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The newly-arisen devil facial tumour disease 2 (DFT2) reveals a mechanism for the emergence of a contagious cancer
Citation
Caldwell, A and Coleby, R and Tovar, C and Stammnitz, MR and Kwon, YM and Owen, RS and Tringides, M and Murchison, EP and Skjodt, K and Thomas, GJ and Kaufman, J and Elliott, T and Woods, GM and Siddle, HVT, The newly-arisen devil facial tumour disease 2 (DFT2) reveals a mechanism for the emergence of a contagious cancer, Elife, 7 Article e35314. ISSN 2050-084X (2018) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2018 Caldwell et al. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Abstract
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.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | MHC, Sarcophilus harrisii, cancer biology, contagious cancer, immune escape, immunology, inflammation |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Zoology |
| Research Field: | Animal immunology |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Terrestrial biodiversity |
| UTAS Author: | Tovar, C (Dr Cesar Tovar Lopez) |
| UTAS Author: | Woods, GM (Professor Gregory Woods) |
| ID Code: | 128146 |
| Year Published: | 2018 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 32 |
| Deposited By: | Menzies Institute for Medical Research |
| Deposited On: | 2018-09-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2019-03-04 |
| Downloads: | 121 View Download Statistics |
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