title: Analyzing HLA-G polymorphisms in children from women with scleroderma.
abstract: Embryos during pregnancy and organs during transplantation, express high levels of soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) molecules for successful implantation and protection against maternal immune cells or recipient's cells. We and others have shown that women with scleroderma (SSc) carry cells/DNA arising from pregnancy, so-called fetal microchimerism (Mc) more often and in higher quantities than healthy women decades after delivery. We hypothesized that high levels of fetal Mc were the consequence of a fetus with a high sHLA-G profile, therefore that children from women with SSc would have this profile more often than children from healthy women. High sHLA-G secretor profile is influenced by at least two variations in the HLA-G 3' untranslated region (UTR): a 14 bp deletion in exon 8 and the presence of cysteine (C) in position +3142 and by one variation in the 5' Upstream Regulatory Region (URR) at position -725. By a previously developed three-step multiplex PCR SNaPshot method, we evaluated 16 HLA-G polymorphisms in DNA samples from the first-born children of 39 women with SSc and 32 healthy women. Contrary to expectations, children from women with SSc did not have a high sHLA-G profile, but rather the opposite. We discuss possible reasons for this result and future orientations for HLA-G studies in SSc.
authors.affiliation: INSERM UMR 7268, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Picard
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Di Cristofaro
authors.forename: Doua F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Azzouz
authors.forename: Sami B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kanaan
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roudier
authors.forename: Nathalie C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Lambert
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D046528:Chimerism; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D005838:Genotype; D059951:HLA-G Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011247:Pregnancy; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D059951:HLA-G Antigens