HLA-DQ Antigen

**Semantic type:** Amino Acid, Peptide, or Protein|Immunologic Factor

**Definition:** HLA-DQ antigen is a class of glycoproteins that consist of dimers of alpha and beta subunits, which are encoded by the polymorphic human genes HLA-DQA1 and HLA-DQB1, respectively. This protein complex is expressed primarily in lymphoid cells and function to present antigens for CD4+ T lymphocytes. Certain HLA-DQ protein variants are associated with susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and several autoimmune diseases.