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MHC class II expression in pancreatic tumors: a link to intratumoral inflammation

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Abstract

Major histocompatibility complex class II antigens (MHC class II) are constitutively expressed by professional antigen presenting cells and present antigenic peptides to specific CD4+ T lymphocytes. MHC class II expression, however, can also be induced on epithelial cells and in a variety of solid tumors. We tested MHC class II expression on tissue samples derived from patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and pancreatic endocrine tumors (PET). Immunohistochemistry revealed MHC class II expression in 86 of 112 (76.8%) PDAC samples and in 30 of 43 (70.0%) PET samples. In PDAC and PET, MHC class II expression correlated significantly with severity and activity of intratumoral inflammation, as well as with the infiltration of CD4+ T lymphocytes. High MHC class II expression significantly correlated with a better histological grade of differentiation in PDAC. In vitro MHC class II expression could be induced on PDAC tumor cell lines by interferon-γ. These cells were then able to present the staphylococci enterotoxin B superantigen to T lymphocytes, which resulted in T cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that MHC class II expression on pancreatic tumor cells is induced by the intratumoral inflammatory reaction in pancreatic tumors.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Dr. Ulrich Abel, Department of Medical Biometry, University of Heidelberg for the professional evaluation of the biostatistics. We thank Mrs. Birgit Prior, Institute for Immunology, University of Heidelberg and Mrs. Sarah Messnard, Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg for their excellent technical support.

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None of the authors declare a conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 220, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Matthias M. Gaida, Esther Herpel, Darjus F. Tschaharganeh, Peter Schirmacher & Frank Bergmann

  2. Department of General Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Thilo Welsch & Lars Fischer

  3. Institute of Immunology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 305, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    G. Maria Hänsch

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  1. Matthias M. Gaida
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  2. Thilo Welsch
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Correspondence to Frank Bergmann.

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Gaida, M.M., Welsch, T., Herpel, E. et al. MHC class II expression in pancreatic tumors: a link to intratumoral inflammation. Virchows Arch 460, 47–60 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-011-1175-x

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