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Description

Cancer/testis antigen 1 (UniProt: P78358, also known as Autoimmunogenic cancer/testis antigen NY-ESO-1, Cancer/testis antigen 6.1, CT6.1, L antigen family member 2, LAGE-2) is encoded by the CTAG1A (also known as CTAG, CTAG1, ESO1, LAGE2, LAGE2A, CTAG1B, LAGE2B) gene (Gene ID: 1485, 246100) in human. NY-ESO-1 is a human tumor antigen of the cancer/testis family that is highly expressed in many poor-prognosis melanomas and in other cancer types. However, it is not detected in non-malignant tissues with the exception of germ cells and trophoblasts. It contains a C-terminal hydrophobic tail that potentially serves as membrane-associated domain. NY-ESO-1 is expressed from 18 weeks until birth in human fetal testis and in adult testis it is strongly expressed in spermatogonia and in primary spermatocytes, but not in post-meiotic cells or in testicular somatic cells. Although the exact function of NY-ESO-1 is still not clear, it has been speculated it might contribute to certain properties, such as immortality, self-renewal, migratory ability, and capacity to invade that favor tumor cell survival. On the basis of its immunogenicity, NY-ESO-1 is considered as one of the most attractive antigens for cancer immunotherapy. T cells engineered to express an affinity-enhanced T cell receptor (TCR) recognizing a naturally processed peptide shared by the cancer-testis antigens NY-ESO-1 and LAGE-1 have been considered as an attractive method for treatment of myeloma and enhance long-term survival of cells.