Introduction
President : Edgardo D. CAROSELLA – France
In 1998, we initiated this series of three-yearly meetings on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G molecule.
HLA-G is a non-classical major histocompatibility class I antigen, which plays a fundamental role in the regulation of immune responses. Its strong immune-inhibitory properties make it a key mediator of immune tolerance. HLA-G is especially relevant in the contexts of foetal-maternal and transplant tolerance and in tumour cell immune escapes. HLA-G exerts its inhibitory function directly on immune effectors and it also acts on Antigen Presenting Cells and promotes regulatory/suppressor cell induction. The functions of HLA-G were particularly highlighted during the 5th International Conference on HLA-G held in Paris in July 2009. During this last meeting was better improved the understanding of (i) the fundamental immunological functions of HLA-G, mainly at the level of intercellular communication, (ii) the role of HLA-G in embryonic and mesenchymal stem cell biology, (iii) the HLA-G expression regulation mechanisms and the correlation between HLA-G polymorphisms and diseases; was confirmed (i) the emergence of HLA-G involvement in non-immunological systems, such as chemotaxia and asthma, (ii) that HLA-G is induced by virus infections.
The 6th International Conference on HLA-G in tune with the 5th will focus on the:
• role of HLA-G in fundamental immune mechanism regulation,
• involvement of HLA-G in pathological conditions: pregnancy, allo-transplantation,
tumor cell immunity, viral infections and auto-immune diseases,
• gene expression and polymorphism.
