Effect of a monoclonal antibody against human relaxin-2 on cancer cell growth inhibition

Abstract

Relaxin-2 has gained much attention because of its importance in cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis. However, the potential of relaxin-2 as a target for immunotherapy has never been directly validated before. In the present study, we produced a human relaxin-2-specific antibody by immunizing mice using a specific liposome complex containing relaxin-2 epitope peptide and CpG-DNA. We isolated a hybridoma clone, 1B11F12, producing the anti-relaxin-2 monoclonal antibody. We confirmed with immunoprecipitation analysis that the antibody specifically recognizes native human relaxin-2. Treatment with the antibody suppressed the growth of some cancer cell lines. Therefore, we suggest that relaxin-2 could be a reasonable target of cancer therapeutics, and the monoclonal antibody could be used to treat cancer in humans.