title: Potential mouse tumor model for pre-clinical testing of mage-specific breast cancer vaccines.
abstract: Currently, there is a lack of suitable pre-clinical mouse models for testing and optimization of experimental cancer vaccines. Here, in situ developed mammary tumors of MMTV-v-Ha-ras and MMTV-c-myc transgenic mice and normal mammary, liver, spleen, and testis were screened for expression of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) Mage-b1/2/3 by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Southern blot hybridization. Mage-b1/2/3 are homologues of the human TAA MAGE-B1/2/3. Expression of these human MAGE genes has been found in tumors of various histological types, including breast cancer. Mage-specific RT-PCR products (using primers that amplify all three Mage-b1/2/3) were detected in mammary tumors of the MMTV-v-Ha-ras and MMTV-c-myc transgenic mice and in testis, but not in other normal tissues. RT-PCR products obtained from the mammary tumors (using primers that amplify the complete protein-encoding region of Mage-b1/2/3) were cloned and sequenced, and appeared to be most homologous with Mage-b3. Comparison of the Mage-b3 gene in mammary tumors and normal tissues suggest that somatic mutations did not occur in the Mage-b3 gene of the ras- and myc-induced mammary tumors. In addition, no differences were found between the Mage-b3 cDNA of testis, the only normal tissue that expresses Mage-b3, and Mage-b3 in genomic DNA of normal kidney, where Mage-b3 is silent. The MMTV-v-Ha-ras and MMTV-c-myc transgenic mice of this study are the first immune competent mouse models with in situ developed mammary tumors in which the expression of Mage-b3 TAA has been demonstrated. This makes them potentially suitable as a mouse model for pre-clinical testing of Mage-specific cancer vaccines in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Therapy and Research Center, Institute for Drug Development, San Antonio, TX 78245, USA.
authors.forename: Roza K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Sypniewska
authors.forename: Lieve
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hoflack
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bearss
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gravekamp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; C072013:MAGEA3 protein, human; C097488:MAGEB1 protein, human; C072012:MAGEB2 protein, human; C512965:Mageb2 protein, mouse; C489519:Mageb3 protein, mouse; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins