Human Natural Antibodies Recognizing Glycan Galβ1-3GlcNAc (Le(C))

The level of human natural antibodies of immunoglobulin M isotype against Le(C) in patients with breast cancer is lower than in healthy women. The epitope specificity of these antibodies has been characterized using a printed glycan array and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the antibodies being isolated from donors’ blood using Le(C)-Sepharose (Le(C) is Galβ1-3GlcNAcβ). The isolated antibodies recognize the disaccharide but do not bind to glycans terminated with Le(C), which implies the impossibility of binding to regular glycoproteins of non-malignant cells. The avidity (as dissociation constant value) of antibodies probed with a multivalent disaccharide is 10(−9) M; the nanomolar level indicates that the concentration is sufficient for physiological binding to the cognate antigen. Testing of several breast cancer cell lines showed the strongest binding to ZR 75-1. Interestingly, only 7% of the cells were positive in a monolayer with a low density, increasing up to 96% at highest density. The enhanced interaction (instead of the expected inhibition) of antibodies with ZR 75-1 cells in the presence of Galβ1-3GlcNAcβ disaccharide, indicates that the target epitope of anti-Le(C) antibodies is a molecular pattern with a carbohydrate constituent rather than a glycan.