Abstract
Malignant B-cells express measurable levels of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II proteins, but often escape immune recognition by CD4 + T cells. Resveratrol (Resv) has been the focus of numerous investigations due to its potential chemopreventive and anti-cancer effects, but it has never been tested in the regulation of immune components in B-cell tumors. Here, we show for the first time that Resv treatment enhances HLA class II-mediated immune detection of B-cell lymphomas by altering immune components and class II presentation in tumor cells. Resv treatment induced an up-regulation of both classical and non-classical HLA class II proteins (DR and DM) in B-lymphoma cells. Resv also altered endolysosomal cathepsins (Cat S, B and D) and a thiol reductase (GILT), increasing HLA class II-mediated antigen (Ag) processing in B-cell lymphomas and their subsequent recognition by CD4 + T cells. Mechanistic study demonstrated that Resv treatment activated the recycling class II pathway of Ag presentation through up-regulation of Rab 4B protein expression in B-lymphoma cells. These findings suggest that HLA class II-mediated immune recognition of malignant B-cells can be improved by Resv treatment, thus encouraging its potential use in chemoimmunotherapy of B-cell lymphoma.