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Induction of class II major histocompatibility complex expression in human multiple myeloma cells by retinoid

From the Department of Internal Medicine and Molecular Science, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan

Correspondence: Takaomi Sanda, MD, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine and Molecular Science, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 467-8601. E-mail: tsanda{at}med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp

Class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC II) is normally silenced in plasma/multiple myeloma (MM) cells at the transcriptional level through downregulation of class II transactivator (CIITA), allowing MM cells to escape from immunological responses. Here we demonstrate that a retinoic acid receptor-/ß-selective retinoid Am80 (tamibarotene) could induce the expression of functional MHC II molecules in human MM cell lines. Am80 upregulated expression of the interferon regulatory factor-1 gene, followed by enhancement of CIITA expression. This is the first report demonstrating that retinoid can induce the expression of MHC II in terminally-differentiated plasma/MM cells.

Key words: multiple myeloma, retinoid, MHC II, CIITA.