A novel Fc-enhanced humanized monoclonal antibody targeting B7-H3 suppresses the growth of ESCC

Huiting Wu; Chang Liu; Qiang Yuan; Yan Qiao; Yongwei Ding; Lina Duan; Wenjing Li; Mengjia Zhang; Xuhua Zhang; Yanan Jiang; Jing Lu; Ziming Dong; Tao Wang; Kangdong Liu; Jimin Zhao

doi:10.1080/2162402X.2023.2282250

A novel Fc-enhanced humanized monoclonal antibody targeting B7-H3 suppresses the growth of ESCC

Oncoimmunology. 2023 Nov 27;12(1):2282250. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2023.2282250. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Huiting Wu^{1

2}, Chang Liu^{1

2}, Qiang Yuan^{1

2}, Yan Qiao^{1

2}, Yongwei Ding³, Lina Duan^{1

2}, Wenjing Li^{1

2}, Mengjia Zhang^{1

2}, Xuhua Zhang⁴, Yanan Jiang^{1

2}, Jing Lu^{1

2}, Ziming Dong^{1

2}, Tao Wang^{5

6}, Kangdong Liu^{1

2

7}, Jimin Zhao^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
² Henan Provincial Cooperative Innovation Center for Cancer Chemo- prevention, Zhengzhou, China.
³ Department of Pathophysiology, Shaoxing People Hospital, Shaoxing, China.
⁴ The Affiliated Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
⁵ Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁶ The College of Nursing and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention and Treatment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.

Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a prevalent malignant tumor of the digestive tract with a low 5-year survival rate due to the lack of effective treatment methods. Although therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) now play an important role in cancer therapy, effective targeted mAbs are still lacking for ESCC. B7-H3 is highly expressed in a variety of tumors and has emerged as a promising therapeutic target. Several mAbs against B7-H3 have advanced to clinical trials, but their development has not yet been pursued for ESCC. Here, we developed a humanized and Fc-engineered anti-B7H3 mAb 24F-Hu-mut2 and systematically evaluated its anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. The 24F-Hu-mut2 was humanized and modified in Fc fragment to obtain stronger antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity(ADCC) activity and nanomolar affinity. Furthermore, both of ESCC cell-derived xenograft (CDX) and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mice models indicated that 24F-Hu-mut2 displayed potent in vivo anti-tumor activity. In addition, a computational docking model showed that the mAb bound to IgC1 and IgC2 domain of B7-H3, which is closer to the cell membrane. Consistently, our ELISA results verified the binding of 24F-Hu-WT and IgC1 and IgC2. Our results indicate that 24F-Hu-mut2 has significant anti-ESCC activity both in vitro and in vivo, and this monoclonal antibody may be a promising antibody against ESCC and other B7-H3 overexpressing tumors.

Keywords: ADCC; B7-H3; Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Fc engineering; monoclonal antibody.

MeSH terms

Animals
Antibodies, Monoclonal / pharmacology
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / pharmacology
Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity
Esophageal Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma* / drug therapy
Humans
Mice

Substances

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Antibodies, Monoclonal

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 81872335), the Science Foundation of Henan Education Department (Grant no. 23A310018), the Central Plains Science and Technology Innovation Leading Talents (No.224200510015) and the Supporting Plan of Scientific and Technological Innovation Team in Universities of Henan Province (No. 20IRTSTHN029).