The number of MHC protein combinations possible in a given population is enormous. However, an individual in that population has only a couple of MHC possibilities. Why?
A)The MHC proteins are made from several different gene regions that are capable of rearranging in a number of ways.
B)MHC proteins from one individual can only be of class I or class II.
C)Each of the MHC genes has a large number of alleles, but each individual only inherits 2 for each gene.
D)Once a B cell has matured in the bone marrow, it is limited to two MHC response categories.
E)Once a T cell has matured in the thymus, it can only respond to two MHC categories.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

MHC genes are highly polymorphic, meaning that they have many different alleles. Each individual inherits two alleles for each MHC gene, one from each parent. Therefore, even though there are many possible MHC combinations in a population, an individual can only have a limited number of possibilities based on their inherited alleles.

The Number of MHC Protein Combinations Possible in a Given