Melanoma antigen family A4 protein produced by transgenic silkworms induces antitumor immune responses

作者：Motokawa Yoko; Kokubo Michifumi; Kuwabara Nobuo; Tatematsu Ken Ichiro; Sezutsu Hideki; Takahashi Hideyuki; Sakakura Koichi; Chikamatsu Kazuaki^*; Takeda Shigeki^*

来源：Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 2018, 15(3): 2512-2518.

DOI：10.3892/etm.2018.5703

• transgenic silkworms
• cancer vaccine
• melanoma antigen family A4

Recent clinical trials with the aim of developing tumor antigen (TA)-specific cancer vaccines against a number of malignancies have focused on the identification of TAs presented by tumor cells and recognized by T cells. In the present study, the TA melanoma antigen family A4 (MAGE-A4) protein was produced using a transgenic (TG) silkworm system. Using in vitro stimulation, it was subsequently determined whether MAGE-A4 protein induced MAGE-A4-specific T cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy donors. TG silkworm lines expressing a MAGE-A4 gene under an upstream activating sequence (UAS) were mated with those expressing a yeast transcription activator protein (GAL4) at the middle silk glands (MSGs) and embryos that harbored both the GAL4 and UAS constructs were selected. Recombinant MAGE-A4 protein was extracted from the MSGs of TG silkworms and evaluated using SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis. It was observed that MAGE-A4 produced by the TG silkworm system successfully induced MAGE-A4-specific CD4(+) T cell responses. Furthermore, MAGE-A4-specific CD4(+) T cells recognized antigen-presenting cells when pulsed with a MAGE-A4(+) tumor cell lysate. The present data suggests that recombinant tumor antigen production using the TG silkworm system may be a novel tool in the preparation of cancer vaccines.

• 出版日期2018-3