A new design immunotoxin for killing high-grade glioma U87 cells: From in vitro to in vivo

A new wave of engineered antibodies, leading to increased effectiveness of functions such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity or complement-dependent cytotoxicity, is being evaluated in clinical settings. Several, such as immunotoxins, are expected to receive approval for usage soon. In this study, using a cognate heavy framework region (HFR2), two complementarity-determining regions (CDRs, i.e., LCDR1 and HCDR3) were fused to the first 388 amino acid residues of diphtheria toxin (DT388) to establish the immunotoxin IT-87. It was found that the mimetics of LCDR1-HFR2-HCDR3 retained the antigen recognition of their parent antibody. The immunotoxin IT-87 could especially kill the U87 MG glioblastoma cell line, the targets of the parent antibody, in vitro; however, the IT-87 could not kill Rajicells. In SCID mice bearing both U87 and Raji cells, the IT-87 directly targeted the U87-induced tumors (via tumor-specific surface markers) and inhibited the growth of the cells in vivo over a 20-day dail...