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MUC1 in Cancer Immunotherapy — New Hope or Phantom Menace?

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Abstract

Understanding of the functioning of MUC1 (human mucin) has advanced significantly over 40 years of its investigation. The anti-adhesive properties of the extracellular domain, which were the main focus of early studies initially explaining overexpression of MUC1 in progressing oncological diseases, were gradually put on the back burner. Researchers became more interested in its regulatory and signaling functions in cells rather in its anti-adhesive properties. The found the ability of MUC1 for signal transduction, and its ability to participate in cell metabolism opened new possibilities for improved control over cancer cells in addition to just attracting antigens of the immune system to a target. Nevertheless, there are issues in the functioning of MUC1 that raise doubts about its effectiveness in cancer immunotherapy.

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Abbreviations

APC:

antigen-presenting cell

CAR-T:

T-lymphocyte carrying chimeric antigen receptor

MHC:

major histocompatibility complex

MUC1:

human mucin

MUC1-C:

C-terminal (cytoplasmic) MUC1 subunit

MUC1-N:

N-terminal (extracellular) MUC1 subunit

TCR:

T-cell receptor

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234, Moscow, Russia

    M. S. Syrkina & M. A. Rubtsov

  2. Laboratoire Franco-Russe de Recherches en Oncologie, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234, Moscow, Russia

    M. S. Syrkina & M. A. Rubtsov

  3. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), 119991, Moscow, Russia

    M. A. Rubtsov

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  1. M. S. Syrkina
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Correspondence to M. S. Syrkina or M. A. Rubtsov.

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Russian Text © The Author(s), 2019, published in Biokhimiya, 2019, Vol. 84, No. 7, pp. 985–994.

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Syrkina, M.S., Rubtsov, M.A. MUC1 in Cancer Immunotherapy — New Hope or Phantom Menace?. Biochemistry Moscow 84, 773–781 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006297919070083

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