Identification of Tumor Rejection Antigens for Breast Cancer Using a Mouse Tumor Rejection Model

In the proposed study, we aim to identify tumor rejection antigens using mouse tumor rejection models. The study has three specific aims 1 to determine the antigen repertoire induced by tumor rejection in FVBN mice 2 to identify the human homologues of the candidate rejection antigens and determine their immunogenicity and, 3 to examine the in vivo tumor protection effect of vaccination with plasmids encoding tumor rejection antigens in neu-tg FVBN mice. In the past year, we have successfully identified the antigen repertoire induced by tumor rejection in FVBN mice. The human homologues of the candidate rejection antigens have been determined by database mining. We also started in vivo vaccination experiment to examine the tumor protection effect of the candidate antigens. We have made important findings toward each specific aim during last year, and based on our results, we plan to expand our discovery technique to a different tumor model, examine the immunogenicity of the human homologues of the mouse tumor rejection antigens we have identified, and test the in vivo protection effect of plasmid DNA vaccine targeting a combination of antigens.