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Monoclonal antibody therapeutics and apoptosis

Abstract

The potential for disease-specific targeting and low toxicity profiles have made monoclonal antibodies attractive therapeutic drug candidates. Antibody-mediated target cell killing is frequently associated with immune effector mechanisms such as antibody-directed cellular cytotoxicity, but they can also be induced by apoptotic processes. Antibody-directed mechanisms, including antigen crosslinking, activation of death receptors, and blockade of ligand-receptor growth or survival pathways, can elicit the induction of apoptosis in targeted cells. Depending on their mechanism of action, monoclonal antibodies can induce targeted cell-specific killing alone or can enhance target cell susceptibility to chemo- or radiotherapeutics by effecting the modulation of antiapoptotic pathways. This review will focus on the mechanisms by which antibodies are capable of eliciting programmed cell death either directly or indirectly within tumor cells.

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Abbreviations

ADCC:

antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity

CDC:

complement-dependent cellular cytotoxicity

IAP:

inhibitor of apoptosis

RTK:

receptor tyrosine kinase

TNFR:

tumor necrosis factor receptor

TRAIL:

TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor

EGFR:

epidermal growth factor receptor

IGF-1R:

insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor

FGFR:

fibroblast growth factor receptor

PDGFR:

platelet-derived growth factor receptor

VEGF:

vascular endothelial growth factor

PI3K:

phosphoinositol 3-kinase

PLCγ:

phospholipase C gamma

MAPK:

mitogen-activated protein kinase

TGF-α:

transforming growth factor-α

IR:

ionizing radiation

SCCHN:

squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

DNA-PK:

DNA-dependent protein kinase

JNK:

c-jun N-terminal protein kinase

NHL:

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

AML:

acute myelogenous leukemia

CLL:

chronic lymphocytic leukemia

ADEPT:

antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy

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Ludwig, D., Pereira, D., Zhu, Z. et al. Monoclonal antibody therapeutics and apoptosis. Oncogene 22, 9097–9106 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1207104

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