Immunotoxin targeting CD133⁺ breast carcinoma cells

CD133 expression enriches for tumor-initiating cells and is a negative prognostic factor in numerous cancers. We previously developed an immunotoxin against CD133 by fusing a gene fragment encoding the scFv portion of an anti-CD133 antibody to a gene fragment encoding deimmunized PE₃₈KDEL. The resulting fusion protein, dCD133KDEL, demonstrated potent antitumor activity following intratumoral delivery into head neck cell carcinoma xenografts. However, the efficacy against other tumors and the tolerability of systemic administration remained unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of dCD133KDEL in a systemic human breast carcinoma model. Time course viability studies showed that dCD133KDEL selectively inhibited MDA-MB-231 ductal breast carcinoma cells that contained a minority CD133⁺ subpopulation, implicating CD133⁺ cells as a source for self-renewal within this cell line. Furthermore, systemic administration of dCD133KDEL caused regression or inhibition of tumor growth in mice bearing an intrasplenic MDA-MB-231 tumor challenge as a model for metastatic disease. In the same model, combined therapy with dCD133KDEL and another immunotoxin designed to target the bulk tumor mass was the most effective therapy, supporting the idea that such combination therapies might better address tumor heterogeneity. dCD133KDEL shows promise as a therapeutic agent and as a biologic tool to study cancer stem cells.