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Cesson V, Rivals JP, Escher A, Piotet E, Thielemans K, Posevitz V, Dojcinovic D, Monnier P, Speiser D, Bron L, Romero P. MAGE-A3 and MAGE-A4 specific CD4(+) T cells in head and neck cancer patients: detection of naturally acquired responses and identification of new epitopes. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2011; 60:23-35. [PMID: 20857101 PMCID: PMC11028544 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-010-0916-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2010] [Accepted: 08/31/2010] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Frequent expression of cancer testis antigens (CTA) has been consistently observed in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). For instance, in 52 HNSCC patients, MAGE-A3 and -A4 CTA were expressed in over 75% of tumors, regardless of the sites of primary tumors such as oral cavity or hypopharynx. Yet, T-cell responses against these CTA in tumor-bearing patients have not been investigated in detail. In this study, we assessed the naturally acquired T-cell response against MAGE-A3 and -A4 in nonvaccinated HNSCC patients. Autologous antigen-presenting cells pulsed with overlapping peptide pools were used to detect and isolate MAGE-A3 and MAGE-A4 specific CD4(+) T cells from healthy donors and seven head and neck cancer patients. CD4(+) T-cell clones were characterized by cytokine secretion. We could detect and isolate MAGE-A3 and MAGE-A4 specific CD4(+) T cells from 7/7 cancer patients analyzed. Moreover, we identified six previously described and three new epitopes for MAGE-A3. Among them, the MAGE-A3(111-125) and MAGE-A3(161-175) epitopes were shown to be naturally processed and presented by DC in association with HLA-DP and DR, respectively. All of the detected MAGE-A4 responses were specific for new helper epitopes. These data suggest that naturally acquired CD4(+) T-cell responses against CT antigens often occur in vivo in HNSCC cancer patients and provide a rationale for the development of active immunotherapeutic approaches in this type of tumor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valérie Cesson
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd., Lausanne Branch, University Hospital (CHUV), Hôpital Orthopédique Niv. 5, aile est, Av. Pierre Decker 4, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Paul Rivals
- Service of Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Anette Escher
- Service of Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Elsa Piotet
- Service of Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Kris Thielemans
- Department of Physiology-Immunology, Medical School of the Vrje Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Vilmos Posevitz
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd., Lausanne Branch, University Hospital (CHUV), Hôpital Orthopédique Niv. 5, aile est, Av. Pierre Decker 4, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Danijel Dojcinovic
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd., Lausanne Branch, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Monnier
- Service of Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Speiser
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd., Lausanne Branch, University Hospital (CHUV), Hôpital Orthopédique Niv. 5, aile est, Av. Pierre Decker 4, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Luc Bron
- Service of Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pedro Romero
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd., Lausanne Branch, University Hospital (CHUV), Hôpital Orthopédique Niv. 5, aile est, Av. Pierre Decker 4, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
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Marturano J, Longhi R, Casorati G, Protti MP. MAGE-A3(161-175) contains an HLA-DRbeta4 restricted natural epitope poorly formed through indirect presentation by dendritic cells. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2008; 57:207-15. [PMID: 17628799 PMCID: PMC11030650 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-007-0364-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2007] [Accepted: 06/20/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
We report here that HLA-DRbeta4*01 restricted MAGE-A3(161-175 )specific CD4(+) T cells from a healthy donor recognize a naturally processed epitope formed through the exogenous but not the endogenous pathway. However, the intensity of recognition of the native epitope by MAGE-A3(161-175 )specific CD4(+) T cells strongly depends on the antigen presenting cells and the amount of protein available for processing. EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells (LCLs) and melanoma cells engineered to express MAGE-A3 in the endosomal/lysosomal compartment were strongly recognized while autologous dendritic cells loaded with lysate from MAGE-A3 expressing cells were, although significantly, poorly recognized. To prove that the amount of antigen available for processing was a key factor determining the different response LCLs were sorted by MAGE-A3 expression. The response intensity correlated with the amount of MAGE-A3 expressed by the cells. Collectively, these results suggest that different antigen presenting cells with different amount of antigen available for processing as well as protease activity are important factors in determining the epitope repertoire produced in vivo, and therefore reliable tools should be used when testing recognition of native epitopes by peptide specific CD4(+) T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill Marturano
- Tumor Immunology Unit, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Renato Longhi
- CNR-Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Casorati
- Experimental Immunology Unit, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Abstract
The detection of occult metastatic breast cancer cells by RT-PCR is limited by the poor specificity of most tumour mRNA markers. MAGE-A3 is a highly specific tumour mRNA marker that is not expressed in non-cancer cells. This study assesses MAGE-A3 mRNA as a molecular marker for the detection of tumour cells in the sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) of breast cancer patients. Serial frozen sections of SLN (n = 121) were obtained from 77 AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) Stage I-IIIA breast cancer patients. MAGE-A3 mRNA analysis of SLN was performed by RT-PCR and Southern blot analysis. Tumour cells were detected in 48 of 121 (40%) SLN from 77 patients by H&E or IHC staining, and 35 of 77 (45%) patients, overall, had histopathologically (H&E and/or IHC) positive SLN. Among histopathologically negative SLN, 28 of 73 (38%) SLN were MAGE-A3 mRNA positive by RT-PCR. Overall, 41 of 77 (53%) patients and 50 of 121 (41%) SLN were positive for MAGE-A3. MAGE-A3 mRNA expression in the SLN occurred more frequently with infiltrating lobular carcinoma (P < 0.001) than with infiltrating ductal carcinoma, adding further evidence of possible phenotypic differences between these 2 subtypes of breast cancer. Due to its high specificity, MAGE-A3 mRNA is a potentially useful marker for detecting breast cancer cells in the SLN. One half of breast tumours expressed MAGE-A3 mRNA, which has important potential implications for antigen-specific targeted immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- R A Wascher
- Department of Molecular Oncology, John Wayne Cancer Institute, Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA
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