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Monoclonal Antibodies & Immunotherapy to Treat Cancer: Current Knowledge, Emerging Targets and Future Perspectives

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 2101

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Clinical Oncology Laboratory, Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, School od Medicine, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: monoclonal antibodies; cancer; antibodies; treatment; mAbs; immune checkpoint inhibitors; multispecific antibodies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical School, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: cancer research; medical oncology; non-small-cell lung cancer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are a unique type of targeted drugs which have transformed the therapeutics of cancer. During the last twenty-two years, from the approval of rituximab in 1997 until now, many engineered humanized or chimeric mAbs have been produced and validated in clinical trials, changing the way we understand and treat hematologic and solid malignancies.

The tremendous impact and success of mAbs in cancer management is based on their specificity and selectivity for specific antigens on target cells. MAbs mainly target and destroy cancer cells by interrupting specific oncogenic cell signaling, inducing apoptosis or carrying a conjugated drug, toxin or radioactive substance. One of the most successful applications of mAbs is to empower the immune system to eradicate cancer cells. With the advances in methodological and production techniques, significant improvements are expected in this class of medications, including, but not limiting to, bi-, tri- or multispecific mAbs, newer antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), antibody-targeted nanoparticles and single-domain antibodies (sdAb).

This Special Issue will cover all aspects of monoclonal antibodies regarding their role in cancer treatment, recent advances in cancer immunotherapy using mAbs, as well as the upcoming antibody products which are investigated in cancer.

Dr. Foteinos-Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos
Prof. Dr. Haralabos Kalofonos
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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12 pages, 1076 KiB  
Brief Report
The Effect of Belantamab Mafodotin on Primary Myeloma–Stroma Co-Cultures: Asymmetrical Mitochondrial Transfer between Myeloma Cells and Autologous Bone Marrow Stromal Cells
by Zsolt Matula, Ferenc Uher, István Vályi-Nagy and Gábor Mikala
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(6), 5303; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065303 - 10 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1752
Abstract
Belantamab mafodotin (belamaf) is an afucosylated monoclonal antibody conjugated to the microtubule disrupter monomethyl auristatin-F (MMAF) that targets B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) on the surface of malignant plasma cells. Belamaf can eliminate myeloma cells (MMs) through several mechanisms. On the one hand, [...] Read more.
Belantamab mafodotin (belamaf) is an afucosylated monoclonal antibody conjugated to the microtubule disrupter monomethyl auristatin-F (MMAF) that targets B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) on the surface of malignant plasma cells. Belamaf can eliminate myeloma cells (MMs) through several mechanisms. On the one hand, in addition to inhibiting BCMA-receptor signaling and cell survival, intracellularly released MMAF disrupts tubulin polymerization and causes cell cycle arrest. On the other hand, belamaf induces effector cell-mediated tumor cell lysis via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis. In our in vitro co-culture model, the consequences of the first mentioned mechanism can be investigated: belamaf binds to BCMA, reduces the proliferation and survival of MMs, and then enters the lysosomes of malignant cells, where MMAF is released. The MMAF payload causes a cell cycle arrest at the DNA damage checkpoint between the G2 and M phases, resulting in caspase-3-dependent apoptosis. Here, we show that primary MMs isolated from different patients can vary widely in terms of BCMA expression level, and inadequate expression is associated with extremely high resistance to belamaf according to our cytotoxicity assay. We also reveal that primary MMs respond to increasing concentrations of belamaf by enhancing the incorporation of mitochondria from autologous bone marrow stromal cells (BM-MSCs), and as a consequence, MMs become more resistant to belamaf in this way, which is similar to other medications we have analyzed previously in this regard, such as proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib or the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax. The remarkable resistance against belamaf observed in the case of certain primary myeloma cell cultures is a cause for concern and points towards the use of combination therapies to overcome the risk of antigen escape. Full article
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