Thierry Boon
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd.
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Primary Section: 43, Immunology and Inflammation Secondary Section: 26, Genetics Membership Type:
International Member
(elected 2006)
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Research Interests
As a geneticist I have studied how treatments with mutagens cause mouse tumor cells to acquire new antigens recognized by cytolytic T lymphocytes. We developed a general approach to clone genes coding for antigens defined as targets of cytolytic T cell clones. This led us to demonstrate the existence of an immunosurveillance mechanism of the integrity of the mammalian genome, whereby point mutations as well as the expression of new genes generate new antigenic peptides recognized by T cells on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. These approaches were then extended to human tumors. We showed that human tumor cells carry at least two classes of antigens that are strictly tumor-specific. A first class of antigens shared by many tumors is encoded by cancer-germline genes which are not expressed on any normal cell except germline cells, which express the genes but not the antigen as they do not carry MHC molecules. The prototype of this class is the Mage gene family. A second class of tumor-specific antigens results from point mutations which, in many instances, are also oncogenic.
