title: Differences in phenotype and function between spontaneously occurring melan-A-, tyrosinase- and influenza matrix peptide-specific CTL in HLA-A*0201 melanoma patients.
abstract: Melanoma-specific T cells can occur spontaneously or in response to vaccination or other therapies, but the frequency is much lower than observed in viral infections. The presence of tumor-specific T cells does not necessarily translate into clinical regressions for a variety of reasons such as an insufficient frequency, activation state or homing capacity of the T cells or escape strategies of the tumor. Having screened melanoma patients prior to inclusion in vaccination trials for spontaneous tumor-specific T cells either by Elispot or tetramer-staining, we have identified 3 patients with sufficient numbers of tumor-reactive T cells to more than 1 TAA and at least 1 virus-antigen to perform phenotypic and functional analysis directly ex vivo. These stage IV melanoma patients showed specific CTL against melan-A.A2, tyrosinase.A2 and influenza matrix peptide (IMP).A2 readily detectable in peripheral blood. T-cell receptor (TCR) staining using the tetramer technology was combined with phenotypic characterization and functional assays. In contrast to IMP-specific CTL, melanoma-specific CTL were predominantly terminally differentiated effector cells. However, analysis of melan-A- and tyrosinase-specific T-cell lines showed that only a part of the melanoma-specific CTL were able to lyse peptide-loaded target cells. Interestingly, the described phenotypic and functional differences of melan-A- and tyrosinase-specific CTL appeared not only between patients but were also evident within patients, suggesting that the immune response against various tumor antigens is regulated independently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maczek
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schuler-Thurner
authors.forename: Erwin S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.forename: Anett
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamann
authors.forename: P Rod
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Dunbar
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cerundolo
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinkasserer
authors.forename: Gerold
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schuler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D058965:MART-1 Antigen; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; C435939:HLA-A*02:01 antigen; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen; D058965:MART-1 Antigen; C548667:MLANA protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments