D. Bernard Amos: 1923–2003

He knew that we would leave the island that remains behind the fog. left us a wish to see bright days with autumns with music and hope. Left us to imagine new sails of oceans with memories of time that never changes; his time imprinted in our souls and in flowers of our gardens, or the flight of an unknown bird! He was an inspiration for all, said one of his grandchildren (Josh Amos) at the memorial service at Duke chapel, June 12, 2003. Bernard Amos' memory is imprinted not only in our minds but also in generations to come because he was one of the outstanding scientists of the last century. He was one of the selected pioneers of modern immunology, particularly cellular immunology, cancer immunology and immunogenetics. Of course, Bernard is one of the central figures for the success of allo-transplantation, especially in the development of the methods to match major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens. It has been 50 years since Bernard was in the laboratory of Peter A. Issac Gorer at Guy's Hospital in London, UK, and reported his method of agglutinations of white blood cells against what is known today as MHC antigens (1Amos DB The agglutination of mouse leukocytes by iso-immune sera.Br J Exp Path. 1953; 3: 464-470Google Scholar). His mentor had discovered the genetics of individuality in 1934, including the discovery of the genetics of tissue antigens that are involved in the rejection of allografts. Subsequently, they demonstrated that skin allografts elicit antibodies to murine MHC antigens (2Amos DB Gorer PA Mikulska BM Billingham RE Sparrom EM An antibody response to skin homographts in mice.Br J Exp Path. 1954; 35: 203-208PubMed Google Scholar), the use of immunization against tissues of different strains of mice, and the analysis of serologic activity against tissues by cross-absorption with tissues. These studies defined what is today called the H-2D, H2-K, and H-2D haplotypes, and the first demonstration of the existence of more than one locus in the MHC region (3Amos DB Gorer PA Mikulska ZB An analyses of an antigenic system in the mouse (The H-2 system).Proc Royal Society B. 1955; 144: 369-380Crossref PubMed Google Scholar). Also, Bernard documented the earliest demonstration of tumor immunity using antibodies (4Amos DB Wakefield JD Growth of mouse ascites tumor cells in diffusion chambers II: Lysis and growth inhibition by diffusible iso-antibodies. 1959; 144: 369-380Google Scholar). Bernard moved to Buffalo, NY, USA, in 1955, and then in 1962 to Duke University where he remained for more than 40 years. Among his many contributions, he demonstrated the use of lymphocytes for typing from the MHC antigens to match donors and recipients for organ transplantation. As a matter of fact, the first kidney transplant between a recipient and a living-related donor, who was selected on the basis of MHC matching, was performed at Duke University Medical Center in 1965 and resulted from his research (5Stickel DL Amos DB Robinson RR Glenn JF Zmijewski CM Metzgar RS Hayes CP Renal Transplantation with donor recipient tissue-matching: Preliminary report of first case in North Carolina.N.C. Med J. 1965; 26: 379-383Google Scholar). It is public record that Bernard organized the First International Histocompatibility Workshop in Durham, NC, which in an unprecedented manner stimulated international collaboration and led to competitive studies that defined the MHC (HLA) complex (6Histocompatibility Testing. Duke University. National Acad. Sci. Pub#1229. Washington D.C . 1964.Google Scholar). There have been 13 of these workshops, the last one of which was held in Vancouver, Canada, under the chairmanship of John Hansen. In this regard the genetic diversity detected in different ethnic populations has been a topic of these workshops and was influenced by many of his pioneer efforts. Along with other pioneers, Bernard defined the role of public and private epitopes in the MHC antigens as well the concept of shared epitopes to explain cross-reactivity. He was also a pioneer in the field of cellular immunology as demonstrated by his contributions in the genetics of allo-reactivity. The in vitro test for alloreactivity produced by genes within the MHC, using the mixed leukocyte reaction, was used to match transplantation antigens together with serology (7Bach F Amos DB Phenotyphic expressions of the major histocompatibility locus in man (HLA): Leukocyte antigens and mixed leukocyte culture reactivity.J Exp Med. 1968; 128: 623-639Crossref Scopus (173) Google Scholar). He was involved in the studies of families that demonstrated recombinations, within the MHC region; such findings demonstrated the gene order HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DR within the MHC region, separating what is known today as class I from class II genes (8Yunis EJ Amos DB Three closely linked genetic systems relevant to transplantation.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1971; 68: 3031-3035Crossref PubMed Scopus (256) Google Scholar). Bernard organized with David Hume the first regional organ-sharing program in the United States, later known as the South-East Organ Procurement Foundation (SEOPF). This organization continues and is connected to UNOS, which is the national center for organ allocation in the USA. He was skillful in bringing together leaders and making things happen. He was the main force to organize the Transplantation Society in 1967 and was its first Past President. He also organized the first WHO Nomenclature Committee, which has kept the naming of HLA specificities since 1967. Through his contact with the NIH, he was able to facilitate financial support for several laboratories involved in transplantation research, not only in the US but also in Europe. His laboratory pioneered studies of the role of cellular immunology, not only in transplantation, but also in cancer. In this regard, his laboratory's findings pioneered modern cellular immunology, especially the characterization of cytotoxic lymphocytes (9Berke G Sullivan WA Amos DB Rejection of ascites tumor allografts I. Isolation, characterization and in vitro reactivity of peritoneal lymphoid effector cells from BALB/c mice immune to EL4 leukosis.J Exp Med. 1922; 135: 1334-1350Crossref Scopus (119) Google Scholar). He was also one of the first to recognize the value of studying different ethnic populations in order to understand polymorphism in evolution of the MHC. Such interest gave him the opportunity to teach in Asia and South America. His contributions were many and he took pride in teaching, and said that for him it was more important than the many awards he received including his election to the National Academy of Sciences. Bernard took pride in being the first editor of Human Immunology and was active during the meetings of the American Association of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Bernard was proud to have been honored by many of his students that are presently in research and teaching, as was apparent by the participation of many from different US cities and from abroad during the celebration of his 80th birthday at Duke's 1 month before his death.

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