Dsb. Hoon et al., MELANOMA PATIENTS IMMUNIZED WITH MELANOMA CELL VACCINE INDUCE ANTIBODY-RESPONSES TO RECOMBINANT MAGE-1 ANTIGEN, The Journal of immunology, 154(2), 1995, pp. 730-737
The MAGE-1 gene was recently characterized to encode an immunogenic tu
mor Ag on several types of human tumors, including melanoma. This Ag i
s expressed in a wide variety of human tumors and not in normal cells,
except testicular tissue, as assessed through specific mRNA analysis.
In this study we cloned the MAGE-1 gene exon 3 region from a colon ca
rcinoma cell line and expressed it in Escherichia coli. The recombinan
t MAGE-1 protein was affinity purified. By using Western blot analysis
, IgG and IgM anti-MAGE-1 Abs were detected in the sera of melanoma pa
tients. Fifty-three patients immunized with a melanoma cell vaccine (M
CV) were assessed for anti-MAGE-1 IgG responses by using a MAGE-1 Ag-s
pecific ELISA. The MCV consisted of three melanoma cell lines that exp
ressed MAGE-1. Comparisons of anti-MAGE-1 IgG response pre-MCV treatme
nt with 12- to 16-wk post-MCV treatment were made. Fifty-seven percent
of the patients immunized with the MCV showed significant enhancement
of IgG response to recombinant MAGE-1 protein. Patients who responded
had no particular HLA-A or -B allele expression pattern. Melanoma pat
ients immunized with whole cell MCV containing MAGE-1 can enhance anti
-MAGE-1 IgG Abs. Recombinant MAGE-1 protein can be used to assess pati
ent response to MAGE-1 and will be investigated as a potential cancer
vaccine against a wide variety of human tumors that express MAGE-1.