Momburg F, Koch S
Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany.
J Exp Med. 1989 Jan 1;169(1):309-14. doi: 10.1084/jem.169.1.309.
Expression of MHC class I antigens requires the intracellular assembly of HLA-A,B,C H chains and beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m). We have investigated the expression of free H chain, beta 2m, and their mRNAs in tissue sections of colon carcinomas that were defective for the native two-chain molecule. In all of these tumors, beta 2m protein and mRNA were found to be completely absent from the neoplastic cells, whereas free H chains and their respective mRNAs were present in abundance in the tumor cell cytoplasm. The selective abrogation of beta 2m expression represents a unique mechanism leading to a complete loss of class I antigen surface expression in vivo.
MHC I类抗原的表达需要HLA-A、B、C重链和β2-微球蛋白(β2m)在细胞内组装。我们研究了在天然双链分子存在缺陷的结肠癌组织切片中游离重链、β2m及其mRNA的表达情况。在所有这些肿瘤中,肿瘤细胞中完全未检测到β2m蛋白和mRNA,而游离重链及其各自的mRNA大量存在于肿瘤细胞质中。β2m表达的选择性缺失代表了一种独特的机制,导致体内I类抗原表面表达完全丧失。