Viral Molecular Mimicry Influences the Antitumor Immune Response in Murine and Human Melanoma.

ABSTRACT: Molecular mimicry is one of the leading mechanisms by which infectious agents can induce autoimmunity. Whether a similar mechanism triggers an antitumor immune response is unexplored, and the role of antiviral T cells infiltrating the tumor has remained anecdotal. To address these questions, we first developed a bioinformatic tool to identify tumor peptides with high similarity to viral epitopes. Using peptides identified by this tool, we demonstrated that, in mice, preexisting immunity toward specific viral epitopes enhanced the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy via molecular mimicry in different settings. To understand whether this mechanism could partly explain immunotherapy responsiveness in humans, we analyzed a cohort of patients with melanoma undergoing anti-PD1 treatment who had a h

SUBMITTER: Chiaro J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8974425 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature