An EGF receptor targeting Ranpirnase-diabody fusion protein mediates potent antitumour activity in vitro and in vivo

Role of the Ribonuclease ONCONASE in miRNA Biogenesis and tRNA Processing: Focus on Cancer and Viral Infections

The majority of transcribed RNAs do not codify for proteins, nevertheless they display crucial regulatory functions by affecting the cellular protein expression profile. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) are effectors of interfering mechanisms, so that their biogenesis is a tightly regulated process. Onconase (ONC) is an amphibian ribonuclease known for cytotoxicity against tumors and antiviral activity. Additionally, ONC administration in patients resulted in clinical effectiveness and in a well-tolerated feature, at least for lung carcinoma and malignant mesothelioma. Moreover, the ONC therapeutic effects are actually potentiated by cotreatment with many conventional antitumor drugs. This review not only aims to describe the ONC activity occurring either in different tumors or in viral infections but also to analyze the molecular mechanisms underlying ONC pleiotropic and cellular-specific effects. In cancer, data suggest that ONC affects malignant phenotypes by generating tRNA fragments and miRNAs able to downregulate oncogenes expression and upregulate tumor-suppressor proteins. In cells infected by viruses, ONC hampers viral spread by digesting the primer tRNAs necessary for viral DNA replication. In this scenario, new therapeutic tools might be developed by exploiting the action of ONC-elicited RNA derivatives.

Potent anti-tumor activity of CD45RA-targeting Hm3A4-Ranpirnase against myeloid lineage leukemias

CD45RA is a specific marker for leukemia stem cell (LSC) sub-populations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Ranpirnase (Rap), an amphibian RNase, has been extensively investigated in preclinical and clinical studies for its antitumor activity. Rap could be administered repeatedly to patients without inducing an immune response. Reversible renal toxicity has been reported to be dose-limiting. In this study, we generated a novel immunotoxin targeting LSCs: Hm3A4-Rap, which was composed of Rap and Hm3A4, a human-mouse chimeric antibody against CD45RA. This immunotoxin was generated recombinantly by fusing Rap to Hm3A4 at the Fc terminus and then produced by stably transfecting CHO cells. The immunotoxin was purified using Ni-NTA and then evaluated using RT-PCR, SDS-PAGE, antibody titer assays, competitive inhibition assays, and internalization assays. In addition, the purity, molecular integrity, and affinity to the CD45RA antigen were determined. In vitro studies demonstrated that Hm3A4-Rap could efficiently kill target cells. In vivo studies demonstrated that Hm3A4-Rap had potent anti-leukemia activity, with dosed mice showing a significant increase in survival time compared to control mice (P < 0.01). In summary, our immunotoxin had excellent biological activity suggesting its potential therapeutic value for treating AML patients. Additional preclinical and clinical studies are needed to develop this immunotoxin as a treatment option for patients with leukemia.

Biological Activities of Secretory RNases: Focus on Their Oligomerization to Design Antitumor Drugs

Ribonucleases (RNases) are a large number of enzymes gathered into different bacterial or eukaryotic superfamilies. Bovine pancreatic RNase A, bovine seminal BS-RNase, human pancreatic RNase 1, angiogenin (RNase 5), and amphibian onconase belong to the pancreatic type superfamily, while binase and barnase are in the bacterial RNase N1/T1 family. In physiological conditions, most RNases secreted in the extracellular space counteract the undesired effects of extracellular RNAs and become protective against infections. Instead, if they enter the cell, RNases can digest intracellular RNAs, becoming cytotoxic and having advantageous effects against malignant cells. Their biological activities have been investigated either in vitro, toward a number of different cancer cell lines, or in some cases in vivo to test their potential therapeutic use. However, immunogenicity or other undesired effects have sometimes been associated with their action. Nevertheless, the use of RNases in therapy remains an appealing strategy against some still incurable tumors, such as mesothelioma, melanoma, or pancreatic cancer. The RNase inhibitor (RI) present inside almost all cells is the most efficacious sentry to counteract the ribonucleolytic action against intracellular RNAs because it forms a tight, irreversible and enzymatically inactive complex with many monomeric RNases. Therefore, dimerization or multimerization could represent a useful strategy for RNases to exert a remarkable cytotoxic activity by evading the interaction with RI by steric hindrance. Indeed, the majority of the mentioned RNases can hetero-dimerize with antibody derivatives, or even homo-dimerize or multimerize, spontaneously or artificially. This can occur through weak interactions or upon introducing covalent bonds. Immuno-RNases, in particular, are fusion proteins representing promising drugs by combining high target specificity with easy delivery in tumors. The results concerning the biological features of many RNases reported in the literature are described and discussed in this review. Furthermore, the activities displayed by some RNases forming oligomeric complexes, the mechanisms driving toward these supramolecular structures, and the biological rebounds connected are analyzed. These aspects are offered with the perspective to suggest possible efficacious therapeutic applications for RNases oligomeric derivatives that could contemporarily lack, or strongly reduce, immunogenicity and other undesired side-effects.

Updates in the Development of ImmunoRNases for the Selective Killing of Tumor Cells

Targeted cancer therapy includes, amongst others, antibody-based delivery of toxic payloads to selectively eliminate tumor cells. This payload can be either a synthetic small molecule drug composing an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) or a cytotoxic protein composing an immunotoxin (IT). Non-human cytotoxic proteins, while potent, have limited clinical efficacy due to their immunogenicity and potential off-target toxicity. Humanization of the cytotoxic payload is essential and requires harnessing of potent apoptosis-inducing human proteins with conditional activity, which rely on targeted delivery to contact their substrate. Ribonucleases are attractive candidates, due to their ability to induce apoptosis by abrogating protein biosynthesis via tRNA degradation. In fact, several RNases of the pancreatic RNase A superfamily have shown potential as anti-cancer agents. Coupling of a human RNase to a humanized antibody or antibody derivative putatively eliminates the immunogenicity of an IT (now known as a human cytolytic fusion protein, hCFP). However, RNases are tightly regulated in vivo by endogenous inhibitors, controlling the ribonucleolytic balance subject to the cell’s metabolic requirements. Endogenous inhibition limits the efficacy with which RNase-based hCFPs induce apoptosis. However, abrogating the natural interaction with the natural inhibitors by mutation has been shown to significantly enhance RNase activity, paving the way toward achieving cytolytic potency comparable to that of bacterial immunotoxins. Here, we review the immunoRNases that have undergone preclinical studies as anti-cancer therapeutic agents.

Addressing the Immunogenicity of the Cargo and of the Targeting Antibodies with a Focus on Demmunized Bacterial Toxins and on Antibody-Targeted Human Effector Proteins

Third-generation immunotoxins are composed of a human, or humanized, targeting moiety, usually a monoclonal antibody or an antibody fragment, and a non-human effector molecule. Due to the non-human origin of the cytotoxic domain, these molecules stimulate potent anti-drug immune responses, which limit treatment options. Efforts are made to deimmunize such immunotoxins or to combine treatment with immunosuppression. An alternative approach is using the so-called “human cytotoxic fusion proteins”, in which antibodies are used to target human effector proteins. Here, we present three relevant approaches for reducing the immunogenicity of antibody-targeted protein therapeutics: (1) reducing the immunogenicity of the bacterial toxin, (2) fusing human cytokines to antibodies to generate immunocytokines and (3) addressing the immunogenicity of the targeting antibodies.

Use of single chain antibody derivatives for targeted drug delivery

Single chain antibodies (scFvs), which contain only the variable domains of full-length antibodies, are relatively small molecules that can be used for selective drug delivery. In this review, we display how scFv antibodies help improve the specificity and efficiency of drugs. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery using scFv-drug fusion peptides, siRNA delivery using scFv-conjugated nanoparticles, targeted delivery using scFv-viral peptide- fusion proteins, use of scFv in fusion with cell penetrating peptides for effective targeted drug delivery, scFv-mediated targeted delivery of inorganic nanoparticles, scFv-mediated increase of tumor killing activity of granulocytes, use of scFv for tumor imaging, site-directed conjugation of scFv molecules to drug carrier systems, use of scFv to relieve pain, use of scFv for increasing drug loading efficiency are among the topics that are discussed here.