A MAGE-A4 peptide presented by HLA-B37 is recognized on human tumors by cytolytic T lymphocytes.
'Cancer-germline' genes such as those of the MAGE family are expressed in many tumors and in male germline cells, but are silent in normal tissues. They encode shared tumor-specific antigens, which have been used in therapeutic vaccination trials of cancer patients. MAGE-A4 is expressed in more than 50% of carcinomas of esophagus, head and neck, lung, and bladder. We report here the identification of a new MAGE-A4 encoded peptide, which is recognized by a cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) clone on HLA-B*3701. The sequence of the peptide is SESLKMIF. It corresponds to the MAGE-A4156-163 protein sequence. When tumor cells expressing MAGE-A4 were transfected with HLA-B*3701, they were recognized by the CTL clone, demonstrating that the peptide ought to be processed in tumor cells and could therefore serve as a target for therapeutic antitumoral vaccination.
Zhang
Y
Y
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, 74 Avenue Hippocrate, UCL 74.59, Brussels, Belgium.
Stroobant
V
V
Russo
V
V
Boon
T
T
van der Bruggen
P
P
D017951:Antigen Presentation / Q000276:immunology; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D059912:HLA-B37 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D059912:HLA-B37 Antigen; C095204:MAGEA4 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins