Preparation of a Conjugate of Mitomycin C and Anti-Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule Monoclonal Antibody for Specific Chemotherapy Against Biliary Tract Carcinoma

Abstract

To develop a specific chemotherapy modality for the perineural invasion of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) positive biliary tract cancer, an anticancer drug, mitomycin C (MMC), was covalently bound to anti-NCAM monoclonal antibody (anti-NCAM MoAb) to form a conjugate using the cyanogen bromide method. The substitution ratio of the conjugate determined spectrophotometrically was 3.5 (MMC mol/immunoglobulin G mol). The cytotoxic activity of the conjugate, which was investigated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test in the growth inhibition of the neuroblastoma cell line with NCAM expression, was maintained at 65.8% to 94.5% compared with the same concentration of MMC solution. The binding activity of the conjugate to the NCAM-positive bile duct cancer was examined by immunohistochemical staining and proved to be the same level as that of free anti-NCAM MoAb. The conjugate prepared in this study therefore appeared to be a potentially useful tool for immunotargeting specific chemotherapy against biliary tract cancer with NCAM expression.