TY - JOUR TI - The newly-arisen Devil facial tumour disease 2 (DFT2) reveals a mechanism for the emergence of a contagious cancer AU - Caldwell, Alison AU - Coleby, Rachel AU - Tovar, Cesar AU - Stammnitz, Maximilian R AU - Kwon, Young Mi AU - Owen, Rachel S AU - Tringides, Marios AU - Murchison, Elizabeth P AU - Skjødt, Karsten AU - Thomas, Gareth J AU - Kaufman, Jim AU - Elliott, Tim AU - Woods, Gregory M AU - Siddle, Hannah VT A2 - Chakraborty, Arup K A2 - Germain, Ronald N A2 - Greaves, Mel VL - 7 PY - 2018 DA - 2018/08/14 SP - e35314 C1 - eLife 2018;7:e35314 DO - 10.7554/eLife.35314 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.35314 AB - 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. KW - Sarcophilus harrisii KW - MHC KW - contagious cancer KW - immune escape JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -