title: Structure of a tumor associated antigen containing a tandemly repeated immunodominant epitope.
abstract: Human mucins are T or S glycosylated tandem repeat proteins. In breast cancer, mucins become under or unglycosylated. Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance experiments are performed on chemically synthesized mucin tandem repeat polypeptides, (PDTRPAPGST-APPAHGVTSA)n the unglycosylated form for n=1,3 where (APDTR) constitutes the antigenic sites for the antibodies isolated form the tumors in the breast cancer patients. These studies demonstrate how the tandem repeats assemble in space giving rise to the overall tertiary structure, and the local structure and presentation of the antigenic site(APDTR) at the junction of two neighboring repeats. The NMR data reveal repeating knob-like structures connected by extended spacers. The knobs protrude away from the long-axis of Muc-1 and the predominant antigenic site (APDTR) forms the accessible tip of the knob. Multiple tandem repeats enhance the rigidity and presentation of the knob-like structures.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM 87545, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Fontenot
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Mariappan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Catasti
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Domenech
authors.forename: O J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gupta
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D006031:Glycosylation; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009077:Mucins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D009077:Mucins