ADRIAMYCIN CONJUGATED WITH A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY SUPPRESSES SELECTIVELY THE GROWTH OF HUMAN GASTRIC CANCER CELL LINES IN VITRO

Adriamycin, an anthracycline anticancer drug, was linked covalently to monoclonal antibody (McAb), MGb 2, against human gastric cancer with the use of dextran as a multivalent carrier. ELISA and immunofluorescent staining revealed that the immune reactivity of McAb MGb2 was well retained after conjugation. In vitro, the cytotoxicity of ADM-DEX-MGb2 conjugate against human gastric cancer cell lines(SGC-7901 and BGC-823) was similar to that of free ADM, but stronger than that of conjugate of ADM with normal mouse IgG. While the conjugate showed very low cytotoxicity to normal human embryonic lung cell line(SL7). Our result suggested that the immunoconjugation exhibited highly selective cytotoxicity to gastric cancer cells, so it may have potential use in human gastric carcinoma therapy.