Binding to melanoma cells

GMK vaccine is capable of producing a specific immune response against a defined and chemically purified melanoma antigen. Anti-GM2 antibodies in melanoma patients induced by the GMK demonstrate binding to melanoma cells, complement-mediated cytotoxicity, and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (54). 

Klepfish, A., Greco, M. A. and Karpatkin, S. (1993). Thrombin stimulates melanoma tumor cell binding to endothelial cells and subendotheUal matrix. Int. J Cancer 53, 978-982. 

Oblimersen sodium is a DNA antisense oligonucleotide designed to specifically bind to human bcl-2 mRNA, resulting in catalytic degradation of bcl-2. This results in decreased translation of the protein Bcl-2, which is a cellular antiapoptotic protein. Thus, oblimersen enhances sensitivity to chemotherapy by shifting the intracellular balance to a state in which the cells are more likely to be killed by apoptosis. Currently, it is used in combination chemotherapy for treating advanced melanoma. 

Ponnazhagan and Kwon (1992) reported a putative tissue-specific ds-element (TE-1) located at-236 bp of the mouse tyrosinase promoter. They partially purified a TE-1 binding protein (approximately 49 kDa in size), but tissue specificity remains to be confirmed by a more detailed analysis. For the human tyrosinase promoter, Shibata et al. (1992) identified a 200-bp pigment cell-specific enhancer, located between -2.0 and -1.8 kb. A minimum core sequence of 39 bp was shown to be sufficient to confer the specific activity, although other regions (not identified so far) within the 200-bp fragment are required for more efficient expression in melanoma cells (Shibata et al., 1992). 

Proleukin is a recombinant form of IL-2. It is approved for the treatment of malignant melanoma and renal cell cancer. Ontak (denileukin diftitox) is a fusion protein for the treatment of persistent or recurrent T-cell lymphoma. Activated T cells express lL-2 receptors. Ontak has a fragment that binds to the IL-2 receptor while the other part presents a diphtheria toxin to kill the activated T cell. 

Current efforts favor tumor cell line tests, conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) drug development program [62]. In the current NCI anticancer screen, each compound is tested against 60 human tumor cell lines derived from several cancer types (lung, colon, melanoma, kidney, breast, ovary, brain, leukemia). The tumor cells are seeded on 96-well microtiter plates and pre-incubated for 24 h. The test agents are then added to the wells (five 10-fold dilutions 0.01 -100 pmol/1) and are incubated for 48 h with the tumor cell lines. At the termination of the assay, the cells are fixed in situ with trichloroacetic acid (TCA), washed and dried. Sulforhodamine B (SRB), a dye that binds to the basic amino... 

Inokuchi, J., Momosaki, K., Shimeno, H., Nagamatsu, A., and Radin, N. S. (1989). Effects of D-threo-PDMP, an inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthetase, on expression of cell surface glycolipid antigen and binding to adhesive proteins by B16 melanoma cells. J. Cell. Physiol. 141, 573—583. 

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