Vaxil BioTherapeutics Ltd., Weizmann Science Park, Nes-Ziona, Israel.
Department of Cell Research and Immunology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
PLoS One. 2014 Jan 8;9(1):e85400. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085400. eCollection 2014.
The MUC1 tumor associated antigen is highly expressed on a range of tumors. Its broad distribution on primary tumors and metastases renders it an attractive target for immunotherapy. After synthesis MUC1 is cleaved, yielding a large soluble extracellular alpha subunit containing the tandem repeats array (TRA) domain specifically bound, via non-covalent interaction, to a smaller beta subunit containing the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. Thus far, inconclusive efficacy has been reported for anti-MUC1 antibodies directed against the soluble alpha subunit. Targeting the cell bound beta subunit, may bypass limitations posed by circulating TRA domains. MUC1's signal peptide (SP) domain promiscuously binds multiple MHC class II and Class I alleles, which upon vaccination, generated robust T-cell immunity against MUC1-positive tumors. This is a first demonstration of non-MHC associated, MUC1 specific, cell surfaces presence for MUC1 SP domain. Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies generated against MUC1 SP domain specifically bind a large variety of MUC1-positive human solid and haematological tumor cell lines; MUC1-positive bone marrow derived plasma cells obtained from multiple myeloma (MM)-patients, but not MUC1 negative tumors cells, and normal naive primary blood and epithelial cells. Membranal MUC1 SP appears mainly as an independent entity but also co-localized with the full MUC1 molecule. MUC1-SP specific binding in BM-derived plasma cells can assist in selecting patients to be treated with anti-MUC1 SP therapeutic vaccine, ImMucin. A therapeutic potential of the anti-MUC1 SP antibodies was suggested by their ability to support of complement-mediated lysis of MUC1-positive tumor cells but not MUC1 negative tumor cells and normal naive primary epithelial cells. These findings suggest a novel cell surface presence of MUC1 SP domain, a potential therapeutic benefit for anti-MUC1 SP antibodies in MUC1-positive tumors and a selection tool for MM patients to be treated with the anti-MUC1 SP vaccine, ImMucin.
MUC1 肿瘤相关抗原在多种肿瘤中高度表达。其在原发性肿瘤和转移瘤中的广泛分布使其成为免疫治疗的理想靶点。MUC1 合成后被切割,产生一个大的可溶性细胞外α亚单位,该亚单位通过非共价相互作用特异性结合含有跨膜和细胞质结构域的较小β亚单位。到目前为止,针对可溶性α亚单位的抗 MUC1 抗体的疗效尚无定论。针对细胞结合的β亚单位的靶向治疗可能绕过循环 TRA 结构域带来的限制。MUC1 的信号肽(SP)结构域杂乱地结合多种 MHC Ⅱ类和Ⅰ类等位基因,通过接种疫苗,针对 MUC1 阳性肿瘤产生了强大的 T 细胞免疫。这是首次证明 MUC1 SP 结构域在非 MHC 相关的、MUC1 特异性的细胞表面存在。针对 MUC1 SP 结构域产生的多克隆和单克隆抗体特异性结合多种 MUC1 阳性的人实体瘤和血液肿瘤细胞系;多发性骨髓瘤(MM)患者来源的骨髓浆细胞中的 MUC1 阳性,但 MUC1 阴性肿瘤细胞和正常原始血液和上皮细胞没有。膜 MUC1 SP 主要表现为独立实体,但也与完整的 MUC1 分子共定位。BM 来源的浆细胞中 MUC1-SP 的特异性结合可以帮助选择接受抗 MUC1 SP 治疗性疫苗 ImMucin 治疗的患者。抗 MUC1 SP 抗体的治疗潜力在于其支持补体介导的 MUC1 阳性肿瘤细胞而不是 MUC1 阴性肿瘤细胞和正常原始上皮细胞的裂解能力。这些发现表明 MUC1 SP 结构域存在新的细胞表面,抗 MUC1 SP 抗体在 MUC1 阳性肿瘤中有潜在的治疗益处,并且是 MM 患者接受抗 MUC1 SP 疫苗 ImMucin 治疗的选择工具。