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The Van den Eynde group identify a new CD8+ T-cell epitope of the MAGE-type P1A tumour antigen presented in a widely-used tumour model, opening new perspectives for mechanistic studies looking at MAGE-type specific anti-tumour immunity.

Melanoma Antigen Gene (MAGE)-type antigens are promising targets for cancer immunotherapy as they are almost exclusively expressed in cancer cells but not normal tissues, other than male germline cells. The model P1A antigen shares this MAGE-type expression pattern, and has been used previously as a target antigen in preclinical tumour models aiming to induce anti-tumour CD8+ T-cell responses against MAGE-type antigens.

James McAuliffe, Silvia Panetti and their colleagues in the Van den Eynde group and Carol Leung, now a group leader in the Centre for Immuno-Oncology employed a heterologous prime-boost vaccination strategy based on ChAdOx1) and a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) encoding P1A to induce P1A-specific T-cell responses in a popular cancer model. The vaccine-induced responses were measured and the vaccination was found for the first time to induce a strong P1A-specific CD8+ T-cell response in this model.

The team went on to identify the first CD8+ T-cell epitope of the MAGE-type P1A tumour antigens presented in this setting, and confirmed the anti-tumour capabilities of these antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses. With these findings, the team have opened new perspectives for studying MAGE-specific CD8+ T-cell responses, facilitating the advancement of specific cancer immunotherapies.

Please read the full article in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer