Human papillomavirus type 16 E7 (11-19) peptide-Human leukocyte antigen A*02:01 complex (HPV-16 E7(11-19)/HLA-A*02:01)

The Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) E7 (11-19) peptide presented by Human leukocyte antigen A*02:01 (HLA-A*02:01) is a specific peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) target found on the surface of HPV-16-infected malignant cells (Draper et al., 2015). HPV-16 is the primary causative agent of cervical cancer and is increasingly linked to oropharyngeal and other anogenital malignancies (PubMed: 28448541). The E7 oncoprotein is a critical driver of oncogenesis, functioning primarily by binding and degrading the tumor suppressor retinoblastoma protein (pRb), which leads to uncontrolled cell cycle progression (UniProt: P03129). The specific amino acid sequence YMLDLQPET (residues 11-19) is a high-affinity epitope that binds to the HLA-A*02:01 molecule, making it visible to the cellular immune system (Hinrichs et al., 2017). Because E7 expression is restricted to virally infected and transformed cells, this pMHC complex is an ideal target for precision immunotherapies, such as T-cell receptor (TCR) engineered T-cell therapies and TCR-like bispecific molecules (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02858310). Clinical development has focused on using these therapies to treat metastatic HPV-16+ cancers that are refractory to standard treatments (Draper et al., 2015).

Other names

HPV-16 E7 11-19YMLDLQPET peptideHLA-A*02:01-restricted HPV-16 E7 epitopeE7(11-19) antigenHPV-16 E7(11-19)/HLA-A*02:01 complex

T-cell receptor (TCR) mediated recognition and cytotoxic lysis of tumor cells