E. Phillips

Keystone Epitope Theory: Implications for Hypersensitivity, Autoimmunity, and Transplantation

HLA class I alleles confer a striking risk for T cell–mediated drug hypersensitivity, yet positive predictive values are low—typically under 10% and as low as 0.12% for some drug–HLA pairs. We propose that persistent, human-adapted pathogens—notably herpesviruses—focus postnatal immune memory on conserved epitopes in t...