Journal
JOURNAL OF NEURO-ONCOLOGY
Volume 103, Issue 2, Pages 197-206Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11060-010-0378-3
Keywords
HLA; Medulloblastoma; Cerebellum; Signaling
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Funding
- national Institutes of Health [R01 CA111835]
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Although known for the important function in the immune system, MHC class I molecules are increasingly ascribed an alternative role in modifying signal transduction. In medulloblastoma, HLA class I molecules are associated with poor prognosis, and can induce ERK1/2 activation upon engagement with ligands that bind to incompletely assembled complexes (so called open conformers). We here demonstrate that ERK1/2 activation in medulloblastoma can occur in the absence of endogenously synthesized beta 2m, formally excluding involvement of closed HLA class conformation. In addition, several experimental observations suggest that heterogeneity of HLA class I expression may be a reflection of the status of original cells before transformation, rather than a consequence of immune-based selection of HLA-loss mutants. These results contribute to our understanding of an immune system-independent role of HLA class I in the pathology of medulloblastoma, and cancer in general.
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