title: Tumor-specific upregulation of human leukocyte antigen-G expression in bladder transitional cell carcinoma.
abstract: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is a potent immunosuppressive molecule that induces functional silencing of both innate and adaptive immune responses. The relevance of the aberrant HLA-G expression in malignant contexts has been intensively investigated. However, its expression status and clinical significance in bladder cancer remain to be elucidated. In the current study, HLA-G expression in 75 primary bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) lesions was analyzed with immunohistochemistry, and relationship between HLA-G expression and clinical parameters, including disease stage was evaluated. Plasma soluble HLA-G levels were analyzed in 15 TCC patients and 109 normal controls. Data revealed that HLA-G was expressed in 68.0% (51/75) primary TCC lesions, whereas it was undetectable in adjacent normal bladder tissues. The proportion of HLA-G expression in TCC samples varied from negative to 100%, and no significant association was observed for the HLA-G expression status with the patient age, gender, and disease stage. Furthermore, no significance for sHLA-G levels was observed between the TCC patients and normal controls (median 10.75 vs 8.69 U/ml, p = 0.578). Given its immunotolerant properties, our finding suggested that lesion HLA-G expression upregulated in bladder TCC lesions might be an additional mechanism for tumor cells evading from host immunosurveillance; however, its clinical relevance needs further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Center, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Wenzhou Medical College, Linhai, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Ling-Hong
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: Li-Fu
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Aifen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Dan-Ping
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tian-Ji
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wei-Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000276:immunology*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I