Renal Tumor Antigen (RAGE)

Tumor antigens recognized by cytolytic T cells (CTLs) can be classified into 4 groups: shared tumor-specific antigens encoded by MAGE-type genes that are silent in most normal tissues except testis and expressed in many tumors; differentiation antigens that are also expressed in normal cells; antigens resulting from tumor-specific point mutations; and antigens overexpressed in tumor cells. By screening cells expressing both HLA-B7 and kidney tumor cell RNA with autologous CTLs, followed by anchored PCR analysis, Gaugler et al. (1996) isolated a cDNA encoding RAGE. RT-PCR analysis detected expression only in retina and in a number of tumor cell types. One putative RAGE open reading frame encodes a 40-amino acid protein and includes the peptide recognized by HLA-B7-restricted CTLs.