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Gieffers C, Kluge M, Merz C, Sykora J, Thiemann M, Schaal R, Fischer C, Branschädel M, Abhari BA, Hohenberger P, Fulda S, Fricke H, Hill O. APG350 induces superior clustering of TRAIL receptors and shows therapeutic antitumor efficacy independent of cross-linking via Fcγ receptors. Mol Cancer Ther 2013; 12:2735-47. [PMID: 24101228 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-13-0323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cancer cells can be specifically driven into apoptosis by activating Death-receptor-4 (DR4; TRAIL-R1) and/or Death-receptor-5 (DR5; TRAIL-R2). Albeit showing promising preclinical efficacy, first-generation protein therapeutics addressing this pathway, especially agonistic anti-DR4/DR5-monoclonal antibodies, have not been clinically successful to date. Due to their bivalent binding mode, effective apoptosis induction by agonistic TRAIL-R antibodies is achieved only upon additional events leading to antibody-multimer formation. The binding of these multimers to their target subsequently leads to effective receptor-clustering on cancer cells. The research results presented here report on a new class of TRAIL-receptor agonists overcoming this intrinsic limitation observed for antibodies in general. The main feature of these agonists is a TRAIL-mimic consisting of three TRAIL-protomer subsequences combined in one polypeptide chain, termed the single-chain TRAIL-receptor-binding domain (scTRAIL-RBD). In the active compounds, two scTRAIL-RBDs with three receptor binding sites each are brought molecularly in close proximity resulting in a fusion protein with a hexavalent binding mode. In the case of APG350-the prototype of this engineering concept-this is achieved by fusing the Fc-part of a human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1)-mutein C-terminally to the scTRAIL-RBD polypeptide, thereby creating six receptor binding sites per drug molecule. In vitro, APG350 is a potent inducer of apoptosis on human tumor cell lines and primary tumor cells. In vivo, treatment of mice bearing Colo205-xenograft tumors with APG350 showed a dose-dependent antitumor efficacy. By dedicated muteins, we confirmed that the observed in vivo efficacy of the hexavalent scTRAIL-RBD fusion proteins is-in contrast to agonistic antibodies-independent of FcγR-based cross-linking events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Gieffers
- Corresponding Author: Oliver Hill, Apogenix GmbH, Im Neuenheimer Feld 584, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. Phone: 49-6221-58608-18; Fax: 49-6221-58608-10; E-Mail:
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Neumann S, Bidon T, Branschädel M, Krippner-Heidenreich A, Scheurich P, Doszczak M. The transmembrane domains of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptors 1 and 2 co-regulate apoptotic signaling capacity. PLoS One 2012; 7:e42526. [PMID: 22916132 PMCID: PMC3420232 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2012] [Accepted: 07/09/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family that exerts its apoptotic activity in human cells by binding to two transmembrane receptors, TRAILR1 and TRAILR2. In cells co-expressing both receptors the particular contribution of either protein to the overall cellular response is not well defined. Here we have investigated whether differences in the signaling capacities of TRAILR1 and TRAILR2 can be attributed to certain functional molecular subdomains. We generated and characterized various chimeric receptors comprising TRAIL receptor domains fused with parts from other members of the TNF death receptor family. This allowed us to compare the contribution of particular domains of the two TRAIL receptors to the overall apoptotic response and to identify elements that regulate apoptotic signaling. Our results show that the TRAIL receptor death domains are weak apoptosis inducers compared to those of CD95/Fas, because TRAILR-derived constructs containing the CD95/Fas death domain possessed strongly enhanced apoptotic capabilities. Importantly, major differences in the signaling strengths of the two TRAIL receptors were linked to their transmembrane domains in combination with the adjacent extracellular stalk regions. This was evident from receptor chimeras comprising the extracellular part of TNFR1 and the intracellular signaling part of CD95/Fas. Both receptor chimeras showed comparable ligand binding affinities and internalization kinetics. However, the respective TRAILR2-derived molecule more efficiently induced apoptosis. It also activated caspase-8 and caspase-3 more strongly and more quickly, albeit being expressed at lower levels. These results suggest that the transmembrane domains together with their adjacent stalk regions can play a major role in control of death receptor activation thereby contributing to cell type specific differences in TRAILR1 and TRAILR2 signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Neumann
- Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Tobias Bidon
- Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Marcus Branschädel
- Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Anja Krippner-Heidenreich
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Musculoskeletal Research Group, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Scheurich
- Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Malgorzata Doszczak
- Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Boschert V, Krippner-Heidenreich A, Branschädel M, Tepperink J, Aird A, Scheurich P. Single chain TNF derivatives with individually mutated receptor binding sites reveal differential stoichiometry of ligand receptor complex formation for TNFR1 and TNFR2. Cell Signal 2010; 22:1088-96. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2010.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2009] [Revised: 02/10/2010] [Accepted: 02/26/2010] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Branschädel M, Aird A, Zappe A, Tietz C, Krippner-Heidenreich A, Scheurich P. Dual function of cysteine rich domain (CRD) 1 of TNF receptor type 1: Conformational stabilization of CRD2 and control of receptor responsiveness. Cell Signal 2010; 22:404-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2009.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2009] [Accepted: 10/21/2009] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Gerken U, Jelezko F, Götze B, Branschädel M, Tietz C, Ghosh R, Wrachtrup J. Membrane Environment Reduces the Accessible Conformational Space Available to an Integral Membrane Protein. J Phys Chem B 2002. [DOI: 10.1021/jp025903o] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Uwe Gerken
- Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany, Institute of Biology, Department of Bioenergetics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Fedor Jelezko
- Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany, Institute of Biology, Department of Bioenergetics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Britta Götze
- Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany, Institute of Biology, Department of Bioenergetics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Marcus Branschädel
- Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany, Institute of Biology, Department of Bioenergetics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Carsten Tietz
- Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany, Institute of Biology, Department of Bioenergetics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Robin Ghosh
- Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany, Institute of Biology, Department of Bioenergetics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Jörg Wrachtrup
- Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany, Institute of Biology, Department of Bioenergetics, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
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