Development of a Quenchbody for the Detection and Imaging of the Cancer-Related Tight-Junction-Associated Membrane Protein Claudin.

Claudins (CLs) are membrane proteins found in tight junctions and play a major role in establishing the intercellular barrier. However, some CLs are abnormally overexpressed on tumor cells and are valid clinical biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Here, we constructed antibody Fab fragment-based Quenchbodies (Q-bodies) as effective and reliable fluorescent sensors for detecting and visualizing CLs on live tumor cells. The variable region genes for anti-CL1 and anti-CL4 antibodies were used to express recombinant Fab fragments, and clones recognizing CL4 with high affinity were selected for making Q-bodies. When two fluorescent dyes were conjugated to the N-terminal tags attached to the Fab, the fluorescent signal was significantly increased after adding nanomolar-levels of purified CL4. Moreover, addition of the Q-body to CL4-expressing cells including CL4-positive cancer cells led to a clear fluorescence signal with low background, even without washing steps. Our findings suggested that such Q-bodies would serve as a potent tool for specifically illuminating membrane targets expressed on cancer cells, both in vitro and in vivo.

Development of an anti-claudin-3 and -4 bispecific monoclonal antibody for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Most malignant tumors are derived from epithelium, and claudin (CLDN)-3 and CLDN-4 are frequently overexpressed in such tumors. Although antibodies have potential in cancer diagnostics and therapy, development of antibodies against CLDNs has been difficult because the extracellular domains of CLDNs are too small and there is high homology among human, rat, and mouse sequences. Here, we created a monoclonal antibody that recognizes human CLDN-3 and CLDN-4 by immunizing rats with a plasmid vector encoding human CLDN-4. A hybridoma clone that produced a rat monoclonal antibody recognizing both CLDN-3 and -4 (clone 5A5) was obtained from a hybridoma screen by using CLDN-3- and -4-expressing cells; 5A5 did not bind to CLDN-1-, -2-, -5-, -6-, -7-, or -9-expressing cells. Fluorescence-conjugated 5A5 injected into xenograft mice bearing human cancer MKN74 or LoVo cells could visualize the tumor cells. The human-rat chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody (xi5A5) activated FcγRIIIa in the presence of CLDN-3- or -4-expressing cells, indicating that xi5A5 may exert antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Administration of xi5A5 attenuated tumor growth in xenograft mice bearing MKN74 or LoVo cells. These results suggest that 5A5 shows promise in the development of a diagnostic and therapeutic antibody for cancers.

Efficacy and safety evaluation of claudin-4-targeted antitumor therapy using a human and mouse cross-reactive monoclonal antibody.

Claudin-4 (CLDN-4), a tight-junction protein, is overexpressed in various malignant tumors, including gastric, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancers. However, CLDN-4 is also expressed in normal tissues, including the liver, pancreas, kidney, and small intestine. Whether CLDN-4 is an effective and safe target for cancer therapy has been unclear owing to the lack of a binder with both CLDN-4 specificity and cross-reactivity to human and murine cells. In this study, we successfully generated a rat anti-CLDN-4 monoclonal antibody (5D12) that was specific to, and cross-reactive with, human and mouse CLDN-4. 5D12 recognized the second extracellular domain of human CLDN-4 in a conformation-dependent manner. A human-rat chimeric IgG1 of 5D12 (xi-5D12) activated the Fcγ IIIa receptor, indicating the activation of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity in CLDN-4-expressing cells. Moreover, xi-5D12 significantly suppressed tumor growth in mice bearing human colorectal and gastric tumors without apparent adverse effects, such as weight loss or liver and kidney damage. These results suggest that CLDN-4 is a potent target for cancer therapy and that an anti-CLDN-4 antibody is a promising candidate anticancer agent.