Tumor targeting in a murine tumor xenograft model with the (sFv')2 divalent form of anti-c-erbB-2 single-chain Fv

Targeting TNF-alpha with a tetravalent mini-antibody TNF-TeAb

Anti-TNF-alpha [anti-(tumour necrosis factor-alpha)] therapy is widely considered to be among the most efficient treatments available for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. In the present study a tetravalent mini-antibody, named 'TNF-TeAb', was constructed by fusing the tetramerization domain of human p53 to the C-terminus of an anti-TNF-scFv [anti-(TNF-alpha-single-chain variable fragment)] via a long and flexible linking peptide derived from human serum albumin. TNF-TeAb was overexpressed as inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity by immobilized- metal affinity chromtaography under denaturing conditions and produced in functional form by using an in vitro refolding system. In vitro bioactivity assays suggested that tetramerization of TNF-scFv resulted in an enormous gain in avidity, which endowed TNF-TeAb with a stronger ability to inhibit both receptor binding and cytolytic activity of TNF-alpha. TNF-alpha targeting therapy in rats with collagen-induced arthritis demonstrated that TNF-TeAb provided a much more significant therapeutic effect than did TNF-scFv in suppressing arthritis progression, attenuating inflammation and destruction in joints, and down-regulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and anti-(type II collagen) antibody. The conclusions are therefore (i) that multimerization of the antibody fragment by a self-association peptide is an efficient way to increase its avidity and (ii) that TNF-TeAb has potential applicability for anti-TNF-alpha therapy.

Affibody molecules: potential for in vivo imaging of molecular targets for cancer therapy

Targeting radionuclide imaging of tumor-associated antigens may help to select patients who will benefit from a particular biological therapy. Affibody molecules are a novel class of small (approximately 7 kDa) phage display-selected affinity proteins, based on the B-domain scaffold of staphylococcal protein A. A large library (3 x 10(9) variants) has enabled selection of high-affinity (up to 22 pM) binders for a variety of tumor-associated antigens. The small size of Affibody molecules provides rapid tumor localization and fast clearance from nonspecific compartments. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the potential of Affibody molecules for specific and high-contrast radionuclide imaging of HER2 in vivo, and pilot clinical data using indium-111 and gallium-68 labeled anti-HER2 Affibody tracer have confirmed its utility for radionuclide imaging in cancer patients.

PEGylation and multimerization of the anti-p185HER-2 single chain Fv fragment 4D5: effects on tumor targeting

A major goal in antibody design for cancer therapy is to tailor the pharmacokinetic properties of the molecule according to specific treatment requirements. Key parameters determining the pharmacokinetics of therapeutic antibodies are target specificity, affinity, stability, and size. Using the p185HER-2 (HER-2)-specific scFv 4D5 as model system, we analyzed how changes in molecular weight and valency independently affect antigen binding and tumor localization. By employing multimerization and PEGylation, four different antibody formats were generated and compared with the scFv 4D5. First, dimeric and tetrameric miniantibodies were constructed by fusion of self-associating, disulfide-linked peptides to the scFv 4D5. Second, we attached a 20-kDa PEG moiety to the monovalent scFv and to the divalent miniantibody at the respective C terminus. In all formats, serum stability and full binding reactivity of the scFv 4D5 were retained. Functional affinity, however, did change. An avidity increase was achieved by multimerization, whereas PEGylation resulted in a 5-fold decreased affinity. Nevertheless, the PEGylated monomer showed an 8.5-fold, and the PEGylated dimer even a 14.5-fold higher tumor accumulation than the corresponding scFv, 48 h post-injection, because of a significantly longer serum half-life. In comparison, the non-PEGylated bivalent and tetravalent miniantibodies showed only a moderate increase in tumor localization compared with the scFv, which correlated with the degree of multimerization. However, these non-PEGylated formats resulted in higher tumor-to-blood ratios. Both multimerization and PEGylation represent thus useful strategies to tailor the pharmacokinetic properties of therapeutic antibodies and their combined use can additively improve tumor targeting.

Avidity-mediated enhancement of in vivo tumor targeting by single-chain Fv dimers

Radiolabeled single-chain Fv (sFv) molecules display highly specific tumor retention in the severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse model; however, the absolute quantity of sFv retained in the tumors is diminished by the rapid renal elimination resulting from the small size of the sFv molecules (Mr 27,000) and by dissociation of the monovalent sFv from tumor-associated antigen. We previously reported significant improvement in tumor retention without a loss of targeting specificity on converting monovalent sFv into divalent [(sFv')2] dimers, linked by a disulfide bond between COOH-terminal cysteinyl peptides engineered into the sFv'. However, our data for enhanced dimer localization in tumors could not distinguish between the contributions of enhanced avidity and increased systemic retention associated with the larger size of 54 kDa [(sFv')2] dimers relative to 27-kDa sFv. In this investigation, we have compared tumor targeting of divalent anti-c-erbB-2/HER2/neu 741F8-1 (sFv')2 homodimers with monovalent 741F8/26-10 (sFv')2 heterodimers (Mr 54,000) and 741F8 sFv monomers (741F8 sFv has binding specificity for erbB-2/HER2/neu and 26-10 sFv specificity for digoxin and related cardiac glycosides). These studies allowed us to distinguish the dominant effect of valency over molecular weight in accounting for the superior tumor retention of 741F8-1 (sFv')2 homodimers. Each of the radioiodinated species was administered i.v. to SCID mice bearing SK-OV-3 human tumor xenografts and tumor localization at 24 hours post i.v. injection was determined for 125I-741F8-1 (sFv')2 (3.57 %ID/g), 125I-741F8/26-10 (sFv')2 (1.13 %ID/g), and 125I-741F8-1 sFv (1.25 %ID/g). These findings substantiate that the improved tumor retention of (sFv')2 homodimers over sFv monomers results from the availability of dual binding sites rather than from the slower systemic clearance of homodimers.

Inhibition of cytoplasmic antigen, glucose- 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, by VH-CH1, an intracellular Fd fragment antibody derived from a semisynthetic Fd fragment phage display library

A library of Fd fragment antibody binding proteins was created by random mutation of 15 nucleotides within the CDRIII region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene and displayed as Fd coat protein fusion constructs of M13 phage. The library was screened for those VHbinding sites that bound glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). One isolate (DH27bp) inhibited G6PD activity by 85 %. The DH27bpgene was re-engineered, placed in a eukaryotic expression vector having an isopropyl-beta-delta-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) inducible promoter, and transfected and then expressed in Chinese hamster V79 cells. G6PD activity was completely inhibited. Removal of IPTG reverted the cell to full G6PD activity. The intracellular dynamics of the G6PD/DH27bpcomplex showed that when the proteasomes of cells expressing DH27bpwere inhibited (N -acetyl-Leu-Leu-norleucinal or lactacystin) G6PD activity increased. Metabolic labelling of newly synthesized IPTG-induced proteins during/absence of proteasomal inhibitors showed that both G6PD and DH27bpare signaled for degradation when the intracellular complex is formed. Furthermore, semi-quantitative RT/PCR demonstrated that G6PD mRNA is upregulated over the time course of G6PD inactivation by DH27bpFd binding protein. These effects were not observed in those cells expressing a non-mutated Fd (UMHC) or in IPTG-treated non-transduced V79 cells. Our results demonstrate that an Fd-based intracellular binding protein can find and disable the function of a specific intracellular target and once the Fd expression is repressed the activity of intracellular targeted protein can revert to normal.