title: Inhibition of xenograft tumor growth and down-regulation of ErbB receptors by an antibody directed against Lewis Y antigen.
abstract: The blood group-related Lewis Y antigen is expressed on the majority of human cancers of epithelial origin with only limited expression on normal tissue. Therefore, the Lewis Y antigen represents an interesting candidate for antibody-based treatment strategies. Previous experiments showed that the humanized Lewis Y-specific monoclonal antibody, IGN311, reduced ErbB-receptor-mediated stimulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase by altering receptor recycling. Here, we tested whether binding of IGN311 to growth factor receptors is relevant also to inhibition of tumor growth in vivo. Prolonged incubation with IGN311 of human tumor cell lines, which express high levels of ErbB1 (A431) or ErbB2 (SK-BR-3), resulted in down-regulation of the receptors and inhibition of cell proliferation. IGN311 inhibited the growth of tumors derived from A431 cells xenografted in nude mice. Treatment with IGN311 was associated with a down-regulation of ErbB1 in the excised tumor tissue. Importantly, these effects of IGN311 were also mimicked by the Fab fragment of IGN311. These data indicate that tumor cell growth inhibition by IGN311 cannot solely be accounted for by invoking cellular and humoral immunological mechanisms. A direct effect on signaling via binding to Lewis Y glycosylated growth factor receptors on tumor cells is also likely to contribute to the therapeutic effect of IGN311 in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology, Center of Biomolecular Medicine and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Str. 13a, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Hesso
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Farhan
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klinger
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weisz
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waxenecker
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sexl
authors.forename: Geert C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Mudde
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Freissmuth
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kircheis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019138:Antibodies, Blocking / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D018773:Genes, erbB-1 / Q000187:drug effects*; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
chemical_list: D019138:Antibodies, Blocking; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; C094162:Lewis Y antigen