Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes derived from patients with breast adenocarcinoma recognize an epitope present on the protein core of a mucin molecule preferentially expressed by malignant cells.

A population of tumor-reactive cytotoxic T-cells can be propagated from tumor-draining lymph nodes of patients with breast adenocarcinoma. These T-cells specifically recognize breast and pancreatic tumor cells in a major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-unrestricted fashion but not other tumors of epithelial origin or the natural killer target K562. The tumor-specific but MHC-unrestricted lytic activity of these cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) is mediated through the alpha/beta T-cell receptor. The molecule recognized by these CTLs is ductal epithelial mucin produced by breast and pancreatic adenocarcinomas. The protein core of the mucin consists of multiple tandem repeats of a 20-amino acid sequence. Antibody SM3, directed against a determinant on the mucin protein core preferentially expressed on malignant cells is able to significantly inhibit lysis of tumor cells by the CTL, while other antibodies binding to different core epitopes are not. Normal breast epithelial lines, which also express mucin but not the SM3 epitope, are not lysed by these tumor-reactive CTLs or act as cold target inhibitors of lysis of tumor lines. The data suggest that the highly repetitive nature of the mucin allows cross-linking of the T-cell receptor on mucin-specific T-cells and therefore accounts for the lack of MHC restriction seen in this system. They further suggest that the mucin core epitope recognized on tumor cells is not expressed on normal epithelial cells in a manner that can be recognized by tumor-reactive CTLs. These findings support the role of mucins as important tumor-associated antigens mediating the cellular response to certain human cancers and suggest that epithelial mucin core sequences might form the basis for an effective vaccine to augment the antitumor immune response.