H antigen

"H substance" redirects here. The term also historically referred to histamine.

H antigen can refer to one of the various types of antigens having diverse biological functions:

• Also known as substance H, H antigen is a precursor to each of the ABO blood group antigens, apparently present in all people except those with the Bombay Blood phenotype^[1] (see hh blood group). The gene responsible for making H antigen is FUT1, located on the 19th chromosome in humans.
• Histocompatibility antigen, a major factor in graft rejection. Even when Major Histocompatibility Complex genotype is perfectly matched, can cause slow rejection of a graft.^[2]
  • major H antigens "encode molecules that present foreign peptides to T cells"^[2]
  • minor H antigens "present polymorphic self peptides to T cells".^[2] Includes, e.g. the H-Y antigen
• a bacterial flagellar antigen^[3]