Cancer/testis antigens, gametogenesis and cancer

Cancer/testis (CT) antigens, of which more than 40 have now been identified, are encoded by genes that are normally expressed only in the human germ line, but are also expressed in various tumour types, including melanoma, and carcinomas of the bladder, lung and liver. These immunogenic proteins are being vigorously pursued as targets for therapeutic cancer vaccines. CT antigens are also being evaluated for their role in oncogenesis--recapitulation of portions of the germline gene-expression programme might contribute characteristic features to the neoplastic phenotype, including immortality, invasiveness, immune evasion, hypomethylation and metastatic capacity.

Stage-specific effects of host plasma factors on the early sporogony of autologous Plasmodium falciparum isolates within Anopheles gambiae

Summary Quantitatively assessing the impact of naturally occurring transmission-blocking (TB) immunity on malaria parasite sporogonic development may provide a useful interpretation of the underlying mechanisms. Here, we compare the effects of plasma derived from 23 naturally infected gametocyte carriers (OWN) with plasma from donors without previous malaria exposure (AB) on the early sporogonic development of Plasmodium falciparum in Anopheles gambiae. Reduced parasite development efficiency was associated with mosquitoes taking a blood meal mixed with the gametocyte carriers' own plasma, whereas replacing autologous plasma with non-immune resulted in the highest level of parasite survival. Seven days after an infective blood meal, 39.1% of the gametocyte carriers' plasma tested showed TB activity as only a few macrogametocytes ingested along with immune plasma ended up as ookinetes but subsequent development was blocked in the presence of immune plasma. In other experiments (60.9%), the effective number of parasites declined dramatically from one developmental stage to the next, and resulted in an infection rate that was two-fold lower in OWN than in AB infection group. These findings are in agreement with those in other reports and go further by quantitatively examining at which transition stages TB immunity exerts its action. The transitions from macrogametocytes to gamete/zygote and from gamete/zygote to ookinete were identified as main targets. However, the net contribution of host plasma factors to these interstage parasite reductions was low (5-20%), suggesting that irrespective of the host plasma factors, mosquito factors might also lower the survival level of parasites during the early sporogonic development.

Proteolysis of Plasmodium falciparum surface antigen, Pfs230, during gametogenesis

During Plasmodium falciparum gametogenesis, proteolysis of Pfs230, a 360 kDa gametocyte surface protein, generates two large polypeptides, 307 and 300 kDa, that remain associated with the surface of the newly formed gamete. Using peptide specific antibodies, the amino termini of the 307 and 300 kDa forms have been mapped to between aa 477-487 and aa 523-555, respectively, which is the region between the glutamate rich repeats and the cysteine motif domains. Concomitantly, two peptides, 47 and 35 kDa, corresponding to the region upstream from the cleavage site are released into the medium. The membrane permeant cysteine protease inhibitor, E64d, blocks production of the 300 and 35 kDa forms of Pfs230, but does not alter the formation of the 307 or 47 kDa forms. In contrast, E64, which has been shown to inhibit the development of P. falciparum trophozoites, does not block proteolytic processing of Pfs230. Production of both the 307 and 300 kDa forms was reduced by a metallo-protease inhibitor, 1,10-phenanthroline, whereas the rest of the protease inhibitors tested had no effect on Pfs230 processing. This is the first study of proteolysis during gametogenesis and it demonstrates that the two large forms of Pfs230 produced are generated by proteases with different specificities. The data also suggest that Pfs230 undergoes proteolytic processing prior to emergence from the red blood cell.

[Expression and role of complement regulatory proteins on human gametes and pre-implantation embryos]

Human gametes and pre-implantation embryos express selectively several complement regulatory proteins. Membrane cofactor protein (MCP, CD46) and decay accelerating factor (DAF, CD55) are regulators for C3 convertases and protectin (CD59) is an inhibitor of the membrane attack complex. These three proteins were identified on human sperm and found to be functional. CD55 and CD59 were both expressed by the plasmic membrane of unfertilized oocytes and pre-implantation embryos. CD46 was not present on unfertilized oocytes but appeared at the 6/8 cell-stage embryo when human gene expression first occurs. Complement receptor 1 (CR1, CD35) and MHC class I antigens were not found on oocytes neither on embryos. Such a selective expression of complement regulatory proteins associated with the lack of MHC class I antigens may represent an immune protective mechanism by which human gametes and pre-implantation embryos escape from complement-mediated damage during their travel through the female genital tract. Indeed uterine, tubal and follicular fluids contain all the components of the complement cascade, including classical and alternative pathways. Nevertheless participation of CD46 and CD59 in cell to cell interaction during fertilization and/or implantation cannot be excluded. CD59 is an adhesive molecule involved in the rosette phenomena and CD46 has been described as the human receptor for measles virus, which binds through a fusion protein. Monoclonal antibodies raised against these two proteins (CD46 and CD59) are able to inhibit heterospecific fertilization between zona-free hamster oocytes and human spermatozoa suggesting the role of these proteins during fertilization.