Primarily expressed by trophoblast cells, human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) plays an essential role in maintaining maternal-fetal immune tolerance. Having previously been detected following heart transplantation, we sought to establish the value of HLA-G in identifying freedom from moderate or severe rejection post-heart transplant, and the capability of its expression in vitro. After assessing myocardial HLA-G expression through immunohistochemistry, we demonstrated that it was significantly more prevalent in non-rejecting than rejecting heart transplant recipients. Utilizing vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cell culture models, we also determined that while HLA-G expression remains tightly regulated, its expression in vitro can be induced following progesterone treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Hence, HLA-G may reliably identify patients with a low immunological risk of developing subsequent clinically significant rejection post-heart transplant. Furthermore, HLA-G expression can be induced in cultured endothelial and smooth muscle cells, which might represent a strategy to protect against allograft rejection and vasculopathy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/17223 |
| Date | 26 February 2009 |
| Creators | Sheshgiri, Rohit |
| Contributors | Rao, Vivek |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1385385 bytes, application/pdf |
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