Glycobiology Advance Access originally published online on March 20, 2007
Glycobiology 2007 17(6):620-630; doi:10.1093/glycob/cwm028
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Glycoengineering of
Gal xenoantigen on recombinant peptide bearing the J28 pancreatic oncofetal glycotope
2 INSERM UMR-777, Faculté de Médecine-Timone, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France
3 Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France
4 Cancéropôle PACA, Marseille, France
5 Lung Cancer Biology Group, Cancer Research UK, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospitals Campus, London, UK
1 To whom correspondence should be adressed; e-mail: eric.mas{at}medecine.univ-mrs.fr
Received on October 25, 2006; revised on March 7, 2007; accepted on March 7, 2007
In human pancreatic adenocarcinoma, alterations of glycosylation processes leads to the expression of tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens, representing potential targets for cancer immunotherapy. Among these pancreatic tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens, the J28 glycotope located within the O-glycosylated mucin-like C-terminal domain of the fetoacinar pancreatic protein (FAPP) and expressed at the surface of human tumoral tissues, can be a good target for anticancer therapeutic vaccines. However, the oncodevelopmental self character of the J28 glycotope associated with the low immunogenicity of tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens may be a major obstacle to effective anti-tumor vaccine therapy. In this study, we have investigated a method to increase the immunogenicity of the recombinant pancreatic oncofetal J28 glycotope by glycoengineering Gal
1,3Galß1,4GlcNAc-R (
Gal epitope) which may be recognized by natural anti-
Gal antibody present in humans. For this purpose, we have developed a stable Chinese hamster ovary cell clone expressing the
Gal epitope by transfecting the cDNA encoding the
1,3galactosyltransferase. These cells have been previously equipped to produce the recombinant O-glycosylated C-terminal domain of FAPP carrying the J28 glycotope. As a consequence, the C-terminal domain of FAPP produced by these cells carries the
Gal epitope on oligosaccharide structures associated with the J28 glycotope. Furthermore, we show that this recombinant "
1,3galactosyl and J28 glycotope" may not only be targeted by human natural anti-
Gal antibodies but also by the mAbJ28, suggesting that the J28 glycotope remains accessible to the immune system as vaccinating agent. This approach may be used for many identified tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens which can be glycoengineered to carry a
Gal epitope to increase their immunogenicity and to develop therapeutic vaccines.
Key words:
pancreas
/
cancer
/
tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen
/
glycotope
/
Gal epitope
/
1,3 galactosyltransferase