Characterization of an anti-MUC1 monoclonal antibody with potential as a cancer vaccine

The monoclonal antibody (MAb) AR20.5 is a murine MAb, generated against the tandem repeat protein backbone of the tumor-associated antigen MUC1. MAb AR20.5 reacts strongly with either the soluble form or the cell surface epitope of MUC1 on many human cancer cell lines. It also reacts with a 23-amino acid MUC1 peptide, E23, which includes the core tandem repeat sequence. Epitope mapping confirmed that MAb AR20.5 recognizes a minimum of six residues with the sequence DTRPAP. Inhibition of glycosylation of MUC1 resulted in decreased binding of MAb AR20.5 to cell surface MUC1, suggesting that MAb AR20.5 binding is carbohydrate dependent. The antibody was studied in a human PBL-SCID/beige mouse model to evaluate its effect on progression of NIH:OVARCAR-3 tumors. Tumor reduction was observed in mice injected with MAb AR20.5, but not in mice treated with control murine antibody or PBS (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). An anti-tumor effect could also be demonstrated in a CB6F1 mouse model with the MUC1 transfectoma 413BCR.