Received for publication May 5, 2006.
Revised September 5, 2006.
Accepted for publication September 6, 2006.

Inhibition of xenograft tumor growth and downregulation 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 MAP-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 downregulation 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 signalling 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.

Key words: A431 cells, ErbB-receptors, Lewis-Y antigen, SK-BR3 cells,, nude mice, xenograft