Treatment with 5-Aza-2-Deoxycytidine Induces Expression of NY-ESO-1 and Facilitates Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte-Mediated Tumor Cell Killing

摘要

BackgroundNY-ESO-1 belongs to the cancer/testis antigen (CTA) family and represents an attractive target for cancer immunotherapy. Its expression is induced in a variety of solid tumors via DNA demethylation of the promoter of CpG islands. However, NY-ESO-1 expression is usually very low or absent in some tumors such as breast cancer or multiple myeloma. Therefore, we established an optimized in vitro treatment protocol for up-regulation of NY-ESO-1 expression by tumor cells using the hypomethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (DAC).