The dual role of HLA-G in cancer

We here review the current data on the role of hla-g in cancer based on recent findings of an unexpected antitumor activity of hla-g in hematological malignancies. for the past decade,hla-g has been described as a tumor-escape mechanism favoring cancer progression,and blocking strategies have been proposed to counteract it. aside from these numerous studies on solid tumors,recent data showed that hla-g inhibits the proliferation of malignant b cells due to the interaction between hla-g and its receptor ilt2,which mediates negative signaling on b cell proliferation. these results led to the conjecture that,according to the malignant cell type,hla-g should be blocked or conversely induced to counteract tumor progression. in this context,we will here present (i) the dual role of hla-g in solid and liquid tumors with special emphasis on (ii) the hla-g active structures and their related ilt2 and ilt4 receptors and (iii) the current knowledge on regulatory mechanisms of hla-g expression in tumors. © 2014 nathalie rouas-freiss et al.