Glycoprotein 100, gp100 or Melanocyte protein PMEL is 661 amino acids long and is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein enriched in melanosomes, which are the melanin-producing organelles in melanocytes. This protein is involved in melanosome maturation.
The gp100 protein is a melanoma antigen i.e. a tumor-associated antigen.
Short fragments of it have been used to develop the gp100 cancer vaccine which is or contains gp100:209-217(210M).
Hydrophilic recombinant gp100 protein (HR-gp100) has been topically applied on human intact skin in vitro, and used as a vaccine in a mouse model. It was demonstrated that HR-gp100 permeates into human skin, and is processed and presented by human dendritic cells. In the mouse model, an HR-gp100-based vaccine triggered antigen-specific T cell responses, as shown by proliferation assays, ELISA and intracellular staining for IFN-γ.