| Autor: |
Verkerk T; Department of Immunopathology, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam 1066 CX, The Netherlands.; Department of Hematopoiesis, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam 1066 CX, The Netherlands.; Landsteiner Laboratory, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1066 CX, The Netherlands., Koomen SJI; Department of Immunopathology, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam 1066 CX, The Netherlands.; Landsteiner Laboratory, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1066 CX, The Netherlands., Fuchs KJ; Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden 2333 ZA, The Netherlands., Griffioen M; Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden 2333 ZA, The Netherlands., Spaapen RM; Department of Immunopathology, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam 1066 CX, The Netherlands.; Landsteiner Laboratory, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1066 CX, The Netherlands. |
| Abstrakt: |
In the current era of T cell-based immunotherapies, it is crucial to understand which types of MHC-presented T cell antigens are produced by tumor cells. In addition to linear peptide antigens, chimeric peptides are generated through proteasome-catalyzed peptide splicing (PCPS). Whether such spliced peptides are abundantly presented by MHC is highly disputed because of disagreement in computational analyses of mass spectrometry data of MHC-eluted peptides. Moreover, such mass spectrometric analyses cannot elucidate how much spliced peptides contribute to the pool of immunogenic antigens. In this Perspective, we explain the significance of knowing the contribution of spliced peptides for accurate analyses of peptidomes on one hand, and to serve as a potential source of targetable tumor antigens on the other hand. Toward a strategy for mass spectrometry independent estimation of the contribution of PCPS to the immunopeptidome, we first reviewed methodologies to identify MHC-presented spliced peptide antigens expressed by tumors. Data from these identifications allowed us to compile three independent datasets containing 103, 74, and 83 confirmed T cell antigens from cancer patients. Only 3.9%, 1.4%, and between 0% and 7.2% of these truly immunogenic antigens are produced by PCPS, therefore providing a marginal contribution to the pool of immunogenic tumor antigens. We conclude that spliced peptides will not serve as a comprehensive source to expand the number of targetable antigens for immunotherapies. |
