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Kimura K, Kuwahara A, Suzuki S, Nakanishi T, Kumagai I, Asano R. Cancer therapeutic trispecific antibodies recruiting both T and natural killer cells to cancer cells. Oncol Rep 2023; 50:212. [PMID: 37859608 PMCID: PMC10620844 DOI: 10.3892/or.2023.8649] [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: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
T cells and natural killer (NK) cells are major effector cells recruited by cancer therapeutic bispecific antibodies; however, differences in the populations of these cells in individual tumors limit the general use of these antibodies. In the present study, trispecific antibodies were created, namely T cell and NK cell engagers (TaKEs), that recruit both T cells and NK cells. Notably, three Fc‑fused TaKEs were designed, TaKE1‑Fc, TaKE2‑Fc and TaKE3‑Fc, using variable fragments targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor on tumor cells, CD3 on T cells, and CD16 on NK cells. Among them, TaKE1‑Fc was predicted to form a circular tetrabody‑like configuration and exhibited the highest production and greatest cancer growth inhibitory effects. TaKE1 was prepared from TaKE1‑Fc by digesting the Fc region for further functional evaluation. The resulting TaKE1 exhibited trispecificity via its ability to bind cancer cells, T cells and NK cells, as well as comparable or greater cancer growth inhibitory effects to those of two bispecific antibodies that recruit T cells and NK cells, respectively. A functional trispecific antibody with the potential to exert strong therapeutic effects independent of T cell and NK cell populations was developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kouki Kimura
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Atsushi Kuwahara
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Saori Suzuki
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Takeshi Nakanishi
- Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Division of Science and Engineering for Materials, Chemistry and Biology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
- Institute of Global Innovation Research, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
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Bispecific Antibodies: A Novel Approach for the Treatment of Solid Tumors. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14112442. [PMID: 36432631 PMCID: PMC9694302 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14112442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Advancement in sequencing technologies allows for the identification of molecular pathways involved in tumor progression and treatment resistance. Implementation of novel agents targeting these pathways, defined as targeted therapy, significantly improves the prognosis of cancer patients. Targeted therapy also includes the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). These drugs recognize specific oncogenic proteins expressed in cancer cells. However, as with many other types of targeting agents, mAb-based therapy usually fails in the long-term control of cancer progression due to the development of resistance. In many cases, resistance is caused by the activation of alternative pathways involved in cancer progression and the development of immune evasion mechanisms. To overcome this off-target resistance, bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) were developed to simultaneously target differential oncogenic pathway components, tumor-associated antigens (TAA) and immune regulatory molecules. As a result, in the last few years, several bsAbs have been tested or are being tested in cancer patients. A few of them are currently approved for the treatment of some hematologic malignancies but no bsAbs are approved in solid tumors. In this review, we will provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of bsAbs for the treatment of solid malignancies outlining their classification, design, main technologies utilized for production, mechanisms of action, updated clinical evidence and potential limitations.
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T Cell Bispecific Antibodies: An Antibody-Based Delivery System for Inducing Antitumor Immunity. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:ph14111172. [PMID: 34832954 PMCID: PMC8619951 DOI: 10.3390/ph14111172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Revised: 11/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
As a breakthrough immunotherapy, T cell bispecific antibodies (T-BsAbs) are a promising antibody therapy for various kinds of cancer. In general, T-BsAbs have dual-binding specificity to a tumor-associated antigen and a CD3 subunit forming a complex with the TCR. This enables T-BsAbs to crosslink tumor cells and T cells, inducing T cell activation and subsequent tumor cell death. Unlike immune checkpoint inhibitors, which release the brake of the immune system, T-BsAbs serve as an accelerator of T cells by stimulating their immune response via CD3 engagement. Therefore, they can actively redirect host immunity toward tumors, including T cell recruitment from the periphery to the tumor site and immunological synapse formation between tumor cells and T cells. Although the low immunogenicity of solid tumors increases the challenge of cancer immunotherapy, T-BsAbs capable of immune redirection can greatly benefit patients with such tumors. To investigate the detailed relationship between T-BsAbs delivery and their T cell redirection activity, it is necessary to determine how T-BsAbs deliver antitumor immunity to the tumor site and bring about tumor cell death. This review article discusses T-BsAb properties, specifically their pharmacokinetics, redirection of anticancer immunity, and local mechanism of action within tumor tissues, and discuss further challenges to expediting T-BsAb development.
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Asano R, Hosokawa K, Taki S, Konno S, Shimomura I, Ogata H, Okada M, Arai K, Onitsuka M, Omasa T, Nakanishi T, Umetsu M, Kumagai I. Build-up functionalization of anti-EGFR × anti-CD3 bispecific diabodies by integrating high-affinity mutants and functional molecular formats. Sci Rep 2020; 10:4913. [PMID: 32188928 PMCID: PMC7080790 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61840-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Designing non-natural antibody formats is a practical method for developing highly functional next-generation antibody drugs, particularly for improving the therapeutic efficacy of cancer treatments. One approach is constructing bispecific antibodies (bsAbs). We previously reported a functional humanized bispecific diabody (bsDb) that targeted epidermal growth factor receptor and CD3 (hEx3-Db). We enhanced its cytotoxicity by constructing an Fc fusion protein and rearranging order of the V domain. In this study, we created an additional functional bsAb, by integrating the molecular formats of bsAb and high-affinity mutants previously isolated by phage display in the form of Fv. Introducing the high-affinity mutations into bsDbs successfully increased their affinities and enhanced their cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. However, there were some limitations to affinity maturation of bsDb by integrating high-affinity Fv mutants, particularly in Fc-fused bsDb with intrinsic high affinity, because of their bivalency. The tetramers fractionated from the bsDb mutant exhibited the highest in vitro growth inhibition among the small bsAbs and was comparable to the in vivo anti-tumor effects of Fc-fused bsDbs. This molecule shows cost-efficient bacterial production and high therapeutic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan. .,Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, 184-8588, Japan.
| | - Katsuhiro Hosokawa
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Shintaro Taki
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Shota Konno
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Ippei Shimomura
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Hiromi Ogata
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Mai Okada
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Kyoko Arai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Masayoshi Onitsuka
- Institute of Technology and Science, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8506, Japan
| | - Takeshi Omasa
- Institute of Technology and Science, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8506, Japan
| | - Takeshi Nakanishi
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
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5
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Asano R, Kuroki Y, Honma S, Akabane M, Watanabe S, Mayuzumi S, Hiyamuta S, Kumagai I, Sode K. Comprehensive study of domain rearrangements of single-chain bispecific antibodies to determine the best combination of configurations and microbial host cells. MAbs 2018; 10:854-863. [PMID: 29985753 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2018.1476815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Small bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) are important therapeutic molecules and represent the first bsAb format approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Diabody (Db), a small bsAb format, has four possible domain orders; we previously reported the differences in the expression levels and cancer growth inhibition effects upon rearranging the domain order of this format. However, there have been no comprehensive reports on domain rearrangements of bispecific single-chain Db (scDb) and tandem single-chain Fv (taFv), which are widely used bsAb formats. In this study, we designed all possible domain orders for scDb and taFv (each with eight variants) with identical Fv pairs and individually expressed all 16 variants using Escherichia coli, Pichia pastoris, and Brevibacillus choshinensis. Comprehensive investigations showed that the intrinsic functions of the variants were similar to each other, regardless of the expression host system, but expression levels varied depending on the format as well as on the host cell. Among the 16 variants, we found a promising candidate that exhibited high activity and productivity. Furthermore, we determined that B. choshinensis is an attractive expression host because of its secretory production of recombinant proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- a Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering , Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology , Tokyo , Japan
| | - Yuri Kuroki
- a Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering , Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology , Tokyo , Japan
| | - Sachiko Honma
- b R&D Department of ProteinExpress Co., Ltd ., Chiba , Japan
| | - Mihoko Akabane
- b R&D Department of ProteinExpress Co., Ltd ., Chiba , Japan
| | | | - Shinzo Mayuzumi
- c Advanced Technology Research Laboratories , Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd ., Chiba , Japan
| | - Shuichi Hiyamuta
- c Advanced Technology Research Laboratories , Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd ., Chiba , Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- a Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering , Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology , Tokyo , Japan
| | - Koji Sode
- a Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering , Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology , Tokyo , Japan.,d Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University , Chapel Hill , NC , USA
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6
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Sugiyama A, Umetsu M, Nakazawa H, Niide T, Asano R, Hattori T, Kumagai I. High-throughput cytotoxicity and antigen-binding assay for screening small bispecific antibodies without purification. J Biosci Bioeng 2018; 126:153-161. [PMID: 29548844 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2018.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 02/01/2018] [Accepted: 02/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The cytotoxicity of T cell-recruiting antibodies with their potential to damage late-stage tumor masses is critically dependent on their structural and functional properties. Recently, we reported a semi-high-throughput process for screening highly cytotoxic small bispecific antibodies (i.e., diabodies). In the present study, we improved the high-throughput performance of this screening process by removing the protein purification stage and adding a stage for determining the concentrations of the diabodies in culture supernatant. The diabodies were constructed by using an Escherichia coli expression system, and each diabody contained tandemly arranged peptide tags at the C-terminus, which allowed the concentration of diabodies in the culture supernatant to be quantified by using a tag-sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. When estimated diabody concentrations were used to determine the cytotoxicity of unpurified antibodies, results comparable to those of purified antibodies were obtained. In a surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy-based target-binding assay, contaminants in the culture supernatant prevented us from conducting a quantitative binding analysis; however, this approach did allow relative binding affinity to be determined, and the relative binding affinities of the unpurified diabodies were comparable to those of the purified antibodies. Thus, we present here an improved high-throughput process for the simultaneous screening and determination of the binding parameters of highly cytotoxic bispecific antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aruto Sugiyama
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
| | - Hikaru Nakazawa
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Teppei Niide
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Takamitsu Hattori
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
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7
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Asano R, Nagai K, Makabe K, Takahashi K, Kumagai T, Kawaguchi H, Ogata H, Arai K, Umetsu M, Kumagai I. Structural considerations for functional anti-EGFR × anti-CD3 bispecific diabodies in light of domain order and binding affinity. Oncotarget 2018; 9:13884-13893. [PMID: 29568402 PMCID: PMC5862623 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.24490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Accepted: 02/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
We previously reported a functional humanized bispecific diabody (bsDb) that targeted EGFR and CD3 (hEx3-Db) and enhancement of its cytotoxicity by rearranging the domain order in the V domain. Here, we further dissected the effect of domain order in bsDbs on their cross-linking ability and binding kinetics to elucidate general rules regarding the design of functional bsDbs. Using Ex3-Db as a model system, we first classified the four possible domain orders as anti-parallel (where both chimeric single-chain components are variable heavy domain (VH)-variable light domain (VL) or VL-VH order) and parallel types (both chimeric single-chain components are mixed with VH-VL and VL-VH order). Although anti-parallel Ex3-Dbs could cross-link the soluble target antigens, their cross-linking ability between soluble targets had no correlation with their growth inhibitory effects. In contrast, the binding affinity of one of the two constructs with a parallel-arrangement V domain was particularly low, and structural modeling supported this phenomenon. Similar results were observed with E2x3-Dbs, in which the V region of the anti-EGFR antibody clone in hEx3 was replaced with that of another anti-EGFR clone. Only anti-parallel types showed affinity-dependent cancer inhibitory effects in each molecule, and E2x3-LH (both components in VL-VH order) showed the most intense anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Our results showed that, in addition to rearranging the domain order of bsDbs, increasing their binding affinity may be an ideal strategy for enhancing the cytotoxicity of anti-parallel constructs and that E2x3-LH is particularly attractive as a candidate next-generation anti-cancer drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.,Present Address: Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Keisuke Nagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Koki Makabe
- Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University, Yonezawa 992-8510, Japan
| | - Kento Takahashi
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Takashi Kumagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Hiroko Kawaguchi
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Hiromi Ogata
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Kyoko Arai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
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Enhanced Bioactivity of the Anti-LOX-1 scFv Engineered by Multimerization Strategy. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 2017; 185:233-247. [DOI: 10.1007/s12010-017-2649-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 10/26/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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9
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Chang CH, Wang Y, Li R, Rossi DL, Liu D, Rossi EA, Cardillo TM, Goldenberg DM. Combination Therapy with Bispecific Antibodies and PD-1 Blockade Enhances the Antitumor Potency of T Cells. Cancer Res 2017; 77:5384-5394. [PMID: 28819027 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-16-3431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2016] [Revised: 05/24/2017] [Accepted: 08/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The DOCK-AND-LOCK (DNL) method is a platform technology that combines recombinant engineering and site-specific conjugation to create multispecific, multivalent antibodies of defined composition with retained bioactivity. We have applied DNL to generate a novel class of trivalent bispecific antibodies (bsAb), each comprising an anti-CD3 scFv covalently conjugated to a stabilized dimer of different antitumor Fabs. Here, we report the further characterization of two such constructs, (E1)-3s and (14)-3s, which activate T cells and target Trop-2- and CEACAM5-expressing cancer cells, respectively. (E1)-3s and (14)-3s, in the presence of human T cells, killed target cells grown as monolayers at subnanomolar concentrations, with a similar potency observed for drug-resistant cells. Antitumor efficacy was demonstrated for (E1)-3s coadministered with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in NOD/SCID mice harboring xenografts of MDA-MB-231, a triple-negative breast cancer line constitutively expressing Trop-2 and PD-L1. Growth inhibition was observed following treatment with (E1)-3s or (14)-3s combined with human PBMC in 3D spheroids generated from target cell lines to mimic the in vivo behavior and microenvironment of these tumors. Moreover, addition of an antagonistic anti-PD-1 antibody increased cell death in 3D spheroids and extended survival of MDA-MB-231-bearing mice. These preclinical results emphasize the potential of combining T-cell-redirecting bsAbs with antagonists or agonists that mitigate T-cell inhibition within the tumor microenvironment to improve immunotherapy of solid cancers in patients. They also support the use of 3D spheroids as a predictive alternative to in vivo models for evaluating T-cell functions. Cancer Res; 77(19); 5384-94. ©2017 AACR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chien-Hsing Chang
- Immunomedics, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey. .,IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey
| | - Yang Wang
- Immunomedics, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey
| | - Rongxiu Li
- Immunomedics, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey
| | | | - Donglin Liu
- Immunomedics, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey.,IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey
| | | | | | - David M Goldenberg
- Immunomedics, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey.,IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey
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10
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Sugiyama A, Umetsu M, Nakazawa H, Niide T, Onodera T, Hosokawa K, Hattori S, Asano R, Kumagai I. A semi high-throughput method for screening small bispecific antibodies with high cytotoxicity. Sci Rep 2017; 7:2862. [PMID: 28588218 PMCID: PMC5460266 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03101-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Small bispecific antibodies that induce T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity have the potential to damage late-stage tumor masses to a clinically relevant degree, but their cytotoxicity is critically dependent on their structural and functional properties. Here, we constructed an optimized procedure for identifying highly cytotoxic antibodies from a variety of the T-cell-recruiting antibodies engineered from a series of antibodies against cancer antigens of epidermal growth factor receptor family and T-cell receptors. By developing and applying a set of rapid operations for expression vector construction and protein preparation, we screened the cytotoxicity of 104 small antibodies with diabody format and identified some with 103-times higher cytotoxicity than that of previously reported active diabody. The results demonstrate that cytotoxicity is enhanced by synergistic effects between the target, epitope, binding affinity, and the order of heavy-chain and light-chain variable domains. We demonstrate the importance of screening to determine the critical rules for highly cytotoxic antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aruto Sugiyama
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
| | - Hikaru Nakazawa
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Teppei Niide
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Tomoko Onodera
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Katsuhiro Hosokawa
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Shuhei Hattori
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
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11
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Crystal structures of mono- and bi-specific diabodies and reduction of their structural flexibility by introduction of disulfide bridges at the Fv interface. Sci Rep 2016; 6:34515. [PMID: 27682821 PMCID: PMC5041106 DOI: 10.1038/srep34515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2016] [Accepted: 09/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Building a sophisticated protein nano-assembly requires a method for linking protein components in a predictable and stable structure. Diabodies are engineered antibody fragments that are composed of two Fv domains connected by short peptide linkers. They are attractive candidates for mediators in assembling protein nano-structures because they can simultaneously bind to two different proteins and are rigid enough to be crystallized. However, comparison of previous crystal structures demonstrates that there is substantial structural diversity in the Fv interface region of diabodies and, therefore, reliable prediction of its structure is not trivial. Here, we present the crystal structures of ten mono- and bi-specific diabodies. We found that changing an arginine residue in the Fv interface to threonine greatly reduced the structural diversity of diabodies. We also found that one of the bispecific diabodies underwent an unexpected process of chain swapping yielding a non-functional monospecific diabody. In order to further reduce structural flexibility and prevent chain shuffling, we introduced disulfide bridges in the Fv interface regions. The disulfide-bridged diabodies have rigid and predictable structures and may have applications in crystallizing proteins, analyzing cryo-electron microscopic images and building protein nano-assemblies.
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12
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Asano R, Koyama N, Hagiwara Y, Masakari Y, Orimo R, Arai K, Ogata H, Furumoto S, Umetsu M, Kumagai I. Anti-EGFR scFv tetramer (tetrabody) with a stable monodisperse structure, strong anticancer effect, and a long in vivo half-life. FEBS Open Bio 2016; 6:594-602. [PMID: 27419062 PMCID: PMC4887975 DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.12073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2016] [Revised: 04/11/2016] [Accepted: 04/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) as therapeutic agents has the potential to reduce the high cost of antibody production, but the development process often impairs scFv functions such as binding affinity and pharmacokinetics. Multimerization is one strategy for recovering or enhancing these lost functions. Previously, we constructed several antiepidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) scFv multimers by modifying linker length and domain order. Antitumor effects comparable with those of the currently approved anti-EGFR therapeutic antibodies were observed for scFv trimers. In the present study, we fractionated an anti-EGFR scFv tetramer from the intracellular soluble fraction of an Escherichia coli transformant. Compared with the trimer, the tetramer showed higher affinity, greater cancer cell growth inhibition, and prolonged blood retention time. Furthermore, the tetramer did not dissociate into the trimer or other smaller species during long-term storage (up to 33 weeks). Thus, our developed scFv tetramer is an attractive candidate next-generation anti-EGFR therapeutic antibody that can be produced via a low-cost bacterial expression system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan; Present address: Department of Biotechnology and Life Science Graduate School of Engineering Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Tokyo 184-8588 Japan
| | - Noriaki Koyama
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Yasuyo Hagiwara
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Yosuke Masakari
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Ryota Orimo
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Kyoko Arai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Hiromi Ogata
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Shozo Furumoto
- Department of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University Sendai Japan
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13
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Asano R, Kumagai I. [Functionalization of Bispecific Therapeutic Antibodies Based on Protein Engineering]. YAKUGAKU ZASSHI 2015; 135:851-6. [PMID: 26135084 DOI: 10.1248/yakushi.15-00007-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Although antibodies have been used as molecularly targeted agents for difficult-to-treat diseases such as cancers, the high production costs associated with mammalian expression systems continue to be a drawback. In addition, the clinical efficacy of conventional IgG antibodies is limited. Several types of recombinant antibody (e.g. fused with anticancer drugs, multivalent, or multispecific) have been designed in efforts to develop next-generation antibodies with higher functionality. We used protein engineering to construct several anticancer recombinant antibodies by developing bispecific antibodies that induced specific antitumor effects against cancer cells through the recruitment of lymphocytes. We found that a humanized small bispecific antibody (Ex3) that targets epidermal growth factor receptor on tumor cells and CD3 on T lymphocytes had marked anticancer activity. Furthermore, the function of Ex3 was enhanced by fusion with the human Fc region, domain rearrangement, multimerization, and affinity maturation; a combination of these modifications showed at least additive cytotoxic effects. Interestingly, merely rearranging the domain order of Ex3 induced substantial cytotoxic enhancements, even though the structural format remained the same. Here, we describe our efforts to develop highly functional bispecific antibodies as next-generation therapeutic antibodies using protein engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
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14
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Kamada H, Taki S, Nagano K, Inoue M, Ando D, Mukai Y, Higashisaka K, Yoshioka Y, Tsutsumi Y, Tsunoda SI. Generation and characterization of a bispecific diabody targeting both EPH receptor A10 and CD3. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2014; 456:908-12. [PMID: 25528586 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.12.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Accepted: 12/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The EPH receptor A10 (EphA10) is up-regulated in breast cancer but is not normally expressed in healthy tissue, thus it has been suggested that EphA10 may be a useful target for cancer therapy. This study reports a diabody, an antibody derivative binding two different target molecules, EphA10 expressed in tumor cells and CD3 expressed in T cells, which showed T cell dependent-cytotoxicity. The diabody, which has His-tagged and FLAG-tagged chains, was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified in both heterodimer (Db-1) and homodimer (Db-2) formulations by liquid chromatography. Flow cytometry analysis using EphA10-expressing cells showed that binding activity of heterodimers was stronger than that of homodimers. Addition of diabodies to PBMC cultures resulted in T-cell mediated redirected lysis, and the bioactivity was consistent with the stronger binding activity of heterodimeric diabody formulations. Our results indicate that diabodies recognizing both EphA10 and CD3 could have a range of potential applications in cancer therapy, such as breast cancers that express the EPH receptor A10, especially triple negative breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haruhiko Kamada
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; The Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Shintaro Taki
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; Laboratory of Biomedical Innovation, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Kazuya Nagano
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan
| | - Masaki Inoue
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan
| | - Daisuke Ando
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; Laboratory of Biomedical Innovation, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yohei Mukai
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; Laboratory of Innovative Antibody Engineering and Design (iAED), Center for Drug Innovation and Screening, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan
| | - Kazuma Higashisaka
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; Laboratory of Toxicology and Safety Science, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yasuo Yoshioka
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; The Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Laboratory of Toxicology and Safety Science, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yasuo Tsutsumi
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; The Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Laboratory of Innovative Antibody Engineering and Design (iAED), Center for Drug Innovation and Screening, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; Laboratory of Toxicology and Safety Science, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Shin-ichi Tsunoda
- Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; The Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Laboratory of Biomedical Innovation, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Laboratory of Innovative Antibody Engineering and Design (iAED), Center for Drug Innovation and Screening, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan.
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15
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Asano R, Shimomura I, Konno S, Ito A, Masakari Y, Orimo R, Taki S, Arai K, Ogata H, Okada M, Furumoto S, Onitsuka M, Omasa T, Hayashi H, Katayose Y, Unno M, Kudo T, Umetsu M, Kumagai I. Rearranging the domain order of a diabody-based IgG-like bispecific antibody enhances its antitumor activity and improves its degradation resistance and pharmacokinetics. MAbs 2014; 6:1243-54. [PMID: 25517309 PMCID: PMC4623410 DOI: 10.4161/mabs.29445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
One approach to creating more beneficial therapeutic antibodies is to develop bispecific antibodies (bsAbs), particularly IgG-like formats with tetravalency, which may provide several advantages such as multivalent binding to each target antigen. Although the effects of configuration and antibody-fragment type on the function of IgG-like bsAbs have been studied, there have been only a few detailed studies of the influence of the variable fragment domain order. Here, we prepared four types of hEx3-scDb-Fc, IgG-like bsAbs, built from a single-chain hEx3-Db (humanized bispecific diabody [bsDb] that targets epidermal growth factor receptor and CD3), to investigate the influence of domain order and fusion manner on the function of a bsDb with an Fc fusion format. Higher cytotoxicities were observed with hEx3-scDb-Fcs with a variable light domain (VL)-variable heavy domain (VH) order (hEx3-scDb-Fc-LHs) compared with a VH-VL order, indicating that differences in the Fc fusion manner do not affect bsDb activity. In addition, flow cytometry suggested that the higher cytotoxicities of hEx3-scDb-Fc-LH may be attributable to structural superiority in cross-linking. Interestingly, enhanced degradation resistance and prolonged in vivo half-life were also observed with hEx3-scDb-Fc-LH. hEx3-scDb-Fc-LH and its IgG2 variant exhibited intense in vivo antitumor effects, suggesting that Fc-mediated effector functions are dispensable for effective anti-tumor activities, which may cause fewer side effects. Our results show that merely rearranging the domain order of IgG-like bsAbs can enhance not only their antitumor activity, but also their degradation resistance and in vivo half-life, and that hEx3-scDb-Fc-LHs are potent candidates for next-generation therapeutic antibodies.
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Key Words
- ADCC, antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity
- AUC, area-under-the-curve
- CD3
- EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor
- FITC-CD3ϵγ, fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled CD3ϵγ; DVD-IgTM, dual variable domain immunoglobulin
- FITC-sEGFR, FITC-labeled sEGFR
- Fv, variable fragment
- ICR, imprinting control region
- IgG-like bispecific antibody
- MTS, 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium inner salt
- PBMCs, peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- PBS, phosphate-buffered saline
- SDS-PAGE, sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
- SPR, surface plasmon resonance
- SUV, standardized uptake value
- T-LAK cells, lymphokine-activated killer cells with the T-cell phenotype
- VH, variable heavy domain
- VL, variable light domain
- antibody engineering
- bispecific diabody
- bsAb, bispecific antibody
- bsDb, bispecific diabody
- cancer immunotherapy
- effective domain order
- epidermal growth factor receptor
- sEGFR, soluble EGFR
- scDb, single-chain diabody
- scFv, single-chain Fv
- taFv, tandem scFv
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- a Department of Biomolecular Engineering ; Graduate School of Engineering; Tohoku University ; Sendai , Japan
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16
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Rossi DL, Rossi EA, Cardillo TM, Goldenberg DM, Chang CH. A new class of bispecific antibodies to redirect T cells for cancer immunotherapy. MAbs 2014; 6:381-91. [PMID: 24492297 PMCID: PMC3984327 DOI: 10.4161/mabs.27385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2013] [Revised: 11/22/2013] [Accepted: 12/01/2013] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Various constructs of bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) to redirect effector T cells for the targeted killing of tumor cells have shown considerable promise in both preclinical and clinical studies. The single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-based formats, including bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) and dual-affinity re-targeting (DART), which provide monovalent binding to both CD3 on T cells and to the target antigen on tumor cells, can exhibit rapid blood clearance and neurological toxicity due to their small size (~55 kDa). Herein, we describe the generation, by the modular DOCK-AND-LOCK™) (DNL™) method, of novel T-cell redirecting bispecific antibodies, each comprising a monovalent anti-CD3 scFv covalently conjugated to a stabilized dimer of different anti-tumor Fabs. The potential advantages of this design include bivalent binding to tumor cells, a larger size (~130 kDa) to preclude renal clearance and penetration of the blood-brain barrier, and potent T-cell mediated cytotoxicity. These prototypes were purified to near homogeneity, and representative constructs were shown to provoke the formation of immunological synapses between T cells and their target tumor cells in vitro, resulting in T-cell activation and proliferation, as well as potent T-cell mediated anti-tumor activity. In addition, in vivo studies in NOD/SCID mice bearing Raji Burkitt lymphoma or Capan-1 pancreatic carcinoma indicated statistically significant inhibition of tumor growth compared with untreated controls.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Edmund A Rossi
- Immunomedics, Inc; Morris Plains, NJ USA
- IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc; Morris Plains, NJ USA
| | | | - David M Goldenberg
- Immunomedics, Inc; Morris Plains, NJ USA
- IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc; Morris Plains, NJ USA
- Garden State Cancer Center; Center for Molecular Medicine and Immunology; Morris Plains, NJ USA
| | - Chien-Hsing Chang
- Immunomedics, Inc; Morris Plains, NJ USA
- IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc; Morris Plains, NJ USA
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17
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Asano R, Hagiwara Y, Koyama N, Masakari Y, Orimo R, Arai K, Ogata H, Furumoto S, Umetsu M, Kumagai I. Multimerization of anti-(epidermal growth factor receptor) IgG fragments induces an antitumor effect: the case for humanized 528 scFv multimers. FEBS J 2013; 280:4816-26. [DOI: 10.1111/febs.12451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2013] [Revised: 07/03/2013] [Accepted: 07/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Yasuyo Hagiwara
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Noriaki Koyama
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Yosuke Masakari
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Ryota Orimo
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Kyoko Arai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Hiromi Ogata
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Shozo Furumoto
- Department of Pharmacology; Tohoku University School of Medicine; Sendai Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
| | - Izumi Kumagai
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering; Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University; Sendai Japan
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18
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Asano R, Kumagai T, Nagai K, Taki S, Shimomura I, Arai K, Ogata H, Okada M, Hayasaka F, Sanada H, Nakanishi T, Karvonen T, Hayashi H, Katayose Y, Unno M, Kudo T, Umetsu M, Kumagai I. Domain order of a bispecific diabody dramatically enhances its antitumor activity beyond structural format conversion: the case of the hEx3 diabody. Protein Eng Des Sel 2013; 26:359-67. [DOI: 10.1093/protein/gzt009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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19
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Nakanishi T, Maru T, Tahara K, Sanada H, Umetsu M, Asano R, Kumagai I. Development of an affinity-matured humanized anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody for cancer immunotherapy. Protein Eng Des Sel 2012; 26:113-22. [PMID: 23118340 DOI: 10.1093/protein/gzs088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We showed previously that humanization of 528, a murine anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody, causes reduced affinity for its target. Here, to improve the affinity of the humanized antibody for use in cancer immunotherapy, we constructed phage display libraries focused on the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of the antibody and carried out affinity selection. Two-step selections using libraries constructed in a stepwise manner enabled a 32-fold affinity enhancement of humanized 528 (h528). Thermodynamic analysis of the interactions between the variable domain fragment of h528 (h528Fv) mutants and the soluble extracellular domain of EGFR indicated that the h528Fv mutants obtained from the first selection showed a large increase in negative enthalpy change due to binding, resulting in affinity enhancement. Furthermore, mutants from the second selection showed a decrease in entropy loss, which led to further affinity maturation. These results suggest that a single mutation in the heavy chain variable domain (i.e. Tyr(52) to Trp) enthalpically contributed for overcoming the energetic barrier to the antigen-antibody interaction, which was a major hurdle for the in vitro affinity maturation of h528. We reported previously that the humanized bispecific diabody hEx3 Db, which targets EGFR and CD3, shows strong anti-tumor activity. hEx3 Db mutants, in which the variable domains of h528 were replaced with those of the affinity-enhanced mutants, were prepared and characterized. In a growth inhibition assay of tumor cells, the hEx3 Db mutants showed stronger anti-tumor activity than that of hEx3 Db, suggesting that affinity enhancement of h528Fv enhances the anti-tumor activity of the bispecific diabody.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Nakanishi
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba-yama 6-6-11, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
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20
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Asano R, Nakayama M, Kawaguchi H, Kubota T, Nakanishi T, Umetsu M, Hayashi H, Katayose Y, Unno M, Kudo T, Kumagai I. Construction and humanization of a functional bispecific EGFR × CD16 diabody using a refolding system. FEBS J 2011; 279:223-33. [PMID: 22074399 DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2011.08417.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
We previously reported the construction and activity of a humanized, bispecific diabody (hEx3) that recruited T cells towards an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) positive tumor. Herein, we describe the construction of a second functional, fully humanized, anti-EGFR bispecific diabody that recruits another subset of lymphocyte effectors, the natural killer cells, to EGFR-expressing tumor cells. After we confirmed that an anti-EGFR × anti-CD16 bispecific diabody (Ex16) consisting of a previously humanized anti-EGFR variable fragment (Fv) and a mouse anti-CD16 Fv had growth inhibitory activity, we designed a humanized anti-CD16 Fv to construct the fully humanized Ex16 (hEx16). However, the humanized form had lower activity for inhibition of cancer growth. To restore its growth inhibitory activity, we introduced mutations into the Vernier zone, which is located near the complementarity-determining regions and is involved in their binding activity. We efficiently prepared 15 different hEx16 mutants by expressing each chimeric single-chain component for hEx16 separately. We then used our in vitro refolding system to select the most functional mutant, which had a growth inhibitory effect comparable with that of the commercially available chimeric anti-EGFR antibody, cetuximab. Our refolding system could aid in the efficient optimization of other proteins with heterodimeric structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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21
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Jachimowicz RD, Fracasso G, Yazaki PJ, Power BE, Borchmann P, Engert A, Hansen HP, Reiners KS, Marie M, von Strandmann EP, Rothe A. Induction of in vitro and in vivo NK cell cytotoxicity using high-avidity immunoligands targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen in prostate carcinoma. Mol Cancer Ther 2011; 10:1036-45. [PMID: 21525185 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-10-1093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cancer that might develop as host natural killer (NK) cells fail to detect ligands for their activating NK receptors. Immunoligands represent promising immunotherapeutic tools to overcome this deficit. These are fusion proteins containing a single-chain antibody fragment (scFv) to target an available tumor antigen and ULBP2 to activate host NK cells by targeting the activatory receptor NKG2D. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an integral non-shed type 2 membrane protein that is highly and specifically expressed on prostate epithelial cells and strongly upregulated in prostate cancer. Here, we compare the impact of various anti-PSMA immunoligand formats on the therapeutic efficacy against prostate carcinoma cells by activating NK cells via NKG2D. Shortening of the linker separating the heavy and light chain antibody domain leads to the formation of dimers, trimers, and higher molecular mass oligomers. NK cells are most efficiently activated by multimeric immunoligands, thus showing an altered cytokine release pattern. The high avidity format is also superior in in vitro NK-mediated tumor cell targeting as shown in cytotoxicity assays. Finally, the efficacy of a multimeric immunoligand is shown in a prostate carcinoma mouse xenograft model showing a strong activity against advanced established tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ron D Jachimowicz
- Department I of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, LFI, Ebene 4, Room 703, Kerpener Str. 62, 50927 Cologne, Germany
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22
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Asano R, Ikoma K, Shimomura I, Taki S, Nakanishi T, Umetsu M, Kumagai I. Cytotoxic enhancement of a bispecific diabody by format conversion to tandem single-chain variable fragment (taFv): the case of the hEx3 diabody. J Biol Chem 2010; 286:1812-8. [PMID: 21097496 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m110.172957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Diabodies (Dbs) and tandem single-chain variable fragments (taFv) are the most widely used recombinant formats for constructing small bispecific antibodies. However, only a few studies have compared these formats, and none have discussed their binding kinetics and cross-linking ability. We previously reported the usefulness for cancer immunotherapy of a humanized bispecific Db (hEx3-Db) and its single-chain format (hEx3-scDb) that target epidermal growth factor receptor and CD3. Here, we converted hEx3-Db into a taFv format to investigate how format affects the function of a small bispecific antibody; our investigation included a cytotoxicity assay, surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy, thermodynamic analysis, and flow cytometry. The prepared taFv (hEx3-taFv) showed an enhanced cytotoxicity, which may be attributable to a structural superiority to the diabody format in cross-linking target cells but not to differences in the binding affinities of the formats. Comparable cross-linking ability for soluble antigens was observed among hEx3-Db, hEx3-scDb, and hEx3-taFv with surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Furthermore, drastic increases in cytotoxicity were found in the dimeric form of hEx3-taFv, especially when the two hEx3-taFv were covalently linked. Our results show that converting the format of small bispecific antibodies can improve their function. In particular, for small bispecific antibodies that target tumor and immune cells, a functional orientation that avoids steric hindrance in cross-linking two target cells may be important in enhancing the growth inhibition effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryutaro Asano
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
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