Prostate-related antigen-derived new peptides having the capacity of inducing prostate cancer-reactive CTLs in HLA-A2+ prostate cancer patients

Prostate-related antigens, including prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), can be targets in specific immunotherapy for prostate cancer. In this study, we attempted to newly identify epitope peptides from these 2 antigens, which are immunogenic in human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2+ prostate cancer patients. Twenty-nine peptides (PSMA with 15 and PAP with 14) were prepared based on the HLA-A2 binding motif. Based on our previous finding that antigenic peptides recognized by both cellular and humoral immune systems are useful for peptide-based immunotherapy, peptide candidates were screened first by their ability to be recognized by immunoglobulin G (IgG), and then by their ability to induce peptide-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). As a result, PSMA441-450 and PAP112-120 peptides were found to be frequently recognized by IgG in plasma from prostate cancer patients. These 2 candidates effectively induced HLA-A2-restricted and prostate cancer-reactive CTLs in HLA-A2+ prostate cancer patients with several HLA-A2 subtypes. In addition, their cytotoxicity was mainly dependent on peptide-specific and CD8+ T cells. These results indicate that these PSMA441-450 and PAP112-120 peptides could be promising candidates for peptide-based immunotherapy for HLA-A2(+) prostate cancer.