Anti-podocalyxin antibody exerts antitumor effects via antibodydependent cellular cytotoxicity in mouse xenograft models of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Podocalyxin (PODXL) overexpression is associated with progression, metastasis, and poor outcomes in cancers. We recently produced the novel anti-PODXL monoclonal antibody (mAb) PcMab-47 (IgG₁, kappa). Herein, we engineered PcMab-47 into 47- mG_2a, a mouse IgG2a-type mAb, to add antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). We further developed 47-mG_2a-f, a core fucose-deficient type of 47-mG_2a to augment its ADCC. Immunohistochemical analysis of oral cancer tissues using PcMab-47 and 47-mG_2a revealed that the latter stained oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells in a cytoplasmic pattern at a much lower concentration. PcMab-47 and 47-mG_2a detected PODXL in 163/201 (81.1%) and in 197/201 (98.0%) OSCC samples, respectively. 47-mG_2a-f also detected PODXL in OSCCs at a similar frequency as 47- mG_2a. In vitro analysis revealed that both 47-mG_2a and 47-mG_2a-f exhibited strong complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) against CHO/hPODXL cells. In contrast, 47-mG_2a-f exhibited much stronger ADCC than 47-mG_2a against OSCC cells, indicating that ADCC and CDC of those anti-PODXL mAbs depend on target cells. In vivo analysis revealed that both 47-mG_2a and 47-mG_2a-f exerted antitumor activity in CHO/hPODXL xenograft models at a dose of 100 μg or 500 μg/mouse/week administered twice. 47-mG_2a-f, but not 47-mG_2a, exerted antitumor activity in SAS and HSC-2 xenograft models at a dose of 100 μg/mouse/week administered three times. Although both 47-mG_2a and 47-mG_2a-f exerted antitumor activity in HSC-2 xenograft models at a dose of 500 μg/mouse/week administered twice, 47-mG_2a-f also showed higher antitumor activity than 47-mG_2a. These results suggested that a core fucose-deficient anti-PODXL mAb could be useful for antibody-based therapy against PODXL-expressing OSCCs.