Ningyan Zhang
University of Texas Medical Science Center at Houston, USA
Title: Antibodies targeting EGFL6 block breast cancer tumor growth and metastatsis
Biography
Biography: Ningyan Zhang
Abstract
EGFL6, a member of the EGF like superfamily, is significantly upregulated in tumor- versus wound or normal endothelial cells. Our recent study and reported by others showed that EGFL6 plays important role in regulation of stem cell division and promoting angiogenesis. Using a series of in vitro and in vivo studies using orthotopic and genetically engineered mouse models, we demonstrated the mechanisms by which EGFL6 stimulates tumor growth and angiogenesis in both ovarian and breast cancer types. Significantly, EGFL6 blockage in vivo did not affect normal wound healing as shown by the existing anti-angiogenesis cancer therapy such as avastin. We have identified a panel of EGFL6 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and investigated anti-EGFL6 antibody function in tumor inhibition. Results showed that blocking EGFL6 expression inhibited cell migration and invasion in cell culture studies. Targeting EGFL6 using our anti-EGFL6 antibodies also reduced the tumor growth in vivo. The results suggest that EGFL6 is a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment and the anti-EGFL6 antibody presents a novel therapeutic strategy for blocking development of breast cancer metastasis.