Selective Inhibition of ADAM28 Suppresses Lung Carcinoma Cell Growth and Metastasis

ADAM28 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28) is overexpressed by carcinoma cells in non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and plays an important role in cancer cell proliferation and metastasis by reactivation of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and escaping from von Willebrand factor (VWF)-induced apoptosis through digestion of IGF-binding protein-3 and VWF, respectively. To aim for new target therapy of NSCLC patients, we developed human neutralizing antibodies 211-12 and 211-14 against ADAM28, which showed IC₅₀ values of 62.4 and 37.5 nmol/L, respectively. Antibody 211-14 recognized the junctional region between cysteine-rich domain and secreted-specific domain and showed a K_D value of 94.7 pmol/L for the epitope-containing peptide. This antibody detected monkey and human secreted-form ADAM28s, although it was not reactive with mouse membrane-anchored ADAM28m. Antibody 211-14 effectively inhibited IGF-1-stimulated cell proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cell lines with ADAM28 expression, including PC-9 cells, and promoted VWF-induced cell death in these cell lines. In lung metastasis models, antibody 211-14 significantly reduced tumor growth and metastases of PC-9 cells and prolonged survivals in the antibody-treated mice compared with the control IgG-treated ones. Combination therapy of the antibody and docetaxel was more effective than that of bevacizumab and docetaxel and showed further elongation of survival time compared with monotherapy. No adverse effects were observed even after administration of 10-fold more than effective dose of anti-ADAM28 antibody to normal mice. Our data demonstrate that antibody 211-14 is a neutralizing antibody specific to ADAM28s and suggest that this antibody may be a useful treatment remedy for NSCLC patients. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(11); 2427-38. ©2018 AACR.