Carcinogenesis Advance Access published online on June 1, 2005
Carcinogenesis, doi:10.1093/carcin/bgi146
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1 Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Naples "Federico II", Via Mezzocannone 16, 80134 Naples, Italy
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. ErbB2 is a prognostic factor and target of therapy for many carcinomas. In contrast with the other ErbB receptors, ErbB2 lacks a soluble direct ligand, but it is the preferred co-receptor for the ErbB family members, forming heterodimers with more potent and prolonged signalling activity than that of homodimers. We recently produced a new anti-ErbB2 antibody, Erb-hcAb, by fusion of Erbicin, a human, anti-ErbB2 scFv, selectively cytotoxic to ErbB2-positive cells, and a human Fc domain. This fully human antitumour antibody represents a compact version of an IgG1, with the cytotoxicity of the scFv moiety on target cells, combined with the ability of the Fc moiety to induce both antibody- and complement-dependent cytotoxicity. Here we describe the main properties of Erb-hcAb, using as a reference Herceptin, an anti-ErbB2 humanized monoclonal currently employed in clinical immunotherapy. We found that both bivalent Erb-hcAb and Herceptin increase receptor phosphorylation and downregulation, whereas monovalent Erbicin does not. These results correlate with the finding that Erb-hcAb is capable of inducing apoptosis and inhibiting cell cycle progression in ErbB2-positive cells. Its powerful in vitro antitumour action matched that observed in vivo in experiments with human ErbB2-positive tumour xenografts established in athymic mice. Finally, Erb-hcAb displays a glycosylation profile virtually superimposable to that of a human IgG. These findings suggest that Erb-hcAb is a very promising new agent for the immunotherapy of carcinomas that overexpress the ErbB2 receptor.
Received March 2, 2005
Revised April 26, 2005
Accepted May 29, 2005
CANCER BIOLOGY
Biological properties of a human compact anti-ErbB2 antibody
2 Department of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Naples "Federico II", Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy
Giuseppe D'Alessio, E-mail: dalessio{at}unina.it
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