PURIFICATION OF MELANOMA 250 KD TUMOR-ASSOCIATED ANTIGEN

THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE THE EXISTING PURIFICATION PROCEDURE, DEVELOPED BY PIEDMONT RESEARCH COMPANY, FOR THE 250 KD MELANOMA TUMOR-ASSOCIATED ANTIGEN (TAA) TO ALLOW PRODUCTION OF ADEQUATE QUANTITIES OF PURIFIEDTAA FOR CLINICAL EVALUATION. PURIFIED TAA MAY PROVE AN EFFICIENT AGENT FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY AND FOR SPECIFIC IN VITRO ACTIVATION OF PATIENT T CELLS FOR SUBSEQUENT THERAPY. BOTH THE PURIFICATION PROCEDURE AND THE TAA PRODUCT WILL HAVE COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. BASIC METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES WILL INCLUDE EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE TAA SOLUBILIZATION PROCEDURES, USE OF IMMUNOADHERENCE CHROMATOGRAPHY, AND EVALUATION OF THE DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OFENDOGENOUS PROTEASE ACTIVITY.