Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF, 173K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Citation Map Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new content in the JEM Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Allan, D. S.J. Articles by Braud, V. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Allan, D. S.J. Articles by Braud, V. M. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

Articles

David S.J. Allan^*, Marco Colonna, Lewis L. Lanier, Tatyana D. Churakova, John S. Abrams, Shirley A. Ellis^||, Andrew J. McMichael^*, and Veronique M. Braud^*

From the ^* Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DS, United Kingdom; Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel CH-4005, Switzerland; DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Palo Alto, California 94304; and the ^|| Institute for Animal Health, Compton RG20 7NN, United Kingdom

The nonclassical MHC class I molecule human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G is selectively expressed on fetal trophoblast tissue at the maternal–fetal interface in pregnancy. It has long been suggested that HLA-G may inhibit maternal natural killer (NK) cells through interaction with particular NK cell receptors (KIRs). To investigate interactions of HLA-G, we constructed phycoerythrin-labeled tetrameric complexes of HLA-G refolded with a self-peptide. These HLA-G tetramers failed to bind to NK cells and cells transfected with CD94/NKG2 and killer immunoglobulin-like NK receptors. In contrast, HLA-G tetramers did bind to peripheral blood monocytes, staining a CD16⁺CD14^mid subset with greater intensity. On transfectants, HLA-G tetramers bound to inhibitory immunoglobulin-like transcript (ILT)2 and ILT4 receptors. However, staining in the presence of antibodies reactive with ILT receptors revealed that the interaction of HLA-G tetramers with blood monocytes was largely due to binding to ILT4. These results suggest that the primary role of HLA-G may be the modulation of myelomonocytic cell behavior in pregnancy.

Key Words: immunoglobulin-like transcript • monocyte • natural killer cell • CD94 • killer immunoglobulin-like receptor

The authors gratefully acknowledge G. Ogg, J. Wilson, T. Dong, A. King, R. Allen, L. Tan, and P. Hansasuta for supplying tetramers of classical MHC class I molecules. We thank B. Corliss for making transfectants; T. McClanahan for cloning of ILT gene sequences; S. Zurawski for provision of recombinant ILT6 fusion proteins; and S. Gordon, J. Austyn, D. Chao, D. Mason, J. Cordell, D. Jackson, L. Moretta, A. King, and Y. Loke for antibodies and helpful discussions.

Abbreviations used: DC, dendritic cell; Tet, tetramer; ILT, immunoglobulin-like transcript; KIR, killer immunoglobulin-like receptor.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tan, C. Y., Chong, Y. S., Loganath, A., Chan, Y. H., Ravichandran, J., Lee, C. G., Chong, S. S. (2009). Possible Gene-Gene Interaction of KIR2DL4 With its Cognate Ligand HLA-G in Modulating Risk for Preeclampsia. Reproductive Sciences 16: 1135-1143 [Abstract]  

Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search

TABLE OF CONTENTS