Promoter methylation and mRNA expression of HLA-G in relation to HLA-G protein expression in colorectal cancer

作者：Swets Marloes; Seneby Lina; Boot Arnoud; van Wezel Tom; Gelderblom Hans; van de Velde Cornelis J H; van den Elsen Peter J; Kuppen Peter J K^*

来源：Human Immunology, 2016, 77(9): 764-772.

DOI：10.1016/j.humimm.2016.05.023

• Colorectal cancer
• HLA-G
• DNA methylation
• Cancer cell lines

Expression of human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is a suggested mechanism used by tumor cells to escape from host immune recognition and destruction. Advances in the field have made it evident that HLA-G is expressed in different types of malignancies including colorectal cancer (CRC). We analyzed HLA-G expression in 21 low passage CRC cell lines. The level of DNA methylation of the HLA-G gene and the presence of mRNA encoding HLA-G was measured. Moreover, HLA-G protein expression was determined by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (IHC). IHC was performed with three different monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) (4H84, MEM-G/1 and MEM-G/2). In addition, HLA-G protein expression was measured in matching primary tumor tissues.
RNA analysis using RT-PCR followed by sequencing in 6 samples indicated strong homology of the PCR product with HLA-G3 in 5 samples. In accordance, in none of the cell lines, HLA-G1 expression was detected by flow-cytometry. Furthermore, no association between HLA-G DNA methylation patterns and HLA-G mRNA expression was observed. In addition, different immunohistochemical staining profiles among various anti-HLA-G mAbs were observed. In conclusion, the results of this study show that the HLA-G3 isoform was expressed in some of the CRC cell lines irrespective of the level of DNA methylation of HLA-G.

• 出版日期2016-9