells, and there is a calculated donor-recipient disparity of the gene of about 20% for HLA-B8 persons or 3% to 5% for the entire transplantation population. The HEATR1-specific T-cell clone does not lyse patient fibroblasts, and gene expression analysis by quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the very low expression levels of this mHAg in nonhematopoietic cells.

Perhaps the HEATR1 gene may harbor more useful polymorphisms. Meanwhile, many more mHAgs remain to be discovered before mHAg-based treatments can be applied to every donor-recipient pair.