Development of a recombinant anti-VEGFR2-EPCAM bispecific antibody to improve antiangiogenic efficiency

Exp Cell Res. 2021 Jun 3:112685. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2021.112685. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTTumor progression and metastasis, especially in invasive cancers (such as triple-negative breast cancer [TNBC]), depend on angiogenesis, in which vascular epithelial growth factor (VEGF)/vascular epithelial growth factor receptor [1] has a decisive role, followed by the metastatic spread of cancer cells. Although some studies have shown that anti-VEGFR2/VEGF monoclonal antibodies demonstrated favorable results in the clinic, this approach is not efficient, and further investigations are needed to improve the quality of cancer treatment. Besides, the increased expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) in various cancers, for instance, invasive breast cancer, contributes to angiogenesis, facilitating the migration of tumor cells to other parts of the body. Thus, the main goal of our study was to target either VEGFR2 or EpCAM as pivotal players in the progression of angiogenesis in breast cancer. Regarding cancer therapy, the production of bispecific antibodies is easier and more cost-effective compared to monoclonal antibodies, targeting more than one antigen or receptor; for this reason, we produced a recombinant antibody to target cells expressing EpCAM and VEGFR2 via a bispecific antibody to decrease the proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. Following the cloning and expression of our desired anti-VEGFR2/EPCAM sequence in E. coli, the accuracy of the expressi...

Source: Experimental Cell Research - June 6, 2021 Category: Cytology Authors: Khadijeh Barzaman Mitra Samadi Shima Moradi-Kalbolandi Keivan Majidzadeh-A Malihe Salehi Neda Jalili Mir Hadi Jazayeri Samaneh Khorammi Behrad Darvishi Vahid Siavashi Mahdi Shekarabi Leila Farahmand Source Type: research