Construction of a novel fusion protein harboring mouse interferon gamma and epidermal growth factor receptor binding domain and enhancement of its antitumor activity

A novel fusion protein harboring mouse interferon Y and epidermal growth factor receptor binding domain was constructed with the method of genetic and protein engineering. The fusion protein kept complete antiviral activity with the titer of 10(8) IU per liter of culture. The EGF-RBD of the fusion protein exhibited competitive binding activity against I-125-mEGF for mEGF receptors on A431 cells. The fusion protein vias shown to be more potent in inhibiting the growth of cultured mouse breast carcinoma cells than interferon gamma. Experimental data on mouse B16 malignant melanoma model indicated that the tumor weight of fusion protein-treated group was statistically significantly smaller than that of interferon gamma-treated group. The work here provides a necessarily reliable clue for the upcoming clinical employment of a novel class of targeting interferons.