Expression of HLA-G in the Skin of Patients with Pemphigus Vulgaris

Studies on hla-g, a nonpolymorphic antig en of non-classical hla class i, is of basicand clinical significance. in the present study, the expression of hla-g proteins in thehuman skin tissue sections of normal and autoimmune pemphigus vulgaris (pv) individualswere investigated using monoclonal antibodies.the antibodies recognized both membrane-bound and soluble isoforms of hla-g. rtpcrwas performed to assess the patterns of hla-g mrna transcripts in the epidermalcells of pv and normal subjects .hla-g expression could only be detected at transcriptional level in normal skin tissues.however cells derived from pv subjects expressed detectable hla-g molecules at bothtranscriptional and translational levels. in addition, the rt-pcr patterns of hla-gamplification revealed a reduction in hla-g2 and an increase in hla-g1 transcripts inepidermal cells of pv patients as compared to normal cells.these observations further support suggestions in the literature regarding the role ofhla-g in induction of tolerance in autoimmune individuals.