title: Characterization of antigenic peptides presented by HLA-B44 molecules on tumor cells expressing the gene MAGE-3.
abstract: The amino acid sequence of the protein encoded by the gene MAGE-3 was screened for peptides containing the binding motif for HLA-B44. Nine peptides were synthesized, and their binding affinity for HLA-B*4402 and -B*4403 was analyzed in an HLA class I alpha-chain refolding assay. Four peptides with binding affinity for HLA-B*4403 were chosen for in vitro cytotoxic T-lymphocyte induction assays using as antigen-presenting cells peptide-pulsed, autologous activated B lymphoblasts from a healthy, B*4403+ donor. Peptide-specific effectors could be raised only against one peptide, M3-167. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for this peptide were also able to recognize melanoma cell lines expressing HLA-B44 and the gene MAGE-3, strongly suggesting that M3-167 is a naturally processed MAGE-3-encoded epitope presented by HLA-B44. M3-167 is a I amino acid N-terminal extension of M3-168, a naturally processed epitope MAGE-3-encoded epitope presented by HLA-A1 that has been previously described. TAP binding studies of these 2 peptides revealed that the TAP affinity of M3-167 is about 9-fold higher than that of M3-168. M3-167 or a longer precursor could be transported into the endoplasmatic reticulum, where it could be trimmed for presentation by HLA-A1 or -B44 molecules. Taken together, our data suggest that M3-167 could be an immunodominant peptide encoded by the gene MAGE-3.
authors.affiliation: Gene Therapy Program, Department of Biology and Biotechnology (DIBIT), Istituto Scientifico H.S. Raffaele, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fleischhauer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fruci
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Endert
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanzarella
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Wallny
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coulie
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bordignon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Traversari
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D059948:HLA-B44 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D059948:HLA-B44 Antigen; C072013:MAGEA3 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D010455:Peptides