Melanoma-associated antigen A4 peptide presented by HLA-A*02 (MAGE-A4/HLA-A*02 complex)

The MAGE-A4 peptide presented by HLA-A*02 refers to a specific peptide epitope derived from the cancer/testis antigen Melanoma-associated antigen A4 (MAGE-A4), which is displayed on the surface of tumor cells in the context of the HLA-A*02 class I molecule. This complex allows precise targeting by engineered T cell receptors or CARs in immunotherapies. MAGE-A4 is widely expressed across diverse solid tumors but shows negligible expression in normal tissues (except immune-privileged sites), making the MAGE-A4/HLA-A*02 complex an attractive and currently validated therapeutic target for adoptive cell immunotherapies, with at least one approved therapy (afamitresgene autoleucel) and multiple investigational approaches in clinical trials

Other names

MAGE-A4 epitope/HLA-A*02HLA-A*02:01/MAGE-A4 complexMAGE-A4 peptide-HLA-A2

TCR T-cell therapies: adoptively transferred T cells expressing a high-affinity T cell receptor recognize the MAGE-A4 peptide/HLA-A*02 complex on tumor cells, resulting in targeted cytotoxicity CAR-T cell therapies: engineered T cells bind the MAGE-A4 peptide/HLA-A*02 complex and activate tumor cell lysis