HLA-G expression on blasts and tolerogenic cells in patients affected by acute myeloid leukemia

Human leukocyte antigen-g (hla-g) contributes to cancer cell immune escape from host antitumor responses. the clinical relevance of hla-g in several malignancies has been reported. however,the role of hla-g expression and functions in acute myeloid leukemia (aml) is still controversial. our group identified a subset of tolerogenic dendritic cells,dc-10 that express hla-g and secrete il-10. dc-10 are present in the peripheral blood and are essential in promoting and maintaining tolerance via the induction of adaptive t regulatory (treg) cells. we investigated hla-g expression on blasts and the presence of hla-g-expressing dc-10 and cd4+ t cells in the peripheral blood of aml patients at diagnosis. moreover,we explored the possible influence of the 3′ untranslated region (3′utr) of hla-g,which has been associated with hla-g expression,on aml susceptibility. results showed that hla-g-expressing dc-10 and cd4+ t cells are highly represented in aml patients with hla-g positive blasts. none of the hla-g variation sites evaluated was associated with aml susceptibility. this is the first report describing hla-g-expressing dc-10 and cd4+ t cells in aml patients,suggesting that they may represent a strategy by which leukemic cells escape the host's immune system. further studies on larger populations are required to verify our findings. © 2014 grazia locafaro et al.