A testicular antigen aberrantly expressed in human cancers detected by autologous antibody screening

YT Chen, MJ Scanlan, U Sahin… - Proceedings of the …, 1997 - National Acad Sciences
YT Chen, MJ Scanlan, U Sahin, Ö Türeci, AO Gure, S Tsang, B Williamson, E Stockert…
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1997National Acad Sciences
Ser ological analysis of re combinant cDNA ex pression libraries (SEREX) using tumor
mRNA and autologous patient serum provides a powerful approach to identify immunogenic
tumor antigens. We have applied this methodology to a case of esophageal squamous cell
carcinoma and identified several candidate tumor targets. One of these, NY-ESO-1, showed
restricted mRNA expression in normal tissues, with high-level mRNA expression found only
in testis and ovary tissues. Reverse transcription–PCR analysis showed NY-ESO-1 mRNA …
Serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression libraries (SEREX) using tumor mRNA and autologous patient serum provides a powerful approach to identify immunogenic tumor antigens. We have applied this methodology to a case of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and identified several candidate tumor targets. One of these, NY-ESO-1, showed restricted mRNA expression in normal tissues, with high-level mRNA expression found only in testis and ovary tissues. Reverse transcription–PCR analysis showed NY-ESO-1 mRNA expression in a variable proportion of a wide array of human cancers, including melanoma, breast cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. NY-ESO-1 encodes a putative protein of Mr 17,995 having no homology with any known protein. The pattern of NY-ESO-1 expression indicates that it belongs to an expanding family of immunogenic testicular antigens that are aberrantly expressed in human cancers in a lineage-nonspecific fashion. These antigens, initially detected by either cytotoxic T cells (MAGE, BAGE, GAGE-1) or antibodies [HOM-MEL-40(SSX2), NY-ESO-1], represent a pool of antigenic targets for cancer vaccination.
National Acad Sciences