title: BAP31, a promising target for the immunotherapy of malignant melanomas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Malignant melanoma's (MM) incidence is rising faster than that of any other cancer in the US and the overall survival at 5 years is less than 10%. B cell associated protein 31 (BAP31) is overexpressed in most MMs and might be a promising target for immunotherapy of this disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Firstly, we investigated the expression profiles of human BAP31 (hBAP31) and mouse BAP31 (mBAP31) in human and mouse normal tissues, respectively. The expression level of hBAP31 in human MMs and mBAP31 in B16 melanoma cells was also analyzed. Then we constructed novel mBAP31 DNA vaccines and tested there ability to stimulate mBAP31-specific immune responses and antitumor immunity in B16 melanoma-bearing mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the first time, we found that protein expression of hBAP31 were dramatically upregulated in human MMs when compared with human normal tissues. Predominant protein expression of mBAP31 was found in mouse B16 melanoma cells but not in mouse important organs. When mice were immunized with mBAP31 DNA vaccines, strong cellular response to mBAP31 was observed in the vaccinated mice. CTLs isolated from immunized mice could effectively kill mBAP31-positive target mouse B16 melanoma tumor cells in vitro and vaccination with mBAP31 DNA vaccines had potent anti-tumor activity in therapeutic model using B16 melanoma cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These are the first data supporting a vaccine targeting BAP31 that is capable of inducing effective immunity against BAP31-expressing MMs and will be applicable to human MMs and hBAP31 DNA vaccine warrants investigation in human clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. ysj029@163.com.|Department of Cardiology, First Hospital of Xi,an, 30 Fenxiang, Xi'an, 710003, People Republic of China. ysj029@163.com.
authors.forename: Shaojuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Xijing Hospital, 125 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. wangful@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Fuli
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. xxfanny@fmmu.edu.cn.|Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. xxfanny@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. Weiyy@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. 40399116@qq.com.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. syjfly@163.com.
authors.forename: Yuanjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. agyang@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Angang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. immu-jin@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Boquan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. cj6005@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chaojun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, People Republic of China. yangkunkun@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008546:Melanoma, Experimental; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D040901:Proteomics; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination; D019444:Vaccines, DNA
chemical_list: C091247:BCAP31 protein, human; C489642:Bcap31 protein, mouse; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D019444:Vaccines, DNA