title: Identification of a sperm protein 17 CTL epitope restricted by HLA-A1.
abstract: Sperm protein 17 (Sp17) is a novel cancer-testis antigen. We previously reported the successful generation of Sp17-specific HLA-A1-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) from the peripheral blood of a healthy donor using a recombinant Sp17 protein. These CTLs were able to kill not only target cells pulsed with the recombinant protein but also fresh Sp17+ tumor cells. In the present study, we have identified a nonapeptide sequence within the Sp17 protein that is predicted to have a high binding affinity for the HLA-A1 molecules. We generated the synthetic nonapeptide and successfully propagated a peptide-specific CTL line. We confirmed that peptide Sp17(103-111) (ILDSSEEDK) contains an Sp17 CTL epitope restricted by HLA-A1 and identified amino acid residues 104, 107, 109 and 110 as crucial for the CTL lysis. Our findings therefore provide the tool for the characterization of CD8 T-cell function in vivo and generation of epitope-specific treatment strategies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Amarillo, Texas 79106, USA.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiriva-Internati
authors.forename: Zhiqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pochopien
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salati
authors.forename: Seah H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis*; D015788:HLA-A1 Antigen / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D013094:Spermatozoa; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D015788:HLA-A1 Antigen; D010446:Peptide Fragments