Melanoma-associated antigen peptide-HLA-A*0201 complexes (pMHC complexes (MAGE-3/Melan-A/gp100/NA17))

The target consists of a specific set of melanoma-associated peptides—MAGE-3, Melan-A (MART-1), gp100, and NA17—presented by the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-A*0201 molecule on the surface of autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (Banchereau et al., 2001). These peptide-MHC (pMHC) complexes serve as the primary recognition units for the cellular immune system, specifically for CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) (Godelaine et al., 2003). In a therapeutic context, these complexes are typically generated by pulsing a patient's own immune cells, such as dendritic cells derived from PBMCs, with synthetic peptides to create a personalized cancer vaccine (Guilloux et al., 1996). The goal is to prime and expand T-cell populations that can specifically identify and destroy melanoma cells expressing these antigens. MAGE-3 is a cancer-testis antigen, while Melan-A and gp100 are melanocyte differentiation antigens, and NA17 is an intron-derived peptide from the N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V gene (UniProt P43357, Q16655, P40126). This multi-antigen approach is designed to overcome tumor heterogeneity and prevent immune escape by targeting multiple pathways simultaneously.

Other names

MAGE-3/Melan-A/gp100/NA17-HLA-A2 complexesMulti-epitope melanoma peptide-HLA complexesMelanoma antigen-pulsed PBMCMAGE-A3/MART-1/gp100/NA17-A peptide-MHC complexes

Induction of tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses through the presentation of multiple melanoma-associated epitopes on HLA-A*0201 molecules, facilitating the recognition and lysis of melanoma cells by the immune system.