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Molecular mechanisms of MHC class I abnormalities and APM components in human tumors

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Abstract

Tumor immune escape plays a critical role in cancer, but the mechanisms involved in this process have still to be defined. In the recent years, progress has been made in understanding how peptides presented by MHC class I molecules were generated, in particular which proteases are involved in this process and how intracellular pathways influence antigen presentation in professional antigen-presenting cells and in various types of malignancies. Different MHC class I abnormalities have been found in solid tumors of distinct origin, but also in hematopoietic diseases. These include structural alterations such as total, haplotype and allelic loss of the MHC class I heavy chain, deletions and point mutations, in particular in β2-microglobulin and TAP1 as well as dysregulation of various components of the MHC class I antigen processing machinery (APM), which could occur at the epigenetic, transcriptional and posttranscriptional level. The lack or downmodulation of the expression of single or multiple components of the MHC class I antigen processing pathway may avoid the recognition of tumor cells by tumor-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes. This review will give an overview of the underlying molecular mechanisms of MHC class I abnormalities in human tumors of distinct histology, which also might have an impact on the design of T cell-based immunotherapies.

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Abbreviations

Aa:

Amino acid

APC:

Antigen-presenting cell

APM:

Antigen processing machinery

APN:

Aminopeptidase N

BLH:

Bleomycin hydrolase

β2-m:

β2-microglobulin

LOH:

Loss of heterozygosity

CSF:

Colony-stimulating factor

CTL:

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes

DAC:

2′5′Desoxyazacytidine

DC:

Dendritic cells

ER:

Endoplasmic reticulum

ERAP:

ER aminopeptidase associated with antigen processing

GM-CSF:

Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor

HC:

Heavy chain

HNSCC:

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

IFN:

Interferon

IL:

Interleukin

LAP:

Leucin aminopeptidase

LMP:

Low molecular weight proteins

LOH:

Loss of heterozygosity

Luc:

Luciferase

MHC:

Major histocompatibility complex

NK:

Natural killer

PA:

Proteasome activator

PDI:

Protein disulfide isomerase

PLC:

Peptide loading complex

RCC:

Renal cell carcinoma

TAP:

Transporter associated with antigen processing

TGF:

Transforming growth factor

Tpn:

Tapasin

TPPII:

Tripeptidyl peptidase II

TSA:

Trichostatin A

VPA:

Valproic acid

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Acknowledgments

This work was sponsored by the DFG projects (SE581/9-1, SE581/9-2, SE581/11-1). We would like to thank Anne Wasilewski for excellent secretarial help.

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  1. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Medical Immunology, Magdeburger Str. 2, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany

    Barbara Seliger

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Correspondence to Barbara Seliger.

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This article is a symposium paper from the conference “Progress in Vaccination against Cancer 2007 (PIVAC 7)”, held in Stockholm, Sweden, on 10 and 11 September 2007.

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Seliger, B. Molecular mechanisms of MHC class I abnormalities and APM components in human tumors. Cancer Immunol Immunother 57, 1719–1726 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-008-0515-4

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