Significant antitumour effect of an antibody against TMEM180, a new cancer-specific molecule

The present state of therapy for colorectal cancer (CRC) is far from satisfactory, highlighting the need for new targets for this disease. We identified a new colorectal cancer (CRC)-specific molecule, TMEM180, a predicted eleven-pass transmembrane protein that apparently functions as a cation symporter. Our anti-TMEM180 monoclonal antibody (mAb) eradicated SW480 CRC xenografts in mice. The TMEM180 promoter region contains ten hypoxia-responsive element consensus sequences; accordingly SW480 cells upregulated TMEM180 under low-oxygen conditions. TMEM180 expression in SW480 cells was positively correlated with anchorage-independent colony formation and tumourigenesis. TMEM180-positive SW480 cells resided at the tumour-stroma interface manifested by SMA-positive fibroblasts, also known as the tumour niche. Some clusters of TMEM180-positive cells adjacent to the niche were integrin 6-positive. These data indicate that TMEM180 represents a possible cancer stem cell marker and that a mAb against this protein could be used as antibody-based therapeutic against CRC.