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BAGE: a new gene encoding an antigen recognized on human melanomas by cytolytic T lymphocytes

1995; Cell Press; Volume: 2; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s1074-7613(95)80053-0

1097-4180

Pascale Boël, Claude Wildmann, Marialuisa Sensi, Robert Brasseur, Jean‐Christophe Renauld, Pierre G. Coulie, Thierry Boon, Pierre van der Bruggen,

vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches

Several tumor antigens are recognized by autologous cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) on human melanoma MZ2-MEL. Some of them are encoded by genes MAGE-1 and MAGE-3, which are not expressed in normal tissues except in testis. Here, we report the identification of a new gene that codes for another of these antigens. This gene, named BAGE, codes for a putative protein of 43 aa and seems to belong to a family of several genes. The antigen recognized by the autologous CTL consists of BAGE-encoded peptide AARAVFLAL bound to an HLA-Cw 1601 molecule. Gene BAGE is expressed in 22% of melanomas, 30% of infiltrating bladder carcinomas, 10% of mammary carcinomas, 8% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, and 6% of non-small cell lung carcinomas. Like the MAGE genes, it is silent in normal tissues with the exception of testis. Because of its tumor-specific expression, the BAGE-encoded antigen may prove useful for cancer immunotherapy.