Therapeutic potential of CAMPATH-1H in skeletal tumours

Raphaela Fritsche (1) , Andreas Grützkau , Aurelia Noske , Ingo Melcher , Klaus-Dieter Schaser , Peter M Schlag , Hans U Kasper (2) , Veit Jonas Krenn , Christine Sers (3)

1 Institut of pathology
2 Institute of Pathology
3 Charité - UniversitätsMedizin = Charité - University Hospital [Berlin]

Aim: CD52 is a GPI-anchored glycoprotein that is expressed abundantly on all lymphocytes, monocytes, macrophages, eosinophils and in the male genital tract. To date, the physiological role of CD52 on lymphocytes has not been elucidated. However, an antibody directed to CD52 called CAMPATH-1H has been shown to be capable of depleting lymphocytes. Tissue and cell lines of non-neoplastic bone, cartilage and skeletal tumours were analysed for CD52 expression. Methods and results: We detected the expression of the CD52 mRNA and protein both in vivo and in vitro. The malignant tumours showed a higher CD52 expression compared to the benign tumours, suggesting a role in the development and progression of bone tumours. Interestingly, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry revealed that CD52 was not only expressed on the surface of the tumour cells, but also in the cytoplasm. Our results obtained in osteosarcoma cells show that CAMPATH-1H leads to a complement-independent reduction of viable cells. Conclusion: CD52 is expressed in a variety of bone tumours and the in vitro studies presented herein suggest that CAMPATH-1H treatment might have therapeutic potential for osteosarcoma patients with poor clinical prognosis.

Mots clés: Medicine

Raphaela Fritsche, Andreas Grützkau, Aurelia Noske, Ingo Melcher, Klaus-Dieter Schaser, et al.. Therapeutic potential of CAMPATH-1H in skeletal tumours. Histopathology, 2010, 57 (6), pp.851. ⟨10.1111/j.1365-2559.2010.03722.x⟩. ⟨hal-00601175⟩