# HLA-C

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/hla-c/  
OnCo record `hla-c` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

HLA-C (HLA class I histocompatibility antigen, C alpha chain) is a gene whose normal job is to hold cell growth in check. The public catalogues list it as a drug target, a tumour suppressor and a biomarker, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response. Tied to Colorectal cancer and Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

## Summary

Antigen-presenting major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) molecule with an important role in reproduction and antiviral immunity. In complex with B2M/beta 2 microglobulin displays a restricted repertoire of self and viral peptides and acts as a dominant ligand for inhibitory and activating killer immunoglobulin receptors (KIRs) expressed on NK cells. In an allogeneic setting, such as during pregnancy, mediates interaction of extravillous trophoblasts with KIR on uterine NK cells and regulate trophoblast invasion necessary for placentation and overall fetal growth.

CIViC holds 2 clinical evidence items and 0 assertions across 2 variants, naming Therapeutic Tumour Infiltrating Lymphocytes. IntOGen calls it a driver in 1 cohort (0 activating, 1 loss-of-function), covering Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, NOS.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: major histocompatibility complex, class I, C; HLA class I histocompatibility antigen, C alpha chain; HLA-JY3; D6S204; PSORS1
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: HLA-C
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: Antigen-presenting major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) molecule with an important role in reproduction and antiviral immunity. In complex with B2M/beta 2 microglobulin displays a restricted repertoire of self and viral peptides and acts as a dominant ligand for inhibitory and activating killer immunoglobulin receptors (KIRs) expressed on NK cells. In an allogeneic setting, such as during pregnancy, mediates interaction of extravillous trophoblasts with KIR on uterine NK cells and regulate trophoblast invasion necessary for placentation and overall fetal growth. During viral infection, may present viral peptides with low affinity for KIRs, impeding KIR-mediated inhibition through peptide antagonism and favoring lysis of infected cells. Presents a restricted repertoire of viral peptides on antigen-presenting cells for recognition by alpha-beta T cell receptor (TCR) on HLA-C-restricted CD8-positive T cells, guiding antigen-specific T cell immune response to eliminate infected cells, particularly in chronic viral infection settings such as HIV-1 or CMV infection. Both the peptide and the MHC molecule are recognised by TCR, the peptide is responsible for the fine specificity of antigen recognition and MHC residues account for the MHC restriction of T cells. Location: Cell membrane; Endoplasmic reticulum membrane (UniProt). Locus 6p21.33 (HGNC).
- Where found: Colorectal cancer: CIViC evidence names this disease; Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: CIViC evidence names this disease; IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (DLBCLNOS)

## Notes

- Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: CIViC lists 1 therapies; IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 1 cohort; CIViC holds 2 clinical evidence items on its variants. Evidence tier "clinical-evidence" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:4933: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:4933
- UniProt P10321: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P10321/entry
- NCBI Gene 3107: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3107
- Ensembl ENSG00000204525: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000204525

## Connected records

- collections: [CIViC](https://onco.cc/collections/civic/), [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/)
- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/dlbcl/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/hla-c.json