title: A new melanoma antigen fatty acid-binding protein 7, involved in proliferation and invasion, is a potential target for immunotherapy and molecular target therapy.
abstract: The identification of molecules that are preferentially expressed in melanoma cells and involved in their malignant phenotypes is important for understanding melanoma biology and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods. By comparing the expression profile of a melanoma cell line with those of various normal tissues using GeneChip and by confirming the actual expression of the selected genes by reverse transcription-PCR and Northern and Western blot analyses, fatty acid-binding protein 7 (FABP7), which is frequently expressed in melanomas, was identified. Immunohistochemical examination revealed that FABP7 was expressed in 11 of 15 melanoma tissues. By down-regulating the FABP7 expression with FABP7-specific small interfering RNAs, in vitro cell proliferation and Matrigel invasion were suppressed in two of six melanoma cell lines. Overexpression of FABP7 in a FABP7-negative embryonic kidney cell line 293T by transfecting with the FABP7 cDNA resulted in enhanced cell proliferation and Matrigel invasion, indicating that FABP7 plays a role in the malignant phenotype of some melanoma cell lines. IgG antibodies specific for the phage or bacterial recombinant FABP7 protein were detected in 14 of 25 (56%) or in 8 of 31 (26%) sera from melanoma patients, respectively, but not in sera from healthy individuals, indicating that FABP7 is an immunogenic antigen in melanoma patients. These results showed that FABP7 is frequently expressed in melanoma, may be involved in cell proliferation and invasion, and may be a potential target for development of diagnostic and therapeutic methods.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cellular Signaling, Institute for Advanced Medical Research, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinanomachi, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasufumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurihara
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aburatani
authors.forename: Dave S B
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Hoon
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saida
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawakami
mesh_terms: D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; C107608:FABP7 protein, human; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins