Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway through Frizzled receptors has been shown to play a key role in
both normal development and tumorigenesis. Overexpression of Wnt pathway genes, such as Fzd7
in several malignancies is well-documented. Therefore, targeting of Fzd7 and its ligand inhibits
cancer cells proliferation metastasis. In the present study we isolated single chain variable
fragments (scFvs) against Fzd7 receptor using phage display method. Semi-synthetic human naive
antibody libraries (Tomlinson I C J) was employed in panning procedure to isolate specific scFv
against specific peptide from extracellular domain of Fzd7 receptor. The reactivity and growth
inhibition effects of the selected antibodies was evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA), MTT and annexin V assays, respectively. Seven scFvs reactive to Fzd7 were selected
following 4 rounds of panning. The results showed that the selected scFvs inhibits cell growth
through apoptosis cell death in a triple negative breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231. Given that Fzd7
and Wnt pathway plays a critical role in tumor progression, selected blocking scFvs represent
significant potential for immunotherapy of breast cancer cells.
