title: Mesothelin, a possible target for immunotherapy, is expressed in primary AML cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mesothelin is a promising candidate for tumor-specific therapy because of its limited expression in normal tissues and high expression in several cancers. The expression of the protein mesothelin in hematological malignancies has not yet been analyzed. SS1(dsFv)PE38 is a recombinant anti-mesothelin immunotoxin which is undergoing clinical evaluation in patients with mesothelin-expressing tumors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study we show that the mesothelin protein is expressed in leukemic cells from children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This finding was confirmed by western blot, immunocytochemistry and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Despite the expression of mesothelin, the patient samples were not sensitive to immunotoxin SS1(dsFv)PE38 in MTT assays.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Primary AML cells express mesothelin but SS1(dsFv)PE38 is not active in killing these cells. Other approaches that utilize mesothelin as a target might be more effective and should be tested against AML cells.
authors.affiliation: University Children's Hospital Jena, Germany. Daniel@Steinba.ch
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Steinbach
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onda
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dawczynski
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wittig
authors.forename: Raffit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gruhn
authors.forename: Ira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pastan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005260:Female; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007167:Immunotherapy; D000922:Immunotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007223:Infant; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000090204:Mesothelin; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction