Novel fully human IgG1 targeting folate receptor α demonstrates antitumor efficacy driven by avidity rather than monovalent binding affinity

novel-fully-human-igg1-targeting-folate-receptor-α-demonstrates-antitumor-efficacy-driven-by-avidity-rather-than-monovalent-binding-affinity
Novel fully human IgG1 targeting folate receptor α demonstrates antitumor efficacy driven by avidity rather than monovalent binding affinity

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files. The Uncropped supplementary Figure S2 and uncropped supplementary Figure S3 have been addedThe original output of the Biacore data are available as row data but the biacore program is neded to open them (.bme); All the row data are available upon request by contacting the corresponding author (Mariangela.figini@istitutotumori.mi.it).

Abbreviations

ATCC:

American Type Culture Collection

BSA:

Bovine Serum Albumin

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

FACS:

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting

Fab:

Fragment antigen-binding

F(ab)2:

Divalent antibody fragment

FRα:

Folate receptor alpha

HBS-EP+:

Hepes-bufferred saline with surfactant 20

HRP:

Horseradish peroxidase

IgG:

Immunoglobulin G

Mab:

Monoclonal Antibody

MCK:

Multi-cycle kinetics

PBMC:

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells

PBS:

Phosphate-buffered saline

PIPE:

Polymerase Incomplete Primer Extension

POCC:

Primary ovarian cell cancer line

SDS-PAGE:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

SEC:

Size exclusion chromatography

SCK:

Single-cycle kinetics

VH:

Heavy-chain variable

VL:

Light-chain variable

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Flavio Arienti and the Immuno-Hematology and Transfusion Medicine Unit who supplied buffy coats and blood samples for PBL extraction.

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union—Next Generation EU—NRRP M6C2—Investment 2.1 Enhancement and strengthening of biomedical research in the NHS (project #PNC-E3-2022-23683269-PNC-HLS-TA).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Elena Pinto and Davide Tresoldi contributed equally to this work.

  2. Delia Mezzanzanica and Mariangela Figini contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ANP 2 Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Elena Pinto, Davide Tresoldi, Valeria Arlotta, Elena Luison, Barbara Frigerio, Elisa Corsiero & Mariangela Figini

  2. Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK

    Elisa Corsiero

  3. Gynecologic Oncologic Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Francesco Raspagliesi

  4. St. John’s Institute of Dermatology, School of Basic and Medical Biosciences and KHP Centre for Translational Medicine, King’s College London, Guy’s Hospital, London, UK

    Sophia N. Karagiannis

  5. Breast Cancer Now Research Unit, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, Guy’s Cancer Centre, London, UK

    Sophia N. Karagiannis

  6. Segrate, Italy

    Silvana Canevari

  7. Integrated Biology of Rare Tumors Unit, Dept. of Experimental Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Delia Mezzanzanica

Authors

  1. Elena Pinto
  2. Davide Tresoldi
  3. Valeria Arlotta
  4. Elena Luison
  5. Barbara Frigerio
  6. Elisa Corsiero
  7. Francesco Raspagliesi
  8. Sophia N. Karagiannis
  9. Silvana Canevari
  10. Delia Mezzanzanica
  11. Mariangela Figini

Contributions

Mariangela Figini: conception and design of the study. Elena Luison, Davide Tresoldi, Valeria Arlotta, Elena Pinto: *in vitro* functional and biological characterization of AFRA hIgG1. Elena Luison, Valeria Arlotta, Elena Pinto: production and purification of the IgG and technical support *in vitro* experiments. Mariangela Figini, Delia Mezzanzanica, Silvana Canevari, Barbara Frigerio, Elena Luison, Valeria Arlotta, Elisa Corsiero, Francesco Raspagliesi: acquisition, analysis of data, interpretation of data and drafting the manuscript. Mezzanzanica Delia, Sophia Karagiannis, Silvana Canevari, Mariangela Figini: final revision of the manuscript and enhancement of its intellectual content. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariangela Figini.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

I confirm that the use of the patients ascitic fluid cells has been approved by the ethical committee CET Lombardia 4; identificative number INT131/23.

Consent to participate

Ascitic fluid samples, collected during routine medical procedures, were made available for research purposes, in accordance with the institutional guidelines. Clinical details were recorded, and samples were assigned with a reference number to retain anonymity.

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Pinto, E., Tresoldi, D., Arlotta, V. et al. Novel fully human IgG1 targeting folate receptor α demonstrates antitumor efficacy driven by avidity rather than monovalent binding affinity. Sci Rep (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32752-x

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