Noncoding regions are the main source of targetable tumor-specific antigens

Abstract

Tumor-specific antigens (TSAs) represent ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy, but few have been identified thus far. We therefore developed a proteogenomic approach to enable the high-throughput discovery of TSAs coded by potentially all genomic regions. In two murine cancer cell lines and seven human primary tumors, we identified a total of 40 TSAs, about 90% of which derived from allegedly noncoding regions and would have been missed by standard exome-based approaches. Moreover, most of these TSAs derived from nonmutated yet aberrantly expressed transcripts (such as endogenous retroelements) that could be shared by multiple tumor types. Last, we demonstrated that, in mice, the strength of antitumor responses after TSA vaccination was influenced by two parameters that can be estimated in humans and could serve for TSA prioritization in clinical studies - TSA expression and the frequency of TSA-responsive T cells in the preimmune repertoire. In conclusion, the strategy reported herein could considerably facilitate the identification and prioritization of actionable human TSAs.,

Publication
Science Translational Medicine
Mathieu Courcelles
Mathieu Courcelles
Étudiant au doctorat en bio-informatique (2008-2012 avec Pierre Thibault, IRIC)
Sébastien Lemieux
Sébastien Lemieux
Principal Investigator

Principal Investigator, Functional and Structural Bioinformatics Research Unit, IRIC | Scientific direction of the Bioinformatics platform | Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Université de Montréal