The newly-arisen Devil facial tumour disease 2 (DFT2) reveals a mechanism for the emergence of a contagious cancer

eLife

Gregory M Woods¹  Rachel Coleby²  Maximilian R Stammnitz²  Elizabeth P Murchison³  Alison Caldwell³  Karsten Skjødt³  Cesar Tovar³  Jim Kaufman⁴  Gareth J Thomas⁵  Marios Tringides⁵  Hannah VT Siddle⁵  Rachel S Owen⁵  Tim Elliott⁶  Young Mi Kwon⁷ 

[1] Centre for Cancer Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom;Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom;Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom;Department of Cancer and Inflammation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark;Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom;Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia;

关键词: Sarcophilus harrisii;    MHC;    contagious cancer;    immune escape;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.35314

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Devil Facial Tumour 2 (DFT2) is a recently discovered contagious cancer circulating in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), a species which already harbours a more widespread contagious cancer, Devil Facial Tumour 1 (DFT1). Here we show that in contrast to DFT1, DFT2 cells express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules, demonstrating that loss of MHC is not necessary for the emergence of a contagious cancer. However, the most highly expressed MHC class I alleles in DFT2 cells are common among host devils or non-polymorphic, reducing immunogenicity in a population sharing these alleles. In parallel, MHC class I loss is emerging in vivo, thus DFT2 may be mimicking the evolutionary trajectory of DFT1. Based on these results we propose that contagious cancers may exploit partial histocompatibility between the tumour and host, but that loss of allogeneic antigens could facilitate widespread transmission of DFT2.

【 授权许可】

Unknown