Expression of human leukocyte antigen-G in ovarian malignant tumor tissues.

Objective To evaluate expression of human leukocyte antigen-G(HLA-G),an important immunosuppressive molecule,in ovarian malignant tumor tissues and to explore its clinical significance.Methods HLA-G expression in 36 benign ovarian tumor tissues and 45 primary ovarian malignant tumor tissues were analyzed using SP immunohistochemical method with the anti-HLA-G monoclonal antibody 4H84.Also,we used RT-PCR to determine expression of HLA-G mRNA in fresh ovarian malignant and benign ovarian tumor tissues.Results ①HLA-G expression was detected in 30/45(66.67%) primary ovarian malignant tumor tissues and 4/36(11.11%) benign ovarian tumor tissues by an immunohistochemical method,and it was obviously higher in ovarian malignant tissues than in benign ovarian tumor tissues(P0.01).② HLA-G expression was significantly different among ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma,mucinous cystadenocarcinoma and endometrioid carcinoma(P0.05).However,it was not significantly associated with age,tumor stage,grade and lymph node metastasis.③HLA-G mRNA was revealed in ovarian malignant tumor tissues by RT-PCR analysis but was not detected in benign ovarian tumor tissues and ovarian tumor-like lesions.Conclusion HLA-G mRNA and HLA-G protein are ectopically expressed in ovarian malignant tumor tissues,which indicate that immunosuppression plays an important role in occurrence and development of ovarian cancer cells.