Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor

The type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) has been extensively reported to play an important role in cancer. Activation of the IGF-1R by IGF-1 and IGF-11 binding to the extracellular domains of the receptor induces mitogenic and anti-apoptotic effects, which are important events in tumor growth and survival. Several cancer cell types overexpress IGF-1R, suggesting a possible use of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against IGF-1R as diagnostic reagents. Here, we report the production and characterization of two independent MAbs, namely 7C2 and 9E11, generated by immunizing mice with the soluble extracellular part of this receptor (amino acids 1-906). Both MAbs bind to membrane bound IGF-1R and do not cross-react with insulin receptor isoforms, IR-A and IR-B expressed on IGF-1R^- cells. MAbs 7C2 and 9E11 stained the IGF-1R on frozen or paraffin-embedded tissue sections or frozen cells. The MAbs 7C2 and 9E11 immunoprecipitated the IGF-1R from P6 cell lysates (cells overexpressing human IGF-1R) and could detect non-reduced intact IGF-1R on immunoblots. However, the MAbs were not able to detect reduced and denatured receptor α and β chains. Sequencing of the heavy- and light-chain variable regions revealed that the 7C2 and 9E11 CDR amino acid sequences are different but result in antibodies with similar properties. MAbs 7C2 and 9E11 are therefore potentially useful diagnostic tools and could be of therapeutic use for humans in the future.