Isotypic neutralizing antibodies against mouse GCP-2/CXCL6 inhibit melanoma growth and metastasis

The chemokine granulocyte chemotactic protein (GCP)-2/CXCL6 promotes tumor growth as angiogenesis inducer and neutrophil chemoattractant. The neutralizing capacity and specificity of monoclonal mouse anti-murine (mu)GCP-2/CXCL6 antibodies were evidenced by granulocyte chemotaxis and signaling assays. The half-life of the non-antigenic antibody in the blood circulation was approximately 15 days. The titers remained constant upon weekly injection. Tumor growth and lymphogenic metastases of human melanoma over-expressing muGCP-2 were reduced in mice treated with anti-muGCP-2. Moreover, the drop in muGCP-2 antibody titer correlated with the melanoma tumor size. Taken together, we show that functional blocking of GCP-2 inhibits tumor growth and metastases.