• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.912-922
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• 2011

Cancer-testis (CT) antigens are immunogenic protein antigens with restricted expression in the testes and a wide range of human tumor types, eliciting both humoral and cellular immune responses in cancer patients. They are considered to be ideal targets for vaccine-based immunotherapy, and more than 100 CT antigens, including MAGE, NY-ESO-1, GAGE, BAGE, LAGE, SSX2 and NY-SAR-35 have been identified to date. The CT antigens were identified through various techniques and can be divided in those that are encoded on the X chromosome, the CT-X genes, and those that are not, the non-X-CT genes. CT genes are aberrantly activated and expressed in a proportion of various types of human cancers. The biological role of CT-X in both germ line tissues and tumors remains poorly understood. Cancer vaccine trials based on several CT antigens are currently ongoing. This paper reviews recent advances in and future trends of CT antigens for cancer immunotherapy.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.886-891
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• 2009

Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are immunogenic in cancer patients, exhibit highly tissue-restricted expression, and are considered promising target molecules for cancer vaccines. We investigated the expression of 13 CT genes in 29 Korean patients with primary breast carcinoma. The most frequently expressed CT genes were MAGE-3 (66%) and MAGE-1 (57%), followed by LAGE-1 (55%), NY-SAR-35 (49%), MAGE-4 (41%), NY-ESO-1 (38%), CT-7 (24%) and SSX-4 (24%), whereas SSX-1, SSX-2, MAGE-10 and NY-TLU-57 were found to be expressed significantly less often (3-7%) and SCP-l not all. Expression of at least one antigen was observed in 28 breast cancer samples. Immunohistochemistry was performed for NY-ESO-l and MAGE-3 protein expression in breast tumor samples. NY-ESO-l and MAGE-3 proteins were expressed in 11 of 29 (38%) and 12 of 29 (41 %) breast tumors. Our results suggest that CT antigens may be potential candidates for polyvalent immunotherapy in Korean breast cancer patients.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2001

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.600-610
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• 2008

A cancer-associated antigen gene (CAGE) was identified by serological analysis of a recombinant cDNA expression library (SEREX). The gene was identified by screening cDNA expression libraries of human testis and gastric cancer cell lines with sera from patients with gastric cancer. CAGE was found to contain a D-E-A-D box domain and encodes a putative protein of 630 amino acids with possible helicase activity. The CAGE gene is widely expressed in various cancer tissues and cancer cell lines. Demethylation plays a role in the activation of CAGE in certain cancer cell lines where the gene is not expressed. The functional roles of CAGE in tumorigenesis, the molecular mechanisms of CAGE expression, and cell motility are also discussed.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.101-111
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• 2020

Coiled-coil domain containing 110 (CCDC110, KM-HN-1) is a protein containing C-terminal coiled-coil domain (CCD) which was previously discovered as a member of the human cancer/testis antigen (CTA). In addition, CCDC110 has both nuclear localization signal sequence and the leucine zipper motif. Although the functional role of CCDC110 has yet to be fully identified, the mRNA expression levels of CCDC110 are known to be highly elevated in various cancer types including testis, implying its relevance to cancer pathogenesis. In this study, we first developed several monoclonal antibody (mAb) hybridoma clones targeting CCDC110 and further isolated clone by characterizing for its specificity using immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation approaches with basal parenchymal sperm cells in testis tissue. Next, using these mAbs, we showed that the Tet-inducible overexpression of CCDC110 protein delayed the entry of G2/M phase in U2-OS osteosarcoma cells. Based on these results, we propose that CCDC110 plays a crucial role in cell cycle progression.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.8 s.88
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• pp.1082-1089
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• 2007

Serological anlysis of recombinant cDNA expression libraries (SEREX) has led to identification of several categories of new antigens recognized by the immune system of cancer patients, which are referred to as the cancer immunome. We analyzed normal testis cDNA expression libraries with serumobtained from non-small lung cancer patient and isolated 40 distinct antigen designated KP-LuT-1 through KP-LuT-40. Among these antigens 20 antigens were previously identified by SEREX analysis of other tumor types, and 20 out of 40 antigens (50%) did not match entries in Cancer Immunome Database and were considered newly identified antigens. Sequencing analysis showed that the anti-gens comprised 26 functional known proteins and 14 noble/uncharacterized gene products. Of these, the hypothetical protein KP-LuT-6 was shown tissue-restricted. RT-PCR showed it to be expressed strongly only in normal testis. In addition to normal tissues-restricted expression, KP-LuT-6 mRNA was detected in lung tumor samples(3/l0), stomach tumor samples(3/l0), and breast tumor samples(l/5), whereas not detected in colon tumor samples(O/I2). These data suggest that KP-LuT-6 is a cancer/testis (CT)-like antigen as a potential target for cancer immunotherapies.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.326.1-326.1
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• 2002

We applied serological analysis of cDNA expression library technique to identify cancer-associated genes. We screened cDNA expression libraries of human testis and gastric cancer cell lines with sera of patients with gastric cancers. We identified a gene whose expression is testis-specific among normal tissues. We cloned and characterized this novel gene. It contains D-E-A-D box domain and encodes a putative protein of 630 amino acids with possible helicase activity. It showed wide expression in various cancer tissues and cancer cell lines. (omitted)

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7703-7705
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• 2014

Cancer-testis (CT) antigens are a group of tumor-associated antigens with restricted expression in normal tissues except for testis and expression in a wide variety of tumor tissues. This pattern of expression makes them suitable targets for immunotherapy as well as potential biomarkers for early detection of cancer. However, some genes attributed to this family are now known to be expressed in other normal tissues which put their potential applications in immunotherapy and cancer detection under question. Here we analyzed expression of two previously known CT antigens, RHOXF2 and PIWIL2, in AML patients versus normal donors and found no significant difference in the expression of these genes between the two groups. As these two genes showed expression in normal leukocytes, their expression pattern seems to be wider than to be attributed to the CT gene family. Future research should focus on the expression profiles of so called CT antigens to find those with more testis specific expression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.3079-3081
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• 2015

Cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) are a group of tumor associated antigens with a restricted expression pattern in normal gametogenic tissues but expression in a broad range of malignancies. Their expression pattern has made them potential targets for immunotherapy. However, expression of some of these antigens has been demonstrated in normal stem cells as well as cancer stem cells (CSCs). As CSCs have been shown to be sources of metastasis and tumor recurrence, novel therapies are being focused on their eradication. On the other hand, CTA expression in normal stem cells raises the possibility that CTA based immunotherapies cause side effects in normal tissues.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.367-375
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• 2006

We previously identified a novel cancer/testis antigen gene CAGE by screening cDNA expression libraries of human testis and gastric cancer cell lines with sera of gastric cancer patients. CAGE is expressed in many cancers and cancer cell lines, but not in normal tissues apart from the testis. In the present study, we investigated its role in the motility of cells of two human cancer cell lines: HeLa and the human hepatic cancer cell line, SNU387. Induction of CAGE by tetracycline or transient transfection enhanced the migration and invasiveness of HeLa cells, but not the adhesiveness of either cell line. Overexpression of CAGE led to activation of ERK and p38 MAPK but not Akt, and inhibition of ERK by PD98059 or p38 MAPK by SB203580 counteracted the CAGE-promoted increase in motility in both cell lines. Overexpression of CAGE also resulted in a reduction of ROS and an increase of ROS scavenging, associated with induction of catalase activity. Inhibition of ERK and p38 MAPK increased ROS levels in cells transfected with CAGE, suggesting that ROS reduce the motility of both cell lines. Inhibition of ERK and p38 MAPK reduced the induction of catalase activity resulting from overexpression of CAGE, and inhibition of catalase reduced CAGE-promoted motility. We conclude that CAGE enhances the motility of cancer cells by activating ERK and p38 MAPK, inducing catalase activity, and reducing ROS levels.