Identification of a novel cancer-specific immunodominant glycopeptide epitope in the MUC1 tandem repeat

Glycobiology. 2007 Feb;17(2):197-209. doi: 10.1093/glycob/cwl061. Epub 2006 Oct 18.

Abstract

The cell membrane mucin MUC1 is over-expressed and aberrantly glycosylated in many cancers, and cancer-associated MUC1 glycoforms represent potential targets for immunodiagnostic and therapeutic measures. We have recently shown that MUC1 with GalNAcalpha1-O-Ser/Thr (Tn) and NeuAcalpha2-6GalNAcalpha1-O-Ser/Thr (STn) O-glycosylation is a cancer-specific glycoform, and that Tn/STn-MUC1 glycopeptide-based vaccines can override tolerance in human MUC1 transgenic mice and induce humoral immunity with high specificity for MUC1 cancer-specific glycoforms (Sorensen AL, Reis CA, Tarp MA, Mandel U, Ramachandran K, Sankaranarayanan V, Schwientek T, Graham R, Taylor-Papadimitriou J, Hollingsworth MA, et al. 2006. Chemoenzymatically synthesized multimeric Tn/STn MUC1 glycopeptides elicit cancer-specific anti-MUC1 antibody responses and override tolerance. Glycobiology. 16:96-107). In order to further characterize the immune response to Tn/STn-MUC1 glycoforms, we generated monoclonal antibodies with specificity similar to the polyclonal antibody response found in transgenic mice. In the present study, we define the immunodominant epitope on Tn/STn-MUC1 glycopeptides to the region including the amino acids GSTA of the MUC1 20-amino acid tandem repeat (HGVTSAPDTRPAPGSTAPPA). Most other MUC1 antibodies are directed to the PDTR region, although patients with antibodies to the GSTA region have been identified. A panel of other MUC1 glycoform-specific monoclonal antibodies was included for comparison. The study demonstrates that the GSTA region of the MUC1 tandem repeat contains a highly immunodominant epitope when presented with immature short O-glycans. The cancer-specific expression of this glycopeptide epitope makes it a prime candidate for immunodiagnostic and therapeutic measures.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology
  • Epitope Mapping
  • Female
  • Glycopeptides / chemistry
  • Glycopeptides / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immune Sera / immunology
  • Immunodominant Epitopes / chemistry*
  • Immunodominant Epitopes / immunology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mucin-1 / chemistry
  • Mucin-1 / immunology*
  • Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Repetitive Sequences, Amino Acid

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Glycopeptides
  • Immune Sera
  • Immunodominant Epitopes
  • Mucin-1