title: HLA-G in the nervous system.
abstract: This review summarizes the current knowledge on the significance of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) in the nervous system under physiologic and pathologic conditions. The central nervous system (CNS) has classically been viewed as an immune-privileged organ. Immune reactions triggered by, or directed against, CNS structures proceed along specific pathways. The expression and the functioning of the immune-tolerogenic major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule HLA-G have revealed novel insights into the endogenous immune-regulatory mechanisms exerted by resident cells within the nervous system, as well as how migrating immune cells contribute to this under pathologic conditions. HLA-G has been evidenced in certain neurologic disorders, including those of autoimmune, infectious, and neoplastic origin. This review compiles the current state of knowledge: how HLA-G is considered to be operative at different levels of the respective pathogenetic cascades of neurologic disorders. These findings are relevant both from a pathogenetic as well as from a therapeutic viewpoint.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. heinz.wiendl@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wiendl
mesh_terms: D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000276:immunology*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000502:physiology*; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I