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Treatment of cancer using standard chemotherapy still offers a poor prognosis combined with severe side effects. Novel antibody-based therapies have been shown to overcome low efficiency and lack of selectivity by targeting cancer-associated antigens, such as aminopeptidase CD13. We isolated a high-affinity CD13-specific single-chain fragment variable (scFv13) from a phage display library of V-genes from mice immunized with soluble antigen. An immunotoxin comprising the scFv13 and a truncated version of the exotoxin A of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ETA′, scFv13–ETA′) and a bispecific scFv targeting CD13 and CD16 simultaneously (bsscFv[13xds16]) was generated and investigated for their therapeutic potential. Both fusion proteins bound specifically to target cells with high affinity. Furthermore, scFv13–ETA′ inhibited the proliferation of human cancer cell lines efficiently at low concentrations (IC50 values of 408 pM–7 nM) and induced apoptosis (40–85% of target cells). The bsscFv triggered dose-dependent antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, resulting in the lysis of up to 23.9% A2058 cells, 18.0% MDA-MB-468 cells and 19.1% HL-60 cells. The provided data demonstrate potent therapeutic activity of the scFv13–ETA′ and the bsscFv[13xds16]. The CD13-specific scFv is therefore suitable for the direct and specific delivery of both cytotoxic agents and effector cells to cancer-derived cells, making it ideal for further therapeutic evaluation.

OncoTarget 7(41), 67166-67174 (2016). doi:10.18632/oncotarget.11568, Published by Impact Journals LLC, [S.l.]