title: Non-classical transcriptional regulation of HLA-G: an update.
abstract: Human leucocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) plays a key role in maternal-foetal tolerance and allotransplantation acceptance and is also implicated in tumour escape from the immune system. The modulation of HLA-G expression can prove to be very important to therapeutic goals in some pregnancy complications, transplantation, cancer and possibly autoimmune diseases. In spite of substantial similarities with classical HLA-class I genes, HLA-G is characterized by a restricted tissue-specific expression in non-pathological situations. HLA-G expression is mainly controlled at the transcriptional level by a unique gene promoter when compared with classical HLA-class I genes, and at the post-transcriptional level including alternative splicing, mRNA stability, translation and protein transport to the cell surface. We focus on the characteristics of the HLA-G gene promoter and the factors which are involved in HLA-G transcriptional modulation. They take part in epigenetic mechanisms that control key functions of the HLA-G gene in the regulation of immune tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Direction des Sciences du Vivant, I2BM, Service de Recherches en Hémato-Immunologie, Institut Universitaire d'Hématologie, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France. philippe.moreau@cea.fr
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flajollet
authors.forename: Edgardo D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Carosella
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D059951:HLA-G Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D020218:Response Elements; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; D011374:Progesterone; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D018631:ras Proteins