Identification of Met-derived peptides recognized by CTLs in HLA-A2+ non-small cell lung cancer patients

• Project/Area Number: 24790827
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Respiratory organ internal medicine
• Research Institution: Kurume University
• Principal Investigator: AZUMA Koichi 久留米大学, 医学部, 講師 (00368896)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2013)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
• Keywords: Met / 非小細胞肺癌 / ペプチド

Research Abstract

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Despite these advances, however, the prognosis of individuals with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who do not harbor an identifiable driver oncogene remains poor. The overexpression of Met is associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC. Therefore, targeting the Met protein is attractive treatment in NSCLC. This study aimed to identify immunogenic Met-derived peptides in HLA-A2 (+) NSCLC patients. In this study, we found that two Met-derived peptides could induce CD8+ peptide-specific CTLs reactive to tumor cells from HLA-A2 (+ ) NSCLC patients in a HLA class I-restricted manner. These results may provide a scientific basis for the development of Met-based immunotherapy in HLA-A2 (+) NSCLC.