Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Publication Date
4-1-2022
Journal
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Abstract
Antibodies that target immune checkpoint proteins such as programmed cell death protein 1, programmed death ligand 1, and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 in human cancers have achieved impressive clinical success; however, a significant proportion of patients fail to respond to these treatments. Galectin-9 (Gal-9), a β-galactoside-binding protein, has been shown to induce T-cell death and facilitate immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment by binding to immunomodulatory receptors such as T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing molecule 3 and the innate immune receptor dectin-1, suggesting that it may have potential as a target for cancer immunotherapy. Here, we report the development of two novel Gal-9-neutralizing antibodies that specifically react with the N-carbohydrate-recognition domain of human Gal-9 with high affinity. We also show using cell-based functional assays that these antibodies efficiently protected human T cells from Gal-9-induced cell death. Notably, in a T-cell/tumor cell coculture assay of cytotoxicity, these antibodies significantly promoted T cell-mediated killing of tumor cells. Taken together, our findings demonstrate potent inhibition of human Gal-9 by neutralizing antibodies, which may open new avenues for cancer immunotherapy.
Keywords
Antibodies, Neutralizing, Cell Death, Galectins, Humans, Neoplasms, T-Lymphocytes, Tumor Microenvironment, cancer biology, immunotherapy, monoclonal antibody, immune checkpoint, TIM-3, galectin-9
DOI
35283189
PMID
35283189
PMCID
PMC900666
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
3-11-2022
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Included in
Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Commons, Bioinformatics Commons, Biomedical Informatics Commons, Chemical and Pharmacologic Phenomena Commons, Medical Cell Biology Commons, Neoplasms Commons, Oncology Commons