BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

Therapeutics: Globohexaosylceramide (globo-H); stage-specific embryonic antigen-3 (SSEA-3); SSEA-4

December 18, 2014 4:23 PM UTC

INDICATION: Cancer

Mouse studies suggest chemically modified carbohydrate conjugates could be useful as antigens for the development of cancer vaccines. Chemical synthesis identified a series of modified globo-H antigens that could be coupled to diphtheria toxoid CRM 197 to induce an IgG response against tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens globo-H, SSEA-3 and SSEA4. In mice, vaccination with lead carbohydrate conjugates induced anti-globo-H responses with IgG/IgM ratios greater than 75 [MJH to CE: as meant, the ratios were >75]. In a breast cancer cell line, antisera from mice immunized with lead carbohydrate conjugates induced greater complement-dependent cytotoxicity than complement alone. Next steps could include testing vaccines that use the conjugates in mouse tumor models. ...