Possible Role of HLA-G, LILRB1 and KIR2DL4 Gene Polymorphisms in Spontaneous Miscarriage
ARCHIVUM IMMUNOLOGIAE ET THERAPIAE EXPERIMENTALIS
Authors: Nowak, Izabela; Malinowski, Andrzej; Barcz, Ewa; Wilczynski, Jacek R.; Wagner, Marta; Majorczyk, Edyta; Motak-Pochrzest, Hanna; Banasik, Magorzata; Kusnierczyk, Piotr
Abstract
The KIR2DL4 receptor and its ligand HLA-G are considered important for fetal-maternal immune tolerance and successful pregnancy. The absence of a particular variant of KIR2DL4 might be a bad prognostic factor for pregnancy outcome. However, it could be compensated by the presence of the respective LILRB1 allele. Therefore, we investigated the KIR2DL4, LILRB1 and HLA-G polymorphisms in 277 couples with spontaneous abortion and 219 control couples by HRM, PCR-SSP and RFLP methods. We found a protective effect of women's heterozygosity in -716 HLA-G (p = 0.0206) and LILRB1 (p = 0.0131) against spontaneous abortion. Surprisingly, we observed more 9A/10A genotypes of KIR2DL4 gene carriers in the group of male partners from the miscarriage group in comparison to the men from the control group (p = 0.0288). Furthermore, there was no association of women's KIR2DL4 polymorphism with susceptibility to spontaneous abortion. Multivariate analysis indicated that women's -716 HLA-G and LILRB1 and men's KIR2DL4 9A/10A are important in terms of the protection or susceptibility to miscarriage, respectively (p = 0.00968). In conclusion, a woman's heterozygosity in HLA-G and LILRB1 might be an advantage for a success of reproduction, but the partner's heterozygosity in 9A/10A KIR2DL4 alleles might not.
KIR3DL1 polymorphisms that affect NK cell inhibition by HLA-Bw4 ligand
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Authors: Carr, WH; Pando, MJ; Parham, P
Abstract
The killer cell Ig-like receptor (KIR) gene family encodes MHC class I receptors expressed by NK cells and several T. cell subpopulations. Factors contributing to human KIR haplotype diversity are differences in gene number, gene content, and allelic polymorphism. Whereas functional and clinical consequences of the first two factors are established, knowledge of the effects of KIR gene polymorphism is limited to special cases in which signaling function is reversed or cell surface expression lost. In this study we. use retrovirally transduced human cell lines to show that 3DL1*002 is a stronger inhibitory receptor for RLA-Bw4 ligands than 3DL1*007. Analysis of mutant 3DL1*002 and 3DL1*007 molecules demonstrates that residue 238 in the D2 domain and 320 in the transmembrane region contribute to the difference in receptor strength. Neither position 238 nor 320 is predicted to interact directly with HLA-Bw4 ligand. This study also revealed that KIR3DL1 and LILRB1 both contribute to developing an inhibitory response to HLA-Bw4 ligands.