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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mol. Biosci.

Sec. Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1506768

Comparison of two immunotoxins against DLL3 receptor; as an inhibitor for Small Cell Lung Cancer

Provisionally accepted
Mohammad Hossein Ataee Mohammad Hossein Ataee Seyed Ali Mirhosseini Seyed Ali Mirhosseini Reza Mirnejad Reza Mirnejad Hamideh Mahmoodzadeh Hosseini Hamideh Mahmoodzadeh Hosseini Jafar Amani Jafar Amani *
  • Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Tehran, Iran

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Despite the efforts of researchers to develop new treatments for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), achieving effective treatment has not yet happened. Targeted therapy utilizing delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3), which is highly expressed in SCLC patients, holds promise as a potential solution.Immunotoxins, consisting of bacterial toxins from the ADP-ribosyl transferase toxin family have shown effectiveness in targeting cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the binding ability, cytotoxicity, apoptosis induction rate, and permeability of two immunotoxins based on the rovalpituzumab antibody. The binding ability of immunotoxins to the receptor was performed by the Cell-ELISA method. Following this, the cell viability of cancer and normal cells immunotoxins was evaluated using the MTT assay. The ability to induce apoptosis and the penetration of immunotoxins was assessed by flow cytometry and Western blotting method. The binding ability of the immunotoxin Rova-Typh to the DLL3 receptor was higher compared to the immunotoxin Rova-GrB.The cell viability of A549 cancer cells treated with immunotoxins showed IC50 concentrations of 338 and 734 nanomolar for immunotoxins Rova-GrB and Rova-Typh, respectively. The induction of apoptosis by immunotoxin Rova-Typh was greater compared to immunotoxin Rova-GrB. The designed immunotoxins in prokaryotic hosts exhibit good anticancer performance in A549 lung cancer cells. Additionally, the bacterial toxin-based immunotoxin has a greater ability to induce apoptosis compared to human enzymes and can be considered as a therapeutic option for SCLC cancer.

    Keywords: DLL3, SCLC, Rovalpituzumab, immunotoxin, Rova-GrB, Rova-Typh, Typhoid toxin

    Received: 06 Oct 2024; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Ataee, Mirhosseini, Mirnejad, Mahmoodzadeh Hosseini and Amani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jafar Amani, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 56131-56491, Tehran, Iran

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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