Cep55/c10orf3, a tumor antigen derived from a centrosome residing protein in breast carcinoma

Identification of tumor-associated antigens may facilitate vaccination strategies to treat patients with malignant diseases. We have found that the centrosomal protein, Cep55/c10orf3 acts as a novel breast carcinoma-associated tumor-associated antigen. Cep55/c10orf3 mRNA was detectable in a wide variety of tumor cell lines. Expression was barely detectable in normal tissues except for testis and thymus. Moreover, Cep55/c10orf3 protein could be detected by a monoclonal anti-Cep55/c10orf3 antibody (# 11-55) in 69.8% of breast carcinoma, 25% of colorectal carcinoma, and 57.8% of lung carcinoma tissues. The expression of Cep55/c10orf3 protein did not show any relationship with the hormone receptors such as estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor or expression patterns of p185 HER2/neu. We designed 11 peptides which displayed a human leukocyte antigen-A24 binding motif. One Cep55/c10orf3-peptide, Cep55/c10orf3_193(10) (VYVKGLLAKI), induced cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in 3 of 3 patients with Cep55/c10orf3 (# 11-55)-positive breast carcinoma. A Cep55/c10orf3_193(10)-specific CTL clone could also recognize Cep55/c10orf3 (+) displayed on human leukocyte antigen-A24 (+) cancer cell lines. These data indicate that Cep55/c10orf3 peptides were naturally presented by breast cancer cells and can cause CTL clonal expansion in vivo. Monoclonal antibody # 11-55 and the Cep55/c10orf3_193(10) peptides may be useful as part of a therapeutic strategy for hormonal therapy or anti-p185 HER2/neu monoclonal antibody therapy-resistant breast carcinoma patients.