The p53 tumor suppressor protein is activated and phosphorylated on serine-15 in response to various DNA damaging agents. The gene product mutated in ataxia telangiectasia, ATM, acts upstream of p53 in a signal transduction pathway initiated by ionizing radiation. Immunoprecipitated ATM had intrinsic protein kinase activity and phosphorylated p53 on serine-15 in a manganese-dependent manner. Ionizing radiation, but not ultraviolet radiation, rapidly enhanced this p53-directed kinase activity of endogenous ATM. These observations, along with the fact that phosphorylation of p53 on serine-15 in response to ionizing radiation is reduced in ataxia telangiectasia cells, suggest that ATM is a protein kinase that phosphorylates p53 in vivo.

Antigens recognized by T cells are expressed as peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Microcapillary high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry was used to fractionate and sequence subpicomolar amounts of peptides isolated from the MHC molecule HLA-A2.1. Of 200 different species quantitated, eight were sequenced and four were found in cellular proteins. All were nine residues long and shared a distinct structural motif. The sensitivity and speed of this approach should enhance the analysis of peptides from small quantities of virally infected and transformed cells as well as those associated with autoimmune disease states.

Activation of p53-mediated transcription is a critical cellular response to DNA damage. p53 stability and site-specific DNA-binding activity and, therefore, transcriptional activity, are modulated by post-translational modifications including phosphorylation and acetylation. Here we show that p53 is acetylated in vitro at separate sites by two different histone acetyltransferases (HATs), the coactivators p300 and PCAF. p300 acetylates Lys-382 in the carboxy-terminal region of p53, whereas PCAF acetylates Lys-320 in the nuclear localization signal. Acetylations at either site enhance sequence-specific DNA binding. Using a polyclonal antisera specific for p53 that is phosphorylated or acetylated at specific residues, we show that Lys-382 of human p53 becomes acetylated and Ser-33 and Ser-37 become phosphorylated in vivo after exposing cells to UV light or ionizing radiation. In vitro, amino-terminal p53 peptides phosphorylated at Ser-33 and/or at Ser-37 differentially inhibited p53 acetylation by each HAT. These results suggest that DNA damage enhances p53 activity as a transcription factor in part through carboxy-terminal acetylation that, in turn, is directed by amino-terminal phosphorylation.

The cultured T-cell line TIL1200, established from the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) of a patient with advanced metastatic melanoma, recognized an antigen on most HLA-A2+ melanomas and on all HLA-A2+ cultured neonatal melanocytes in an HLA-A2 restricted manner but not on other types of tissues or cell lines tested. A cDNA encoding an antigen recognized by TIL1200 was isolated by screening an HLA-A2+ breast cancer cell line transfected with an expression cDNA library prepared from an HLA-A2+ melanoma cell line. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of this cDNA were almost identical to the genes encoding glycoprotein gp100 or Pmel17 previously registered in the GenBank. Expression of this gene was restricted to melanoma and melanocyte cell lines and retina but was not expressed on other fresh or cultured normal tissues or other types of tumor tested. The cell line transfected with this cDNA also expressed antigen recognized by the melanoma-specific antibody HMB45 that bound to gp100. A synthetic 10-amino acid peptide derived from gp100 was recognized by TIL1200 in the context of HLA-A2.1. Since the administration of TIL1200 plus interleukin 2 resulted in regression of metastatic cancer in the autologous patient, gp100 is a possible tumor rejection antigen and may be useful for the development of immunotherapies for patients with melanoma.

Data are presented demonstrating that DNA damage leads to specific post-translational modifications of p53 protein. Using two-dimensional peptide mapping of in vivo radiolabeled p53 tryptic phosphopeptides, recombinant truncated p53 protein, and synthetic p53 tryptic peptides, a unique p53 phosphopeptide was identified after exposure of ML-1 cells to ionizing irradiation. This peptide represents the first 24 amino acids of p53 and contains three phosphorylated serine residues. A specific p53 phosphopeptide antibody identified serine-15 as one of the two serines in p53 that becomes phosphorylated following DNA damage induced by either ionizing irradiation (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) irradiation in multiple cell types. IR-induced phosphorylation of p53 does not affect the kinetics of p53 binding to or dissociating from DNA as assessed by electrophoretic mobility-shift assays. However, p53 phosphorylation induced by DNA damage correlates with enhanced transcription of downstream p53 target genes. Low levels of phosphoserine-15 p53 are detectable within 6 hr after IR in AT cells, whereas lymphoblasts from normal individuals exhibit this modification within 1 hr. In contrast, phosphorylation of p53 on serine-15 is similar in normal and AT cells after UV irradiation. Our results indicate that p53 is phosphorylated in response to DNA damage, that this de novo phosphorylation may be involved in the subsequent induction and activation of p53, and that although ATM affects the kinetics of p53 phosphorylation after IR, it is not absolutely required for phosphorylation of p53 on serine-15.

Four melanoma proteins, MART-1, gp100, tyrosinase, and tyrosinase-related protein-1 (gp75) were evaluated for recognition by HLA-A2-restricted melanoma-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) derived from the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) of 10 different patients. 9 of 10 TIL recognized MART-1, 4 recognized gp100 (including 3 that also recognized MART-1), but none of the TIL recognized tyrosinase or gp75. Based on the known HLA-A2.1 peptide binding motifs, 23 peptides from MART-1 were synthesized in an attempt to identify the epitopes recognized by TIL. Three peptides were recognized by TIL when pulsed on T2 target cells. One of the 9-mer peptides, AAGIGILTV, was most effective in sensitizing the T2 cells for TIL lysis. This peptide was recognized by 9 of 10 HLA-A2-restricted melanoma-specific CTLs. Therefore, this peptide appears to be a very common immunogenic epitope for HLA-A2-restricted melanoma-specific TIL and may be useful for the development of immunotherapeutic strategies.