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Monoclonal antibodies are among the most promising therapeutic agents for treating cancer. Therapeutic cancer antibodies bind to tumor cells, turning them into targets for immune-mediated destruction. We show here that this antibody-mediated killing of tumor cells is limited by a mechanism involving the interaction between tumor cell-expressed CD47 and the inhibitory receptor signal regulatory protein-α (SIRPα) on myeloid cells. Mice that lack the SIRPα cytoplasmic tail, and hence its inhibitory signaling, display increased antibody-mediated elimination of melanoma cells in vivo. Moreover, interference with CD47-SIRPα interactions by CD47 knockdown or by antagonistic antibodies against CD47 or SIRPα significantly enhances the in vitro killing of trastuzumab-opsonized Her2/Neu-positive breast cancer cells by phagocytes. Finally, the response to trastuzumab therapy in breast cancer patients appears correlated to cancer cell CD47 expression. These findings demonstrate that CD47-SIRPα interactions participate in a homeostatic mechanism that restricts antibody-mediated killing of tumor cells. This provides a rational basis for targeting CD47-SIRPα interactions, using for instance the antagonistic antibodies against human SIRPα described herein, to potentiate the clinical effects of cancer therapeutic antibodies.
Zhao et al. (Mon,) studied this question.