HLA-G Complexes Are Observed on the Cell Surface

Tsufit Gonen-Gross, Ofer Mandelboim*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

In the context of pregnancy, several immunomodulating mechanisms have developed to regulate the maternal immune response to its semiallogeneic fetus. The nonclassical major histocompatibility complex class I human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) was suggested to be involved in these mechanisms due to its unique features and its immunosuppressive abilities. We have previously described the presence of HLA-G complexes at the cell surface, which confer an efficient natural killer inhibition through the leukocyte Ig-like receptor-1 (LIR-1). We further demonstrated the presence of HLA-G free heavy chain (FHC) complexes, which are not recognized and possibly interfere with LIR-1 and HLA-G interaction. Here we expand our understanding of the nature of the complexes by demonstrating that these complexes are observed mainly on the cell surface and not inside the cell. We further determine that the HLA-G stability at the cell surface is not a direct result of the presence of the HLA-G complexes. Finally, we suggest that the FHC complexes are probably assembled from the conformed complexes present on the cell surface.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)227-232
Number of pages6
JournalHuman Immunology
Volume68
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2007

Keywords

  • HLA-G
  • LIR-1
  • NK

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'HLA-G Complexes Are Observed on the Cell Surface'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this