We are pleased to welcome Prof. Milena Ivanova-Shivarova from the Department of Clinical Immunology, University Hospital Alexandrovska, Medical University Sofia, Bulgaria as our guest speaker for this webinar.
Previous studies showed that HLA-I genotype might differentially restrict JAK2V617F and CALRmut-driven oncogenesis and potentially explain the mutual exclusivity of the two mutations in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). The positive associations with HLA-I alleles suggest that HLA molecules could also mediate immunoedditing in MPN through interaction with KIRs.
To explore further this hypothesis, Prof. Ivanova-Shivarova and her team analysed allele level polymorphism of 8 KIR genes in MPN patients and healthy controls from the Bulgarian population. The associations observed suggest possible role of KIR alleles and KIR/ligand interactions in JAK2V617F and CALRmut driven MPN. These findings might have implications for better understanding the molecular mechanisms of immunosurveillance and cancer invasion in MPN.
