1. ¹Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3156, Durham NC 27710, USA
2. ²Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
3. ³Sequencing Center, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada
4. ⁴Office of Cancer Genomics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

Correspondence: GJ Riggins, Mason Lord Center Tower, 5th Floor, bhns Hopkins Beyview Campus, 5200 Eastern Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224. E-mail: griggin1@jhmi.edu

Received 24 June 2003; Revised 25 July 2003; Accepted 25 July 2003.

Abstract

Over 1.4 million transcript tags expressed in 20 different human medulloblastomas were counted using serial analysis of gene expression. Digital gene expression profiles in the medulloblastoma were compared to multiple regions of the normal human brain, revealing 30 transcripts with high expression in multiple tumors and little or no expression in the normal cerebellum and other adult and pediatric brain regions. Using independent medulloblastoma samples and normal tissue, real-time PCR verified eight of nine selected genes as candidate tumor-associated antigens. Differential protein expression for CD24, prolactin and Topo2A was further confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis using medulloblastoma and normal brain sections and a tissue microarray. The genes highly expressed in the medulloblastoma include PRAME, a cancer-testis antigen and potential targets for immunotherapy.