Description: Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL's) recognize melanoma-associated antigens, which belong to three main groups. These groups include tumor-associated testis-specific antigens, melanocyte differentiation antigens and mutated or aberrantly expressed antigens, which are routinely used as markers to identify melanomas based on their binding to specific monoclonal antibodies. gp100, also designated ME20-M, ME20-S and PMEL 17, is classified as a melanocyte differentiation antigen and is expressed at low levels in normal cell lines and tissues, but is upregulated in melanocytes. gp100 is a highly glycosylated protein. It is also the product of proteolytic cleavage, which results in a secreted protein.The gp100 molecule is a 100kDa glycosylated protein that is cleaved into a small (26kDa) carboxy-terminal fragment and a larger amino- terminal section (60-64 kDa), which is subsequently cleaved to generate 26kDa and 34-38kDa fragments.
