1
|
Zhang Y, Yang Z, Saimi D, Shen X, Ye J, Yu B, Pefaur N, Scheer JM, Nixon AE, Chen Z. Geometric Antibody Engineering Reveals the Spatial Factor on the Efficacy of Bispecific T Cell Engagers. ACS Chem Biol 2024; 19:916-925. [PMID: 38491942 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) represent an emerging class of biologics that can recognize two different antigens or epitopes. T-cell engagers (TcEs) bind two targets in trans on the cell surface of the effector and target cell to induce proximal immune effects, opening exciting windows for immunotherapies. To date, the engineering of BsAbs has been mainly focused on tuning the molecular weight and valency. However, the effects of spatial factors on the biological functions of BsAbs have been less explored due to the lack of biochemical methods to precisely manipulate protein geometry. Here, we studied the geometric effects of the TcEs. First, by genetically inserting rigidly designed ankyrin repeat proteins into TcEs, we revealed that the efficacy progressively decreased as the spacer distance of the two binding domains increased. Then, we constructed 26 pairs of TcEs with the same size but varying orientations using click chemistry-mediated conjugation at different mutation sites. We found that linear ligation sites play a minor role in modulating cell-killing efficacy. Next, we rendered the TcEs' advanced topology by cyclization chemistry using the SpyTag/SpyCatcher pair or sortase ligation approaches. Cyclized TcEs were generally more potent than their linear counterparts. Particularly, sortase A cyclized TcEs, bearing a minimal tagging motif, exhibited better cell-killing efficacy in vitro and improved stability both in vitro and in vivo compared to the linear TcE. This work combines modern bioconjugation chemistry and protein engineering tools for antibody engineering, shedding light on the elusive spatial factors of BsAbs functionality.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zhang
- College of Future Technology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Biomedical Imaging Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Science, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Zhe Yang
- College of Future Technology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Biomedical Imaging Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Dilizhatai Saimi
- College of Future Technology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Biomedical Imaging Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xiaowen Shen
- College of Future Technology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Biomedical Imaging Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Science, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Junqing Ye
- Department of Research Beyond Borders, Boehringer Ingelheim, Investment Co., Ltd., Beijing 100027, China
| | - Bingke Yu
- Department of Research Beyond Borders, Boehringer Ingelheim, Investment Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Noah Pefaur
- Biotherapeutics Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 900 Ridgebury Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877, United States
| | - Justin M Scheer
- Biotherapeutics Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 900 Ridgebury Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877, United States
| | - Andrew E Nixon
- Biotherapeutics Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 900 Ridgebury Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877, United States
| | - Zhixing Chen
- College of Future Technology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Biomedical Imaging Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Science, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
DiGiammarino EL, Izeradjene K, Harding F, Akamatsu Y, Xu H, Chervin A, Stone J, Wang N, Durning S, Pefaur N, Durkin T, Urick A, Harlan J. Beyond Binding Kinetics: Stoichiometry via SPR can identify novel binding modes, assess ligand quality and inform functional design in biopharmaceutical discovery. FASEB J 2020. [DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.03302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
|