A recombinant scFv-FasLext as a targeting cytotoxic agent against human Jurkat-Ras cancer.

Background: Targeted therapy of human cancers is an attractive approach and has been investigated with limited success. We have developed novel cytotoxic agents for targeted therapy of human cancers based on the extracellular cytotoxicity domain of CD178 (FasL) and the specificity offered by single chain antibodies (scFv) against dominant human tumor Ag TAG-72 (cc49scFv) and TAL6 (L6scFv).

Results: The cc49scFv-FasLext is highly effective in in vitro killing of human TAG-72+ Jurkat-Ras tumor cells with a 30,000 fold greater cytotoxicity as compared to soluble FasL (sFasL). On the other hand, L6scFv-FasLext only increased cytotoxicity 500-fold as compared with sFasL against TAL6+ HeLa cells in in vitro assays. The high specificity and strong cytotoxicity of cc49scFv-FasLext made it feasible to cure IP-implanted Jurkat-Ras tumors in SCID mice.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that scFv-FasLext with a strong cytotoxicity against sensitive human tumor targets may be useful as effective chemotherapeutic agents.