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 (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.
  • major H antigens (major histocompatibility antigen) "encode molecules that present foreign peptides to T cells"
  • minor H antigens are polymorphic alloantigens presented on foreign major histocompatibility complex molecules. Includes, e.g. the H-Y antigen. Even when major histocompatibility complex genotype is perfectly matched, can cause slow rejection of a graft.
• a bacterial flagellar antigen