Mouse IgG2a Isotype Therapeutic Antibodies Elicit Superior Tumor Growth Control Compared with mIgG1 or mIgE

In the last decades, antibody-based tumor therapy has fundamentally improved the efficacy of treatment for patients with cancer. Currently, almost all tumor antigen-targeting antibodies approved for clinical application are of IgG1 Fc isotype. Similarly, the mouse homolog mIgG2a is the most commonly used in tumor mouse models. However, in mice, the efficacy of antibody-based tumor therapy is largely restricted to a prophylactic application. Direct isotype comparison studies in mice in a therapeutic setting are scarce. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of mouse tumor-targeting antibodies of different isotypes in a therapeutic setting using a highly systematic approach. To this end, we engineered and expressed antibodies of the same specificity but different isotypes, targeting the artificial tumor antigen CD90.1/Thy1.1 expressed by B16 melanoma cells. Our experiments revealed that in a therapeutic setting mIgG2a was superior to both mIgE and mIgG1 in controlling tumor growth. Furthermore, the observed mIgG2a antitumor effect was entirely Fc mediated as the protection was lost when an Fc-silenced mIgG2a isotype (LALA-PG mutations) was used. These data confirm mIgG2a superiority in a therapeutic tumor model.

Direct comparisons of different antibody isotypes of the same specificity in cancer settings are still scarce. Here, it is shown that mIgG2a has a greater effect compared with mIgG1 and mIgE in controlling tumor growth in a therapeutic setting.