Avicenna J Med Biotech arij002 Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology 2008-2835 2008-4625 Avicenna Research Institute ajmb10402 Expression of Human Placenta-specific 1 (PLAC1) in CHO-K1 Cells MahmoudianJafarNazariMahboobehGhodsRoyaMonoclonal Antibody Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR , Tehran, IranJeddi-TehraniMahmoodMonoclonal Antibody Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR , Tehran, IranOstadSeyed NaserSchool of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranGhahremaniMohammad HosseinMonoclonal Antibody Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, IranVafaeiSedighehAmiriMohammad MehdiZarnaniAmir-HassanDepartment of Immunology, Reproductive Biotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR , Tehran, Iran 12 1 24 31 14 1 2019 4 3 2019

<p>Background: Placenta-specific 1 (PLAC1), as a new Cancer/Testis Antigen (CTA), is frequently expressed in a variety of cancers and localized to cytoplasm and plasma membrane. Surface expression of cancer target antigens is of great importance that enables antibody-mediated cancer immunotherapy. The aim of the current study was to express the intact human PLAC1 protein on plasma membrane of a eukaryotic cell as a model for future anti-PLAC1-based cancer immunotherapy.</p> <p>Methods: In the first approach, entire human PLAC1 gene including its own Signal Peptide (SP) was cloned into pIRES2-EGFP and LeGO-iG2 vectors and expressed in CHO-K1 cells. In the second approach, cytosolic and Signal-Anchor (SA) sequence of Transferrin Receptor Protein 1 (TFR1) were fused to extracellular portion of PLAC1 and expressed as above. Expression of PLAC1 was then assessed using Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), Western Blot (WB), Immunocytochemistry (ICC), Immunofluorescence (IF) and Flow Cytometry (FC).</p> <p>Results: The first approach resulted in the expression of PLAC1 in submembranous but not in the surface of transfected CHO-K1 cells. Using the chimeric human PLAC1 construct, the same intracellular expression pattern was observed.</p> <p>Conclusion: These results indicated that there are some yet unknown PLAC1 localization signals employed by cancer cells for surface expression of PLAC1.</p>