1
|
Urbano AC, Ferreira N, Jordão N, Boinas F, Martins C, Ferreira F. Targeted mutagenesis of the β-strand DNA binding region of African swine fever virus histone-like protein (pA104R) impairs DNA-binding activity and antibody recognition. Antiviral Res 2024; 221:105784. [PMID: 38103699 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2023.105784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious disease caused by a double-stranded DNA virus (ASFV). Despite significant advances made over the last decade, issues such as residual virulence and absence of differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) capacity remain an obstacle in the development of live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) against ASFV. It is, therefore, necessary to identify novel strategies to improve vaccine safety, by rational mutagenesis of virulence associated genes and generation of DIVA markers. ASFV encodes a HU (histone-like protein from E. coli strain U93) homolog protein, pA104R, which is involved in viral genome assembly and host immune recognition. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that pA104R is highly conserved among ASFV isolates, suggesting that it can be a good target for vaccine design. Thus, we selectively mutated the β-strand DNA binding region (BDR) of pA104R to attenuate its enzymatic activity, and identified and mutated several B-cell epitopes present in pA104R to generate a negative marker. Residues K64, K66, and R69 in the BDR were identified as relevant for pA104R activity, with double mutation of the first two showing additive attenuation. pA104R-reactive IgM and IgG epitopes were also identified in the bottom of the BDR, with selective mutagenesis drastically reducing antibody recognition and, when combined with mutations in the arm of the BDR, leading to a further reduction of DNA-binding activity. Interestingly, the immunodominant pA104R-reactive IgG epitope was mainly recognized by IgG1 suggesting that pA104R induces a dominant Th2 response. In sum, the rational mutagenesis can reduce pA104R-DNA binding activity and immune reactivity, providing a rationale for the development of an ASFV pA104R-based DIVA vaccine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Catarina Urbano
- CIISA - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Nicolas Ferreira
- CIISA - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Nuno Jordão
- CIISA - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Fernando Boinas
- CIISA - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Carlos Martins
- CIISA - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Fernando Ferreira
- CIISA - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Lisbon, Portugal.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
di Leandro L, Colasante M, Pitari G, Ippoliti R. Hosts and Heterologous Expression Strategies of Recombinant Toxins for Therapeutic Purposes. Toxins (Basel) 2023; 15:699. [PMID: 38133203 PMCID: PMC10748335 DOI: 10.3390/toxins15120699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The production of therapeutic recombinant toxins requires careful host cell selection. Bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells are common choices, but no universal solution exists. Achieving the delicate balance in toxin production is crucial due to potential self-intoxication. Recombinant toxins from various sources find applications in antimicrobials, biotechnology, cancer drugs, and vaccines. "Toxin-based therapy" targets diseased cells using three strategies. Targeted cancer therapy, like antibody-toxin conjugates, fusion toxins, or "suicide gene therapy", can selectively eliminate cancer cells, leaving healthy cells unharmed. Notable toxins from various biological sources may be used as full-length toxins, as plant (saporin) or animal (melittin) toxins, or as isolated domains that are typical of bacterial toxins, including Pseudomonas Exotoxin A (PE) and diphtheria toxin (DT). This paper outlines toxin expression methods and system advantages and disadvantages, emphasizing host cell selection's critical role.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Rodolfo Ippoliti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy; (L.d.L.); (M.C.); (G.P.)
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Palacio-Castañeda V, van de Crommert B, Verploegen E, Overeem M, van Oostrum J, Verdurmen WP. Potent and selective eradication of tumor cells by an EpCAM-targeted Ras-degrading enzyme. Mol Ther Oncolytics 2023; 30:16-26. [PMID: 37485031 PMCID: PMC10362089 DOI: 10.1016/j.omto.2023.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite decades of efforts, an urgent need remains to develop tumor cell-selective rat sarcoma (Ras)-targeting therapies that can treat patients with Ras-driven tumors. Here we report modular engineered proteins that degrade Ras selectively in tumor cells that overexpress the tumor cell marker epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) by fusing the Ras degrader Ras-Rap1-specific endopeptidase with the translocation domain of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) or diphtheria toxin (DT). Redirection to EpCAM is achieved by a designed ankyrin repeat protein. In two-dimensional tumor cell cultures, complete degradation of Ras proteins after 24 h was observed with EpCAM-targeted Ras degraders fused to ETA or DT in EpCAM-overexpressing MCF7 and HCT116 cells, with median inhibition concentration values at sub-nanomolar levels. The viability of EpCAM-low non-cancerous fibroblasts remained unaffected. In a three-dimensional (3D) tumor-on-a-chip system that mimics the natural tumor microenvironment, effective Ras degradation and selective toxicity toward tumor cells, particularly with the ETA-fused constructs, was determined on-chip. To conclude, we demonstrate the potential of modular engineered proteins to kill tumor cells highly selectively by simultaneously exploiting EpCAM as a tumor-specific cell surface molecule as well as Ras as an intracellular oncotarget in a 3D system mimicking the natural tumor microenvironment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Palacio-Castañeda
- Department of Medical BioSciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 28, 6525 GA Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Bas van de Crommert
- Department of Medical BioSciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 28, 6525 GA Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Elke Verploegen
- Department of Medical BioSciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 28, 6525 GA Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Mike Overeem
- Department of Medical BioSciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 28, 6525 GA Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jenny van Oostrum
- Department of Medical BioSciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 28, 6525 GA Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Wouter P.R. Verdurmen
- Department of Medical BioSciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 28, 6525 GA Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Gsottberger F, Meier C, Ammon A, Parker S, Wendland K, George R, Petkovic S, Mellenthin L, Emmerich C, Lutzny-Geier G, Metzler M, Mackensen A, Chandramohan V, Müller F. Targeted inhibition of protein synthesis renders cancer cells vulnerable to apoptosis by unfolded protein response. Cell Death Dis 2023; 14:561. [PMID: 37626037 PMCID: PMC10457359 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-06055-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023]
Abstract
Cellular stress responses including the unfolded protein response (UPR) decide over the fate of an individual cell to ensure survival of the entire organism. During physiologic UPR counter-regulation, protective proteins are upregulated to prevent cell death. A similar strategy induces resistance to UPR in cancer. Therefore, we hypothesized that blocking protein synthesis following induction of UPR substantially enhances drug-induced apoptosis of malignant cells. In line, upregulation of the chaperone BiP was prevented by simultaneous arrest of protein synthesis in B cell malignancies. Cytotoxicity by immunotoxins-approved inhibitors of protein synthesis-was synergistically enhanced in combination with UPR-inducers in seven distinct hematologic and three solid tumor entities in vitro. Synergistic cell death depended on mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization via BAK/BAX, which correlated with synergistic, IRE1α-dependent reduction of BID, accompanied by an additive fall of MCL-1. The strong synergy was reproduced in vivo against xenograft mouse models of mantle cell lymphoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, and patient-derived acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In contrast, synergy was absent in blood cells of healthy donors suggesting a tumor-specific vulnerability. Together, these data support clinical evaluation of blocking stress response counter-regulation using inhibitors of protein synthesis as a novel therapeutic strategy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Gsottberger
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Christina Meier
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Anna Ammon
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Scott Parker
- Department of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kerstin Wendland
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Rebekka George
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Srdjan Petkovic
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Lisa Mellenthin
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Charlotte Emmerich
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Gloria Lutzny-Geier
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Markus Metzler
- Deptartment of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
- Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Andreas Mackensen
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
- Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), Erlangen, Germany
| | | | - Fabian Müller
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
- Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), Erlangen, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Peng Y, Wu Z, Pang Z, Zhang L, Song D, Liu F, Li Y, Lin T. Manufacture and evaluation of a HER2-positive breast cancer immunotoxin 4D5Fv-PE25. Microb Cell Fact 2023; 22:100. [PMID: 37198642 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-023-02115-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer is an aggressive subtype, accounting for around 20% of all breast cancers. The development of HER2-targeted therapy has substantially improved patient outcomes. Nevertheless, the increasing rate of side effects and resistance to targeted drugs limit their efficacy in clinical practice. In this study, we designed and synthesized a new immunotoxin, 4D5Fv-PE25, which targets HER2-positive breast cancer, and evaluated its effectiveness in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS The 4D5Fv-PE25 was expressed in high-density Escherichia coli (E. coli.) using the fermentor method and refined via hydrophobicity, ion exchange, and filtration chromatography, achieving a 56.06% recovery rate. Additionally, the semi-manufactured product with 96% purity was prepared into freeze-dried powder by the lyophilized process. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of HER2 in SK-BR-3, BT-474, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cell lines. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method was used for cytotoxicity assay, and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 4D5Fv-PE25 lyophilized products to HER2-positive cell line SK-BR-3 was 12.53 ng/mL. The 4D5Fv-PE25 was injected into xenograft tumor mice via the tail vein on the 1st, 4th, and 8th day, it indicated that the growth of tumor volume was effectively inhibited for 24 days, although the 4D5Fv-PE25 was metabolized within 60 min by measuring the release of 3 H-Thymidine radiation. CONCLUSION we succeeded in producing the 4D5Fv-PE25 freeze-dried powder using the prokaryotic expression method, and it could be employed as a potential drug for treating HER2-positive breast cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yanjie Peng
- Clinical Medical Research Center for Women and Children Diseases, Shandong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Jinan, 250014, China.
| | - Zhengli Wu
- Panacea Bioscience inc, Halifax, NS, Canada
- College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Zheng Pang
- Innovative Institute of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250300, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- Clinical Medical Research Center for Women and Children Diseases, Shandong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Dandan Song
- Clinical Medical Research Center for Women and Children Diseases, Shandong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Fang Liu
- Clinical Medical Research Center for Women and Children Diseases, Shandong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Yanhong Li
- Panacea Bioscience inc, Halifax, NS, Canada
- College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
Xu W, Chen H, Li Y, Cheng H, Deng Y, Zheng P, Li J, Yang L, He S, Ma D, Zhu Q, Gu D, Han J, Sun B, Ma H. Removing Negative Impacts from Inevitable Nonreproducible and Nonspecific Antibody-Probe Interactions in Viral Serology. Anal Chem 2023; 95:1867-1879. [PMID: 36606691 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c03637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Serological assays are indispensable tools in public health. Presently deployed serological assays, however, largely overlook research progress made in the last two decades that jeopardizes the conceptual foundation of these assays, i.e., antibody (Ab) specificity. Challenges to traditional understanding of Ab specificity include Ab polyspecificity and most recently nonreproducible Ab-probe interactions (NRIs). Here, using SARS-CoV-2 and four common livestock viruses as a test bed, we developed a new serological platform that integrates recent understanding about Ab specificity. We first demonstrate that the response rate (RR) from a large-sized serum pool (∼100) is not affected by NRIs or by nonspecific Ab-probe interactions (NSIs), so RR can be incorporated into the diagnostic probe selection process. We subsequently used multiple probes (configured as a "protein peptide hybrid microarray", PPHM) to generate a digital microarray index (DMI) and finally demonstrated that DMI-based analysis yields an extremely robust probabilistic trend that enables accurate diagnosis of viral infection that overcomes multiple negative impacts exerted by NSI/NRI. Thus, our study with SARS-CoV-2 confirms that the PPHM-RR-DMI platform enables very rapid development of serological assays that outperform traditional assays (for both sensitivity and specificity) and supports that the platform is extendable to other viruses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wenwen Xu
- Division of Nanobiomedicine, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China
- Department of Allergy, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
| | - Yiting Li
- Division of Nanobiomedicine, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Hu Cheng
- Division of Nanobiomedicine, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
- Nano Science and Technology Institute, University of science and technology of China, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Yi Deng
- Division of Nanobiomedicine, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
- Nano Science and Technology Institute, University of science and technology of China, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Peiyan Zheng
- Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Jingzhi Li
- Division of Nanobiomedicine, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Lan Yang
- Division of Nanobiomedicine, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Shiping He
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shenzhen Institute of Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518035, China
| | - Dongli Ma
- Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for High-throughput Gene Sequencing of Pathogens, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen 518038, China
| | - Qiang Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China
| | - Dayong Gu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shenzhen Institute of Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518035, China
| | - Jun Han
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Baoqing Sun
- Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Hongwei Ma
- Division of Nanobiomedicine, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Xu H, Zhao Z. NetBCE: An Interpretable Deep Neural Network for Accurate Prediction of Linear B-cell Epitopes. GENOMICS, PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS 2022; 20:1002-1012. [PMID: 36526218 PMCID: PMC10025766 DOI: 10.1016/j.gpb.2022.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Identification of B-cell epitopes (BCEs) plays an essential role in the development of peptide vaccines and immuno-diagnostic reagents, as well as antibody design and production. In this work, we generated a large benchmark dataset comprising 124,879 experimentally supported linear epitope-containing regions in 3567 protein clusters from over 1.3 million B cell assays. Analysis of this curated dataset showed large pathogen diversity covering 176 different families. The accuracy in linear BCE prediction was found to strongly vary with different features, while all sequence-derived and structural features were informative. To search more efficient and interpretive feature representations, a ten-layer deep learning framework for linear BCE prediction, namely NetBCE, was developed. NetBCE achieved high accuracy and robust performance with the average area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.8455 in five-fold cross-validation through automatically learning the informative classification features. NetBCE substantially outperformed the conventional machine learning algorithms and other tools, with more than 22.06% improvement of AUC value compared to other tools using an independent dataset. Through investigating the output of important network modules in NetBCE, epitopes and non-epitopes tended to be presented in distinct regions with efficient feature representation along the network layer hierarchy. The NetBCE is freely available at https://github.com/bsml320/NetBCE.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Haodong Xu
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Human Genetics Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Sala R, Rioja-Blanco E, Serna N, Sánchez-García L, Álamo P, Alba-Castellón L, Casanova I, López-Pousa A, Unzueta U, Céspedes MV, Vázquez E, Villaverde A, Mangues R. GSDMD-dependent pyroptotic induction by a multivalent CXCR4-targeted nanotoxin blocks colorectal cancer metastases. Drug Deliv 2022; 29:1384-1397. [PMID: 35532120 PMCID: PMC9090371 DOI: 10.1080/10717544.2022.2069302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the third cause of cancer-related mortality in Western countries, metastases are the main cause of death. CRC treatment remains limited by systemic toxicity and chemotherapy resistance. Therefore, nanoparticle-mediated delivery of cytotoxic agents selectively to cancer cells represents an efficient strategy to increase the therapeutic index and overcome drug resistance. We have developed the T22-PE24-H6 therapeutic protein-only nanoparticle that incorporates the exotoxin A from Pseudomonas aeruginosa to selectively target CRC cells because of its multivalent ligand display that triggers a high selectivity interaction with the CXCR4 receptor overexpressed on the surface of CRC stem cells. We here observed a CXCR4-dependent cytotoxic effect for T22-PE24-H6, which was not mediated by apoptosis, but instead capable of inducing a time-dependent and sequential activation of pyroptotic markers in CRC cells in vitro. Next, we demonstrated that repeated doses of T22-PE24-H6 inhibit tumor growth in a subcutaneous CXCR4+ CRC model, also through pyroptotic activation. Most importantly, this nanoparticle also blocked the development of lymphatic and hematogenous metastases, in a highly aggressive CXCR4+ SW1417 orthotopic CRC model, in the absence of systemic toxicity. This targeted drug delivery approach supports for the first time the clinical relevance of inducing GSDMD-dependent pyroptosis, a cell death mechanism alternative to apoptosis, in CRC models, leading to the selective elimination of CXCR4+ cancer stem cells, which are associated with resistance, metastases and anti-apoptotic upregulation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rita Sala
- Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.,CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Josep Carreras Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisa Rioja-Blanco
- Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.,Josep Carreras Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Naroa Serna
- CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Institut de Biotecnologia I de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.,Departament de Genètica I de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Laura Sánchez-García
- CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Institut de Biotecnologia I de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.,Departament de Genètica I de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Patricia Álamo
- Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.,CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Josep Carreras Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lorena Alba-Castellón
- Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.,Josep Carreras Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Isolda Casanova
- Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.,CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Josep Carreras Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonio López-Pousa
- CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau, Barcelon, Spain
| | - Ugutz Unzueta
- Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.,CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Josep Carreras Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Esther Vázquez
- CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Institut de Biotecnologia I de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.,Departament de Genètica I de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Antonio Villaverde
- CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Institut de Biotecnologia I de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.,Departament de Genètica I de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Ramon Mangues
- Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB-Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain.,CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales Y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain.,Josep Carreras Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Ammon A, Mellenthin L, Emmerich C, Naschberger E, Stürzl M, Mackensen A, Müller F. Reduced cytotoxicity by mutation of Lysine 590 of Pseudomonas exotoxin can be restored in an optimized, Lysine-free immunotoxin. IMMUNOTHERAPY ADVANCES 2022; 2:ltac007. [PMID: 35919491 PMCID: PMC9327129 DOI: 10.1093/immadv/ltac007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunotoxins, which are fusion proteins of an antibody fragment and a fragment of a bacterial or a plant toxin, induce apoptosis in target cells by inhibition of protein synthesis. ADP-ribosylating toxins often have few lysine residues in their catalytic domain. As they are the target for ubiquitination, the low number of lysines possibly prevents ubiquitin-dependent degradation of the toxin in the cytosol. To reduce this potential degradation, we aimed to generate a lysine-free (noK), Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE)-based immunotoxin. The new generation 24 kDa PE, which lacks all but the furin-cleavage site of domain II, was mutated at lysine 590 (K590) and at K606 in a CD22-targeting immunotoxin and activity was determined against various B cell malignancies in vitro and in vivo. On average, K590 mutated to arginine (R) reduced cytotoxicity by 1.3-fold and K606R enhanced cytotoxicity by 1.3-fold compared to wild type (wt). Mutating K590 to histidine or deleting K590 did not prevent this loss in cytotoxicity. Neither stability nor internalization rate of K590R could explain reduced cytotoxicity. These results highlight the relevance of lysine 590 for PE intoxication. In line with in vitro results, the K606R mutant was more than 1.8-fold more active than the other variants in vivo suggesting that this single mutation may be beneficial when targeting CD22-positive malignancies. Finally, reduced cytotoxicity by K590R was compensated for by K606R and the resulting lysine-free variant achieved wt-like activity in vitro and in vivo. Thus, PE24-noK may represent a promising candidate for down-stream applications that would interfere with lysines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Ammon
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Lisa Mellenthin
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Charlotte Emmerich
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Naschberger
- Division of Molecular and Experimental Surgery, Translational Research Center, Department of Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Michael Stürzl
- Division of Molecular and Experimental Surgery, Translational Research Center, Department of Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Andreas Mackensen
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Fabian Müller
- Department of Internal Medicine 5, Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Havaei SM, Aucoin MG, Jahanian-Najafabadi A. Pseudomonas Exotoxin-Based Immunotoxins: Over Three Decades of Efforts on Targeting Cancer Cells With the Toxin. Front Oncol 2021; 11:781800. [PMID: 34976821 PMCID: PMC8716853 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.781800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is one of the prominent causes of death worldwide. Despite the existence of various modalities for cancer treatment, many types of cancer remain uncured or develop resistance to therapeutic strategies. Furthermore, almost all chemotherapeutics cause a range of side effects because they affect normal cells in addition to malignant cells. Therefore, the development of novel therapeutic agents that are targeted specifically toward cancer cells is indispensable. Immunotoxins (ITs) are a class of tumor cell-targeted fusion proteins consisting of both a targeting moiety and a toxic moiety. The targeting moiety is usually an antibody/antibody fragment or a ligand of the immune system that can bind an antigen or receptor that is only expressed or overexpressed by cancer cells but not normal cells. The toxic moiety is usually a protein toxin (or derivative) of animal, plant, insect, or bacterial origin. To date, three ITs have gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for human use, including denileukin diftitox (FDA approval: 1999), tagraxofusp (FDA approval: 2018), and moxetumomab pasudotox (FDA approval: 2018). All of these ITs take advantage of bacterial protein toxins. The toxic moiety of the first two ITs is a truncated form of diphtheria toxin, and the third is a derivative of Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE). There is a growing list of ITs using PE, or its derivatives, being evaluated preclinically or clinically. Here, we will review these ITs to highlight the advances in PE-based anticancer strategies, as well as review the targeting moieties that are used to reduce the non-specific destruction of non-cancerous cells. Although we tried to be as comprehensive as possible, we have limited our review to those ITs that have proceeded to clinical trials and are still under active clinical evaluation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Mehdi Havaei
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Marc G. Aucoin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Ali Jahanian-Najafabadi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Park S, Nguyen MQ, Ta HKK, Nguyen MT, Lee G, Kim CJ, Jang YJ, Choe H. Soluble Cytoplasmic Expression and Purification of Immunotoxin HER2(scFv)-PE24B as a Maltose Binding Protein Fusion. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:6483. [PMID: 34204265 PMCID: PMC8234717 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22126483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Revised: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) is overexpressed in many malignant tumors. The anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab has been approved for treating HER2-positive early and metastatic breast cancers. Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE), a bacterial toxin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, consists of an A-domain with enzymatic activity and a B-domain with cell binding activity. Recombinant immunotoxins comprising the HER2(scFv) single-chain Fv from trastuzumab and the PE24B catalytic fragment of PE display promising cytotoxic effects, but immunotoxins are typically insoluble when expressed in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli, and thus they require solubilization and refolding. Herein, a recombinant immunotoxin gene was fused with maltose binding protein (MBP) and overexpressed in a soluble form in E. coli. Removal of the MBP yielded stable HER2(scFv)-PE24B at 91% purity; 0.25 mg of pure HER2(scFv)-PE24B was obtained from a 500 mL flask culture. Purified HER2(scFv)-PE24B was tested against four breast cancer cell lines differing in their surface HER2 level. The immunotoxin showed stronger cytotoxicity than HER2(scFv) or PE24B alone. The IC50 values for HER2(scFv)-PE24B were 28.1 ± 2.5 pM (n = 9) and 19 ± 1.4 pM (n = 9) for high HER2-positive cell lines SKBR3 and BT-474, respectively, but its cytotoxicity was lower against MDA-MB-231 and MCF7. Thus, fusion with MBP can facilitate the soluble expression and purification of scFv immunotoxins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sangsu Park
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea; (S.P.); (M.Q.N.); (H.K.K.T.); (M.T.N.); (Y.J.J.)
| | - Minh Quan Nguyen
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea; (S.P.); (M.Q.N.); (H.K.K.T.); (M.T.N.); (Y.J.J.)
| | - Huynh Kim Khanh Ta
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea; (S.P.); (M.Q.N.); (H.K.K.T.); (M.T.N.); (Y.J.J.)
| | - Minh Tan Nguyen
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea; (S.P.); (M.Q.N.); (H.K.K.T.); (M.T.N.); (Y.J.J.)
- NTT Hi-Tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam
| | - Gunsup Lee
- R&D Center, Fatiabgen Co., Ltd., Seoul 05855, Korea;
| | - Chong Jai Kim
- Department of Pathology, Asan-Minnesota Institute for Innovating Transplantation, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea;
| | - Yeon Jin Jang
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea; (S.P.); (M.Q.N.); (H.K.K.T.); (M.T.N.); (Y.J.J.)
| | - Han Choe
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea; (S.P.); (M.Q.N.); (H.K.K.T.); (M.T.N.); (Y.J.J.)
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Shilova O, Shramova E, Proshkina G, Deyev S. Natural and Designed Toxins for Precise Therapy: Modern Approaches in Experimental Oncology. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22094975. [PMID: 34067057 PMCID: PMC8124712 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22094975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer cells frequently overexpress specific surface receptors providing tumor growth and survival which can be used for precise therapy. Targeting cancer cell receptors with protein toxins is an attractive approach widely used in contemporary experimental oncology and preclinical studies. Methods of targeted delivery of toxins to cancer cells, different drug carriers based on nanosized materials (liposomes, nanoparticles, polymers), the most promising designed light-activated toxins, as well as mechanisms of the cytotoxic action of the main natural toxins used in modern experimental oncology, are discussed in this review. The prospects of the combined therapy of tumors based on multimodal nanostructures are also discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Olga Shilova
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (E.S.); (G.P.)
- Correspondence: (O.S.); (S.D.)
| | - Elena Shramova
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (E.S.); (G.P.)
| | - Galina Proshkina
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (E.S.); (G.P.)
| | - Sergey Deyev
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997 Moscow, Russia; (E.S.); (G.P.)
- Center of Biomedical Engineering, Sechenov University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
- Correspondence: (O.S.); (S.D.)
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Dashtiahangar M, Rahbarnia L, Farajnia S, Salmaninejad A, Shabgah AG, Ghasemali S. Anti-cancer Immunotoxins, Challenges, and Approaches. Curr Pharm Des 2021; 27:932-941. [PMID: 33023437 DOI: 10.2174/1381612826666201006155346] [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: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The development of recombinant immunotoxins (RITs) as a novel therapeutic strategy has made a revolution in the treatment of cancer. RITs result from the fusion of antibodies to toxin proteins for targeting and eliminating cancerous cells by inhibiting protein synthesis. Despite indisputable outcomes of RITs regarding inhibition of multiple cancer types, high immunogenicity has been known as the main obstacle in the clinical use of RITs. Various strategies have been proposed to overcome these limitations, including immunosuppressive therapy, humanization of the antibody fragment moiety, generation of immunotoxins originated from endogenous human cytotoxic enzymes, and modification of the toxin moiety to escape the immune system. This paper is devoted to review recent advances in the design of immunotoxins with lower immunogenicity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Dashtiahangar
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Leila Rahbarnia
- Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Safar Farajnia
- Biotechnology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | | | - Arezoo Gowhari Shabgah
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Samaneh Ghasemali
- Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Liang S, Zhang C. Prediction of immunogenicity for humanized and full human therapeutic antibodies. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0238150. [PMID: 32866159 PMCID: PMC7458303 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Immunogenicity is an important concern for therapeutic antibodies during drug development. By analyzing co-crystal structures of idiotypic antibodies and their antibodies, we found that anti-idiotypic antibodies usually bind the Complementarity Determining Regions (CDR) of idiotypic antibodies. Sequence and structural features were identified for distinguishing immunogenic antibodies from non-immunogenic antibodies. For example, non-immunogenic antibodies have a significantly larger cavity volume at the CDR region and a more hydrophobic CDR-H3 loop than immunogenic antibodies. Antibodies containing no Gly at the turn of CDR-H2 loop are often immunogenic. We integrated these features together with a machine learning platform to Predict Immunogenicity for humanized and full human THerapeutic Antibodies (PITHA). This method achieved an accuracy of 83% in leave-one-out experiment for 29 therapeutic antibodies with available crystal structures. The accuracy decreased to 65% for 23 test antibodies with modeled structures, because their crystal structures were not available, and the prediction was made with modeled structures. The server of this method is accessible at http://mabmedicine.com/PITHA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shide Liang
- Department of Research and Development, Bio-Thera Solutions, Guangzhou, P. R. China
- * E-mail: (SL); (CZ)
| | - Chi Zhang
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, United States of America
- * E-mail: (SL); (CZ)
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Mazor R, Pastan I. Immunogenicity of Immunotoxins Containing Pseudomonas Exotoxin A: Causes, Consequences, and Mitigation. Front Immunol 2020; 11:1261. [PMID: 32695104 PMCID: PMC7333791 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunotoxins are cytolytic fusion proteins developed for cancer therapy, composed of an antibody fragment that binds to a cancer cell and a protein toxin fragment that kills the cell. Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE) is a potent toxin that is used for the killing moiety in many immunotoxins. Moxetumomab Pasudotox (Lumoxiti) contains an anti-CD22 Fv and a 38 kDa portion of PE. Lumoxiti was discovered in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the U.S. National Cancer Institute and co-developed with Medimmune/AstraZeneca to treat hairy cell leukemia. In 2018 Lumoxiti was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of drug-resistant Hairy Cell Leukemia. Due to the bacterial origin of the killing moiety, immunotoxins containing PE are highly immunogenic in patients with normal immune systems, but less immunogenic in patients with hematologic malignancies, whose immune systems are often compromised. LMB-100 is a de-immunized variant of the toxin with a humanized antibody that targets mesothelin and a PE toxin that was rationally designed for diminished reactivity with antibodies and B cell receptors. It is now being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer and is showing somewhat diminished immunogenicity compared to its un modified parental counterpart. Here we review the immunogenicity of the original and de-immunized PE immunotoxins in mice and patients, the development of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs), their impact on drug availability and their effect on clinical efficacy. Efforts to mitigate the immunogenicity of immunotoxins and its impact on immunogenicity will be described including rational design to identify, remove, or suppress B cell or T cell epitopes, and combination of immunotoxins with immune modulating drugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronit Mazor
- Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States
| | - Ira Pastan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Development of Glypican-3 Targeting Immunotoxins for the Treatment of Liver Cancer: An Update. Biomolecules 2020; 10:biom10060934. [PMID: 32575752 PMCID: PMC7356171 DOI: 10.3390/biom10060934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2020] [Revised: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for most liver cancers and represents one of the deadliest cancers in the world. Despite the global demand for liver cancer treatments, there remain few options available. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Lumoxiti, a CD22-targeting immunotoxin, as a treatment for patients with hairy cell leukemia. This approval helps to demonstrate the potential role that immunotoxins can play in the cancer therapeutics pipeline. However, concerns have been raised about the use of immunotoxins, including their high immunogenicity and short half-life, in particular for treating solid tumors such as liver cancer. This review provides an overview of recent efforts to develop a glypican-3 (GPC3) targeting immunotoxin for treating HCC, including strategies to deimmunize immunotoxins by removing B- or T-cell epitopes on the bacterial toxin and to improve the serum half-life of immunotoxins by incorporating an albumin binding domain.
Collapse
|
17
|
Bioinformatics Predictions, Expression, Purification and Structural Analysis of the PE38KDEL-scfv Immunotoxin Against EPHA2 Receptor. Int J Pept Res Ther 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10989-019-09901-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
|
18
|
HER2-Specific Pseudomonas Exotoxin A PE25 Based Fusions: Influence of Targeting Domain on Target Binding, Toxicity, and In Vivo Biodistribution. Pharmaceutics 2020; 12:pharmaceutics12040391. [PMID: 32344762 PMCID: PMC7238247 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics12040391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a clinically validated target for cancer therapy, and targeted therapies are often used in regimens for patients with a high HER2 expression level. Despite the success of current drugs, a number of patients succumb to their disease, which motivates development of novel drugs with other modes of action. We have previously shown that an albumin binding domain-derived affinity protein with specific affinity for HER2, ADAPT6, can be used to deliver the highly cytotoxic protein domain PE25, a derivative of Pseudomonas exotoxin A, to HER2 overexpressing malignant cells, leading to potent and specific cell killing. In this study we expanded the investigation for an optimal targeting domain and constructed two fusion toxins where a HER2-binding affibody molecule, ZHER2:2891, or the dual-HER2-binding hybrid ZHER2:2891-ADAPT6 were used for cancer cell targeting. We found that both targeting domains conferred strong binding to HER2; both to the purified extracellular domain and to the HER2 overexpressing cell line SKOV3. This resulted in fusion toxins with high cytotoxic potency toward cell lines with high expression levels of HER2, with EC50 values between 10 and 100 pM. For extension of the plasma half-life, an albumin binding domain was also included. Intravenous injection of the fusion toxins into mice showed a profound influence of the targeting domain on biodistribution. Compared to previous results, with ADAPT6 as targeting domain, ZHER2:2891 gave rise to further extension of the plasma half-life and also shifted the clearance route of the fusion toxin from the liver to the kidneys. Collectively, the results show that the targeting domain has a major impact on uptake of PE25-based fusion toxins in different organs. The results also show that PE25-based fusion toxins with high affinity to HER2 do not necessarily increase the cytotoxicity beyond a certain point in affinity. In conclusion, ZHER2:2891 has the most favorable characteristics as targeting domain for PE25.
Collapse
|
19
|
Falgàs A, Pallarès V, Serna N, Sánchez-García L, Sierra J, Gallardo A, Alba-Castellón L, Álamo P, Unzueta U, Villaverde A, Vázquez E, Mangues R, Casanova I. Selective delivery of T22-PE24-H6 to CXCR4 + diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cells leads to wide therapeutic index in a disseminated mouse model. Theranostics 2020; 10:5169-5180. [PMID: 32373205 PMCID: PMC7196303 DOI: 10.7150/thno.43231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed to reduce relapse rates and enhance survival in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. CXCR4-overexpressing cancer cells are good targets for therapy because of their association with dissemination and relapse in R-CHOP treated DLBCL patients. Immunotoxins that incorporate bacterial toxins are potentially effective in treating haematological neoplasias, but show a narrow therapeutic index due to the induction of severe side effects. Therefore, when considering the delivery of these toxins as cancer therapeutics, there is a need not only to increase their uptake in the target cancer cells, and their stability in blood, but also to reduce their systemic toxicity. We have developed a therapeutic nanostructured protein T22-PE24-H6 that incorporates exotoxin A from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which selectively targets lymphoma cells because of its specific interaction with a highly overexpressed CXCR4 receptor (CXCR4+) in DLBCL. Methods: T22-PE24-H6 cytotoxicity and its dependence on the CXCR4 receptor were evaluated in DLBCL cell lines using cell viability assays. Different in vitro experiments (mitochondrial membrane potential, Western Blot, Annexin V and DAPI staining) were conducted to determine T22-PE24-H6 cell death mechanisms. In vivo imaging and therapeutic effect studies were performed in a disseminated DLBCL mouse model that mimics organ infiltration in DLBCL patients. Finally, immunohistochemistry and histopathology analyses were used to evaluate the antineoplastic effect and systemic toxicity. Results: In vitro, T22-PE24-H6 induced selective cell death of CXCR4+ DLBCL cells by activating the apoptotic pathway. In addition, repeated T22-PE24-H6 intravenous administration in a CXCR4+ DLBCL-disseminated mouse model showed a significant reduction of lymphoma burden in organs clinically affected by DLBCL cells (lymph nodes and bone marrow). Finally, we did not observe systemic toxicity associated to the nanoparticle treatment in non-DLBCL-infiltrated organs. Conclusion: We have demonstrated here a potent T22-PE24-H6 antineoplastic effect, especially in blocking dissemination in a CXCR4+ DLBCL model without associated toxicity. Thereby, T22-PE24-H6 promises to become an effective alternative to treat CXCR4+ disseminated refractory or relapsed DLBCL patients.
Collapse
|
20
|
Ramírez-Carreto S, Miranda-Zaragoza B, Rodríguez-Almazán C. Actinoporins: From the Structure and Function to the Generation of Biotechnological and Therapeutic Tools. Biomolecules 2020; 10:E539. [PMID: 32252469 PMCID: PMC7226409 DOI: 10.3390/biom10040539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 03/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Actinoporins (APs) are a family of pore-forming toxins (PFTs) from sea anemones. These biomolecules exhibit the ability to exist as soluble monomers within an aqueous medium or as constitutively open oligomers in biological membranes. Through their conformational plasticity, actinoporins are considered good candidate molecules to be included for the rational design of molecular tools, such as immunotoxins directed against tumor cells and stochastic biosensors based on nanopores to analyze unique DNA or protein molecules. Additionally, the ability of these proteins to bind to sphingomyelin (SM) facilitates their use for the design of molecular probes to identify SM in the cells. The immunomodulatory activity of actinoporins in liposomal formulations for vaccine development has also been evaluated. In this review, we describe the potential of actinoporins for use in the development of molecular tools that could be used for possible medical and biotechnological applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Claudia Rodríguez-Almazán
- Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico; (S.R.-C.); (B.M.-Z.)
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Lee S, Park S, Nguyen MT, Lee E, Kim J, Baek S, Kim CJ, Jang YJ, Choe H. A chemical conjugate between HER2-targeting antibody fragment and Pseudomonas exotoxin A fragment demonstrates cytotoxic effects on HER2-expressing breast cancer cells. BMB Rep 2020. [PMID: 30670149 PMCID: PMC6726212 DOI: 10.5483/bmbrep.2019.52.8.250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Conventionally, immunotoxins have been produced as a single polypeptide from fused genes of an antibody fragment and a toxin. In this study, we adopted a unique approach of chemical conjugation of a toxin protein and an antibody fragment. The two genes were separately expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to high levels of purity. The two purified proteins were conjugated using a chemical linker. The advantage of this approach is its ability to overcome the problem of low recombinant immunotoxin production observed in some immunotoxins. Another advantage is that various combinations of immunotoxins can be prepared with fewer efforts, because the chemical conjugation of components is relatively simpler than the processes involved in cloning, expression, and purification of multiple immunotoxins. As a proof of concept, the scFv of trastuzumab and the PE24 fragment of Pseudomonas exotoxin A were separately produced using E. coli and then chemically crosslinked. The new immunotoxin was tested on four breast cancer cell lines variably expressing HER2. The chemically crosslinked immunotoxin exhibited cytotoxicity in proportion to the expression level of HER2. In conclusion, the present study revealed an alternative method of generating an immunotoxin that could effectively reduce the viability of HER2-expressing breast cancer cells. These results suggest the effectiveness of this method of immunotoxin crosslinking as a suitable alternative for producing immunotoxins. [BMB
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sunju Lee
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| | - Sangsu Park
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| | - Minh Tan Nguyen
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea; Department of Biotechnology, NTT Hi-Tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam
| | - Eunyoung Lee
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| | - Julee Kim
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| | - Sangki Baek
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| | - Chong Jai Kim
- Department of Pathology, Asan-Minnesota Institute for Innovating Transplantation, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| | - Yeon Jin Jang
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| | - Han Choe
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Deak D, Pop C, Zimta AA, Jurj A, Ghiaur A, Pasca S, Teodorescu P, Dascalescu A, Antohe I, Ionescu B, Constantinescu C, Onaciu A, Munteanu R, Berindan-Neagoe I, Petrushev B, Turcas C, Iluta S, Selicean C, Zdrenghea M, Tanase A, Danaila C, Colita A, Colita A, Dima D, Coriu D, Einsele H, Tomuleasa C. Let's Talk About BiTEs and Other Drugs in the Real-Life Setting for B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Front Immunol 2020; 10:2856. [PMID: 31921126 PMCID: PMC6934055 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.02856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are currently initially efficient, but even if a high percentage of patients have an initial complete remission (CR), most of them relapse. Recent data shows that immunotherapy with either bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs) of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells can eliminate residual chemotherapy-resistant B-ALL cells. Objective: The objective of the manuscript is to present improvements in the clinical outcome for chemotherapy-resistant ALL in the real-life setting, by describing Romania's experience with bispecific antibodies for B-cell ALL. Methods: We present the role of novel therapies for relapsed B-cell ALL, including the drugs under investigation in phase I-III clinical trials, as a potential bridge to transplant. Blinatumomab is presented in a critical review, presenting both the advantages of this drug, as well as its limitations. Results: Bispecific antibodies are discussed, describing the clinical trials that resulted in its approval by the FDA and EMA. The real-life setting for relapsed B-cell ALL is described and we present the patients treated with blinatumomab in Romania. Conclusion: In the current manuscript, we present blinatumomab as a therapeutic alternative in the bridge-to-transplant setting for refractory or relapsed ALL, to gain a better understanding of the available therapies and evidence-based data for these patients in 2019.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dalma Deak
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Ion Chiricuta Clinical Cancer Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Cristina Pop
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Alina-Andreea Zimta
- Research Center for Advanced Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Ancuta Jurj
- Research Center for Functional Genomics and Translational Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Alexandra Ghiaur
- Department of Hematology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Sergiu Pasca
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Patric Teodorescu
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Angela Dascalescu
- Department of Hematology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Regional Institute of Oncology, Iasi, Romania
| | - Ion Antohe
- Department of Hematology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Regional Institute of Oncology, Iasi, Romania
| | - Bogdan Ionescu
- Department of Hematology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Catalin Constantinescu
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Anca Onaciu
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Raluca Munteanu
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Ioana Berindan-Neagoe
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Bobe Petrushev
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Cristina Turcas
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Ion Chiricuta Clinical Cancer Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Sabina Iluta
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Cristina Selicean
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Mihnea Zdrenghea
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Ion Chiricuta Clinical Cancer Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Alina Tanase
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Catalin Danaila
- Department of Hematology, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Regional Institute of Oncology, Iasi, Romania
| | - Anca Colita
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania.,Department of Pediatrics, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Andrei Colita
- Department of Hematology, Coltea Hospital, Bucharest, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Delia Dima
- Department of Hematology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Daniel Coriu
- Department of Hematology, Ion Chiricuta Clinical Cancer Center, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania.,Department of Hematology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Hermann Einsele
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Wurzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Ciprian Tomuleasa
- Department of Hematology/Research Center for Functional Genomics and Translational Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Critical Issues in the Development of Immunotoxins for Anticancer Therapy. J Pharm Sci 2019; 109:104-115. [PMID: 31669121 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2019.10.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Revised: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Immunotoxins (ITs) are attractive anticancer modalities aimed at cancer-specific delivery of highly potent cytotoxic protein toxins. An IT consists of a targeting domain (an antibody, cytokine, or another cell-binding protein) chemically conjugated or recombinantly fused to a highly cytotoxic payload (a bacterial and plant toxin or human cytotoxic protein). The mode of action of ITs is killing designated cancer cells through the effector function of toxins in the cytosol after cellular internalization via the targeted cell-specific receptor-mediated endocytosis. Although numerous ITs of diverse structures have been tested in the past decades, only 3 ITs-denileukin diftitox, tagraxofusp, and moxetumomab pasudotox-have been clinically approved for treating hematological cancers. No ITs against solid tumors have been approved for clinical use. In this review, we discuss critical research and development issues associated with ITs that limit their clinical success as well as strategies to overcome these obstacles. The issues include off-target and on-target toxicities, immunogenicity, human cytotoxic proteins, antigen target selection, cytosolic delivery efficacy, solid-tumor targeting, and developability. To realize the therapeutic promise of ITs, novel strategies for safe and effective cytosolic delivery into designated tumors, including solid tumors, are urgently needed.
Collapse
|
24
|
Choi Y, Furlon JM, Amos RB, Griswold KE, Bailey-Kellogg C. DisruPPI: structure-based computational redesign algorithm for protein binding disruption. Bioinformatics 2019; 34:i245-i253. [PMID: 29949961 PMCID: PMC6022686 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/bty274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Motivation Disruption of protein–protein interactions can mitigate antibody recognition of therapeutic proteins, yield monomeric forms of oligomeric proteins, and elucidate signaling mechanisms, among other applications. While designing affinity-enhancing mutations remains generally quite challenging, both statistically and physically based computational methods can precisely identify affinity-reducing mutations. In order to leverage this ability to design variants of a target protein with disrupted interactions, we developed the DisruPPI protein design method (DISRUpting Protein–Protein Interactions) to optimize combinations of mutations simultaneously for both disruption and stability, so that incorporated disruptive mutations do not inadvertently affect the target protein adversely. Results Two existing methods for predicting mutational effects on binding, FoldX and INT5, were demonstrated to be quite precise in selecting disruptive mutations from the SKEMPI and AB-Bind databases of experimentally determined changes in binding free energy. DisruPPI was implemented to use an INT5-based disruption score integrated with an AMBER-based stability assessment and was applied to disrupt protein interactions in a set of different targets representing diverse applications. In retrospective evaluation with three different case studies, comparison of DisruPPI-designed variants to published experimental data showed that DisruPPI was able to identify more diverse interaction-disrupting and stability-preserving variants more efficiently and effectively than previous approaches. In prospective application to an interaction between enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and a nanobody, DisruPPI was used to design five EGFP variants, all of which were shown to have significantly reduced nanobody binding while maintaining function and thermostability. This demonstrates that DisruPPI may be readily utilized for effective removal of known epitopes of therapeutically relevant proteins. Availability and implementation DisruPPI is implemented in the EpiSweep package, freely available under an academic use license. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoonjoo Choi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Jacob M Furlon
- Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Ryan B Amos
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Karl E Griswold
- Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA.,Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
25
|
Abou Dalle I, Ravandi F. Moxetumomab pasudotox for the treatment of relapsed and/or refractory hairy cell leukemia. Expert Rev Hematol 2019; 12:707-714. [PMID: 31298972 DOI: 10.1080/17474086.2019.1643231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Introduction: Hairy cell leukemia is a rare indolent B-cell malignancy, characterized by pancytopenia, recurrent infections, and splenomegaly. After initial therapy with purine nucleoside analogs, up to 50% of patients relapse after several years of remission. The number of relapsed patients is increasing and, until recently, there was no approved therapy with durable responses for hairy cell leukemia patients in the relapsed setting, thus the need for new non-chemotherapy approach with significant efficacy and less myelosuppression. Areas covered: Moxetumomab pasudotox is a recombinant immunotoxin containing a Fv fragment of an anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody and truncated Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE38). The authors reviewed pre-clinical and clinical studies that led to the FDA approval of the drug in patients with relapsed and/or refractory hairy cell leukemia, who received at least two prior therapies, including at least one purine nucleoside analog. Expert opinion: Moxetumomab pasudotox demonstrated a durable complete remission rate of 30% in heavily pretreated patients with hairy cell leukemia, and MRD eradication in 85% of responding patients. Moxetumomab pasudotox got a global FDA approval in September 2018. The US prescribing information carries boxed warnings regarding the risk of capillary leak syndrome and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Long-term follow-up of the pivotal study is ongoing (NCT01829711).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Iman Abou Dalle
- Department of leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston , TX , USA
| | - Farhad Ravandi
- Department of leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston , TX , USA
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Lee S, Park S, Nguyen MT, Lee E, Kim J, Baek S, Kim CJ, Jang YJ, Choe H. A chemical conjugate between HER2-targeting antibody fragment and Pseudomonas exotoxin A fragment demonstrates cytotoxic effects on HER2-expressing breast cancer cells. BMB Rep 2019; 52:496-501. [PMID: 30670149 PMCID: PMC6726212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Revised: 11/11/2018] [Accepted: 11/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Conventionally, immunotoxins have been produced as a single polypeptide from fused genes of an antibody fragment and a toxin. In this study, we adopted a unique approach of chemical conjugation of a toxin protein and an antibody fragment. The two genes were separately expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to high levels of purity. The two purified proteins were conjugated using a chemical linker. The advantage of this approach is its ability to overcome the problem of low recombinant immunotoxin production observed in some immunotoxins. Another advantage is that various combinations of immunotoxins can be prepared with fewer efforts, because the chemical conjugation of components is relatively simpler than the processes involved in cloning, expression, and purification of multiple immunotoxins. As a proof of concept, the scFv of trastuzumab and the PE24 fragment of Pseudomonas exotoxin A were separately produced using E. coli and then chemically crosslinked. The new immunotoxin was tested on four breast cancer cell lines variably expressing HER2. The chemically crosslinked immunotoxin exhibited cytotoxicity in proportion to the expression level of HER2. In conclusion, the present study revealed an alternative method of generating an immunotoxin that could effectively reduce the viability of HER2-expressing breast cancer cells. These results suggest the effectiveness of this method of immunotoxin crosslinking as a suitable alternative for producing immunotoxins. [BMB Reports 2019; 52(8): 496-501].
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sunju Lee
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| | - Sangsu Park
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| | - Minh Tan Nguyen
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
- Department of Biotechnology, NTT Hi-Tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City 70000,
Vietnam
| | - Eunyoung Lee
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| | - Julee Kim
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| | - Sangki Baek
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| | - Chong Jai Kim
- Department of Pathology, Asan-Minnesota Institute for Innovating Transplantation, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| | - Yeon Jin Jang
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| | - Han Choe
- Department of Physiology, Bio-Medical Institute of Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505,
Korea
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Liu H, Lindbo S, Ding H, Altai M, Garousi J, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Hober S, Gräslund T. Potent and specific fusion toxins consisting of a HER2‑binding, ABD‑derived affinity protein, fused to truncated versions of Pseudomonas exotoxin A. Int J Oncol 2019; 55:309-319. [PMID: 31180549 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2019.4814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Fusion toxins consisting of an affinity protein fused to toxic polypeptides derived from Pseudomonas exotoxin A (ETA) are promising agents for targeted cancer therapy. In this study, we examined whether fusion toxins consisting of an albumin binding domain‑derived affinity protein (ADAPT) interacting with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), coupled to the ETA‑derived polypeptides PE38X8 or PE25, with or without an albumin binding domain (ABD) for half‑life extension, can be used for specific killing of HER2‑expressing cells. The fusion toxins could easily be expressed in a soluble form in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. All constructs had strong affinity for HER2 (KD 10 to 26 nM) and no tendency for aggregation could be detected. The fusion toxins including the ABD showed strong interaction with human and mouse serum albumin [equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) 1 to 3 nM and 2 to 10 nM, respectively]. The in vitro investigation of the cytotoxic potential revealed IC50‑values in the picomolar range for cells expressing high levels of HER2. The specificity was also demonstrated, by showing that free HER2 receptors on the target cells are required for fusion toxin activity. In mice, the fusion toxins containing the ABD exhibited an appreciably longer time in circulation. The uptake was highest in liver and kidney. Fusion with PE25 was associated with the highest hepatic uptake. Collectively, the results suggest that fusion toxins consisting of ADAPTs and ETA‑derivatives are promising agents for targeted cancer therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hao Liu
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 114 17 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sarah Lindbo
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 114 17 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Haozhong Ding
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 114 17 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mohamed Altai
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Javad Garousi
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sophia Hober
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 114 17 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Torbjörn Gräslund
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 114 17 Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Davda J, Declerck P, Hu-Lieskovan S, Hickling TP, Jacobs IA, Chou J, Salek-Ardakani S, Kraynov E. Immunogenicity of immunomodulatory, antibody-based, oncology therapeutics. J Immunother Cancer 2019; 7:105. [PMID: 30992085 PMCID: PMC6466770 DOI: 10.1186/s40425-019-0586-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The increasing use of multiple immunomodulatory (IMD) agents for cancer therapies (e.g. antibodies targeting immune checkpoints, bispecific antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor [CAR]-T cells), is raising questions on their potential immunogenicity and effects on treatment. In this review, we outline the mechanisms of action (MOA) of approved, antibody-based IMD agents, potentially related to their immunogenicity, and discuss the reported incidence of anti-drug antibodies (ADA) as well as their clinical relevance in patients with cancer. In addition, we discuss the impact of the administration route and potential strategies to reduce the incidence of ADA and manage treated patients. Analysis of published reports indicated that the risk of immunogenicity did not appear to correlate with the MOA of anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1)/PD-ligand 1 monoclonal antibodies nor to substantially affect treatment with most of these agents in the majority of patients evaluated to date. Treatment with B-cell depleting agents appears associated with a low risk of immunogenicity. No significant difference in ADA incidence was found between the intravenous and subcutaneous administration routes for a panel of non-oncology IMD antibodies. Additionally, while the data suggest a higher likelihood of immunogenicity for antibodies with T-cell or antigen-presenting cell (APC) targets versus B-cell targets, it is possible to have targets expressed on APCs or T cells and still have a low incidence of immunogenicity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Ira A Jacobs
- Pfizer, 219 East 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10017-5755, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
29
|
Zhao P, Wang P, Dong S, Zhou Z, Cao Y, Yagita H, He X, Zheng SG, Fisher SJ, Fujinami RS, Chen M. Depletion of PD-1-positive cells ameliorates autoimmune disease. Nat Biomed Eng 2019; 3:292-305. [PMID: 30952980 PMCID: PMC6452906 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-019-0360-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Targeted suppression of autoimmune diseases without collateral suppression of normal immunity remains an elusive yet clinically important goal. Targeted blockade of programmed-cell-death-protein-1 (PD-1)-an immune checkpoint factor expressed by activated T cells and B cells-is an efficacious therapy for potentiating immune activation against tumours. Here we show that an immunotoxin consisting of an anti-PD-1 single-chain variable fragment, an albumin-binding domain and Pseudomonas exotoxin targeting PD-1-expressing cells, selectively recognizes and induces the killing of the cells. Administration of the immunotoxin to mouse models of autoimmune diabetes delays disease onset, and its administration in mice paralysed by experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis ameliorates symptoms. In all mouse models, the immunotoxin reduced the numbers of PD-1-expressing cells, of total T cells and of cells of an autoreactive T-cell clone found in inflamed organs, while maintaining active adaptive immunity, as evidenced by full-strength immune responses to vaccinations. The targeted depletion of PD-1-expressing cells contingent to the preservation of adaptive immunity might be effective in the treatment of a wide range of autoimmune diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peng Zhao
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Peng Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Shuyun Dong
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Zemin Zhou
- Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Yanguang Cao
- Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Hideo Yagita
- Department of Immunology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Xiao He
- Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Song Guo Zheng
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Simon J Fisher
- Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Robert S Fujinami
- Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Mingnan Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Kaplan G, Mazor R, Lee F, Jang Y, Leshem Y, Pastan I. Improving the In Vivo Efficacy of an Anti-Tac (CD25) Immunotoxin by Pseudomonas Exotoxin A Domain II Engineering. Mol Cancer Ther 2018; 17:1486-1493. [PMID: 29695631 PMCID: PMC6030476 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-17-1041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2017] [Revised: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 04/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Tac (CD25) is expressed on multiple hematologic malignancies and is a target for cancer therapies. LMB-2 is an extremely active anti-Tac recombinant immunotoxin composed of an Fv that binds to Tac and a 38-kDa fragment of Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE38). Although LMB-2 has shown high cytotoxicity toward Tac-expressing cancer cells in clinical trials, its efficacy was hampered by the formation of anti-drug antibodies against the immunogenic bacterial toxin and by dose-limiting off-target toxicity. To reduce toxin immunogenicity and nonspecific toxicity, we introduced six point mutations into domain III that were previously shown to reduce T-cell immunogenicity and deleted domain II from the toxin, leaving only the 11aa furin cleavage site, which is required for cytotoxic activity. Although this strategy has been successfully implemented for mesothelin and CD22-targeting immunotoxins, we found that removal of domain II significantly lowered the cytotoxic activity of anti-Tac immunotoxins. To restore cytotoxic activity in the absence of PE domain II, we implemented a combined rational design and screening approach to isolate highly active domain II-deleted toxin variants. The domain II-deleted variant with the highest activity contained an engineered disulfide-bridged furin cleavage site designed to mimic its native conformation within domain II. We found that this approach restored 5-fold of the cytotoxic activity and dramatically improved the MTD. Both of these improvements led to significantly increased antitumor efficacy in vivo We conclude that the next-generation anti-Tac immunotoxin is an improved candidate for targeting Tac-expressing malignancies. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(7); 1486-93. ©2018 AACR.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gilad Kaplan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Ronit Mazor
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Fred Lee
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Youjin Jang
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Yasmin Leshem
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Ira Pastan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Mazor R, King EM, Pastan I. Strategies to Reduce the Immunogenicity of Recombinant Immunotoxins. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 2018; 188:1736-1743. [PMID: 29870741 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2018.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2018] [Revised: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 04/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Recombinant immunotoxins (RITs) are genetically engineered proteins being developed to treat cancer. They are composed of an Fv that targets a cancer antigen and a fragment of a bacterial toxin that kills tumor cells. Because the toxin is a foreign protein, it is immunogenic. The clinical success of RITs in patients with a normal immune system is limited by their immunogenicity. In this review, we discuss our progress in therapeutic protein deimmunization and the balancing act between immunogenicity and therapeutic potency. One approach is to prevent the activation of B cells by mapping and elimination of B-cell epitopes. A second approach is to prevent helper T-cell activation by interfering with major histocompatibility complex II presentation or T-cell recognition. Immunizing mice with RITs that were deimmunized by elimination of the murine B- or T-cell epitopes showed that both approaches are effective. Another approach to control immunogenicity is to modify the host immune system. Nanoparticles containing synthetic vaccine particles encapsulating rapamycin can induce immune tolerance and prevent anti-drug antibody formation. This treatment restores RIT anti-tumor activity that is otherwise neutralized because of immunogenicity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronit Mazor
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Emily M King
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Ira Pastan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Anti-Drug Antibodies: Emerging Approaches to Predict, Reduce or Reverse Biotherapeutic Immunogenicity. Antibodies (Basel) 2018; 7:antib7020019. [PMID: 31544871 PMCID: PMC6698869 DOI: 10.3390/antib7020019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Revised: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) following administration of biotherapeutics to patients is a vexing problem that is attracting increasing attention from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. This serious clinical problem is also spawning creative research into novel approaches to predict, avoid, and in some cases even reverse such deleterious immune responses. CD4+ T cells are essential players in the development of most ADAs, while memory B-cell and long-lived plasma cells amplify and maintain these responses. This review summarizes methods to predict and experimentally identify T-cell and B-cell epitopes in therapeutic proteins, with a particular focus on blood coagulation factor VIII (FVIII), whose immunogenicity is clinically significant and is the subject of intensive current research. Methods to phenotype ADA responses in humans are described, including T-cell stimulation assays, and both established and novel approaches to determine the titers, epitopes and isotypes of the ADAs themselves. Although rational protein engineering can reduce the immunogenicity of many biotherapeutics, complementary, novel approaches to induce specific tolerance, especially during initial exposures, are expected to play significant roles in future efforts to reduce or reverse these unwanted immune responses.
Collapse
|
33
|
Domain II of Pseudomonas Exotoxin Is Critical for Efficacy of Bolus Doses in a Xenograft Model of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Toxins (Basel) 2018; 10:toxins10050210. [PMID: 29883379 PMCID: PMC5983266 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10050210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Moxetumomab pasudotox is a fusion protein of a CD22-targeting antibody and Pseudomonas exotoxin. Minutes of exposure to Moxetumomab achieves similar cell killing than hours of exposure to a novel deimmunized variant against some acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Because blood levels fall quickly, Moxetumomab is more than 1000-fold more active than the deimmunized variant in vivo. We aimed to identify which part of Moxetumomab increases in vivo efficacy and generated five immunotoxins, tested time-dependent activity, and determined the efficacy in a KOPN-8 xenograft model. Full domain II shortened the time cells had to be exposed to die to only a few minutes for some ALL; deimmunized domain III consistently extended the time. Against KOPN-8, full domain II accelerated time to arrest protein synthesis by three-fold and tripled PARP-cleavage. In vivo efficacy was increased by more than 10-fold by domain II and increasing size, and therefore half-life enhanced efficacy two- to four-fold. In summary, in vivo efficacy is determined by the time cells have to be exposed to immunotoxin to die and serum half-life. Thus, domain II is most critical for activity against some ALL treated with bolus doses; however, immunotoxins lacking all but the furin-cleavage site of domain II may be advantageous when treating continuously.
Collapse
|
34
|
Bemani P, Mohammadi M, Hakakian A. Anti-ROR1 scFv-EndoG as a Novel Anti-Cancer Therapeutic Drug. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 2018; 19:97-102. [PMID: 29373898 PMCID: PMC5844643 DOI: 10.22034/apjcp.2018.19.1.97] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: Immunotoxins are proteins that consist of an antibody fragment linked to a toxin, used as agents for targeted
therapy of cancers. Although the most potent immunotoxins are made from bacterial and plant toxins, obstacles which
contribute to poor responses are immunogenicity in patients and rapid development of neutralizing antibodies. In the
present study we proposed a new therapeutic immunotoxin for targeted cancer therapy of ROR1 expressing cancers:
an anti ROR1 single chain fragment variable antibody (scFv)-endonuclease G (anti ROR1 scFv-EndoG). Methods:
The three-dimensional structure of anti ROR1 scFv-EndoG protein was modeled and structure validation tools were
employed to confirm the accuracy and reliability of the developed model. In addition, stability and integrity of the
model were assessed by molecular dynamic (MD) simulation. Results: All results suggested the protein model to
be acceptable and of good quality. Conclusions: Anti-ROR1 scFv-EndoG would be expected to bind to the ROR1
extracellular domain by its scFv portion and selectively deliver non-immunogenic human endonuclease G enzyme as
an end-stage apoptosis molecule into ROR1-expressing cancer cells and lead rapidly to apoptosis. We believe that anti
ROR1 and other anti-tumor antigen scFv-EndoG forms may be helpful for cancer therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peyman Bemani
- Department of Immunology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. ,
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
35
|
Chew WL. Immunity to CRISPR Cas9 and Cas12a therapeutics. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. SYSTEMS BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2018; 10. [PMID: 29083112 DOI: 10.1002/wsbm.1408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2017] [Revised: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 09/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Genome-editing therapeutics are poised to treat human diseases. As we enter clinical trials with the most promising CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12a (Cpf1) modalities, the risks associated with administering these foreign biomolecules into human patients become increasingly salient. Preclinical discovery with CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12a systems and foundational gene therapy studies indicate that the host immune system can mount undesired responses against the administered proteins and nucleic acids, the gene-edited cells, and the host itself. These host defenses include inflammation via activation of innate immunity, antibody induction in humoral immunity, and cell death by T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity. If left unchecked, these immunological reactions can curtail therapeutic benefits and potentially lead to mortality. Ways to assay and reduce the immunogenicity of Cas9 and Cas12a proteins are therefore critical for ensuring patient safety and treatment efficacy, and for bringing us closer to realizing the vision of permanent genetic cures. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2018, 10:e1408. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1408 This article is categorized under: Laboratory Methods and Technologies > Genetic/Genomic Methods Translational, Genomic, and Systems Medicine > Translational Medicine Translational, Genomic, and Systems Medicine > Therapeutic Methods.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Leong Chew
- Synthetic Biology, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Mazor R, Onda M, Park D, Addissie S, Xiang L, Zhang J, Hassan R, Pastan I. Dual B- and T-cell de-immunization of recombinant immunotoxin targeting mesothelin with high cytotoxic activity. Oncotarget 2017; 7:29916-26. [PMID: 27167198 PMCID: PMC5058652 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.9171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Recombinant immunotoxins (RITs) are genetically engineered proteins being developed to treat cancer. They are composed of an Fv that targets a cancer antigen and a portion of a protein toxin. Their clinical success is limited by their immunogenicity. Our goal is to produce a new RIT that targets mesothelin and is non-immunogenic by combining mutations that decrease B- and T-cell epitopes. Starting with an immunotoxin that has B-cell epitopes suppressed, we added mutations step-wise that suppress T-cell epitopes. The final protein (LMB-T14) has greatly reduced antigenicity as assessed by binding to human anti-sera and a greatly decreased ability to activate helper T-cells evaluated in a T-cell activation assay. It is very cytotoxic to mesothelioma cells from patients, and to cancer cell lines. LMB-T14 produces complete remissions of a mesothelin expressing cancer (A431/H9) xenograft. The approach used here can be used to de-immunize other therapeutic foreign proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronit Mazor
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Masanori Onda
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Dong Park
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.,New Business Development Department, Medytox Inc., Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Selamawit Addissie
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Laiman Xiang
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jingli Zhang
- Thoracic and GI Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Raffit Hassan
- Thoracic and GI Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Ira Pastan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Hua CK, Gacerez AT, Sentman CL, Ackerman ME, Choi Y, Bailey-Kellogg C. Computationally-driven identification of antibody epitopes. eLife 2017; 6:29023. [PMID: 29199956 PMCID: PMC5739537 DOI: 10.7554/elife.29023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2017] [Accepted: 12/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding where antibodies recognize antigens can help define mechanisms of action and provide insights into progression of immune responses. We investigate the extent to which information about binding specificity implicitly encoded in amino acid sequence can be leveraged to identify antibody epitopes. In computationally-driven epitope localization, possible antibody–antigen binding modes are modeled, and targeted panels of antigen variants are designed to experimentally test these hypotheses. Prospective application of this approach to two antibodies enabled epitope localization using five or fewer variants per antibody, or alternatively, a six-variant panel for both simultaneously. Retrospective analysis of a variety of antibodies and antigens demonstrated an almost 90% success rate with an average of three antigen variants, further supporting the observation that the combination of computational modeling and protein design can reveal key determinants of antibody–antigen binding and enable efficient studies of collections of antibodies identified from polyclonal samples or engineered libraries.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Casey K Hua
- Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, United States
| | - Albert T Gacerez
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, United States
| | - Charles L Sentman
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, United States
| | - Margaret E Ackerman
- Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, United States
| | - Yoonjoo Choi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | | |
Collapse
|
38
|
Dhanda SK, Grifoni A, Pham J, Vaughan K, Sidney J, Peters B, Sette A. Development of a strategy and computational application to select candidate protein analogues with reduced HLA binding and immunogenicity. Immunology 2017; 153:118-132. [PMID: 28833085 DOI: 10.1111/imm.12816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Revised: 07/27/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Unwanted immune responses against protein therapeutics can reduce efficacy or lead to adverse reactions. T-cell responses are key in the development of such responses, and are directed against immunodominant regions within the protein sequence, often associated with binding to several allelic variants of HLA class II molecules (promiscuous binders). Herein, we report a novel computational strategy to predict 'de-immunized' peptides, based on previous studies of erythropoietin protein immunogenicity. This algorithm (or method) first predicts promiscuous binding regions within the target protein sequence and then identifies residue substitutions predicted to reduce HLA binding. Further, this method anticipates the effect of any given substitution on flanking peptides, thereby circumventing the creation of nascent HLA-binding regions. As a proof-of-principle, the algorithm was applied to Vatreptacog α, an engineered Factor VII molecule associated with unintended immunogenicity. The algorithm correctly predicted the two immunogenic peptides containing the engineered residues. As a further validation, we selected and evaluated the immunogenicity of seven substitutions predicted to simultaneously reduce HLA binding for both peptides, five control substitutions with no predicted reduction in HLA-binding capacity, and additional flanking region controls. In vitro immunogenicity was detected in 21·4% of the cultures of peptides predicted to have reduced HLA binding and 11·4% of the flanking regions, compared with 46% for the cultures of the peptides predicted to be immunogenic. This method has been implemented as an interactive application, freely available online at http://tools.iedb.org/deimmunization/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Kumar Dhanda
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alba Grifoni
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - John Pham
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kerrie Vaughan
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Targeting of Tumor Neovasculature with GrB/VEGF 121, a Novel Cytotoxic Fusion Protein. Biomedicines 2017; 5:biomedicines5030042. [PMID: 28714916 PMCID: PMC5618300 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines5030042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2017] [Revised: 07/07/2017] [Accepted: 07/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Angiogenesis is a critical process in numerous diseases, and intervention in neovascularization has therapeutic value in several disease settings, including ocular diseases, arthritis, and in tumor progression and metastatic spread. Various vascular targeting agents have been developed, including those that inhibit growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases, blocking antibodies that interfere with receptor signal transduction, and strategies that trap growth factor ligands. Limited anti-tumor efficacy studies have suggested that the targeted delivery of the human pro-apoptotic molecule Granzyme B to tumor cells has significant potential for cancer treatment. Here, we review biological vascular targeting agents, and describe a unique vascular targeting agent composed of Granzyme B and the VEGF receptor ligand VEGF121. The fusion protein GrB/VEGF121 demonstrates cytotoxicity at nanomolar or sub-nanomolar levels, excellent pharmacokinetic and efficacy profiles, and has significant therapeutic potential targeting tumor vasculature.
Collapse
|
40
|
Short NJ, Kantarjian H, Jabbour E, Cortes JE, Thomas DA, Rytting ME, Daver N, Alvarado Y, Konopleva M, Kebriaei P, Wierda WG, DiNardo CD, Bivins C, McCue D, Richie MA, Ravandi F. A phase I study of moxetumomab pasudotox in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Br J Haematol 2017; 182:442-444. [PMID: 28616864 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.14806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J Short
- Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Hagop Kantarjian
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Elias Jabbour
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jorge E Cortes
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Deborah A Thomas
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Michael E Rytting
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Pediatrics-Patient Care, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Naval Daver
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Yesid Alvarado
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Marina Konopleva
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Partow Kebriaei
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - William G Wierda
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Courtney D DiNardo
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Carol Bivins
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Deborah McCue
- Department of Pharmacy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mary A Richie
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Farhad Ravandi
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Akbari B, Farajnia S, Ahdi Khosroshahi S, Safari F, Yousefi M, Dariushnejad H, Rahbarnia L. Immunotoxins in cancer therapy: Review and update. Int Rev Immunol 2017; 36:207-219. [DOI: 10.1080/08830185.2017.1284211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bahman Akbari
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
- Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
- Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Safar Farajnia
- Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | | | - Fatemeh Safari
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
| | - Mohammadreza Yousefi
- Biotechnology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Hassan Dariushnejad
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
| | - Leila Rahbarnia
- Biotechnology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Allahyari H, Heidari S, Ghamgosha M, Saffarian P, Amani J. Immunotoxin: A new tool for cancer therapy. Tumour Biol 2017; 39:1010428317692226. [DOI: 10.1177/1010428317692226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is one of the main reasons of death in the most countries and in Iran. Immunotherapy quickly became one of the best methods of cancer treatment, along with chemotherapy and radiation. “Immunotoxin Therapy” is a promising way of cancer therapy that is mentioned in this field. Immunotoxins are made from a toxin attaching to an antibody target proteins present on cancer cells. The first-generation immunotoxins were made of a full-length toxin attached to whole monoclonal antibodies. But, these immunotoxins could bind to normal cells. DAB389IL2 was the first immunotoxin approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Current trends and researches are ongoing on finding proteins that in combination with immunotoxins have minimal immunogenicity and the most potency for target cell killing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hossein Allahyari
- Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sahar Heidari
- Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehdi Ghamgosha
- Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Parvaneh Saffarian
- Department of Microbiology, Tehran Medical Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jafar Amani
- Applied Microbiology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Altai M, Liu H, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Gräslund T. Influence of molecular design on biodistribution and targeting properties of an Affibody-fused HER2-recognising anticancer toxin. Int J Oncol 2016; 49:1185-94. [DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2016.3614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2016] [Accepted: 05/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
|
44
|
Griswold KE, Bailey-Kellogg C. Design and engineering of deimmunized biotherapeutics. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2016; 39:79-88. [PMID: 27322891 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2016.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2016] [Revised: 06/03/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Therapeutic proteins are powerful next-generation drugs able to effectively treat diverse and devastating diseases, but the development and use of biotherapeutics entails unique challenges and risks. In particular, protein drugs are subject to immune surveillance in the human body, and ensuing antidrug immune responses can cause a wide range of problems including altered pharmacokinetics, loss of efficacy, and even life-threating complications. Here we review recent progress in technologies for engineering deimmunized biotherapeutics, placing particular emphasis on deletion of immunogenic antibody and T cell epitopes via experimentally or computationally guided mutagenesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karl E Griswold
- Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, United States; Stealth Biologics LLC, Lyme, NH, United States.
| | - Chris Bailey-Kellogg
- Stealth Biologics LLC, Lyme, NH, United States; Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Liu X, Müller F, Wayne AS, Pastan I. Protein Kinase Inhibitor H89 Enhances the Activity of Pseudomonas Exotoxin A-Based Immunotoxins. Mol Cancer Ther 2016; 15:1053-62. [PMID: 26939705 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-15-0828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Accepted: 02/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
HA22 (Moxetumomab pasudotox) is a recombinant immunotoxin (RIT), composed of an anti-CD22 Fv fused to a truncated portion of Pseudomonas exotoxin A. HA22 is in clinical trials to treat patients with hairy cell leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). LMB-11 is an improved variant of HA22 with reduced immunogenicity, has a longer half-life in the blood and high activity in vitro and in a Burkitt lymphoma model in vivo Searching for RIT enhancing combination therapies, we found the protein kinase A inhibitor H89 to enhance LMB-11 and HA22 activity 5- to 10-fold on ALL cell lines and on patient-derived ALL samples. In addition, H89 increased the activity of mesothelin-targeting RITs SS1P (38-fold) and RG7787 (7-fold) against the cervical cancer cell line KB31. Unexpectedly we found that the enhancement by H89 was not because of inhibition of protein kinase A; it was partially recapitulated by inhibition of S6K1, which led to inactivation of its downstream targets rpS6 and GSK3β, resulting in a fall in MCL1 levels. H89 increased the rate of ADP-ribosylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2, enhancing the arrest of protein synthesis and the reduction of MCL1 in synergy with the RIT. In summary, H89 increased RIT activity by enhancing the two key events: ADP-ribosylation of eEF2 and reduction of MCL1 levels. Significant enhancement was seen with both CD22- and mesothelin-targeting RITs, indicating that H89 might be a potent addition to RIT treatment of CD22-positive ALL and mesothelin-expressing solid tumors. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(5); 1053-62. ©2016 AACR.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiufen Liu
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Fabian Müller
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Alan S Wayne
- Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Ira Pastan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Abstract
Recombinant immunotoxins (RITs) are chimeric proteins designed to treat cancer. They are made up of an Fv or Fab that targets an antigen on a cancer cell fused to a 38-kDa portion of Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE38). Because PE38 is a bacterial protein, it is highly immunogenic in patients with solid tumors that have normal immune systems, but much less immunogenic in patients with hematologic malignancies where the immune system is suppressed. RITs have shown efficacy in refractory hairy cell leukemia and in some children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but have been much less effective in solid tumors, because neutralizing antibodies develop and prevent additional treatment cycles. In this paper we will (i) review data from clinical trials describing the immunogenicity of PE38 in different patient populations; (ii) review results from clinical trials using different immunosuppressive drugs; and (iii) describe our efforts to make new less-immunogenic RITs by identifying and removing T- and B-cell epitopes to hide the RIT from the immune system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronit Mazor
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Masanori Onda
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ira Pastan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Madhumathi J, Devilakshmi S, Sridevi S, Verma RS. Immunotoxin therapy for hematologic malignancies: where are we heading? Drug Discov Today 2016; 21:325-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2015.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2014] [Revised: 03/04/2015] [Accepted: 05/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
|
48
|
Elimination of murine and human T-cell epitopes in recombinant immunotoxin eliminates neutralizing and anti-drug antibodies in vivo. Cell Mol Immunol 2015; 14:432-442. [PMID: 26477977 DOI: 10.1038/cmi.2015.91] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2015] [Revised: 09/22/2015] [Accepted: 09/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibodies against the toxin portion of recombinant immunotoxins (RIT) reduce their efficacy and pose a potential safety risk. To overcome this problem we mutated the very immunogenic immunotoxin SS1P to produce LMB-T20, a de-immunized RIT that has the eight human T-cell epitopes in SS1P modified or removed. To determine the effect of T-cell epitope removal in vivo we mapped the T-cell epitopes in immune-competent BALB/c mice and found that these mice recognize two epitopes. One corresponds to the human immunodominant T-cell epitope and the other to a human subdominant epitope; both were eliminated in LMB-T20. We found that mice immunized with LMB-T20 did not have T-cell activation and did not develop anti-drug antibodies (ADA), whereas mice immunized with SS1P, showed T-cell activation, and developed ADA detected by both ELISA and drug neutralizing assays. The ability of the mice treated with LMB-T20 to respond to other antigens was not compromised. We conclude that elimination of T-cell epitopes is sufficient to prevent formation of antibodies to an immunogenic foreign protein.
Collapse
|
49
|
Zdobnova T, Sokolova E, Stremovskiy O, Karpenko D, Telford W, Turchin I, Balalaeva I, Deyev S. A novel far-red fluorescent xenograft model of ovarian carcinoma for preclinical evaluation of HER2-targeted immunotoxins. Oncotarget 2015; 6:30919-28. [PMID: 26436696 PMCID: PMC4741577 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.5130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2015] [Accepted: 08/24/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We have created a novel fluorescent model of a human ovarian carcinoma xenograft overexpressing receptor HER2, a promising molecular target of solid tumors. The model is based on a newly generated SKOV-kat cell line stably expressing far-red fluorescent protein Katushka. Katushka is most suitable for the in vivo imaging due to an optimal combination of high brightness and emission in the "window of tissue transparency". The relevance of the fluorescent model for the in vivo monitoring of tumor growth and response to treatment was demonstrated using a newly created HER2-targeted recombinant immunotoxin based on the 4D5scFv antibody and a fragment of the Pseudomonas exotoxin A.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana Zdobnova
- Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
| | - Evgeniya Sokolova
- Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
| | - Oleg Stremovskiy
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of The Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117997, Russia
| | - Dmitry Karpenko
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of The Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117997, Russia
| | - William Telford
- National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Ilya Turchin
- Institute of Applied Physics of The Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950 Russia
| | - Irina Balalaeva
- Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
| | - Sergey Deyev
- Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of The Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117997, Russia
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Liu H, Seijsing J, Frejd FY, Tolmachev V, Gräslund T. Target-specific cytotoxic effects on HER2-expressing cells by the tripartite fusion toxin ZHER2:2891-ABD-PE38X8, including a targeting affibody molecule and a half-life extension domain. Int J Oncol 2015; 47:601-9. [PMID: 26046132 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2015.3027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2015] [Accepted: 04/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Development of cancer treatment regimens including immunotoxins is partly hampered by their immunogenicity. Recently, deimmunized versions of toxins have been described, potentially being better suited for translation to the clinic. In this study, a recombinant tripartite fusion toxin consisting of a deimmunized version of exotoxin A from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PE38) genetically fused to an affibody molecule specifically interacting with the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and also an albumin binding domain (ABD) for half-life extension, has been produced and characterized in terms of functionality of the three moieties. Biosensor based assays showed that the fusion toxin was able to interact with human and mouse serum albumin, but not with bovine serum albumin and that it interacted with HER2 (KD=5 nM). Interestingly, a complex of the fusion toxin and human serum albumin also interacted with HER2 but with a somewhat weaker affinity (KD=12 nM). The IC50-values of the fusion toxin ranged from 6 to 300 pM on SKOV-3, SKBR-3 and A549 cells and was lower for cells with higher surface densities of HER2. The fusion toxin was found specific for HER2 as shown by blocking available HER2 receptors with free affibody molecule before subjecting the cells to the toxin. Analysis of contact time showed that 10 min was sufficient to kill 50% of the cells. In conclusion, all three regions of the fusion toxin were found to be functional.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hao Liu
- School of Biotechnology, Division of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johan Seijsing
- School of Biotechnology, Division of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Torbjörn Gräslund
- School of Biotechnology, Division of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|