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Boje AS, Pekar L, Koep K, Lipinski B, Rabinovich B, Evers A, Gehlert CL, Krohn S, Xiao Y, Krah S, Zaynagetdinov R, Toleikis L, Poetzsch S, Peipp M, Zielonka S, Klausz K. Impact of antibody architecture and paratope valency on effector functions of bispecific NKp30 x EGFR natural killer cell engagers. MAbs 2024; 16:2315640. [PMID: 38372053 PMCID: PMC10877975 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2024.2315640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells emerged as a promising effector population that can be harnessed for anti-tumor therapy. In this work, we constructed NK cell engagers (NKCEs) based on NKp30-targeting single domain antibodies (sdAbs) that redirect the cytotoxic potential of NK cells toward epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-expressing tumor cells. We investigated the impact of crucial parameters such as sdAb location, binding valencies, the targeted epitope on NKp30, and the overall antibody architecture on the redirection capacity. Our study exploited two NKp30-specific sdAbs, one of which binds a similar epitope on NKp30 as its natural ligand B7-H6, while the other sdAb addresses a non-competing epitope. For EGFR-positive tumor targeting, humanized antigen-binding domains of therapeutic antibody cetuximab were used. We demonstrate that NKCEs bivalently targeting EGFR and bivalently engaging NKp30 are superior to monovalent NKCEs in promoting NK cell-mediated tumor cell lysis and that the architecture of the NKCE can substantially influence killing capacities depending on the NKp30-targeting sdAb utilized. While having a pronounced impact on NK cell killing efficacy, the capabilities of triggering antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis or complement-dependent cytotoxicity were not significantly affected comparing the bivalent IgG-like NKCEs with cetuximab. However, the fusion of sdAbs can have a slight impact on the NK cell release of immunomodulatory cytokines, as well as on the pharmacokinetic profile of the NKCE due to unfavorable spatial orientation within the molecule architecture. Ultimately, our findings reveal novel insights for the engineering of potent NKCEs triggering the NKp30 axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ammelie Svea Boje
- Division of Antibody-Based Immunotherapy, Department of Internal Medicine II, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Lukas Pekar
- Antibody Discovery & Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Katharina Koep
- Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Britta Lipinski
- Antibody Discovery & Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Brian Rabinovich
- Department of Oncology and Immuno-Oncology, EMD Serono Research & Development Institute Inc, 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, MA, USA
| | - Andreas Evers
- Antibody Discovery & Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Carina Lynn Gehlert
- Division of Antibody-Based Immunotherapy, Department of Internal Medicine II, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Steffen Krohn
- Division of Antibody-Based Immunotherapy, Department of Internal Medicine II, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Yanping Xiao
- Department of Oncology and Immuno-Oncology, EMD Serono Research & Development Institute Inc, 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, MA, USA
| | - Simon Krah
- Antibody Discovery & Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Rinat Zaynagetdinov
- Department of Oncology and Immuno-Oncology, EMD Serono Research & Development Institute Inc, 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, MA, USA
| | - Lars Toleikis
- Early Protein Supply & Characterization, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Sven Poetzsch
- Strategic Innovation, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Matthias Peipp
- Division of Antibody-Based Immunotherapy, Department of Internal Medicine II, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Stefan Zielonka
- Antibody Discovery & Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Katja Klausz
- Division of Antibody-Based Immunotherapy, Department of Internal Medicine II, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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