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Demonstration of dose dependent cytotoxic activity in cancer cells by specific human chorionic gonadotropin monoclonal antibodies
Author(s) -
Kalantarov Gavreel,
Acevedo Hernan F.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19980815)83:4<783::aid-cncr23>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - medicine , monoclonal antibody , human chorionic gonadotropin , cytotoxic t cell , antibody , oncology , gonadotropin , cancer research , immunology , biology , hormone , biochemistry , in vitro
BACKGROUND Previous studies in which monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) were used against different epitopes of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) demonstrated the presence of membrane‐associated hCG and its subunits by cancer cells of different types and origins and by human embryonic and fetal cells. To elucidate the mechanism of action of a synthetic vaccine against hCG, experiments were conducted to determine the presence or absence of direct dose dependent cytolytic activity by hCG MoAbs, including those elicited by the vaccine. METHODS Human adenocarcinoma cells from the uterine cervix (ATCC HeLa CCL 2.0) grown in defined media at 37°C were treated for 2‐3 days with different selected doses of each of 12 MoAbs directed against different epitopes of hCG. Three of these MoAbs were against three different epitopes of the synthetic hCGβ vaccine. RESULTS There was a direct dose dependent effect by a MoAb directed against the natural hCGβ carboxy terminal peptide (CTP), by a MoAb directed against hCGα, and by one of the three MoAbs produced by the synthetic hCGβ‐CTP, which is the main component of the World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine being tested for fertility control and for cancer treatment or prevention. CONCLUSIONS For the first time (to the authors' knowledge), these results show the existence of hCG MoAbs that have direct dose related cytotoxicity at 37°C and explain the mechanism of action of the WHO anti‐hCG vaccine. Cancer 1998;83:783‐787. © 1998 American Cancer Society.