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Class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC II) is normally silenced in plasma/multiple myeloma (MM) cells at the transcriptional level through downregulation of class II transactivator (CIITA), allowing MM cells to escape from immunological responses. Here we demonstrate that a retinoic acid receptor-α/β-selective retinoid Am80 (tamibarotene) could induce the expression of functional MHC II molecules in human MM cell lines. Am80 upregulated expression of the interferon regulatory factor-1 gene, followed by enhancement of CIITA expression. This is the first report demonstrating that retinoid can induce the expression of MHC II in terminally-differentiated plasma/MM cells.