Cancer testis antigen subfamilies: Attractive targets for therapeutic vaccine (Review)

Abstract

Cancer-testis antigen (CTA) is a well-accepted optimal target library for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Most CTAs are located on the X chromosome and aggregate into large gene families, such as the melanoma antigen, synovial sarcoma X and G antigen families. Members of the CTA subfamily are usually co-expressed in tumor tissues and share similar structural characteristics and biological functions. As cancer vaccines are recommended to induce specific antitumor responses, CTAs, particularly CTA subfamilies, are widely used in the design of cancer vaccines. To date, DNA, mRNA and peptide vaccines have been commonly used to generate tumor-specific CTAs in vivo and induce anticancer effects. Despite promising results in preclinical studies, the antitumor efficacy of CTA-based vaccines is limited in clinical trials, which may be partially attributed to weak immunogenicity, low efficacy of antigen delivery and presentation processes, as well as a suppressive immune microenvironment. Recently, the development of nanomaterials has enhanced the cancer vaccination cascade, improved the antitumor performance and reduced off-target effects. The present study provided an in-depth review of the structural characteristics and biofunctions of the CTA subfamilies, summarised the design and utilisation of CTA-based vaccine platforms and provided recommendations for developing nanomaterial-derived CTA-targeted vaccines. Contents 1. Introduction 2. CTA subfamilies 3. Design and application of CTA-based tumor vaccines 4. Perspective and conclusion

An Engineered M13 Filamentous Nanoparticle as an Antigen Carrier for a Malignant Melanoma Immunotherapeutic Strategy

“…Studies support the involvement of MAGE-As in the process of oncogenesis, metastasis, and the survival of cancer cells. This makes them a compelling candidate for the development of targeted and efficient immunotherapeutic vaccination approaches [ 20 , 21 ]. Several MAGE peptide-based vaccine therapies have been developed for clinical applications which have resulted in a delayed immune response and tumor growth inhibition; however, they do not demonstrate substantial tumor shrinkage [ 22 ].…”

Melanoma Antigen Family A (MAGE A) as Promising Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Bladder Cancer

“…Some of these molecules are progressively increased during carcinogenesis and thus recognized as prognostic markers; both could be effective targets for prevention and/or therapeutic intervention. In the human genome, more than 200 CTA genes have been documented and classified into 44 gene families in the CTA database (http://www.cta.lncc.br (accessed on 4 September 2023)) and GeneBank (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene (accessed on 5 September 2023)) [16,17]. A few of these families consist of multiple members and CTA gene orthologs and paralogs.…”

Fusion of NY-ESO-1 epitope with heat shock protein 70 enhances its induced immune responses and antitumor activity against glioma in vitro

“…CTAs are potential targets for cancer immunotherapy due to the limited expression in various tumors and normal tissues ( 3 , 4 ). Although more than 200 CTA group proteins have been documented in the CT database ( www.cta.lncc.br ) ( 5 ), only a limited number of them can induce both humoral and cellular immune responses.…”