51
|
Cui J, Toh Y, Park S, Yu W, Tu J, Wu L, Li L, Jacob J, Pan S, Carmon KS, Liu QJ. Drug Conjugates of Antagonistic R-Spondin 4 Mutant for Simultaneous Targeting of Leucine-Rich Repeat-Containing G Protein-Coupled Receptors 4/5/6 for Cancer Treatment. J Med Chem 2021; 64:12572-12581. [PMID: 34406767 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
LGR4-6 (leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptors 4, 5, and 6) are three related receptors with an upregulated expression in gastrointestinal cancers to various extents, and LGR5 is enriched in cancer stem cells. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting LGR5 showed a robust antitumor effect in vivo but could not eradicate tumors due to plasticity of LGR5-positive cancer cells. As LGR5-negative cancer cells often express LGR4 or LGR6 or both, we reasoned that simultaneous targeting of all three LGRs may provide a more effective approach. R-spondins (RSPOs) bind to LGR4-6 with high affinity and potentiate Wnt signaling. We identified an RSPO4 furin domain mutant (Q65R) that retains potent LGR binding but no longer potentiates Wnt signaling. Drug conjugates of a peptibody comprising the RSPO4 mutant and IgG1-Fc showed potent cytotoxic effects on cancer cell lines expressing any LGR in vitro and suppressed tumor growth in vivo without inducing intestinal enlargement or other adverse effects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jie Cui
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Yukimatsu Toh
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Soohyun Park
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Wangsheng Yu
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Jianghua Tu
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Ling Wu
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Li Li
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Joan Jacob
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Sheng Pan
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Kendra S Carmon
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Qingyun J Liu
- Center for Translational Cancer Research, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1825 Pressler St., Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| |
Collapse
|
52
|
Matsuda Y. Current approaches for the purification of antibody-drug conjugates. J Sep Sci 2021; 45:27-37. [PMID: 34473399 DOI: 10.1002/jssc.202100575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
In the past two decades, antibody-drug conjugates have gained increasing attention because they expand the therapeutic index when compared with that of traditional chemotherapies. Antibody-drug conjugates are highly complex structures consisting of antibodies covalently conjugated with small-molecule cytotoxic drugs. The complex structure of antibody-drug conjugates makes chemistry, manufacturing, and control difficult. In contrast to antibody production, distinct purification methods following conjugation of antibodies with drug-linkers are required for the manufacturing. For process development of antibody drug conjugates, the drug-to-antibody ratio, free drug-linkers, and aggregates are critical quality attributes that must be strictly controlled and removed by appropriate purification techniques. In this review, features of various purification methods used to purify antibody drug conjugates are described and evaluated. The future landscape of the antibody-conjugates field is also discussed briefly.
Collapse
|
53
|
Han A, Olsen O, D'Souza C, Shan J, Zhao F, Yanolatos J, Hovhannisyan Z, Haxhinasto S, Delfino F, Olson W. Development of Novel Glucocorticoids for Use in Antibody-Drug Conjugates for the Treatment of Inflammatory Diseases. J Med Chem 2021; 64:11958-11971. [PMID: 34378927 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely used to treat a variety of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases; however, systemic delivery of GCs is associated with side effects that affect essentially every organ system, reflecting the nearly ubiquitous expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Targeted delivery of GCs to diseased tissues using antibody-glucocorticoid conjugates (GC-ADCs) offers a therapeutic alternative to overcome these adverse effects. Herein, we describe novel classes of GCs that exhibited greater potency than dexamethasone and budesonide, a 100-fold selectivity toward the GR over other nuclear receptors, and no in vitro safety liability in pharmacology assays (hERG, AMES) and that demonstrated a substantial reduction in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) release in mice challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The site-specific conjugated GC-ADCs via cathepsin-cleavable linkers were highly stable in plasma and specifically released GCs in antigen-positive cells, suggesting that these novel GCs can serve as ADC payloads to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amy Han
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | - Olav Olsen
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | | | - Jing Shan
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | - Feng Zhao
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | - Jean Yanolatos
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | | | - Sokol Haxhinasto
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | - Frank Delfino
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| | - William Olson
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, New York 10591, United States
| |
Collapse
|
54
|
Dai Z, Zhang XN, Cheng Q, Fei F, Hou T, Li J, Abdolvahabi A, Watanabe J, Pei H, Smbatyan G, Xie J, Lenz HJ, Louie SG, Zhang Y. Site-specific antibody-drug conjugates with variable drug-to-antibody-ratios for AML therapy. J Control Release 2021; 336:433-442. [PMID: 34197861 PMCID: PMC8373670 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.06.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Random conjugations of chemotherapeutics to monoclonal antibodies result in heterogeneous antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with suboptimal pharmacological properties. We recently developed a new technology for facile generation of homogeneous ADCs by harnessing human CD38 catalytic domain and its dinucleotide-derived covalent inhibitor, termed ADP-ribosyl cyclase-enabled ADCs (ARC-ADCs). Herein we advance this technology by designing and synthesizing ARC-ADCs with customizable drug-to-antibody ratios (DARs). Through varying numbers and locations of CD38 fused to an antibody targeting human C-type lectin-like molecule-1 (hCLL-1), ARC-ADCs featuring DARs of 2 and 4 were rapidly generated via a single step with cytotoxic monomethyl auristatin F (MMAF) as payloads. In contrast to anti-hCLL-1 ARC-ADC carrying 2 drug molecules, anti-hCLL-1 ARC-ADC with a DAR of 4 shows highly potent activity in killing hCLL-1-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells both in vitro and in vivo. This work provides novel ADC candidates for combating AML and supports ARC-ADC as a general and versatile approach for producing site-specific ADCs with defined DARs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhefu Dai
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Xiao-Nan Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Qinqin Cheng
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Fan Fei
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Tianling Hou
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Jiawei Li
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Alireza Abdolvahabi
- Mass Spectrometry Core Facility, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Junji Watanabe
- Translational Research Laboratory, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Hua Pei
- Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Goar Smbatyan
- Division of Medical Oncology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Jianming Xie
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Heinz-Josef Lenz
- Division of Medical Oncology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Stan G Louie
- Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Yong Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA; Department of Chemistry, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA; Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA; Research Center for Liver Diseases, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
55
|
Orozco CT, Edgeworth MJ, Devine PWA, Hines AR, Cornwell O, Thompson C, Wang X, Phillips JJ, Ravn P, Jackson SE, Bond NJ. Interconversion of Unexpected Thiol States Affects the Stability, Structure, and Dynamics of Antibody Engineered for Site-Specific Conjugation. Bioconjug Chem 2021; 32:1834-1844. [PMID: 34369158 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.1c00286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Antibody-drug conjugates have become one of the most actively developed classes of drugs in recent years. Their great potential comes from combining the strengths of large and small molecule therapeutics: the exquisite specificity of antibodies and the highly potent nature of cytotoxic compounds. More recently, the approach of engineering antibody-drug conjugate scaffolds to achieve highly controlled drug to antibody ratios has focused on substituting or inserting cysteines to facilitate site-specific conjugation. Herein, we characterize an antibody scaffold engineered with an inserted cysteine that formed an unexpected disulfide bridge during manufacture. A combination of mass spectrometry and biophysical techniques have been used to understand how the additional disulfide bridge forms, interconverts, and changes the stability and structural dynamics of the antibody intermediate. This quantitative and structurally resolved model of the local and global changes in structure and dynamics associated with the engineering and subsequent disulfide-bonded variant can assist future engineering strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carolina T Orozco
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, CB2 1EW Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew J Edgeworth
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, CB21 6GH Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Paul W A Devine
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, CB21 6GH Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alistair R Hines
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, CB21 6GH Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Owen Cornwell
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, CB21 6GH Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher Thompson
- Purification Process Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, United States
| | - Xiangyang Wang
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, United States
| | - Jonathan J Phillips
- Living Systems Institute, Department of Biosciences, University of Exeter, EX4 4QD Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Ravn
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, R&D, AstraZeneca, CB21 6GH Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie E Jackson
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, CB2 1EW Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas J Bond
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, CB21 6GH Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
56
|
Javaid F, Pilotti C, Camilli C, Kallenberg D, Bahou C, Blackburn J, R Baker J, Greenwood J, Moss SE, Chudasama V. Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) as a novel ADC target. RSC Chem Biol 2021; 2:1206-1220. [PMID: 34458833 PMCID: PMC8341842 DOI: 10.1039/d1cb00104c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) is present abundantly in the microenvironment of many tumours where it contributes to vascular dysfunction, which impedes the delivery of therapeutics. In this work we demonstrate that LRG1 is predominantly a non-internalising protein. We report the development of a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) comprising the anti-LRG1 hinge-stabilised IgG4 monoclonal antibody Magacizumab coupled to the anti-mitotic payload monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) via a cleavable dipeptide linker using the site-selective disulfide rebridging dibromopyridazinedione (diBrPD) scaffold. It is demonstrated that this ADC retains binding post-modification, is stable in serum and effective in in vitro cell studies. We show that the extracellular LRG1-targeting ADC provides an increase in survival in vivo when compared against antibody alone and similar anti-tumour activity when compared against standard chemotherapy, but without undesired side-effects. LRG1 targeting through this ADC presents a novel and effective proof-of-concept en route to improving the efficacy of cancer therapeutics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Faiza Javaid
- UCL Department of Chemistry 20 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AJ UK
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL UK
| | - Camilla Pilotti
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL UK
| | - Carlotta Camilli
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL UK
| | - David Kallenberg
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL UK
| | - Calise Bahou
- UCL Department of Chemistry 20 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AJ UK
| | - Jack Blackburn
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL UK
| | - James R Baker
- UCL Department of Chemistry 20 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AJ UK
| | - John Greenwood
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL UK
| | - Stephen E Moss
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL UK
| | - Vijay Chudasama
- UCL Department of Chemistry 20 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AJ UK
| |
Collapse
|
57
|
Kaempffe A, Dickgiesser S, Rasche N, Paoletti A, Bertotti E, De Salve I, Sirtori FR, Kellner R, Könning D, Hecht S, Anderl J, Kolmar H, Schröter C. Effect of Conjugation Site and Technique on the Stability and Pharmacokinetics of Antibody-Drug Conjugates. J Pharm Sci 2021; 110:3776-3785. [PMID: 34363839 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Appropriate selection of conjugation sites and conjugation technologies is now widely accepted as crucial for the success of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Herein, we present ADCs conjugated by different conjugation methods to different conjugation positions being systematically characterized by multiple in vitro assays as well as in vivo pharmacokinetic (PK) analyses in transgenic Tg276 mice. Conjugation to cysteines, genetically introduced at positions N325, L328, S239, D265, and S442, was compared to enzymatic conjugation via microbial transglutaminase (mTG) either to C-terminal light (LC) or heavy chain (HC) recognition motifs or to endogenous position Q295 of a native antibody. All conjugations yielded homogeneous DAR 2 ADCs with similar hydrophobicity, thermal stability, human neonatal Fc receptor (huFcRn) binding, and serum stability properties, but with pronounced differences in their PK profiles. mTG-conjugated ADC variants conjugated either to Q295 or to LC recognition motifs showed superior PK behavior. Within the panel of engineered cysteine variants L328 showed a similar PK profile compared to previously described S239 but superior PK compared to S442, D265, and N325. While all positions were first tested with trastuzumab, L328 and mTG LC were further evaluated with additional antibody scaffolds derived from clinically evaluated monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Based on PK analyses, this study confirms the newly described position L328 as favorable site for cysteine conjugation, comparable to the well-established engineered cysteine position S239, and emphasizes the favorable position Q295 of native antibodies and the tagged LC antibody variant for enzymatic conjugations via mTG. In addition, hemizygous Tg276 mice are evaluated as an adequate model for ADC pharmacokinetics, facilitating the selection of suitable ADC candidates early in the drug discovery process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Kaempffe
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 4, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany; Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Stephan Dickgiesser
- Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Nicolas Rasche
- Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Andrea Paoletti
- NBE-DMPK Discovery and Preclinical Bioanalytics, Merck KGaA, RBM S.p.A., Via Ribes 1, 10010 Colleretto Giacosa (TO), Italy
| | - Elisa Bertotti
- NBE-DMPK Discovery and Preclinical Bioanalytics, Merck KGaA, RBM S.p.A., Via Ribes 1, 10010 Colleretto Giacosa (TO), Italy
| | - Ilse De Salve
- NBE-DMPK Discovery and Preclinical Bioanalytics, Merck KGaA, RBM S.p.A., Via Ribes 1, 10010 Colleretto Giacosa (TO), Italy
| | - Federico Riccardi Sirtori
- NBE-DMPK Discovery and Preclinical Bioanalytics, Merck KGaA, RBM S.p.A., Via Ribes 1, 10010 Colleretto Giacosa (TO), Italy
| | - Roland Kellner
- Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Doreen Könning
- Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Stefan Hecht
- Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Jan Anderl
- Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Harald Kolmar
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 4, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Christian Schröter
- Antibody Drug Conjugates & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
58
|
Mckertish CM, Kayser V. Advances and Limitations of Antibody Drug Conjugates for Cancer. Biomedicines 2021; 9:872. [PMID: 34440076 PMCID: PMC8389690 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9080872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Revised: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The popularity of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) has increased in recent years, mainly due to their unrivalled efficacy and specificity over chemotherapy agents. The success of the ADC is partly based on the stability and successful cleavage of selective linkers for the delivery of the payload. The current research focuses on overcoming intrinsic shortcomings that impact the successful development of ADCs. This review summarizes marketed and recently approved ADCs, compares the features of various linker designs and payloads commonly used for ADC conjugation, and outlines cancer specific ADCs that are currently in late-stage clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. In addition, it addresses the issues surrounding drug resistance and strategies to overcome resistance, the impact of a narrow therapeutic index on treatment outcomes, the impact of drug-antibody ratio (DAR) and hydrophobicity on ADC clearance and protein aggregation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Veysel Kayser
- Sydney School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia;
| |
Collapse
|
59
|
Site-Specific Antibody Conjugation to Engineered Double Cysteine Residues. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:ph14070672. [PMID: 34358098 PMCID: PMC8308878 DOI: 10.3390/ph14070672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Site-specific antibody conjugations generate homogeneous antibody-drug conjugates with high therapeutic index. However, there are limited examples for producing the site-specific conjugates with a drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) greater than two, especially using engineered cysteines. Based on available Fc structures, we designed and introduced free cysteine residues into various antibody CH2 and CH3 regions to explore and expand this technology. The mutants were generated using site-directed mutagenesis with good yield and properties. Conjugation efficiency and selectivity were screened using PEGylation. The top single cysteine mutants were then selected and combined as double cysteine mutants for expression and further investigation. Thirty-six out of thirty-eight double cysteine mutants display comparable expression with low aggregation similar to the wild-type antibody. PEGylation screening identified seventeen double cysteine mutants with good conjugatability and high selectivity. PEGylation was demonstrated to be a valuable and efficient approach for quickly screening mutants for high selectivity as well as conjugation efficiency. Our work demonstrated the feasibility of generating antibody conjugates with a DAR greater than 3.4 and high site-selectivity using THIOMABTM method. The top single or double cysteine mutants identified can potentially be applied to site-specific antibody conjugation of cytotoxin or other therapeutic agents as a next generation conjugation strategy.
Collapse
|
60
|
Rudd SE, Van Zuylekom JK, Raicevic A, Pearce LA, Cullinane C, Williams CC, Adams TE, Hicks RJ, Donnelly PS. Enzyme mediated incorporation of zirconium-89 or copper-64 into a fragment antibody for same day imaging of epidermal growth factor receptor. Chem Sci 2021; 12:9004-9016. [PMID: 34276928 PMCID: PMC8261882 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc01422f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Identification of tumors which over-express Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is important in selecting patients for anti-EGFR therapies. Enzymatic bioconjugation was used to introduce positron-emitting radionuclides (89Zr, 64Cu) into an anti-EGFR antibody fragment for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging the same day as injection. A monovalent antibody fragment with high affinity for EGFR was engineered to include a sequence that is recognized by the transpeptidase sortase A. Two different metal chelators, one for 89ZrIV and one for 64CuII, were modified with a N-terminal glycine to enable them to act as substrates in sortase A mediated bioconjugation to the antibody fragment. Both fragments provided high-quality PET images of EGFR positive tumors in a mouse model at 3 hours post-injection, a significant advantage when compared to radiolabeled full antibodies that require several days between injection of the tracer and imaging. The use of enzymatic bioconjugation gives reproducible homogeneous products with the metal complexes selectively installed on the C-terminus of the antibody potentially simplifying regulatory approval.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stacey E Rudd
- School of Chemistry and Bio21 Molecular Science, Biotechnology Institute University of Melbourne Parkville Victoria 3010 Australia
| | | | - Anna Raicevic
- CSIRO Manufacturing Parkville Victoria 3052 Australia
| | | | - Carleen Cullinane
- Research Division, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne Parkville Victoria Australia
| | | | | | - Rodney J Hicks
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne Parkville Victoria Australia
| | - Paul S Donnelly
- School of Chemistry and Bio21 Molecular Science, Biotechnology Institute University of Melbourne Parkville Victoria 3010 Australia
| |
Collapse
|
61
|
Jäger S, Wagner TR, Rasche N, Kolmar H, Hecht S, Schröter C. Generation and Biological Evaluation of Fc Antigen Binding Fragment-Drug Conjugates as a Novel Antibody-Based Format for Targeted Drug Delivery. Bioconjug Chem 2021; 32:1699-1710. [PMID: 34185508 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.1c00240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Fragment crystallizable (Fc) antigen binding fragments (Fcabs) represent a novel antibody format comprising a homodimeric Fc region with an engineered antigen binding site. In contrast to their full-length antibody offspring, Fcabs combine Fc-domain-mediated and antigen binding functions at only one-third of the size. Their reduced size is accompanied by elevated tissue penetration capabilities, which is an attractive feature for the treatment of solid tumors. In the present study, we explored for the first time Fcabs as a novel scaffold for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). As model, various HER2-targeting Fcab variants coupled to a pH-sensitive dye were used in internalization experiments. A selective binding on HER2-expressing tumor cells and receptor-mediated endocytosis could be confirmed for selected variants, indicating that these Fcabs meet the basic prerequisite for an ADC approach. Subsequently, Fcabs were site-specifically coupled to cytotoxic monomethyl auristatin E yielding homogeneous conjugates. The conjugates retained HER2 and FcRn binding behavior of the parent Fcabs, showed a selective in vitro cell killing and conjugation site-dependent serum stability. Moreover, Fcab conjugates showed elevated penetration in a spheroid model, compared to their full-length antibody and Trastuzumab counterparts. Altogether, the presented results emphasize the potential of Fcabs as a novel scaffold for targeted drug delivery in solid cancers and pave the way for future in vivo translation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Jäger
- ADCs & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany.,Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technical University of Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Str. 4, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Tim R Wagner
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technical University of Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Str. 4, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Nicolas Rasche
- ADCs & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Harald Kolmar
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technical University of Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Str. 4, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Stefan Hecht
- ADCs & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Christian Schröter
- ADCs & Targeted NBE Therapeutics, Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
62
|
Adakkattil R, Thakur K, Rai V. Reactivity and Selectivity Principles in Native Protein Bioconjugation. CHEM REC 2021; 21:1941-1956. [PMID: 34184826 DOI: 10.1002/tcr.202100108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Are chemical methods capable of precisely engineering the native proteins? Is it possible to develop platforms that can empower the regulation of chemoselectivity, site-selectivity, modularity, protein-specificity, and site-specificity? This account delineates our research journey in the last ten years on the developments revolving around these questions. It will range from the realization of chemoselective and site-selective labeling of reactivity hotspots to modular linchpin directed modification (LDM®) platform and site-specific Gly-tag® technology. Also, we outline a few biotechnology tools, including Maspecter®, that accelerated the detailed analysis of the bioconjugates and rendered a powerful toolbox for homogeneous antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ramesh Adakkattil
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal Bypass Road, Bhauri, 462 066, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Kalyani Thakur
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal Bypass Road, Bhauri, 462 066, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Vishal Rai
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal Bypass Road, Bhauri, 462 066, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| |
Collapse
|
63
|
Bolzati C, Spolaore B. Enzymatic Methods for the Site-Specific Radiolabeling of Targeting Proteins. Molecules 2021; 26:3492. [PMID: 34201280 PMCID: PMC8229434 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26123492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Site-specific conjugation of proteins is currently required to produce homogenous derivatives for medicine applications. Proteins derivatized at specific positions of the polypeptide chain can actually show higher stability, superior pharmacokinetics, and activity in vivo, as compared with conjugates modified at heterogeneous sites. Moreover, they can be better characterized regarding the composition of the derivatization sites as well as the conformational and activity properties. To this aim, several site-specific derivatization approaches have been developed. Among these, enzymes are powerful tools that efficiently allow the generation of homogenous protein-drug conjugates under physiological conditions, thus preserving their native structure and activity. This review will summarize the progress made over the last decade on the use of enzymatic-based methodologies for the production of site-specific labeled immunoconjugates of interest for nuclear medicine. Enzymes used in this field, including microbial transglutaminase, sortase, galactosyltransferase, and lipoic acid ligase, will be overviewed and their recent applications in the radiopharmaceutical field will be described. Since nuclear medicine can benefit greatly from the production of homogenous derivatives, we hope that this review will aid the use of enzymes for the development of better radio-conjugates for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Bolzati
- Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technologies for Energy ICMATE-CNR, Corso Stati Uniti, 4, I-35127 Padova, Italy
| | - Barbara Spolaore
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Via Marzolo, 5, I-35131 Padova, Italy
- CRIBI Biotechnology Center, University of Padua, Viale G. Colombo, 3, I-35131 Padova, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
64
|
Deslignière E, Ehkirch A, Duivelshof BL, Toftevall H, Sjögren J, Guillarme D, D’Atri V, Beck A, Hernandez-Alba O, Cianférani S. State-of-the-Art Native Mass Spectrometry and Ion Mobility Methods to Monitor Homogeneous Site-Specific Antibody-Drug Conjugates Synthesis. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:ph14060498. [PMID: 34073805 PMCID: PMC8225019 DOI: 10.3390/ph14060498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are biotherapeutics consisting of a tumor-targeting monoclonal antibody (mAb) linked covalently to a cytotoxic drug. Early generation ADCs were predominantly obtained through non-selective conjugation methods based on lysine and cysteine residues, resulting in heterogeneous populations with varying drug-to-antibody ratios (DAR). Site-specific conjugation is one of the current challenges in ADC development, allowing for controlled conjugation and production of homogeneous ADCs. We report here the characterization of a site-specific DAR2 ADC generated with the GlyCLICK three-step process, which involves glycan-based enzymatic remodeling and click chemistry, using state-of-the-art native mass spectrometry (nMS) methods. The conjugation process was monitored with size exclusion chromatography coupled to nMS (SEC-nMS), which offered a straightforward identification and quantification of all reaction products, providing a direct snapshot of the ADC homogeneity. Benefits of SEC-nMS were further demonstrated for forced degradation studies, for which fragments generated upon thermal stress were clearly identified, with no deconjugation of the drug linker observed for the T-GlyGLICK-DM1 ADC. Lastly, innovative ion mobility-based collision-induced unfolding (CIU) approaches were used to assess the gas-phase behavior of compounds along the conjugation process, highlighting an increased resistance of the mAb against gas-phase unfolding upon drug conjugation. Altogether, these state-of-the-art nMS methods represent innovative approaches to investigate drug loading and distribution of last generation ADCs, their evolution during the bioconjugation process and their impact on gas-phase stabilities. We envision nMS and CIU methods to improve the conformational characterization of next generation-empowered mAb-derived products such as engineered nanobodies, bispecific ADCs or immunocytokines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Evolène Deslignière
- Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse BioOrganique, IPHC UMR 7178, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, 67087 Strasbourg, France; (E.D.); (A.E.); (O.H.-A.)
- Infrastructure Nationale de Protéomique ProFI—FR2048, 67087 Strasbourg, France
| | - Anthony Ehkirch
- Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse BioOrganique, IPHC UMR 7178, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, 67087 Strasbourg, France; (E.D.); (A.E.); (O.H.-A.)
- Infrastructure Nationale de Protéomique ProFI—FR2048, 67087 Strasbourg, France
| | - Bastiaan L. Duivelshof
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, CMU—Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; (B.L.D.); (D.G.); (V.D.)
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, CMU—Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Davy Guillarme
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, CMU—Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; (B.L.D.); (D.G.); (V.D.)
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, CMU—Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Valentina D’Atri
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, CMU—Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; (B.L.D.); (D.G.); (V.D.)
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, CMU—Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Alain Beck
- IRPF—Centre d’Immunologie Pierre-Fabre (CIPF), 74160 Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France;
| | - Oscar Hernandez-Alba
- Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse BioOrganique, IPHC UMR 7178, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, 67087 Strasbourg, France; (E.D.); (A.E.); (O.H.-A.)
- Infrastructure Nationale de Protéomique ProFI—FR2048, 67087 Strasbourg, France
| | - Sarah Cianférani
- Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse BioOrganique, IPHC UMR 7178, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, 67087 Strasbourg, France; (E.D.); (A.E.); (O.H.-A.)
- Infrastructure Nationale de Protéomique ProFI—FR2048, 67087 Strasbourg, France
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
65
|
Yu W, Gillespie KP, Chhay B, Svensson AS, Nygren PÅ, Blair IA, Yu F, Tsourkas A. Efficient Labeling of Native Human IgG by Proximity-Based Sortase-Mediated Isopeptide Ligation. Bioconjug Chem 2021; 32:1058-1066. [PMID: 34029057 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.1c00099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have demonstrated great therapeutic potential due to their ability to target the delivery of potent cytotoxins. However, the heterogeneous nature of conventional drug conjugation strategies can affect the safety, efficacy, and stability of ADCs. Site-specific conjugations can resolve these issues, but often require genetic modification of Immunoglobulin G (IgG), which can impact yield or cost of production, or require undesirable chemical linkages. Here, we describe a near-traceless conjugation method that enables the efficient modification of native IgG, without the need for genetic engineering or glycan modification. This method utilizes engineered variants of sortase A to catalyze noncanonical isopeptide ligation. Sortase A was fused to an antibody-binding domain to improve ligation efficiency. Antibody labeling is limited to five lysine residues on the heavy chain and one on the light chain of human IgG1. The ADCs exhibit conserved antigen and Fc-receptor interactions, as well as potent cytolytic activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wendy Yu
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Kevin P Gillespie
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Bonirath Chhay
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Anne-Sophie Svensson
- Department of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Health, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden and Sonia SE-100-44 Sweden
| | - Per-Åke Nygren
- Department of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Health, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden and Sonia SE-100-44 Sweden
| | - Ian A Blair
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Feifan Yu
- AlphaThera, LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19146, United States
| | - Andrew Tsourkas
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| |
Collapse
|
66
|
Clinical Pharmacology of Antibody-Drug Conjugates. Antibodies (Basel) 2021; 10:antib10020020. [PMID: 34063812 PMCID: PMC8161445 DOI: 10.3390/antib10020020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are biopharmaceutical products where a monoclonal antibody is linked to a biologically active drug (a small molecule) forming a conjugate. Since the approval of first ADC (Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (trade name: Mylotarg)) for the treatment of CD33-positive acute myelogenous leukemia, several ADCs have been developed for the treatment of cancer. The goal of an ADC as a cancer agent is to release the cytotoxic drug to kill the tumor cells without harming the normal or healthy cells. With time, it is being realized that ADCS can also be used to manage or cure other diseases such as inflammatory diseases, atherosclerosis, and bacteremia and some research in this direction is ongoing. The focus of this review is on the clinical pharmacology aspects of ADC development. From the selection of an appropriate antibody to the finished product, the entire process of the development of an ADC is a difficult and challenging task. Clinical pharmacology is one of the most important tools of drug development since this tool helps in finding the optimum dose of a product, thus preserving the safety and efficacy of the product in a patient population. Unlike other small or large molecules where only one moiety and/or metabolite(s) is generally measured for the pharmacokinetic profiling, there are several moieties that need to be measured for characterizing the PK profiles of an ADC. Therefore, knowledge and understanding of clinical pharmacology of ADCs is vital for the selection of a safe and efficacious dose in a patient population.
Collapse
|
67
|
Roman BI. The Expanding Role of Chemistry in Optimizing Proteins for Human Health Applications. J Med Chem 2021; 64:7179-7188. [PMID: 34014084 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Over the past decades, therapeutics based on biological macromolecules and cells have successfully entered the clinical arena and progressively occupied an increasing share of what once was almost exclusively small molecule territory. This perspective explores the opportunities for chemists at the interface between biologics and small molecule-based products. It provides concrete examples by zooming in on the area of post-translational protein modification. The conclusion is that, rather than diminishing the relevance of chemistry in the pharmaceutical enterprise, the advent of the biologics has provided an additional playing field for synthetic and medicinal chemists, where they can contribute to the efficacy and scope of applicability of biological entities in a collaborative effort to transformatively address unmet medical needs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bart I Roman
- Research Group SynBioC, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Universiteit Gent, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium.,Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
68
|
Le PJ, Miersch S, Forbes MW, Jarvik N, Ku A, Sidhu SS, Reilly RM, Winnik MA. Site-Specific Conjugation of Metal-Chelating Polymers to Anti-Frizzled-2 Antibodies via Microbial Transglutaminase. Biomacromolecules 2021; 22:2491-2504. [PMID: 33961407 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c00246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Metal-chelating polymer-based radioimmunoconjugates (RICs) are effective agents for radioimmunotherapy but are currently limited by nonspecific binding and off-target organ uptake. Nonspecific binding appears after conjugation of the polymer to the antibody and may be related to random lysine conjugation since the polymers themselves do not bind to cells. To investigate the role of conjugation sites on nonspecific binding of polymer RICs, we developed a microbial transglutaminase reaction to prepare site-specific antibody-polymer conjugates. The reaction was enabled by introducing a Q-tag (i.e., 7M48) into antibody (i.e., Fab) fragments and synthesizing a polyglutamide-based metal-chelating polymer with a PEG amine block to yield substrates. Mass spectrometric analyses confirmed that the microbial transglutaminase conjugation reaction was site-specific. For comparison, random lysine conjugation analogs with an average of one polymer per Fab were prepared by bis-aryl hydrazone conjugation. Conjugates were prepared from an anti-frizzled-2 Fab to target the Wnt pathway, along with a nonbinding specificity control, anti-Luciferase Fab. Fabs were engineered from a trastuzumab-based IgG1 framework and lack lysines in the antigen-binding site. Conjugates were analyzed for thermal conformational stability by differential scanning fluorimetry, which showed that the site-specific conjugate had a similar melting temperature to the parent Fab. Binding assays by biolayer interferometry showed that the site-specific anti-frizzled-2 conjugate maintained high affinity to the antigen, while the random conjugate showed a 10-fold decrease in affinity, which was largely due to changes in association rates. Radioligand cell-binding assays on frizzled-2+ PANC-1 cells and frizzled-2- CHO cells showed that the site-specific anti-frizzled-2 conjugate had ca. 4-fold lower nonspecific binding compared to the random conjugate. Site-specific conjugation appeared to reduce nonspecific binding associated with random conjugation of the polymer in polymer RICs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Penny J Le
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1H6, Canada
| | - Shane Miersch
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Matthew W Forbes
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1H6, Canada
| | - Nick Jarvik
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Anthony Ku
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada
| | - Sachdev S Sidhu
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Raymond M Reilly
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.,Joint Department of Medical Imaging and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON M5G 2C4, Canada
| | - Mitchell A Winnik
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1H6, Canada.,Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E2, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
69
|
Miller JT, Vitro CN, Fang S, Benjamin SR, Tumey LN. Enzyme-Agnostic Lysosomal Screen Identifies New Legumain-Cleavable ADC Linkers. Bioconjug Chem 2021; 32:842-858. [PMID: 33788548 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.1c00124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Over the past two decades, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and small molecule drug conjugates (SMDCs) have widely employed valine-citruline and related cathepsin-cleavable linkers due to their stability in plasma and their rapid cleavage by lysosomal cathepsins. However, a number of recent studies have illustrated that these linkers are subject to cleavage by exogenous enzymes such as Ces1C and neutrophil elastase, thus resulting in off-target release of drug. As such, there is a need to diversify the portfolio of ADC linkers in order to overcome nonspecific drug release. Rather than targeting cathepsins, we began with an "enzyme agnostic" screen in which a panel of 75 peptide FRET pairs were screened for cleavage in lysosomal extracts and in plasma. Unexpectedly, a series of Asn-containing peptides emerged from this screen as being cleaved far more quickly than traditional ValCit-type linkers while retaining excellent stability in plasma. Catabolism studies demonstrated that these linkers were cleaved by legumain, an asparaginyl endopeptidase that is overexpressed in a variety of cancers and is known to be present in the lysosome. MMAE-containing ADCs that incorporated these new linkers were shown to exhibit highly potent and selective cytotoxicity, comparable to analogous ValCit ADCs. Importantly, the Asn-containing linkers were shown to be completely stable to human neutrophil elastase, an enzyme thought to be responsible for the neutropenia and thrombocytopenia associated with ValCitPABC-MMAE ADCs. The legumain-cleavable ADCs were shown to have excellent stability in both mouse and human serum, retaining >85% of the drug after 1 week of incubation. Moreover, the corresponding small molecule FRET pairs exhibited <10% cleavage after 18 h in mouse and human serum. On the basis of these results, we believe that these new linkers (AsnAsn in particular) have significant potential in both ADC and SMDC drug delivery applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jared T Miller
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States
| | - Caitlin N Vitro
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States
| | - Siteng Fang
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States
| | - Samantha R Benjamin
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States
| | - L Nathan Tumey
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States
| |
Collapse
|
70
|
Zhong X, D’Antona AM. Recent Advances in the Molecular Design and Applications of Multispecific Biotherapeutics. Antibodies (Basel) 2021; 10:13. [PMID: 33808165 PMCID: PMC8103270 DOI: 10.3390/antib10020013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Recombinant protein-based biotherapeutics drugs have transformed clinical pipelines of the biopharmaceutical industry since the launch of recombinant insulin nearly four decades ago. These biologic drugs are structurally more complex than small molecules, and yet share a similar principle for rational drug discovery and development: That is to start with a pre-defined target and follow with the functional modulation with a therapeutic agent. Despite these tremendous successes, this "one target one drug" paradigm has been challenged by complex disease mechanisms that involve multiple pathways and demand new therapeutic routes. A rapidly evolving wave of multispecific biotherapeutics is coming into focus. These new therapeutic drugs are able to engage two or more protein targets via distinct binding interfaces with or without the chemical conjugation to large or small molecules. They possess the potential to not only address disease intricacy but also exploit new therapeutic mechanisms and assess undruggable targets for conventional monospecific biologics. This review focuses on the recent advances in molecular design and applications of major classes of multispecific biotherapeutics drugs, which include immune cells engagers, antibody-drug conjugates, multispecific tetherbodies, biologic matchmakers, and small-scaffold multispecific modalities. Challenges posed by the multispecific biotherapeutics drugs and their future outlooks are also discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaotian Zhong
- Department of BioMedicine Design, Medicinal Sciences, Pfizer Worldwide R&D, 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA;
| | | |
Collapse
|
71
|
Muguruma K, Osawa R, Fukuda A, Ishikawa N, Fujita K, Taguchi A, Takayama K, Taniguchi A, Ito Y, Hayashi Y. Development of a High-Affinity Antibody-Binding Peptide for Site-Specific Modification. ChemMedChem 2021; 16:1813-1820. [PMID: 33594831 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202000977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 02/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Immunoglobulin G (IgG)-binding peptides such as 15-IgBP are convenient tools for the site-specific modification of antibodies and the preparation of homogeneous antibody-drug conjugates. A peptide such as 15-IgBP can be selectively crosslinked to the fragment crystallizable region of human IgG in an affinity-dependent manner via the ϵ-amino group of Lys8. Previously, we found that the peptide 15-Lys8Leu has a high affinity (Kd =8.19 nM) due to the presence of the γ-dimethyl group in Leu8. The primary amino group required for the crosslinking to the antibodies has, however, been lost. Here, we report the design and synthesis of a novel unnatural amino acid, 4-(2-aminoethylcarbamoyl)leucine (Aecl), which possesses both the γ-dimethyl fragment and a primary amino group. A peptide containing Aecl8 (15-Lys8Aecl) was synthesized and showed a binding affinity ten times higher (Kd =24.3 nM) than that of 15-IgBP (Kd =267 nM). Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled 15-Lys8Aecl with an N-hydroxy succinimide ester at the side chain of Aecl8 (FITC-15-Lys8Aecl(OSu)) successfully labeled an antibody (trastuzumab, Herceptin® ) with the fluorophore. This peptide scaffold has both strong binding affinity and crosslinking capability, and could be a useful tool for the selective chemical modification of antibodies with molecules of interest such as drugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kyohei Muguruma
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan.,Present address: Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, 152-8552, Japan
| | - Rento Osawa
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan
| | - Akane Fukuda
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan
| | - Naoto Ishikawa
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University Korimoto, Kagoshima, 890-0065, Japan
| | - Konomi Fujita
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan
| | - Akihiro Taguchi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan
| | - Kentaro Takayama
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan.,Present address, Department of Environmental Biochemistry, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Kyoto, 607-8414, Japan
| | - Atsuhiko Taniguchi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan
| | - Yuji Ito
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University Korimoto, Kagoshima, 890-0065, Japan
| | - Yoshio Hayashi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
72
|
Nilchan N, Alburger JM, Roush WR, Rader C. An Engineered Arginine Residue of Unusual pH-Sensitive Reactivity Facilitates Site-Selective Antibody Conjugation. Biochemistry 2021; 60:1080-1087. [PMID: 33754696 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Monoclonal antibody h38C2 is a humanized catalytic antibody that has been used to generate various immunoconjugate species such as chemically programmed antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, and antibody-siRNA conjugates. Highly efficient and specific conjugation of h38C2 occurs at its uniquely reactive lysine (Lys) residue buried inside the antibody's catalytic pocket. We recently reported the rational mutation of this Lys residue at position 99 in the heavy chain variable domain to an arginine (Arg) residue. The Lys99Arg mutation can be site-selectively conjugated with molecules containing a hapten-like triazolyl-phenylglyoxal (TPG) unit. Here we show that this conjugation is facilitated by the unusual pH-sensitive reactivity of the Arg99 residue, consistent with an indirectly measured pKa of 5.2. The Arg99/TPG conjugation holds promise to further expand the versatility of the h38C2 conjugation platform, such as for the generation of antibody conjugates with dual payloads.
Collapse
|
73
|
Vollmar BS, Frantz C, Schutten MM, Zhong F, Del Rosario G, Go MAT, Yu SF, Leipold DD, Kamath AV, Ng C, Xu K, Dela Cruz-Chuh J, Kozak KR, Chen J, Xu Z, Wai J, Adhikari P, Erickson HK, Dragovich PS, Polson AG, Pillow TH. Calicheamicin Antibody-Drug Conjugates with Improved Properties. Mol Cancer Ther 2021; 20:1112-1120. [PMID: 33722856 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-20-0035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Calicheamicin antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are effective therapeutics for leukemias with two recently approved in the United States: Mylotarg (gemtuzumab ozogamicin) targeting CD33 for acute myeloid leukemia and Besponsa (inotuzumab ozogamicin) targeting CD22 for acute lymphocytic leukemia. Both of these calicheamicin ADCs are heterogeneous, aggregation-prone, and have a shortened half-life due to the instability of the acid-sensitive hydrazone linker in circulation. We hypothesized that we could improve upon the heterogeneity, aggregation, and circulation stability of calicheamicin ADCs by directly attaching the thiol of a reduced calicheamicin to an engineered cysteine on the antibody via a disulfide bond to generate a linkerless and traceless conjugate. We report herein that the resulting homogeneous conjugates possess minimal aggregation and display high in vivo stability with 50% of the drug remaining conjugated to the antibody after 21 days. Furthermore, these calicheamicin ADCs are highly efficacious in mouse models of both solid tumor (HER2+ breast cancer) and hematologic malignancies (CD22+ non-Hodgkin lymphoma). Safety studies in rats with this novel calicheamicin ADC revealed an increased tolerability compared with that reported for Mylotarg. Overall, we demonstrate that applying novel linker chemistry with site-specific conjugation affords an improved, next-generation calicheamicin ADC.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Chris Frantz
- Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California
| | | | - Fiona Zhong
- Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California
| | | | | | - Shang-Fan Yu
- Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California
| | | | | | - Carl Ng
- Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California
| | - Keyang Xu
- Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California
| | | | | | | | - Zijin Xu
- WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - John Wai
- WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
74
|
Not so innocent: Impact of fluorophore chemistry on the in vivo properties of bioconjugates. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2021; 63:38-45. [PMID: 33684856 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2021.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Revised: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The combination of targeting ligands and fluorescent dyes is a powerful strategy to observe cell types and tissues of interest. Conjugates of peptides, proteins, and, in particular, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) exhibit excellent tumor targeting in various contexts. This approach has been translated to a clinical setting to provide real-time molecular insights during the surgical resection of solid tumors. A critical element of this approach is the generation of highly fluorescent bioconjugates that maintain the properties of the parent targeting ligand. A number of studies have found that fluorophores can dramatically impact the pharmacokinetic and tumor-targeting properties of the bioconjugates they are meant to only innocently observe. In this review, we summarize several examples of these effects and highlight strategies that have been used to mitigate them. These include the application of site-specific labeling chemistries, modulating label density, and altering the structure of the fluorescent probe itself. In particular, we point out the significant potential of fluorophores with hydrophilic but net-neutral structures. Overall, this review highlights recent progress in refining the in vivo properties of fluorescent bioconjugates, and we hope, will inform future efforts in this area.
Collapse
|
75
|
Walsh SJ, Bargh JD, Dannheim FM, Hanby AR, Seki H, Counsell AJ, Ou X, Fowler E, Ashman N, Takada Y, Isidro-Llobet A, Parker JS, Carroll JS, Spring DR. Site-selective modification strategies in antibody-drug conjugates. Chem Soc Rev 2021; 50:1305-1353. [PMID: 33290462 DOI: 10.1039/d0cs00310g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 202] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) harness the highly specific targeting capabilities of an antibody to deliver a cytotoxic payload to specific cell types. They have garnered widespread interest in drug discovery, particularly in oncology, as discrimination between healthy and malignant tissues or cells can be achieved. Nine ADCs have received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and more than 80 others are currently undergoing clinical investigations for a range of solid tumours and haematological malignancies. Extensive research over the past decade has highlighted the critical nature of the linkage strategy adopted to attach the payload to the antibody. Whilst early generation ADCs were primarily synthesised as heterogeneous mixtures, these were found to have sub-optimal pharmacokinetics, stability, tolerability and/or efficacy. Efforts have now shifted towards generating homogeneous constructs with precise drug loading and predetermined, controlled sites of attachment. Homogeneous ADCs have repeatedly demonstrated superior overall pharmacological profiles compared to their heterogeneous counterparts. A wide range of methods have been developed in the pursuit of homogeneity, comprising chemical or enzymatic methods or a combination thereof to afford precise modification of specific amino acid or sugar residues. In this review, we discuss advances in chemical and enzymatic methods for site-specific antibody modification that result in the generation of homogeneous ADCs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Walsh
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
76
|
Ho KW, Chen IJU, Cheng YA, Liao TY, Liu ES, Chen HJ, Lu YC, Su YC, Roffler SR, Huang BC, Liu HJ, Huang MY, Chen CY, Cheng TL. Double attack strategy for leukemia using a pre-targeting bispecific antibody (CD20 Ab-mPEG scFv) and actively attracting PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin to enhance anti-tumor activity. J Nanobiotechnology 2021; 19:16. [PMID: 33422061 PMCID: PMC7796588 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-020-00752-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tumor-targeted nanoparticles hold great promise as new tools for therapy of liquid cancers. Furthermore, the therapeutic efficacy of nanoparticles can be improved by enhancing the cancer cellular internalization. METHODS In this study, we developed a humanized bispecific antibody (BsAbs: CD20 Ab-mPEG scFv) which retains the clinical anti-CD20 whole antibody (Ofatumumab) and is fused with an anti-mPEG single chain antibody (scFv) that can target the systemic liquid tumor cells. This combination achieves the therapeutic function and simultaneously "grabs" Lipo-Dox® (PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin, PLD) to enhance the cellular internalization and anticancer activity of PLD. RESULTS We successfully constructed the CD20 Ab-mPEG scFv and proved that CD20 Ab-mPEG scFv can target CD20-expressing Raji cells and simultaneously grab PEGylated liposomal DiD increasing the internalization ability up to 60% in 24 h. We further showed that the combination of CD20 Ab-mPEG scFv and PLD successfully led to a ninefold increase in tumor cytotoxicity (LC50: 0.38 nM) compared to the CD20 Ab-DNS scFv and PLD (lC50: 3.45 nM) in vitro. Importantly, a combination of CD20 Ab-mPEG scFv and PLD had greater anti-liquid tumor efficacy (P = 0.0005) in Raji-bearing mice than CD20 Ab-DNS scFv and PLD. CONCLUSION Our results indicate that this "double-attack" strategy using CD20 Ab-mPEG scFv and PLD can retain the tumor targeting (first attack) and confer PLD tumor-selectivity (second attack) to enhance PLD internalization and improve therapeutic efficacy in liquid tumors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kai-Wen Ho
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - I-J U Chen
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Yi-An Cheng
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Tzu-Yi Liao
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - En-Shuo Liu
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Huei-Jen Chen
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Yun-Chi Lu
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Cheng Su
- Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Institute of Molecular Medicine and Bioengineering, Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan
| | - Steve R Roffler
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Bo-Cheng Huang
- Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Hui-Ju Liu
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Yii Huang
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Chiao-Yun Chen
- Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. .,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. .,Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. .,Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Sanmin Dist, No.100, Tzyou 1st Rd, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
| | - Tian-Lu Cheng
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. .,Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. .,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan. .,Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. .,Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
| |
Collapse
|
77
|
|
78
|
Ko MJ, Song D, Kim J, Kim JY, Eom J, Sung B, Son YG, Kim YM, Lee SH, You WK, Jung J. N-terminal selective conjugation method widens the therapeutic window of antibody-drug conjugates by improving tolerability and stability. MAbs 2021; 13:1914885. [PMID: 33904380 PMCID: PMC8081041 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2021.1914885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are targeted therapeutic agents that treat cancers by selective delivery of highly potent cytotoxic drugs to tumor cells via cancer-specific antibodies. However, their clinical benefit is limited by off-target toxicity and narrow therapeutic windows. To overcome these limitations, we have applied reductive alkylation to develop a new type of ADC that has cytotoxic drugs conjugated to the N-terminal of an antibody through amine bonds introduced via reductive alkylation reactions (NTERM). To test whether the NTERM-conjugated ADCs can widen therapeutic windows, we synthesized three different ADCs by conjugating trastuzumab and monomethyl auristatin-F using three different methods, and compared their stability, efficacy, and toxicity. The NTERM-conjugated ADC was more stable in vitro and in vivo than the thiol-conjugated and the lysine-conjugated ADCs. The NTERM-conjugated ADC showed lower toxicity compared to other ADCs, whereas its efficacy was comparable to that of the thiol-conjugated ADC and better than that of the lysine-conjugated ADC. These results suggest that the NTERM conjugation method could widen the therapeutic window of ADCs by enhancing its stability and reducing toxicity.
Collapse
MESH Headings
- Alkylation
- Animals
- Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological/chemistry
- Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological/pharmacokinetics
- Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological/pharmacology
- Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological/toxicity
- Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy
- Breast Neoplasms/genetics
- Breast Neoplasms/metabolism
- Breast Neoplasms/pathology
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Drug Compounding
- Drug Stability
- Female
- Immunoconjugates/chemistry
- Immunoconjugates/pharmacokinetics
- Immunoconjugates/pharmacology
- Immunoconjugates/toxicity
- Oligopeptides/chemistry
- Oligopeptides/pharmacokinetics
- Oligopeptides/pharmacology
- Oligopeptides/toxicity
- Protein Stability
- Rats, Nude
- Rats, Sprague-Dawley
- Receptor, ErbB-2/antagonists & inhibitors
- Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics
- Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism
- Trastuzumab/chemistry
- Trastuzumab/pharmacokinetics
- Trastuzumab/pharmacology
- Trastuzumab/toxicity
- Tumor Burden/drug effects
- Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
- Rats
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Min Ji Ko
- ABL Bio Inc., Seongnam-si, Republic of Korea
| | - Daehae Song
- ABL Bio Inc., Seongnam-si, Republic of Korea
| | - Juhee Kim
- ABL Bio Inc., Seongnam-si, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae Yong Kim
- Global Support Center, Samsung Biologics, Incheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Jaehyun Eom
- ABL Bio Inc., Seongnam-si, Republic of Korea
| | | | | | - Young Min Kim
- BIO Business Division, Reyon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | | | | | - Jinwon Jung
- ABL Bio Inc., Seongnam-si, Republic of Korea
| |
Collapse
|
79
|
Khedri M, Rezvantalab S, Maleki R, Rezaei N. Effect of ligand conjugation site on the micellization of Bio-Targeted PLGA-Based nanohybrids: A computational biology approach. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2020; 40:4409-4418. [PMID: 33336619 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1857840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
In this study, the effect of ligand binding position on the polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) is based on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) with two different polymer chain length at the atomistic level was presented. We explored the conjugation of riboflavin (RF) ligand from the end of the ribityl chain (N-10) to the polymer strands as well as from the amine group on the isoalloxazine head (N-3). The energy interactions for all samples revealed that the NPs containing ligands from N-10 positions have higher total attraction energies and lower stability in comparison with their peers conjugated from N-3. As NPs containing RF conjugated from N-3 exhibit the lower energy level with 20% and 10% of RF-containing composition for lower and higher. The introduction of RF from the N-10 position in any composition has increased the energy level of nanocarriers. The results of Gibb's free energy confirm the interatomic interaction energies trend where the lowest Gibbs free energy level for N-3 NPs occurs at 20 and 10% of RF-containing polymer content for PLGA10- and PLGA11- based NPs. Furthermore, with N-10 samples based on both polymers, non-targeted models form the stablest particles in each category. These findings are further confirmed with molecular docking analysis which revealed affinity energy of RF toward polymer chain from N-3 and N-10 are -981.57 kJ/mole and -298.23 kJ/mole, respectively. This in-silico study paves the new way for molecular engineering of the bio-responsive PLGA-PEG-RF micelles and can be used to nanoscale tunning of smart carriers used in cancer treatment.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Khedri
- Computational Biology And Chemistry Group (CBCG), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran
| | - Sima Rezvantalab
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia, Iran
| | - Reza Maleki
- Computational Biology And Chemistry Group (CBCG), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran
| | - Nima Rezaei
- Research Center for Immunodeficiencies, Pediatrics Center of Excellence, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.,Network of Immunity in Infection, Malignancy and Autoimmunity (NIIMA), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran.,Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
80
|
Matsuda Y, Mendelsohn BA. An overview of process development for antibody-drug conjugates produced by chemical conjugation technology. Expert Opin Biol Ther 2020; 21:963-975. [PMID: 33141625 DOI: 10.1080/14712598.2021.1846714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: We discuss chemical conjugation strategies for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) from an industrial perspective and compare three promising chemical conjugation technologies to produce site-specific ADCs.Areas covered: Currently, nine ADCs are commercially approved and all are produced by chemical conjugation technology. However, seven of these ADCs contain a relatively broad drug distribution, potentially limiting their therapeutic indices. In 2019, the first site-specific ADC was launched on the market by Daiichi-Sankyo. This achievement, and an analysis of clinical trials over the last decade, indicates that current industrial interest in the ADC field is shifting toward site-specific conjugation technologies. From an industrial point of view, we aim to provide guidance regarding established conjugation methodologies that have already been applied to scale-up stages. With an emphasis on highly productive, scalable, and synthetic process robustness, conjugation methodologies for ADC production is discussed herein.Expert opinion: All three chemical conjugation technologies described in this review have various advantages and disadvantages, therefore drug developers can utilize these depending on their biological and/or protein targets. The future landscape of the ADC field is also discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yutaka Matsuda
- Research Institute for Bioscience Products & Fine Chemicals, Ajinomoto Co Inc., 1-1 Suzuki-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-8681, Japan
| | - Brian A Mendelsohn
- Process Development & Tech Transfer, Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, 11040 Roselle Street, San Diego, CA 92121, United States
| |
Collapse
|
81
|
Galindo Casas M, Stargardt P, Mairhofer J, Wiltschi B. Decoupling Protein Production from Cell Growth Enhances the Site-Specific Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids in E. coli. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:3052-3066. [PMID: 33150786 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins by amber stop codon suppression has become a routine method in academic laboratories. This approach requires an amber suppressor tRNACUA to read the amber codon and an aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase to charge the tRNACUA with the ncAA. However, a major drawback is the low yield of the mutant protein in comparison to the wild type. This effect primarily results from the competition of release factor 1 with the charged suppressor tRNACUA for the amber codon at the A-site of the ribosome. A number of laboratories have attempted to improve the incorporation efficiency of ncAAs with moderate results. We aimed at increasing the efficiency to produce high yields of ncAA-functionalized proteins in a scalable setting for industrial application. To do this, we inserted an ncAA into the enhanced green fluorescent protein and an antibody mimetic molecule using an industrial E. coli strain, which produces recombinant proteins independent of cell growth. The controlled decoupling of recombinant protein production from cell growth considerably increased the incorporation of the ncAA, producing substantially higher protein yields versus the reference E. coli strain BL21(DE3). The target proteins were expressed at high levels, and the ncAA was efficiently incorporated with excellent fidelity while the protein function was preserved.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meritxell Galindo Casas
- acib − Austrian Center of Industrial Biotechnology, 8010 Graz, Austria
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | | | | | - Birgit Wiltschi
- acib − Austrian Center of Industrial Biotechnology, 8010 Graz, Austria
| |
Collapse
|
82
|
Chowdari NS, Zhang Y, McDonald I, Johnson W, Langley DR, Sivaprakasam P, Mate R, Huynh T, Kotapati S, Deshpande M, Pan C, Menezes D, Wang Y, Rao C, Sarma G, Warrack BM, Rangan VS, Mei-Chen S, Cardarelli P, Deshpande S, Passmore D, Rampulla R, Mathur A, Borzilleri R, Rajpal A, Vite G, Gangwar S. Design, Synthesis, and Structure-Activity Relationships of Novel Tetrahydroisoquinolino Benzodiazepine Dimer Antitumor Agents and Their Application in Antibody-Drug Conjugates. J Med Chem 2020; 63:13913-13950. [PMID: 33155811 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
A series of tetrahydroisoquinoline-based benzodiazepine dimers were synthesized and tested for in vitro cytotoxicity against a panel of cancer cell lines. Structure-activity relationship investigation of various spacers guided by molecular modeling studies helped to identify compounds with picomolar activity. Payload 17 was conjugated to anti-mesothelin and anti-fucosylated monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (FucGM1) antibodies using lysosome-cleavable valine-citrulline dipeptide linkers via heterogeneous lysine conjugation and bacterial transglutaminase-mediated site-specific conjugation. In vitro, these antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) exhibited significant cytotoxic and target-mediated selectivity on human cancer cell lines. The pharmacokinetics and efficacy of these ADCs were further evaluated in gastric and lung cancer xenograft models in mice. Consistent pharmacokinetic profiles, high target specificity, and robust antitumor activity were observed in these models after a single dose of the ADC-46 (0.02 μmol/kg).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Naidu S Chowdari
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Yong Zhang
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, United States
| | - Ivar McDonald
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, United States
| | - Walter Johnson
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - David R Langley
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, United States
| | - Prasanna Sivaprakasam
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 5 Research Parkway, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, United States
| | - Robert Mate
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Tram Huynh
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, United States
| | - Srikanth Kotapati
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Madhura Deshpande
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Chin Pan
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Daniel Menezes
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Yichong Wang
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Chetana Rao
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Ganapathy Sarma
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Bethanne M Warrack
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, United States
| | - Vangipuram S Rangan
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Sung Mei-Chen
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Pina Cardarelli
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Shrikant Deshpande
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - David Passmore
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Richard Rampulla
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, United States
| | - Arvind Mathur
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, United States
| | - Robert Borzilleri
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, United States
| | - Arvind Rajpal
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| | - Gregory Vite
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, United States
| | - Sanjeev Gangwar
- Bristol Myers Squibb Research & Early Development, 700 Bay Road, Redwood City, California 94063, United States
| |
Collapse
|
83
|
Kushnarova-Vakal A, Äärelä A, Huovinen T, Virta P, Lamminmäki U. Site-Specific Linking of an Oligonucleotide to Mono- and Bivalent Recombinant Antibodies with SpyCatcher-SpyTag System for Immuno-PCR. ACS OMEGA 2020; 5:24927-24934. [PMID: 33015512 PMCID: PMC7528495 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c03750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) are a versatile class of chimeric biomolecules for therapeutics and biotechnological applications. Most widely employed chemical labeling methods for proteins are based on targeting of Lys or Cys residues that leads to mixed stoichiometry in the degree of conjugation and may interfere with antigen binding, thus, compromising the function of the antibody. A site-specific oligonucleotide conjugation technology providing full control over valency in mild reaction conditions would be an advancement to the state-of-the-art in bioconjugation. Herein, we demonstrate the production of single-chain variable fragment antibodies with fused SpyCatcher (scFv-SpyCatcher, monovalent) and alkaline phosphatase-SpyCatcher (scFv-AP-SpyCatcher, bivalent) on C-terminus and their conjugation to SpyTag002-oligonucleotide in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The formation of a covalent isopeptide bond between the protein and SpyTag002-oligonucleotide was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis, and the functionality of the obtained AOCs was confirmed in immuno-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for the detection of microcystin-LR and 17β-estradiol. Based on time-resolved fluorescence immunoassays with scFv-AP fusion constructs, we observed that the SpyCatcher and SpyCatcher-SpyTag002-oligonucleotide part lowered the absolute signal obtained from the assay by 27.6 and 48.4% at 2 nM and by 26.2 and 27.6% at 100 pM microcystin-LR and 17β-estradiol concentrations, respectively. Nevertheless, the overall sensitivity of the immuno-PCR assays was similar to the time-resolved fluorescence immunoassays performed with the same components. In this study, vectors for SpyCatcher-fusion construction were created for directional cloning with SfiI sites enabling the rapid generation of AOC constructs for site-specific SpyTag-oligonucleotide conjugation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Antti Äärelä
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland
| | - Tuomas Huovinen
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland
| | - Pasi Virta
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland
| | - Urpo Lamminmäki
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland
| |
Collapse
|
84
|
Glutamine-walking: Creating reactive substrates for transglutaminase-mediated protein labeling. Methods Enzymol 2020. [PMID: 32943142 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2020.04.066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
Chemically modified proteins are increasingly being tested and approved as therapeutic products. Batch-to-batch homogeneity is crucial to ensure safety and quality of therapeutic products. Highly selective protein modification may be achieved using enzymatic routes. Microbial transglutaminase (mTG) is a robust, easy to use and well-established enzyme that is used at a very large scale in the food industry such that its efficacy and its safety for human consumption are well established. In the context of therapeutic protein modification, mTG should crosslink one or more glutamines on the target protein with an aminated moiety such as a solubilizer, a tracer or a cytotoxic moiety. mTG has the advantage of being unreactive toward the majority of surface-exposed glutamines on most proteins, reducing sample heterogeneity. The caveat is that there may be no reactive glutamine on the target protein, or else a reactive glutamine may be found in a location where its modification compromises function of the target protein. Here we describe the glutamine-walk (Gln-walk), a straightforward method to create a glutamine-substrate site that is reactive to mTG in a target protein. Iterative substitution of single amino acids to a glutamine is followed by facile identification of reactivity with mTG, where covalent labeling of the target with an aminated fluorophore allows visualization of the most reactive modified targets. The approach is empirical; knowledge of the target protein structure and functional regions facilitates application of the method.
Collapse
|
85
|
Hofmann T, Krah S, Sellmann C, Zielonka S, Doerner A. Greatest Hits-Innovative Technologies for High Throughput Identification of Bispecific Antibodies. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:E6551. [PMID: 32911608 PMCID: PMC7554978 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21186551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent years have shown a tremendous increase and diversification in antibody-based therapeutics with advances in production techniques and formats. The plethora of currently investigated bi- to multi-specific antibody architectures can be harnessed to elicit a broad variety of specific modes of actions in oncology and immunology, spanning from enhanced selectivity to effector cell recruitment, all of which cannot be addressed by monospecific antibodies. Despite continuously growing efforts and methodologies, the identification of an optimal bispecific antibody as the best possible combination of two parental monospecific binders, however, remains challenging, due to tedious cloning and production, often resulting in undesired extended development times and increased expenses. Although automated high throughput screening approaches have matured for pharmaceutical small molecule development, it was only recently that protein bioconjugation technologies have been developed for the facile generation of bispecific antibodies in a 'plug and play' manner. In this review, we provide an overview of the most relevant methodologies for bispecific screening purposes-the DuoBody concept, paired light chain single cell production approaches, Sortase A and Transglutaminase, the SpyTag/SpyCatcher system, and inteins-and elaborate on the benefits as well as drawbacks of the different technologies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tim Hofmann
- Advanced Cell Culture Technologies, Merck Life Sciences KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, D-64293 Darmstadt, Germany;
| | - Simon Krah
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, D-64293 Darmstadt, Germany; (S.K.); (C.S.); (S.Z.)
| | - Carolin Sellmann
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, D-64293 Darmstadt, Germany; (S.K.); (C.S.); (S.Z.)
| | - Stefan Zielonka
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, D-64293 Darmstadt, Germany; (S.K.); (C.S.); (S.Z.)
| | - Achim Doerner
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, D-64293 Darmstadt, Germany; (S.K.); (C.S.); (S.Z.)
| |
Collapse
|
86
|
Lee MV, Kaur S, Saad OM. Conjugation Site Influences Antibody-Conjugated Drug PK Assays: Case Studies for Disulfide-Linked, Self-Immolating Next-Generation Antibody Drug Conjugates. Anal Chem 2020; 92:12168-12175. [PMID: 32786429 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Immunoaffinity (IA) LC-MS/MS pharmacokinetic (PK) assays are widely used in the field for antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) containing peptide linkers that are enzymatically cleavable, such as MC-ValCit-PAB. Conjugate PK assay strategies for these ADCs involve cleavage with cathepsin B or papain to release and measure the antibody-conjugated drug (acDrug) concentration. However, robust acDrug PK methods for disulfide-linked self-immolating ADCs are lacking as they are a different conjugation modality. We developed acDrug PK assays for next-generation disulfide-linked ADCs involving immunoaffinity capture, chemical cleavage, and LC-MS/MS. Disulfide-linked ADCs captured from plasma were chemically reduced at basic pH to release the linker-drug, followed by self-immolation to liberate the active drug, and quantified by MRM LC-MS/MS. Herein, we detail the development and optimization of this chemical cleavage acDrug PK assay, resulting in robust accuracy and precision (±20%). The conjugation site of the linker-drug on the antibody was found to affect the kinetics of drug release. Multiple biophysical and chemical characteristics, such as tertiary structure, fractional solvent accessibility, pKa of the conjugation site, surrounding residue's pI, and electrostatic charge, may directly impact the drug release kinetics. Similar site-specific stability has been previously reported for ADCs in vivo. The assay development and qualification data for this original assay format are presented along with its application to multiple in vitro and in vivo studies across species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Violet Lee
- Department of Bioanalytical Sciences, Assay Development and Technology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Surinder Kaur
- Department of Bioanalytical Sciences, Assay Development and Technology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Ola M Saad
- Department of Bioanalytical Sciences, Assay Development and Technology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| |
Collapse
|
87
|
Chio TI, Demestichas BR, Brems BM, Bane SL, Tumey LN. Expanding the Versatility of Microbial Transglutaminase Using α‐Effect Nucleophiles as Noncanonical Substrates. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202001830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tak Ian Chio
- Department of Chemistry Binghamton University State University of New York 25 Murray Hill Rd Vestal NY 13850 USA
| | - Breanna R. Demestichas
- Department of Chemistry Binghamton University State University of New York 25 Murray Hill Rd Vestal NY 13850 USA
| | - Brittany M. Brems
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Binghamton University State University of New York 96 Corliss Ave Johnson City NY 13790 USA
| | - Susan L. Bane
- Department of Chemistry Binghamton University State University of New York 25 Murray Hill Rd Vestal NY 13850 USA
| | - L. Nathan Tumey
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Binghamton University State University of New York 96 Corliss Ave Johnson City NY 13790 USA
| |
Collapse
|
88
|
Krzyscik MA, Zakrzewska M, Otlewski J. Site-Specific, Stoichiometric-Controlled, PEGylated Conjugates of Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2) with Hydrophilic Auristatin Y for Highly Selective Killing of Cancer Cells Overproducing Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 1 (FGFR1). Mol Pharm 2020; 17:2734-2748. [PMID: 32501706 PMCID: PMC7588128 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.0c00419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
![]()
In
spite of significant progress in the field of targeted anticancer
therapy, the FDA has approved only five ADC-based drugs. Hence the
search for new targeted anticancer agents is an unfulfilled necessity.
Here, we present novel types of protein–drug conjugates (PDCs)
that exhibit superior anticancer activities. Instead of a monoclonal
antibody, we used fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) as a targeting
molecule. FGF2 is a natural ligand of fibroblast growth factor receptor
1 (FGFR1), a transmembrane receptor overproduced in various types
of cancers. We synthesized site-specific and stoichiometric-controlled
conjugates of FGF2 with a highly potent, hydrophilic derivative of
auristatin called auristatin Y. To increase the hydrophilicity and
hydrodynamic radius of conjugates, we employed PEG4 and PEG27 molecules
as a spacer between the targeting molecule and the cytotoxic payload.
All conjugates were selective to FGFR1-positive cell lines, effectively
internalized via the FGFR1-dependent pathway, and exhibited a highly
cytotoxic effect only on FGFR1-positive cancer cell lines.
Collapse
|
89
|
Walsh SJ, Iegre J, Seki H, Bargh JD, Sore HF, Parker JS, Carroll JS, Spring DR. General dual functionalisation of biomacromolecules via a cysteine bridging strategy. Org Biomol Chem 2020; 18:4224-4230. [PMID: 32432632 DOI: 10.1039/d0ob00907e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Site-selective modification of peptides and proteins has resulted in the development of a host of novel tools for the study of cellular systems or the synthesis of enhanced biotherapeutics. There is a need for useful methodologies that enable site-selective modification of native peptides or proteins, which is even more prevalent when modification of the biomolecule with multiple payloads is desired. Herein, we report the development of a novel dual functional divinylpyrimidine (dfDVP) platform that enables robust and modular modification of peptides, antibody fragments and antibodies. These biomacromolecules could be easily functionalised with a range of functional payloads (e.g. fluorescent dyes, cytotoxic warheads or cell-penetrating tags). Importantly, the dual functionalised peptides and antibodies demonstrated exquisite bioactivity in a range of in vitro cellular assays, showcasing the enhanced utility of these bioactive conjugates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Walsh
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK. and Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0RE, UK
| | - Jessica Iegre
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
| | - Hikaru Seki
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
| | - Jonathan D Bargh
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
| | - Hannah F Sore
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
| | - Jeremy S Parker
- Early Chemical Development, Pharmaceutical Development, R&D, AstraZeneca, Macclesfield, UK
| | - Jason S Carroll
- Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0RE, UK
| | - David R Spring
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
90
|
Chio TI, Demestichas BR, Brems BM, Bane SL, Tumey LN. Expanding the Versatility of Microbial Transglutaminase Using α-Effect Nucleophiles as Noncanonical Substrates. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020; 59:13814-13820. [PMID: 32268004 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202001830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Revised: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The substrate promiscuity of microbial transglutaminase (mTG) has been exploited in various applications in biotechnology, in particular for the attachment of alkyl amines to glutamine-containing peptides and proteins. Here, we expand the substrate repertoire to include hydrazines, hydrazides, and alkoxyamines, resulting in the formation of isopeptide bonds with varied susceptibilities to hydrolysis or exchange by mTG. Furthermore, we demonstrate that simple unsubstituted hydrazine and dihydrazides can be used to install reactive hydrazide handles onto the side chain of internal glutamine residues. The distinct hydrazide handles can be further coupled with carbonyls, including ortho-carbonylphenylboronic acids, to form site-specific and functional bioconjugates with tunable hydrolytic stability. The extension of the substrate scope of mTG beyond canonical amines thus substantially broadens the versatility of the enzyme, providing a new approach to facilitate novel applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tak Ian Chio
- Department of Chemistry, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 25 Murray Hill Rd, Vestal, NY, 13850, USA
| | - Breanna R Demestichas
- Department of Chemistry, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 25 Murray Hill Rd, Vestal, NY, 13850, USA
| | - Brittany M Brems
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 96 Corliss Ave, Johnson City, NY, 13790, USA
| | - Susan L Bane
- Department of Chemistry, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 25 Murray Hill Rd, Vestal, NY, 13850, USA
| | - L Nathan Tumey
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 96 Corliss Ave, Johnson City, NY, 13790, USA
| |
Collapse
|
91
|
Dai Z, Zhang XN, Nasertorabi F, Cheng Q, Li J, Katz BB, Smbatyan G, Pei H, Louie SG, Lenz HJ, Stevens RC, Zhang Y. Synthesis of site-specific antibody-drug conjugates by ADP-ribosyl cyclases. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaba6752. [PMID: 32537509 PMCID: PMC7269645 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba6752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Most of the current antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in clinic are heterogeneous mixtures. To produce homogeneous ADCs, established procedures often require multiple steps or long reaction times. The introduced mutations or foreign sequences may cause high immunogenicity. Here, we explore a new concept of transforming CD38 enzymatic activity into a facile approach for generating site-specific ADCs. This was achieved through coupling bifunctional antibody-CD38 fusion proteins with designer dinucleotide-based covalent inhibitors with stably attached payloads. The resulting adenosine diphosphate-ribosyl cyclase-enabled ADC (ARC-ADC) with a drug-to-antibody ratio of 2 could be rapidly generated through single-step conjugation. The generated ARC-ADC targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) displays excellent stability and potency against HER2-positive breast cancer both in vitro and in vivo. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates a new strategy for production of site-specific ADCs. It may provide a general approach for the development of a novel class of ADCs with potentially enhanced properties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhefu Dai
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Xiao-Nan Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Fariborz Nasertorabi
- Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, Bridge Institute, Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Qinqin Cheng
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Jiawei Li
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Benjamin B. Katz
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Goar Smbatyan
- Division of Medical Oncology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Hua Pei
- Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Stan G. Louie
- Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Heinz-Josef Lenz
- Division of Medical Oncology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Raymond C. Stevens
- Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, Bridge Institute, Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Yong Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
- Research Center for Liver Diseases, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
- Corresponding author.
| |
Collapse
|
92
|
Abstract
Proteins are the main source of drug targets and some of them possess therapeutic potential themselves. Among them, membrane proteins constitute approximately 50% of the major drug targets. In the drug discovery pipeline, rapid methods for producing different classes of proteins in a simple manner with high quality are important for structural and functional analysis. Cell-free systems are emerging as an attractive alternative for the production of proteins due to their flexible nature without any cell membrane constraints. In a bioproduction context, open systems based on cell lysates derived from different sources, and with batch-to-batch consistency, have acted as a catalyst for cell-free synthesis of target proteins. Most importantly, proteins can be processed for downstream applications like purification and functional analysis without the necessity of transfection, selection, and expansion of clones. In the last 5 years, there has been an increased availability of new cell-free lysates derived from multiple organisms, and their use for the synthesis of a diverse range of proteins. Despite this progress, major challenges still exist in terms of scalability, cost effectiveness, protein folding, and functionality. In this review, we present an overview of different cell-free systems derived from diverse sources and their application in the production of a wide spectrum of proteins. Further, this article discusses some recent progress in cell-free systems derived from Chinese hamster ovary and Sf21 lysates containing endogenous translocationally active microsomes for the synthesis of membrane proteins. We particularly highlight the usage of internal ribosomal entry site sequences for more efficient protein production, and also the significance of site-specific incorporation of non-canonical amino acids for labeling applications and creation of antibody drug conjugates using cell-free systems. We also discuss strategies to overcome the major challenges involved in commercializing cell-free platforms from a laboratory level for future drug development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Srujan Kumar Dondapati
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses (IZI-BB), Am Mühlenberg 13, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Marlitt Stech
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses (IZI-BB), Am Mühlenberg 13, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Anne Zemella
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses (IZI-BB), Am Mühlenberg 13, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Stefan Kubick
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses (IZI-BB), Am Mühlenberg 13, 14476, Potsdam, Germany.
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Joint Faculty of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, The Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and the University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
93
|
Wan J, Li Y, Jin K, Guo J, Xu J, Wang C. Robust Strategy for Antibody-Polymer-Drug Conjugation: Significance of Conjugating Orientation and Linker Charge on Targeting Ability. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2020; 12:23717-23725. [PMID: 32368886 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c04471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Antibody-drug conjugates have shown great promise in active targeting for cancer therapy. The existing chemical techniques for antibody conjugation generally lack efficiency or universality. In this article, a site-specific antibody conjugation was developed by using a mild reaction between a benzoboroxole (BB) functionality and cis-diol moiety of sugar units in the antibody fragment crystallizable region under neutral pH conditions. A BB/PEG/ICG-grafted poly(aspartic acid) comb-like functional polymer was first synthesized and conjugated with transferrin (Tf) to form a transferrin-polymer-drug conjugate [Tf-P(BB)], which showed 120% increase in HepG2 hepatoma (Tf receptor overexpression) cell uptake compared to a nontargeting protein-polymer-drug conjugate [HRP-P(BB)]. The universality of this method was further demonstrated by the enhanced uptake of trastuzumab (anti-Her2 antibody)-polymer-drug conjugates in MCF-7 (295%) and MDA-MB-435S (66.4%) (Her2 positive) cells. The positive charge of the linker had great influence on the targeting ability of the antibody-polymer-drug conjugates. The in vivo studies demonstrated the distinct targeting ability of Tf-P(BB) in the HepG2 xenograft tumor, and the tumor accumulation of the Tf-P(BB) testing group increased by 92% with respect to the control group [HRP-P(BB)]. More significantly, the HepG2 cell uptake amount of the antibody-oriented conjugate [Tf-P'(BB)] was 2.4-fold higher than that of the controlled group [Tf-P'(Hex)]. On the basis of this facile site-specific conjugation method, the conjugates are able to change the antibody species easily against various cancers, while maintaining the antibody integrity and targeting ability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiaxun Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China
| | - Yongjing Li
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China
| | - Ke Jin
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China
| | - Jia Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China
| | - Jiangtao Xu
- Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design and Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
| | - Changchun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Department of Macromolecular Science, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China
| |
Collapse
|
94
|
A Purification Strategy Utilizing Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography to Obtain Homogeneous Species from a Site-Specific Antibody Drug Conjugate Produced by AJICAP™ First Generation. Antibodies (Basel) 2020; 9:antib9020016. [PMID: 32443479 PMCID: PMC7344391 DOI: 10.3390/antib9020016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, site-specific antibody drug conjugates (ADC)s have been in great demand because they have an expanded therapeutic index compared with conventional ADCs. AJICAP™ technology is a chemical conjugation platform to obtain site-specific ADCs through the use of a class of Fc-affinity compounds. Promising results from early technology development studies led to further investigation of AJICAP™ ADC materials to obtain site-specific and homogeneous drug antibody ratio (DAR) ADCs. Here we report site-specific conjugation followed by a preparative hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) purification strategy to obtain purified “DAR = 1.0” and “DAR = 2.0” AJICAP™ ADC materials. Optimization of the mobile phase conditions and resin achieved a high recovery rate. In vitro biological assay demonstrated the target selective activity for purified homogeneous DAR ADCs. These results indicate the ability of a HIC purification strategy to provide “DAR = 1.0” and “DAR = 2.0” AJICAP™ ADCs with considerable potency and target selectivity.
Collapse
|
95
|
Feng Y, Zhou Z, McDougald D, Meshaw RL, Vaidyanathan G, Zalutsky MR. Site-specific radioiodination of an anti-HER2 single domain antibody fragment with a residualizing prosthetic agent. Nucl Med Biol 2020; 92:171-183. [PMID: 32448731 DOI: 10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2020.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 05/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION As a consequence of their small size, high stability and high affinity, single domain antibody fragments (sdAbs) are appealing targeting vectors for radiopharmaceutical development. With sdAbs binding to internalizing receptors like HER2, residualizing prosthetic agents can enhance tumor retention of radioiodine, which until now has been done with random labeling approaches. Herein we evaluate a site-specific strategy utilizing a radioiodinated, residualizing maleimido moiety and the anti-HER2 sdAb 5F7 bearing a GGC tail for conjugation. METHODS Maleimidoethyl 3-(guanidinomethyl)-5-iodobenzoate ([131I]MEGMB) and its N-succinimidyl ester analogue, iso-[125I]SGMIB, were labeled by halodestannylation and conjugated with 5F7GGC and 5F7, respectively. Radiochemical purity, immunoreactivity and binding affinity were determined. Paired-label experiments directly compared iso-[125I]SGMIB-5F7 and [131I]MEGMIB-5F7GGC with regard to internalization/residualization and affinity on HER2-expressing SKOV-3 ovarian carcinoma cells as well as biodistribution and metabolite distribution in athymic mice with subcutaneous SKOV-3 xenografts. RESULTS [131I]MEGMIB-5F7GGC had an immunoreactivity of 81.3% and Kd = 0.94 ± 0.27 nM. Internalization assays demonstrated high intracellular trapping for both conjugates, For example, at 1 h, intracellular retention was 50.30 ± 3.36% for [131I]MEGMIB-5F7GGC and 55.95 ± 3.27% for iso-[125I]SGMIB-5F7, while higher retention was seen for iso-[125I]SGMIB-5F7 at later time points. Peak tumor uptake was similar for both conjugates (8.35 ± 2.66%ID/g and 8.43 ± 2.84%ID/g for iso-[125I]SGMIB-5F7 and [131I]MEGMIB-5F7GGC at 1 h, respectively); however, more rapid normal tissue clearance was seen for [131I]MEGMIB-5F7GGC, with a 2-fold higher tumor-to-kidney ratio and a 3-fold higher tumor-to-liver ratio compared with co-injected iso-[125I]SGMIB-5F7. Consisted with this, generation of labeled catabolites in the kidneys was higher for [131I]MEGMIB-5F7GGC. CONCLUSION [131I]MEGMIB-5F7GGC offers similar tumor targeting as iso-[125I]SGMIB-5F7 but with generally lower normal tissue uptake. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE AND IMPLICATION FOR PATIENT CARE The site specific nature of the [131I]MEGMIB reagent may facilitate clinical translation, particularly for sdAb with compromised affinity after random labeling.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yutian Feng
- Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Zhengyuan Zhou
- Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Darryl McDougald
- Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Rebecca L Meshaw
- Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | | | - Michael R Zalutsky
- Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
96
|
Lwin TM, Hernot S, Hollandsworth H, Amirfakhri S, Filemoni F, Debie P, Hoffman RM, Bouvet M. Tumor-specific near-infrared nanobody probe rapidly labels tumors in an orthotopic mouse model of pancreatic cancer. Surgery 2020; 168:85-91. [PMID: 32370916 DOI: 10.1016/j.surg.2020.02.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2019] [Revised: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nanobodies, derived from camelid antibodies made of only heavy chains, are the smallest, biologic, antigen-binding fragments (~15kDa) with faster pharmacokinetics and better tumor penetration efficiency than standard antibodies. The present study evaluates the efficacy of a fluorescent, anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) nanobody for rapid tumor labeling in an orthotopic mouse model of pancreatic cancer. METHODS Anti-CEA or control nanobodies were conjugated with the near-infrared fluorophore IRDye 800CW. Fragments of BxPC-3 (high-CEA expressing) or MiaPACA-2 (low-CEA expressing) human pancreatic cancer cell lines were orthotopically implanted into the pancreatic tail of nude mice. After tumors reached 7 to 10 mm in size, 2 nmol anti-CEA or control nanobody-IRDye800CW were injected intravenously. Mice were imaged at various time points hours post-injection. RESULTS Anti-CEA nanobodies clearly labeled BxPC3 orthotopic pancreatic tumors 3 hours after injection. The signal was present as early as 15 minutes after injection and was robust at 1 to 3 hours after injection with a tumor-to-background ratio of 2.66. In contrast, there was very low accumulation in the low CEA-expressing, MiaPACA2 pancreatic orthotopic tumors. The fluorophore-conjugated nanobody was specific for CEA-expressing tumors, while the control nanobody did not show any tumor-specific signal. Both nanobodies had strong kidney uptake as expected for small-molecule probes. The fluorescence signal was detectable using 2 clinical, Food and Drug Administration-approved, 800 nm imaging devices as well as small animal imaging systems. CONCLUSION This anti-CEA, nanobody-based, fluorescent probe labeled pancreatic orthotopic tumors within 15 minutes of intravenous injection. Fluorescent anti-CEA nanobodies have labeling kinetics that approach the speed of nonspecific dyes such as indocyanine green but with the specificity of antibodies. The use of fluorescently-labeled, intact antibodies leads to a labeling delay of 48 to 96 hours between probe administration and the necessarily delayed time of operation, which can be avoided with nanobodies. The kinetics of a nanobody-based probe makes it a practical agent for same-day, patient administration and fluorescence-guided surgery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thinzar M Lwin
- Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, CA
| | - Sophie Hernot
- Laboratory for In vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging, ICMI-BEFY/MIMA, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Hannah Hollandsworth
- Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, CA; VA San Diego Healthcare System, CA
| | - Siamak Amirfakhri
- Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, CA; VA San Diego Healthcare System, CA
| | - Filemoni Filemoni
- Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, CA; VA San Diego Healthcare System, CA
| | - Pieterjan Debie
- Laboratory for In vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging, ICMI-BEFY/MIMA, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Robert M Hoffman
- Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, CA; VA San Diego Healthcare System, CA; AntiCancer, Inc, San Diego, CA
| | - Michael Bouvet
- Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, CA; VA San Diego Healthcare System, CA.
| |
Collapse
|
97
|
Manabe S, Yamaguchi Y, Matsumura Y. Contribution from Synthetic Organic Chemistry and Glycoscience to ADC Development: Homogeneous ADC Preparation and Development of Cancer Stromal Targeting Therapy. J SYN ORG CHEM JPN 2020. [DOI: 10.5059/yukigoseikyokaishi.78.485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shino Manabe
- Pharmaceutical Department, Hoshi Universtity
- Research Center for Pharmaceutical Development Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
98
|
Yamada K, Okuzumi T. AJICAP™: Development of a Chemical Site-Specific Conjugation Technology for Antibody-Drug Conjugates. J SYN ORG CHEM JPN 2020. [DOI: 10.5059/yukigoseikyokaishi.78.495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kei Yamada
- Bio-Functional Molecular Chemistry Group, Research Institute For Bioscience Products & Fine Chemicals, AJINOMOTO Co., Inc
| | - Tatsuya Okuzumi
- Bio-Functional Molecular Chemistry Group, Research Institute For Bioscience Products & Fine Chemicals, AJINOMOTO Co., Inc
| |
Collapse
|
99
|
Anami Y, Tsuchikama K. Next-generation Antibody-drug Conjugates (ADCs): Exploring New Frontiers with Chemical Approaches. J SYN ORG CHEM JPN 2020. [DOI: 10.5059/yukigoseikyokaishi.78.503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kyoji Tsuchikama
- Texas Therapeutics Institute, The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
| |
Collapse
|
100
|
A compact nanobody-DNAzyme conjugate enables antigen detection and signal amplification. N Biotechnol 2020; 56:1-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2019.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
|