A humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the Lewis Y antigen conjugated with calicheamicin, a hydrophobic enediyne antibiotic, with potential antineoplastic activity. Upon binding to Lewis Y antigen-expressing tumor cells, immunoconjugate CMD-193 is internalized, delivering the calicheamicin moiety specifically; calicheamicin binds non-covalently to the minor groove of DNA and prompts conformational changes and DNA oxidation, thereby inhibiting DNA synthesis and inducing apoptosis. Lewis Y antigen is a tetrasaccharide that is expressed on the cell surfaces of many tumor cell types.
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