title: Human leukocyte antigen E in human cytomegalovirus infection: friend or foe?
abstract: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a well-studied β-herpesvirus virus, which adopts a variety of strategies to evade immune surveillance. It has been reported that in HCMV-infected cells, classical major histocompatibility (MHC) class I molecules are down-regulated, but the MHC class Ib molecule human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-E is normally expressed or even overexpressed on the cell surface. HLA-E has been first described to interact with CD94/NKG2 receptors expressed mainly on the surface of natural killer (NK) cells, thus confining its role to the regulation of NK-cell function. The engagement of CD94/NKG2A with HLA-E, with a signal peptide of the HCMV glycoprotein UL40, usually induces inhibitory signals. However, HLA-E also serves as a ligand for the TCR expressed by αβCD8(+) T cells. Recognition of peptides presented by HLA-E may result in CD8(+) effector T-cell activation. These findings will help to understand more on both pathogenic and protective roles of HLA-E in HCMV infection. In this review, we discussed recent studies about the roles of HLA-E in HCMV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory medicine, The Third Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Shengli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Guozhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Dongqing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018448:Models, Immunological; D051920:NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily D / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D000097625:HLA-E Antigens
chemical_list: D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D051920:NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily D; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D014764:Viral Proteins; D000097625:HLA-E Antigens; C497869:KLRD1 protein, human; C404228:UL40 glycoprotein, Cytomegalovirus