• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.341-346
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• 2016

Membrane-bound HLA-G (mHLA-G) discovery on adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) as a tolerogenic and immunosuppressive molecule was very important. Many documents have shown that HLA-G expression can be controlled via some hormones such as progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2). Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate progesterone and estradiol effects on mHLA-G in ADSCs at restricted and combination concentrations. Three independent cell lines were cultured in complete free phenol red DMEM and subcultured to achieve sufficient cells. These cells were treated with P4, E2 and P4 plus E2 at physiologic and pregnancy concentrations for 3 days in cell culture conditions. The HLA-G positive ADSCs was measured via monoclonal anti HLA-G-FITC/ MEMG-09 by means of flow cytometry in nine groups. Data were analyzed by one way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc tests. There were no significant values of the mean percentage of HLA-G positive cells in E2-treated and the combination of P4 plus $E_2-treated$ ADSCs compared to control cells (p value>0.05) but P4 had a significant increase on mHLA-G in ADSCs (p value<0.05). High P4 concentration increased mHLA-G but E2 and the combination of P4 plus E2 could not change mHLA-G on ADSCs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2309-2312
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• 2014

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most common histologic subtype of esophageal cancer and is characterized by a poor prognosis. Determining gene changes in ESCCs should improve understanding of putative risk factors and provide potential targets for therapy. We sequenced about 55 million pair-end reads from a pair of adjacent normal and ESCC samples to identify the gene expression level and gene fusion. Sanger sequencing was used to verify the result. About 17 thousand genes were expressed in the tissues, of which approximately 2400 demonstrated significant differences between tumor and adjacent non tumor tissue. GO and KEGG pathway analysis revealed that many of these genes were associated with cellular adherence and movement, simulation responses and immune responses. Notably we identified and validated one fusion gene, HLA-E and HLA-B, located 1 MB apart. We also identified thousands of remarkably expressed transcripts. In conclusion, a novel fusion gene HLA-E and HLA-B was identified in ESCC via whole transcriptome sequencing, which would be a biomarker for ESCC diagnosis and target for therapy, shedding new light for better understanding of ESCC tumorigenesis.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.211-227
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• 2012

To implement a combined discrete event and discrete time simulation such as submarine diving simulation in a distributed environment, e.g., in the High Level Architecture (HLA)/Run-Time Infrastructure (RTI), a HLA interface, which can easily connect combined models with the HLA/RTI, was developed in this study. To verify the function and performance of the HLA interface, it was applied to the submarine dive scenario in a distributed environment, and the distributed simulation shows the same results as the stand-alone simulation. Finally, by adding a visualization model to the simulation and by editing this model, we can confirm that the HLA interface can provide user-friendly functions such as adding new model and editing a model.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.17.1-17.16
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• 2023

Latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A), a latent Ag commonly expressed in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected host cells, is a target for adoptive T cell therapy in EBV-associated malignancies. To define whether individual human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allotypes are used preferentially in EBV-specific T lymphocyte responses, LMP2A-specific CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cell responses in 50 healthy donors were analyzed by ELISPOT assay using artificial Ag-presenting cells expressing a single allotype. CD8⁺ T cell responses were significantly higher than CD4⁺ T cell responses. CD8⁺ T cell responses were ranked from highest to lowest in the order HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C loci, and CD4⁺ T cell responses were ranked in the order HLA-DR, HLA-DP, and HLA-DQ loci. Among the 32 HLA class I and 56 HLA class II allotypes, 6 HLA-A, 7 HLA-B, 5 HLA-C, 10 HLA-DR, 2 HLA-DQ, and 2 HLA-DP allotypes showed T cell responses higher than 50 spot-forming cells (SFCs)/5×105 CD8⁺ or CD4⁺ T cells. Twenty-nine donors (58%) showed a high T cell response to at least one allotype of HLA class I or class II, and 4 donors (8%) had a high response to both HLA class I and class II allotypes. Interestingly, we observed an inverse correlation between the proportion of LMP2A-specific T cell responses and the frequency of HLA class I and II allotypes. These data demonstrate the allele dominance of LMP2A-specific T cell responses among HLA allotypes and their intra-individual dominance in response to only a few allotypes in an individual, which may provide useful information for genetic, pathogenic, and immunotherapeutic approaches to EBV-associated diseases.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.248-255
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• 2002

Background: TAP1 and TAP2 are two ABC transporter genes located within the class II region of the human MHC. Their protein products form a heterodimer whose function is to transport peptides from the cytoplasm into the endoplasmic reticulum. This study was performed to examine the polymorphism of TAP genes and the distribution of HLA-TAP haplotypes in the Korean population through family analysis. Methods: The subjects used in this study were 50 healthy Korean families consisting of 233 individuals. TAP1 (codons 333 and 637) and TAP2 (codons 379, 565, 577, 651, 665, and 687) typings were carried out by the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method. HLA-DRB1 and DQB1 genotyping results from a previous study were used for HLA-TAP haplotype analysis. Results: The number (gene frequency) of TAP1 and TAP2 alleles detected were 3 for TAP1 (A 81.5%, B 17.0%, and C 1.5%) and 8 for TAP2 (A1 32.0%, A2 12.5%, B 34.0%, Bky2 6.5%, C 7.0%, D 3.0%, E 4.5%, and G 0.5%). Eleven TAP1-TAP2 haplotypes were observed with $frequency{\geq}1%$, among which 4 haplotypes (A-B, B-A1, A-Bky2, and C-E) showed weak but significant positive linkage disequilibrium (P<0.05). When DRB1-DQB1 haplotypes were extended to TAP1 and TAP2 loci, much diversification of haplotypes was observed: 19 different DRB1-DQB1 haplotypes formed 58 different haplotypes extended to TAP1 and TAP2 loci. These results add more evidence to the view that recombination hotspot is present within and around TAP gene region. Conclusion: The allele frequencies of TAP1 and TAP2 genes and the distribution of TAP1-TAP2 and HLA-TAP haplotypes were studied in Koreans based on a family study.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.29.1-29.8
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• 2019

The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) study was a large genome-wide association study that aimed to identify common variants associated with seven diseases. That study combined two control datasets (58C and UK Blood Services) as shared controls. Prior to using the combined controls, the WTCCC performed analyses to show that the genomic content of the control datasets was not significantly different. Recently, the analysis of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes has become prevalent due to the development of HLA imputation technology. In this project, we extended the between-control homogeneity analysis of the WTCCC to HLA. We imputed HLA information in the WTCCC control dataset and showed that the HLA content was not significantly different between the two control datasets, suggesting that the combined controls can be used as controls for HLA fine-mapping analysis based on HLA imputation.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.44.1-44.16
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• 2023

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are effective in treating autoimmune diseases and managing various conditions, such as engraftment of allogeneic islets. Additionally, autologous and HLA-matched allogeneic MSCs can aid in the engraftment of human allogeneic kidneys with or without low doses of tacrolimus, respectively. However, HLA alloantigens are problematic because cell therapy uses more HLA-mismatched allogeneic cells than autologous for convenience and standardization. In particular, HLA-mismatched MSCs showed increased Ag-specific T/B cells and reduced viability faster than HLA-matched MSCs. In CRISPR/Cas9-based cell therapy, Cas9 induce T cell activation in the recipient's immune system. Interestingly, despite their immunogenicity being limited to the cells with foreign Ags, the accumulation of HLA alloantigen-sensitized T/B cells may lead to allograft rejection, suggesting that alloantigens may have a greater scope of adverse effects than foreign Ags. To avoid alloantigen recognition, the β2-microglobulin knockout (B2MKO) system, eliminating class-I MHC, was able to avoid rejection by alloreactive CD8 T cells compared to controls. Moreover, universal donor cells in which both B2M and Class II MHC transactivator (CIITA) were knocked out was more effective in avoiding immune rejection than single KO. However, B2MKO and CIITA KO system remain to be controlled and validated for adverse effects such as the development of tumorigenicity due to deficient Ag recognition by CD8 T and CD4 T cells, respectively. Overall, better HLA-matching or depletion of HLA alloantigens prior to cell therapy can reduce repetitive transplantation through the long-term survival of allogeneic cell therapy, which may be especially important for patients seeking allogeneic transplantation.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2001

Precise mechanism by which the fetus can escape from mother's immune rejection is not well understood yet over the last 50 years. The clarification of immune mechanism at the feto-maternal interface is very important, because this can be a common pathogenesis of various pathologic conditions including spontaneous abortion, habitual abortion fetal growth restriction preeclampsia, implantation failure after assisted reproductive techniques, and fetal death. In this review, current hypothetical contents were described with the priority of importance: 1) The center of this mechanism is cross-talk between the expression of HLA-C, E, G on the extravillous cytotrophoblasts and their receptors on decidual NK cell, 2) immunomodulation, 3) innate immunity is the main immunologic mechanism, 4) various mechanisms besides HLA system(eq. complement) may be associated. The overall balance of immunomodulation among these mechanisms should result in the outcome of each pregnancy. Further researches regarding the regulation of HLA system, roles of cytokines, complements should be followed in the future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4167-4175
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• 2013

A najor current challenge and constraint in cervical cancer research is the development of vaccines against human papilloma virus (HPV) epitopes. Although many studies are done on epitope identification on HPVs, no computational work has been carried out for high risk forms which are considered to cause cervical cancer. Of all the high risk HPVs, HPV 16, HPV 18 and HPV 45 are responsible for 94% of cervical cancers in women worldwide. In this work, we computationally predicted the promiscuous epitopes among the E6 proteins of high risk HPVs. We identified the conserved residues, HLA class I, HLA class II and B-cell epitopes along with their corresponding secondary structure conformations. We used extremely precise bioinformatics tools like ClustalW2, MAPPP, NetMHC, Epi,Jen, EpiTop 1.0, ABCpred, BCpred and PSIPred for achieving this task. Our study identified specific regions 'FAFR(K)DL' followed by 'KLPD(Q)LCTEL' fragments which proved to be promiscuous epitopes present in both human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I, class II molecules and B cells as well. These fragments also follow every suitable character to be considered as promiscuous epitopes with supporting evidences of previously reported experimental results. Thus, we conclude that these regions should be considered as the important for design of specific therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 1998

HLA-DR4 is the dominant allele of MHC class II genes in Koreans. In particular, the $DRB1^*0405$ subtype has been reported to be almost exclusively expressed in Far East Asians, and has also been observed to be strongly associated with rheumatoid arthritis in Koreans and the Japanese. Identification of this specific allele has been mainly performed by PCR-based methods, which is often time consuming, costly, and involves tedious procedures such as the isolation of genomic DNA, PCR, and gel electrophoresis. To develop a more convenient tool for screening vast amounts of samples as well as to generate reagents which might also be used in other applications, in this study, antibodies were produced against this specific HLA subtype. By PCR, an allelespecific region covering the ${\beta}1$ domain of $DRB1^*0405$ was amplified and recombinantly expressed in E.coli. Immunization of Lewis rats with the purified protein yielded an allele specific antiserum. Western blot analysis showed the selective detection of the HLA-DR ${\beta}-chain$. Using this antiserum, established cell lines and peripheral blood lymphocytes were analyzed on their HLA haplotype by fluorescence activated flow cytometry. These novel antibodies will provide a powerful tool in the detection and investigation of DR4 alleles.