A search for novel cancer/testis antigens in lung cancer identifies VCX/Y genes, expanding the repertoire of potential immunotherapeutic targets

Authors:
Taguchi A1, Taylor AD2, Rodriguez J3, Celiktas M4, Liu H, Ma X, Zhang Q, Wong CH, Chin A, Girard L, Behrens C, Lam WL, Lam S , Minna JD, Wistuba II, Gazdar AF, Hanash SM.
In:
Source: Cancer Res
Publication Date: (2014)
Issue: 74(17): 4694-705
Research Area:
Cancer Research/Cell Biology
Basic Research
Cells used in publication:
SMC, airway (HASM), human
Species: human
Tissue Origin: lung
Experiment
HSAEC1-KT cell line used with SAGM
Abstract
Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are potential immunotherapeutic targets in cancer. However, the expression of particular antigens is limited to a subset of tumors of a given type. Thus, there is a need to identify antigens with complementary expression patterns for effective therapeutic intervention. In this study, we searched for genes that were distinctly expressed at a higher level in lung tumor tissue and the testes compared with other nontumor tissues and identified members of the VCX/Y gene family as novel CT antigens. VCX3A, a member of the VCX/Y gene family, was expressed at the protein level in approximately 20% of lung adenocarcinomas and 35% of squamous cell carcinomas, but not expressed in normal lung tissues. Among CT antigens with concordant mRNA and protein expression levels, four CT antigens, XAGE1, VCX, IL13RA2, and SYCE1, were expressed, alone or in combination, in about 80% of lung adenocarcinoma tumors. The CT antigen VCX/Y gene family broadens the spectrum of CT antigens expressed in lung adenocarcinomas for clinical applications.