Identification of a new broad-spectrum CD8+ T cell epitope from over-expressed antigen COX-2 in esophageal carcinoma

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been found to be over-expressed in esophageal carcinoma (EC) and it could be considered as a potential tumor-associated antigen (TAA). In the present study, six candidate peptides from COX-2 were firstly predicted and synthesized. Among them, P479 had the highest affinity and stability toward both HLA-A∗0201 and HLA-A∗03 molecules and it could significantly promote the IFN-γ release. The cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) induced by P479 could specifically lyse COX-2-expressed EC cell lines, EC-1 (HLA-A3 supertype) and EC-9706 (HLA-A2 supertype). These results suggested that P479 as a novel broad-spectrum T cell epitope would be very useful in immunotherapy against esophageal carcinoma.