Crucial role for interferon gamma in the synergism between tumor vasculature-targeted tumor necrosis factor alpha (NGR-TNF) and doxorubicin

NGR-TNF is a derivative of TNF-alpha, consisting of TNF fused to CNGRCG, a tumor vasculature-targeting peptide. Previous studies showed that NGR-TNF can exert synergistic antitumor effects with doxorubicin and with other chemotherapeutic drugs in murine models. In this study, we have investigated the role of endogenous IFN-gamma on the antitumor activity of NGR-TNF in combination with doxorubicin. The study was carried out using murine B16F1 melanoma and TS/A mammary adenocarcinoma implanted subcutaneously in (a) immunocompetent mice, (b) athymic nude mice, and (c) IFN-gamma-knockout mice. Synergism between NGR-TNF and doxorubicin was observed in immunocompetent mice but not in nude or IFN-gamma-knockout mice. Preadministration of a neutralizing anti-IFN-gamma antibody to immunocompetent mice inhibited the NGR-TNF/doxorubicin synergism, whereas administration of IFN-gamma to nude and to IFN-gamma-knockout mice restored the synergistic activity. The synergism in nude mice was restored also by transfecting tumor cells with the IFN-gamma cDNA. Administration of NGR-TNF in combination with IFN-gamma to nude mice, but not of NGR-TNF alone, doubled the penetration of doxorubicin in TS/A tumors. These findings point to a crucial role for locally produced IFN-gamma in tumor vascular targeting with NGR-TNF and doxorubicin. Finally, addition of IFN-gamma to the treatment of immunocompetent mice with NGR-TNF/doxorubicin induced only modest improvement in response, suggesting that exogenous IFN-gamma can improve the therapeutic activity of these drugs only in case of suboptimal production of endogenous IFN-gamma.