简介：Thenon-classicalHLAclassIantigenHLA-GisanimmunemodulatorwhichinhibitsthefunctionsofTcells,NKcells,andtheDendriticcells(DC).Asaresult,HLA-Gexpressioninmalignantcellsmayprovidethemwithamechanismtoescapetheimmunesurveillance.Inmelanoma,HLA-Gantigenexpressionhasbeenfoundin30%ofsurgicallyremovedlesionsbutinlessthan1%ofestablishedcelllines.OnepossiblemechanismunderlyingthedifferentialHLAGexpressioninvivoandinvitroisthattheHLA-Ggeneisepigeneticallyrepressedinmelanomacellsinvitro.Totestthishypothesis,wetreatedtheHLA-GnegativemelanomacelllineOCM-1AwiththeDNAmethyltransferaseinhibitor5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine(5-AC)andanalyzedwhetherHLA-Gexpressioncanberestored.OurdatastronglysuggestthatHLA-GissilencedasaresultofCpGhypermethylationwithina5'regulatoryregionencompassing220bpupstreamofthestartcodon.Aftertreatment,HLA-GmRNAexpressionwasdramaticallyincreased.WesternblotandflowcytometryshowedthatHLA-Gproteinwasinduced.Interestingly,HLA-Gcellsurfaceexpressiononthe5-ACtreatedOCM-1AcellsismuchlessthanthatontheHLA-GpositiveJEG-3cellswhileasimilaramountoftotalHLA-Gwasobserved.Possiblemechanismsforthedifferencewereanalyzedinthestudysuchascellcold-treatment,peptideloadingandantigenprocessingmachinerycomponents(APM)aswellasβ2microglobulin(β2-m)expression.DatarevealedthattheAPMcomponentcalreticulinmightbeinvolvedinthelowerHLA-GsurfaceexpressiononOCM-1Acells.Takentogether,ourresultsindicatedthatDNAmethylationisanimportantepigeneticmechanismbywhichHLA-Gantigenexpressionismodulatedinmelanomacellsinvitro.Furthermore,tothefirsttime,wehypothesizedthatthedeficiencyofcalreticulinmightbeinvolvedinthelowHLA-Gsurfaceexpressiononthe5-ACtreatedOCM-lAcells.