This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of a CD70 antibody-drug conjugate (CD70-ADC) against ovarian cancer in-vitro and in-vivo xenograft models. CD70 expression was assessed in clinical samples by immunohistochemical analysis. Western blotting and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analyses were used to determine CD70 expression in the ovarian cancer cell lines, A2780 and SKOV3, and in the cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines, A2780cisR and SKOV3cisR. CD70 expression after cisplatin exposure was determined in A2780 cells transfected with mock- or nuclear factor (NF)-κB-p65-small interfering RNA. We developed an ADC with an anti-CD70 monoclonal antibody linked to monomethyl auristatin F and investigated its cytotoxic effect. We examined 63 ovarian cancer clinical samples; 43 (68.3%) of them expressed CD70. Among patients with advanced stage disease (n=50), those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to exhibit high CD70 expression compared to those who did not (55.6% [15/27] versus 17.4% [4/23], P<0.01). CD70 expression was confirmed in A2780cisR, SKOV3, and SKOV3cisR cells. Notably, CD70 expression was induced after cisplatin treatment in A2780 mock cells but not in A2780-NF-κB-p65-silenced cells. CD70-ADC was cytotoxic to A2780cisR, SKOV3, and SKOV3cisR cells, with IC values ranging from 0.104 to 0.341 nM. In A2780cisR and SKOV3cisR xenograft models, tumor growth in CD70-ADC treated mice was significantly inhibited compared to that in the control-ADC treated mice (A2780cisR: 32.0 versus 1639.0 mm , P<0.01; SKOV3cisR: 232.2 versus 584.9 mm , P<0.01). Platinum treatment induced CD70 expression in ovarian cancer cells. CD70-ADC may have potential therapeutic implications in the treatment of CD70 expressing ovarian cancer.
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