Antinuclear antibodies with nucleosome-restricted specificity for targeted delivery of chemotherapeutic agents

Circulating antinuclear autoantibodies (ANAs) are well known to accompany various pathological conditions and can be artificially induced by immunization. Research and clinical data permit us to hypothesize a definite connection between cancer and ANAs. Based on the available data, my group's research suggested that exogenous ANAs may be used as anticancer therapeutics. Among these ANAs, nucleosome-specific ANAs may be particularly useful. Advances in cancer immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies re-emphasized the role of humoral immunity in neoplasia control. The development of a universal antibody targeting diverse cancers is of clear importance. We showed that certain natural ANAs recognize the surface of numerous tumor cells but not normal cells via cell surface-bound nucleosomes originating from the apoptotically dying neighboring tumor cells, mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of tumor cells in vitro and inhibit the development of murine tumor in syngeneic mice. A single monoclonal antinuclear nucleosome-specific autoantibody, mAb 2C5, specifically recognizes multiple unrelated human tumor cell lines and accumulates at a high tumor-to-normal cell ratio in various human tumors in nude mice. Immunotherapy with mAb 2C5 resulted in significant suppression of the growth of several human tumors. In addition, mAb 2C5, when used in subtherapeutic quantities, can serve as a highly efficient specific ligand to target various drug- or diagnostic agent-loaded pharmaceutical nanocarriers, such as liposomes and polymeric micelles, to various tumors. Here, the data (accumulated predominantly in our laboratory over several years) on mAb 2C5-mediated tumor targeting of chemotherapeutic agents is reviewed.