Cerebellar Degeneration Related Protein 2 (CDR2)

Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is an autoimmune disorder associated with neoplasms of lung, ovary, breast, or Hodgkin disease. Patients with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration carry a characteristic antibody called anti-Yo. On Western blot analysis of Purkinje cells and tumor tissue, the anti-Yo sera react with at least 2 antigens, a major species of 62 kD called CDR62 and a minor species of 34 kD called CDR34, where CDR means cerebellar degeneration-related. CDR34 is encoded by a gene on the X chromosome (CDR1).

Cloning TCRA and TCRB genes from CDR2-specific T cells into nonreactive donor T cells converted the T cells into efficient killers of CDR2-expressing tumor cells.