Anticancer activity and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity of novel anti-nucleolin antibodies

Sci Rep. 2018 May 10;8(1):7450. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-25816-8.

Abstract

Nucleolin arises as a relevant target for cancer therapy, as it is overexpressed at the surface of cancer and angiogenic endothelial cells thus enabling a dual cellular targeting strategy. Immunotherapeutic strategies, albeit of proven therapeutic relevance, have been scarcely explored against this target. Therefore, this work aimed at engineering an anti-nucleolin VHH-based antibody capable of triggering anticancer immune responses. Herein, anti-nucleolin VHHs have been generated upon grafting F3 peptide-derived nucleolin-binding sequences onto a VHH CDR1 or CDR3. One of these nucleolin-binding CDR3-grafted VHH was subsequently fused to a human IgG1 Fc region, enabling a significant antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). The generated anti-nucleolin VHH revealed increased binding and antiproliferative effects against cancer cells, relative to the parental VHH, while the VHH-Fc counterpart presented increased cytotoxicity relative to the corresponding VHH. This VHH-Fc also triggered an ADCC effect, in the nanomolar range, against a nucleolin-overexpressing cancer cell line. This effect was evidenced by a 2 or 1.7-fold increase of cell death, in the presence of PBMCs, relative to the parental VHH-Fc or the VHH counterpart, respectively. Overall, these formats represent the first anti-nucleolin VHHs and the first anti-nucleolin antibody with ADCC activity that have been successfully developed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity / drug effects*
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / immunology
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / pharmacology*
  • Cell Death / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments / pharmacology
  • Immunoglobulin G / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin G / pharmacology
  • Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / pharmacology*
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms / immunology
  • Nucleolin
  • Phosphoproteins / immunology*
  • RNA-Binding Proteins / immunology*
  • Single-Domain Antibodies / immunology
  • Single-Domain Antibodies / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains
  • Phosphoproteins
  • RNA-Binding Proteins
  • Single-Domain Antibodies