The present invention relates to
melanoma-associated
chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (MCSP) epitopes recognized by T cells, especially by CD4+ T lymphocytes (short T-cells) and CD8+ T cells, on
human melanoma cells. In more detail, the present invention relates to novel T-
cell stimulatory tumour antigenic peptides corresponding to said epitopes (MCSP peptides); to fusion proteins comprising said MCSP peptides; to the use of said MCSP peptides, fusion proteins or of the full length MCSP
protein itself or fragments thereof to induce an immune response, especially a T-
cell response; to the use of said MCSP peptides, fusion proteins or full length MCSP
protein itself or fragments thereof to prepare immune cells, such as mature dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with anyone of the peptides according to the invention, or
peptide-specific T-
cell clones, especially CD4+ or CD8+
T cell clones; to the use of said MCSP peptides, fusion proteins or MCSP itself or fragments thereof for research and development on / of a
cancer treatment; to the use of said MCSP peptides, fusion proteins or MCSP itself or fragments thereof for preparing a medicament for inducing a
T cell response in a patient, preferably for the treatment of
cancer, more preferably for the treatment of
melanoma, including cutaneous and ocular
melanoma, and other MCSP expressing tumours such as
breast cancer, notably lobular
breast carcinoma, astrocytoma,
glioma,
glioblastoma,
neuroblastoma,
sarcoma and certain types of leukaemia; to the use of said MCSP peptides, fusion proteins or full length MCSP
protein or fragments thereof for the preparation of a medicament, and a
diagnostic agent for the treatment and prophylaxis as well the diagnosis of an immune response against tumours; and to the use of said
peptide-specific T-cell clones for diagnosing or treating
cancer.