TY - JOUR
T1 - MICA, a new polymorphic HLA-related antigen, is expressed mainly by keratinocytes, endothelial cells, and monocytes
AU - Zwirner, Norberto W.
AU - Fernández-Viña, Marcelo A.
AU - Stastny, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
AcknowledgmentsmWe would like to Dr. H. Ploegh for kindly providing the mAb HC10. This work was supported in part by NIH Grants RO1HL47145 and UO1AI34621.
PY - 1997/12
Y1 - 1997/12
N2 - MICA is a new polymorphic gene in the HLA region expressed in epithelial cell lines and gastrointestinal epithelium. Little is yet known about the MICA protein, and the pattern of its expression by freshly isolated cells has not been established. In the present experiments, we used antibodies raised in rabbits against α1 and α2 domain-peptides to study the expression of MICA. By western blot and immunoprecipitation, we detected a band of 62,000 M(r) in various cell lines (THP-1, U937, HeLa, A431, Raji, MOLT-4, and HUV-EC-C) and in freshly isolated keratinocytes, endothelial cells, and monocytes but not in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and CD19+ cells (B lymphocytes). It was not possible to up-regulate the expression of MICA in different cells by stimulation with γ-interferon, but the expression of MICA was induced in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated T cells. We confirmed that MICA is expressed at the cell surface by flow cytometry. Results of immunoprecipitation studies of β2-microglobulin(β2m)- or MICA-depleted, metabolically labeled HeLa cells indicated that MICA was not associated with β2m. Although the function of MICA is still unknown, its restricted pattern of tissue expression, the fact that it is expressed on the cell surface, and its polymorphic nature suggest that this new molecule, encoded close to HLA class I, may play a role in the interaction between epithelial cells and cells of the immune system.
AB - MICA is a new polymorphic gene in the HLA region expressed in epithelial cell lines and gastrointestinal epithelium. Little is yet known about the MICA protein, and the pattern of its expression by freshly isolated cells has not been established. In the present experiments, we used antibodies raised in rabbits against α1 and α2 domain-peptides to study the expression of MICA. By western blot and immunoprecipitation, we detected a band of 62,000 M(r) in various cell lines (THP-1, U937, HeLa, A431, Raji, MOLT-4, and HUV-EC-C) and in freshly isolated keratinocytes, endothelial cells, and monocytes but not in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and CD19+ cells (B lymphocytes). It was not possible to up-regulate the expression of MICA in different cells by stimulation with γ-interferon, but the expression of MICA was induced in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated T cells. We confirmed that MICA is expressed at the cell surface by flow cytometry. Results of immunoprecipitation studies of β2-microglobulin(β2m)- or MICA-depleted, metabolically labeled HeLa cells indicated that MICA was not associated with β2m. Although the function of MICA is still unknown, its restricted pattern of tissue expression, the fact that it is expressed on the cell surface, and its polymorphic nature suggest that this new molecule, encoded close to HLA class I, may play a role in the interaction between epithelial cells and cells of the immune system.
KW - Endothelial cells
KW - HLA class Ib
KW - Keratinocytes
KW - MICA
KW - Western blot
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U2 - 10.1007/s002510050339
DO - 10.1007/s002510050339
M3 - Article
C2 - 9396860
AN - SCOPUS:0031964604
SN - 0093-7711
VL - 47
SP - 139
EP - 148
JO - Immunogenetics
JF - Immunogenetics
IS - 2
ER -