Figure 2.

Specificity and functionality testing of antibodies purified from sera of immunized mice. (A) AAV-mimotope induced antibodies recognize HER-2, but not tumor-associated antigens EGFR, CEA or control protein BSA. Antibodies (c = 1 µg/mL) purified from sera of naïve mice and mice immunized with candidate particles were screened for their reactivity toward known tumor antigens HER-2, EGFR, CEA as well as the control protein BSA in ELISA. Antibodies induced by mimotopes DMD4 and DMD6 show significant higher IgG reactivity toward rHER-2 than naive mice (p < 0.001) and mice immunized with candidates DMD1 (p < 0 .001) and DMD2 (p < 0 .001). Toward all other antigens only background reactivity is visible. Bars represent mean values & SD (n = 2); One-way ANOVA, Tukey's post-test. (B) Purified antibodies of immunized mice to different degrees inhibit growth of human HER-2 overexpressing mammary carcinoma cells. Tetrazolium-based proliferation assays with HER-2 overexpressing BT474 cells are depicted upon incubation for 72 h with purified antibodies (c = 1 µg/mL) of sera from mice immunized with candidate particles. Bars displaying mean values & SD, analyzed by means of Kruskal–Wallis test plus Dunns post-test.