U.S. patent application number 12/971197 was filed with the patent office on 2011-06-09 for cysteine engineered antibodies and conjugates.
Invention is credited to Charles W. Eigenbrot, Jagath Reddy Junutula, Henry Lowman, Helga E. Raab, Richard Vandlen.
Application Number | 20110137017 12/971197 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36090710 |
Filed Date | 2011-06-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110137017 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Eigenbrot; Charles W. ; et
al. |
June 9, 2011 |
CYSTEINE ENGINEERED ANTIBODIES AND CONJUGATES
Abstract
Antibodies are engineered by replacing one or more amino acids
of a parent antibody with non cross-linked, highly reactive
cysteine amino acids. Antibody fragments may also be engineered
with one or more cysteine amino acids to form cysteine engineered
antibody fragments (ThioFab). Methods of design, preparation,
screening, and selection of the cysteine engineered antibodies are
provided. Cysteine engineered antibodies (Ab), optionally with an
albumin-binding peptide (ABP) sequence, are conjugated with one or
more drug moieties (D) through a linker (L) to form cysteine
engineered antibody-drug conjugates having Formula I:
Ab-(L-D).sub.p I where p is 1 to 4. Diagnostic and therapeutic uses
for cysteine engineered antibody drug compounds and compositions
are disclosed.
Inventors: |
Eigenbrot; Charles W.;
(Burlingame, CA) ; Junutula; Jagath Reddy;
(Fremont, CA) ; Lowman; Henry; (El Granada,
CA) ; Raab; Helga E.; (San Francisco, CA) ;
Vandlen; Richard; (Hillsborough, CA) |
Family ID: |
36090710 |
Appl. No.: |
12/971197 |
Filed: |
December 17, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12399241 |
Mar 6, 2009 |
7855275 |
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12971197 |
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11233258 |
Sep 22, 2005 |
7521541 |
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12399241 |
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60696353 |
Jun 30, 2005 |
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60612468 |
Sep 23, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
530/387.3 ;
530/391.9 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61K 47/6851 20170801;
C07K 2317/624 20130101; A61K 47/6817 20170801; C07K 16/32 20130101;
C07K 16/00 20130101; C07K 2317/51 20130101; A61P 35/00 20180101;
A61K 47/6803 20170801; A61K 45/06 20130101; C07K 2317/21 20130101;
A01K 2267/0331 20130101; A61K 47/6889 20170801; C07K 2317/55
20130101; C07K 2317/52 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
530/387.3 ;
530/391.9 |
International
Class: |
C07K 16/40 20060101
C07K016/40; C07K 16/18 20060101 C07K016/18 |
Claims
1. A cysteine engineered antibody comprising one or more variable
region heavy chain sequences with a free cysteine amino acid
selected from SEQ ID NOS: 9-16: TABLE-US-00021 WVRQCPGKGL SEQ ID
NO: 9 NSLRCEDTAV SEQ ID NO: 10 LVTVCSASTKGPS SEQ ID NO: 11
LVTVSCASTKGPS SEQ ID NO: 12 LVTVSSCSTKGPS SEQ ID NO: 13
LVTVSSACTKGPS SEQ ID NO: 14 HTFPCVLQSSGLYS SEQ ID NO: 15
HTFPAVLQCSGLYS SEQ ID NO: 16
or comprising one or more variable region light chain sequences
with a free cysteine amino acid selected from SEQ ID NOS: 17-27:
TABLE-US-00022 SLSASCGDRVT SEQ ID NO: 17 QKPGKCPKLLI SEQ ID NO: 18
EIKRTCAAPSV SEQ ID NO: 19 TCAAPCVFIFPP SEQ ID NO: 20 FIFPPCDEQLK
SEQ ID NO: 21 DEQLKCGTASV SEQ ID NO: 22 FYPRECKVQWK SEQ ID NO: 23
WKVDNCLQSGN SEQ ID NO: 24 ALQSGCSQESV SEQ ID NO: 25 VTEQDCKDSTY SEQ
ID NO: 26 GLSSPCTKSFN SEQ ID NO: 27
wherein the cysteine engineered antibody binds to HER2.
2. A cysteine engineered antibody comprising one or more Fc
constant region heavy chain sequences with a free cysteine amino
acid selected from SEQ ID NOS: 31, 33, 36, 37 and 38:
TABLE-US-00023 HEDPEVKFNWYVDGCEVHNAKTKPR SEQ ID NO: 31
HEDPEVKFNWYVDGVEVHNCKTKPR SEQ ID NO: 33 IEKTISKCKGQPR SEQ ID NO: 36
KGFYPCDIAVE SEQ ID NO: 37 PPVLDCDGSFF SEQ ID NO: 38
wherein the cysteine engineered antibody binds to EphB2R.
3. A cysteine engineered antibody comprising one or more variable
region heavy chain sequences with a free cysteine amino acid
selected from SEQ ID NOS: 40-44: TABLE-US-00024 NWIRQCPGNK SEQ ID
NO: 40 LNSCTTEDTAT SEQ ID NO: 41 GQGTLVTVSACSTKGPSVFPL SEQ ID NO:
42 HTFPCVLQSSGLYS SEQ ID NO: 43 HTFPACLQSSGLYS SEQ ID NO: 44
or comprising one or more variable region light chain sequences
with a free cysteine amino acid selected from SEQ ID NOS: 45-49:
TABLE-US-00025 FLSVSCGGRVT SEQ ID NO: 45 QKPGNCPRLLI SEQ ID NO: 46
EIKRTCAAPSV SEQ ID NO: 47 FYPRECKVQWK SEQ ID NO: 48 VTEQDCKDSTY SEQ
ID NO: 49
wherein the cysteine engineered antibody binds to MUC16.
4. The cysteine engineered antibody of any one of claims 1-3
wherein the free cysteine amino acid is conjugated to a drug moiety
selected from a maytansinoid, an auristatin, a dolastatin, or a
calicheamicin.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No.
12/399,241 filed on Mar. 6, 2009, which is a continuation of U.S.
Ser. No. 11/233,258 filed on Sep. 22, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.
7,521,541 issued Apr. 21, 2009, and also claims the benefit of
priority under 35 USC .sctn.119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application
Ser. No. 60/612,468 filed on Sep. 23, 2004 and U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 60/696,353 filed on Jun. 30, 2005, each of
which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates generally to antibodies engineered
with reactive cysteine residues and more specifically to antibodies
with therapeutic or diagnostic applications. The cysteine
engineered antibodies may be conjugated with chemotherapeutic
drugs, toxins, affinity ligands such as biotin, and detection
labels such as fluorophores. The invention also relates to methods
of using antibodies and antibody-drug conjugate compounds for in
vitro, in situ, and in vivo diagnosis or treatment of mammalian
cells, or associated pathological conditions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Antibody therapy has been established for the targeted
treatment of patients with cancer, immunological and angiogenic
disorders. In attempts to discover effective cellular targets for
cancer diagnosis and therapy with antibodies, researchers have
sought to identify transmembrane or otherwise tumor-associated
polypeptides that are specifically expressed on the surface of
cancer cells as compared to normal, non-cancerous cell(s). The
identification of such tumor-associated cell surface antigen
polypeptides, i.e. tumor associated antigens (TAA), has given rise
to the ability to specifically target cancer cells for destruction
via antibody-based therapies.
[0004] The use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), i.e.
immunoconjugates, for the local delivery of cytotoxic or cytostatic
agents, i.e. drugs to kill or inhibit tumor cells in the treatment
of cancer (Lambert, J. (2005) Curr. Opinion in Pharmacology
5:543-549; Wu et al (2005) Nature Biotechnology 23(9):1137-1146;
Payne, G. (2003) Cancer Cell 3:207-212; Syrigos and Epenetos (1999)
Anticancer Research 19:605-614; Niculescu-Duvaz and Springer (1997)
Adv. Drug Del. Rev. 26:151-172; U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,278)
theoretically allows targeted delivery of the drug moiety to
tumors, and intracellular accumulation therein, where systemic
administration of these unconjugated drug agents may result in
unacceptable levels of toxicity to normal cells as well as the
tumor cells sought to be eliminated (Baldwin et al (1986) Lancet
pp. (Mar. 15, 1986):603-05; Thorpe, (1985) "Antibody Carriers Of
Cytotoxic Agents In Cancer Therapy: A Review," in Monoclonal
Antibodies '84: Biological And Clinical Applications, A. Pinchera
et al (ed.s), pp. 475-506). Maximal efficacy with minimal toxicity
is sought thereby. Efforts to design and refine ADC have focused on
the selectivity of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as well as
drug-linking and drug-releasing properties (Lambert, J. (2005)
Curr. Opinion in Pharmacology 5:543-549. Both polyclonal antibodies
and monoclonal antibodies have been reported as useful in these
strategies (Rowland et al (1986) Cancer Immunol. Immunother.,
21:183-87). Drugs used in these methods include daunomycin,
doxorubicin, methotrexate, and vindesine (Rowland et al (1986)
supra). Toxins used in antibody-toxin conjugates include bacterial
toxins such as diphtheria toxin, plant toxins such as ricin, small
molecule toxins such as geldanamycin (Mandler et al (2000) J. of
the Nat. Cancer Inst. 92(19):1573-1581; Mandler et al (2000)
Bioorganic & Med. Chem. Letters 10:1025-1028; Mandler et al
(2002) Bioconjugate Chem. 13:786-791), maytansinoids (EP 1391213;
Liu et al (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:8618-8623), and
calicheamicin (Lode et al (1998) Cancer Res. 58:2928; Hinman et al
(1993) Cancer Res. 53:3336-3342). The toxins may effect their
cytotoxic and cytostatic effects by mechanisms including tubulin
binding, DNA binding, or topoisomerase inhibition. Some cytotoxic
drugs tend to be inactive or less active when conjugated to large
antibodies or protein receptor ligands.
[0005] An antibody-radioisotope conjugate has been approved.
ZEVALIN.RTM. (ibritumomab tiuxetan, Biogen/Idec) is composed of a
murine IgG1 kappa monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20
antigen found on the surface of normal and malignant B lymphocytes
and .sup.111In or .sup.90Y radioisotope bound by a thiourea
linker-chelator (Wiseman et al (2000) Eur. J. Nucl. Med.
27(7):766-77; Wiseman et al (2002) Blood 99(12):4336-42; Witzig et
al (2002) J. Clin. Oncol. 20(10):2453-63; Witzig et al (2002) J.
Clin. Oncol. 20(15):3262-69). Although ZEVALIN.RTM. has activity
against B-cell non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL), administration results
in severe and prolonged cytopenias in most patients. MYLOTARG.TM.
(gemtuzumab ozogamicin, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals), an antibody-drug
conjugate composed of a hu CD33 antibody linked to calicheamicin,
was approved in 2000 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia by
injection (Drugs of the Future (2000) 25(7):686; U.S. Pat. Nos.
4,970,198; 5,079,233; 5,585,089; 5,606,040; 5,693,762; 5,739,116;
5,767,285; 5,773,001). Cantuzumab mertansine (Immunogen, Inc.), an
antibody-drug conjugate composed of the huC242 antibody linked via
the disulfide linker SPP to the maytansinoid drug moiety, DM1 (Xie
et al (2004) J. of Pharm. and Exp. Ther. 308(3):1073-1082), is
advancing into Phase TI trials for the treatment of cancers that
express CanAg, such as colon, pancreatic, gastric, and others.
MLN-2704 (Millennium Pharm., BZL Biologics, Immunogen Inc.), an
antibody-drug conjugate composed of the anti-prostate specific
membrane antigen (PSMA) monoclonal antibody linked to the
maytansinoid drug moiety, DM1, is under development for the
potential treatment of prostate tumors.
[0006] The auristatin peptides, auristatin E (AE) and
monomethylauristatin (MMAE), synthetic analogs of dolastatin (WO
02/088172), have been conjugated to: (i) chimeric monoclonal
antibodies cBR96 (specific to Lewis Y on carcinomas); (ii) cAC10
which is specific to CD30 on hematological malignancies (Klussman,
et al (2004), Bioconjugate Chemistry 15(4):765-773; Doronina et al
(2003) Nature Biotechnology 21(7):778-784; Francisco et al (2003)
Blood 102(4):1458-1465; US 2004/0018194; (iii) anti-CD20 antibodies
such as rituxan (WO 04/032828) for the treatment of CD20-expressing
cancers and immune disorders; (iv) anti-EphB2R antibodies 2H9 and
anti-IL-8 for treatment of colorectal cancer (Mao et al (2004)
Cancer Research 64(3):781-788); (v) E-selectin antibody (Bhaskar et
al (2003) Cancer Res. 63:6387-6394); and (vi) other anti-CD30
antibodies (WO 03/043583). Variants of auristatin E are disclosed
in U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,237 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,431. Monomethyl
auristatin E conjugated to monoclonal antibodies are disclosed in
Senter et al, Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer
Research, Volume 45, Abstract Number 623, presented Mar. 28, 2004.
Auristatin analogs MMAE and MMAF have been conjugated to various
antibodies (WO 2005/081711).
[0007] Conventional means of attaching, i.e. linking through
covalent bonds, a drug moiety to an antibody generally leads to a
heterogeneous mixture of molecules where the drug moieties are
attached at a number of sites on the antibody. For example,
cytotoxic drugs have typically been conjugated to antibodies
through the often-numerous lysine residues of an antibody,
generating a heterogeneous antibody-drug conjugate mixture.
Depending on reaction conditions, the heterogeneous mixture
typically contains a distribution of antibodies with from 0 to
about 8, or more, attached drug moieties. In addition, within each
subgroup of conjugates with a particular integer ratio of drug
moieties to antibody, is a potentially heterogeneous mixture where
the drug moiety is attached at various sites on the antibody.
Analytical and preparative methods are inadequate to separate and
characterize the antibody-drug conjugate species molecules within
the heterogeneous mixture resulting from a conjugation reaction.
Antibodies are large, complex and structurally diverse
biomolecules, often with many reactive functional groups. Their
reactivities with linker reagents and drug-linker intermediates are
dependent on factors such as pH, concentration, salt concentration,
and co-solvents. Furthermore, the multistep conjugation process may
be nonreproducible due to difficulties in controlling the reaction
conditions and characterizing reactants and intermediates.
[0008] Cysteine thiols are reactive at neutral pH, unlike most
amines which are protonated and less nucleophilic near pH 7. Since
free thiol (RSH, sulfhydryl) groups are relatively reactive,
proteins with cysteine residues often exist in their oxidized form
as disulfide-linked oligomers or have internally bridged disulfide
groups. Extracellular proteins generally do not have free thiols
(Garman, 1997, Non-Radioactive Labelling: A Practical Approach,
Academic Press, London, at page 55). The amount of free thiol in a
protein may be estimated by the standard Ellman's assay.
Immunoglobulin M is an example of a disulfide-linked pentamer,
while immunoglobulin G is an example of a protein with internal
disulfide bridges bonding the subunits together. In proteins such
as this, reduction of the disulfide bonds with a reagent such as
dithiothreitol (DTT) or selenol (Singh et al (2002) Anal. Biochem.
304:147-156) is required to generate the reactive free thiol. This
approach may result in loss of antibody tertiary structure and
antigen binding specificity.
[0009] Antibody cysteine thiol groups are generally more reactive,
i.e. more nucleophilic, towards electrophilic conjugation reagents
than antibody amine or hydroxyl groups. Cysteine residues have been
introduced into proteins by genetic engineering techniques to form
covalent attachments to ligands or to form new intramolecular
disulfide bonds (Better et al (1994) J. Biol. Chem.
269(13):9644-9650; Bernhard et al (1994) Bioconjugate Chem.
5:126-132; Greenwood et al (1994) Therapeutic Immunology 1:247-255;
Tu et al (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:4862-4867; Kanno et
al (2000) J. of Biotechnology, 76:207-214; Chmura et al (2001)
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 98(15):8480-8484; U.S. Pat. No.
6,248,564). However, designing in cysteine thiol groups by the
mutation of various amino acid residues of a protein to cysteine
amino acids is potentially problematic, particularly in the case of
unpaired (free Cys) residues or those which are relatively
accessible for reaction or oxidation. In concentrated solutions of
the protein, whether in the periplasm of E. coli, culture
supernatants, or partially or completely purified protein, unpaired
Cys residues on the surface of the protein can pair and oxidize to
form intermolecular disulfides, and hence protein dimers or
multimers. Disulfide dimer formation renders the new Cys unreactive
for conjugation to a drug, ligand, or other label. Furthermore, if
the protein oxidatively forms an intramolecular disulfide bond
between the newly engineered Cys and an existing Cys residue, both
Cys groups are unavailable for active site participation and
interactions. Furthermore, the protein may be rendered inactive or
non-specific, by misfolding or loss of tertiary structure (Zhang et
al (2002) Anal. Biochem. 311:1-9).
SUMMARY
[0010] The compounds of the invention include cysteine engineered
antibodies where one or more amino acids of a parent antibody are
replaced with a free cysteine amino acid. A cysteine engineered
antibody comprises one or more free cysteine amino acids having a
thiol reactivity value in the range of 0.6 to 1.0. A free cysteine
amino acid is a cysteine residue which has been engineered into the
parent antibody and is not part of a disulfide bridge.
[0011] In one aspect, the cysteine engineered antibody is prepared
by a process comprising: [0012] (a) replacing one or more amino
acid residues of a parent antibody by cysteine; and [0013] (b)
determining the thiol reactivity of the cysteine engineered
antibody by reacting the cysteine engineered antibody with a
thiol-reactive reagent.
[0014] The cysteine engineered antibody may be more reactive than
the parent antibody with the thiol-reactive reagent.
[0015] The free cysteine amino acid residues may be located in the
heavy or light chains, or in the constant or variable domains.
Antibody fragments, e.g. Fab, may also be engineered with one or
more cysteine amino acids replacing amino acids of the antibody
fragment, to form cysteine engineered antibody fragments.
[0016] Another aspect of the invention provides a method of
preparing (making) a cysteine engineered antibody, comprising:
[0017] (a) introducing one or more cysteine amino acids into a
parent antibody in order to generate the cysteine engineered
antibody; and [0018] (b) determining the thiol reactivity of the
cysteine engineered antibody with a thiol-reactive reagent;
[0019] wherein the cysteine engineered antibody is more reactive
than the parent antibody with the thiol-reactive reagent.
[0020] Step (a) of the method of preparing a cysteine engineered
antibody may comprise: [0021] (i) mutagenizing a nucleic acid
sequence encoding the cysteine engineered antibody; [0022] (ii)
expressing the cysteine engineered antibody; and [0023] (iii)
isolating and purifying the cysteine engineered antibody.
[0024] Step (b) of the method of preparing a cysteine engineered
antibody may comprise expressing the cysteine engineered antibody
on a viral particle selected from a phage or a phagemid
particle.
[0025] Step (b) of the method of preparing a cysteine engineered
antibody may also comprise: [0026] (i) reacting the cysteine
engineered antibody with a thiol-reactive affinity reagent to
generate an affinity labelled, cysteine engineered antibody; and
[0027] (ii) measuring the binding of the affinity labelled,
cysteine engineered antibody to a capture media.
[0028] Another aspect of the invention is a method of screening
cysteine engineered antibodies with highly reactive, unpaired
cysteine amino acids for thiol reactivity comprising: [0029] (a)
introducing one or more cysteine amino acids into a parent antibody
in order to generate a cysteine engineered antibody; [0030] (b)
reacting the cysteine engineered antibody with a thiol-reactive
affinity reagent to generate an affinity labelled, cysteine
engineered antibody; and [0031] (c) measuring the binding of the
affinity labelled, cysteine engineered antibody to a capture media;
and [0032] (d) determining the thiol reactivity of the cysteine
engineered antibody with the thiol-reactive reagent.
[0033] Step (a) of the method of screening cysteine engineered
antibodies may comprise: [0034] (i) mutagenizing a nucleic acid
sequence encoding the cysteine engineered antibody; [0035] (ii)
expressing the cysteine engineered antibody; and [0036] (iii)
isolating and purifying the cysteine engineered antibody.
[0037] Step (b) of the method of screening cysteine engineered
antibodies may comprise expressing the cysteine engineered antibody
on a viral particle selected from a phage or a phagemid
particle.
[0038] Step (b) of the method of screening cysteine engineered
antibodies may also comprise: [0039] (i) reacting the cysteine
engineered antibody with a thiol-reactive affinity reagent to
generate an affinity labelled, cysteine engineered antibody; and
[0040] (ii) measuring the binding of the affinity labelled,
cysteine engineered antibody to a capture media.
[0041] Cysteine engineered antibodies may be useful in the
treatment of cancer and include antibodies specific for cell
surface and transmembrane receptors, and tumor-associated antigens
(TAA). Such antibodies may be used as naked antibodies
(unconjugated to a drug or label moiety) or as Formula I
antibody-drug conjugates (ADC).
[0042] Embodiments of the methods for preparing and screening a
cysteine engineered antibody include where the parent antibody is
an antibody fragment, such as hu4D5Fabv8. The parent antibody may
also be a fusion protein comprising an albumin-binding peptide
sequence (ABP). The parent antibody may also be a humanized
antibody selected from huMAb4D5-1, huMAb4D5-2, huMAb4D5-3,
huMAb4D5-4, huMAb4D5-5, huMAb4D5-6, huMAb4D5-7 and huMAb4D5-8
(trastuzumab).
[0043] Cysteine engineered antibodies of the invention may be
site-specifically and efficiently coupled with a thiol-reactive
reagent. The thiol-reactive reagent may be a multifunctional linker
reagent, a capture label reagent, a fluorophore reagent, or a
drug-linker intermediate.
[0044] The cysteine engineered antibody may be labeled with a
detectable label, immobilized on a solid phase support and/or
conjugated with a drug moiety.
[0045] Another aspect of the invention is an antibody-drug
conjugate compound comprising a cysteine engineered antibody (Ab),
and a drug moiety (D) wherein the cysteine engineered antibody is
attached through one or more free cysteine amino acids by a linker
moiety (L) to D; the compound having Formula I:
Ab-(L-D).sub.p I
where p is 1, 2, 3, or 4; and wherein the cysteine engineered
antibody is prepared by a process comprising replacing one or more
amino acid residues of a parent antibody by one or more free
cysteine amino acids. Drug moieties include, but are not limited to
a maytansinoid, an auristatin, a dolastatin, a trichothecene,
CC1065, a calicheamicin and other enediyne antibiotics, a taxane,
an anthracycline, and stereoisomers, isosteres, analogs or
derivatives thereof. Exemplary drug moieties include DM1, MMAE, and
MMAF.
[0046] The antibody-drug conjugate of Formula I may further
comprise an albumin-binding peptide (ABP) sequence; the composition
having Formula Ia:
ABP-Ab-(L-D).sub.p Ia
[0047] Another aspect of the invention is a composition comprising
a cysteine engineered antibody or a cysteine engineered
antibody-drug conjugate and a physiologically or pharmaceutically
acceptable carrier or diluent. This composition for therapeutic use
is sterile and may be lyophilized.
[0048] Another aspect of the invention includes diagnostic and
therapeutic uses for the compounds and compositions disclosed
herein. Pharmaceutical compositions include combinations of Formula
I compounds and one or more chemotherapeutic agents.
[0049] Another aspect of the invention is a method for killing or
inhibiting the proliferation of tumor cells or cancer cells
comprising treating the cells with an amount of an antibody-drug
conjugate of the invention, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt
or solvate thereof, being effective to kill or inhibit the
proliferation of the tumor cells or cancer cells.
[0050] Other aspects of the invention include methods for treating:
cancer; an autoimmune disease; or an infectious disease comprising
administering to a patient in need thereof an effective amount of
the antibody-drug conjugate compound of the invention, or a
pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.
[0051] Another aspect of the invention is a method for the
treatment of cancer in a mammal, wherein the cancer is
characterized by the overexpression of an ErbB receptor. The mammal
optionally does not respond, or responds poorly, to treatment with
an unconjugated anti-ErbB antibody. The method comprises
administering to the mammal a therapeutically effective amount of
an antibody-drug conjugate compound of the invention.
[0052] Another aspect of the invention is a method of inhibiting
the growth of tumor cells that overexpress a growth factor receptor
selected from the group consisting of HER2 receptor and EGF
receptor comprising administering to a patient an antibody-drug
conjugate compound which binds specifically to said growth factor
receptor and a chemotherapeutic agent wherein said antibody-drug
conjugate and said chemotherapeutic agent are each administered in
amounts effective to inhibit growth of tumor cells in the
patient.
[0053] Another aspect of the invention is a method for the
treatment of a human patient susceptible to or diagnosed with a
disorder characterized by overexpression of ErbB2 receptor,
comprising administering an effective amount of a combination of an
antibody-drug conjugate compound and a chemotherapeutic agent.
[0054] Another aspect of the invention is an assay method for
detecting cancer cells comprising: exposing cells to an
antibody-drug conjugate compound, and determining the extent of
binding of the antibody-drug conjugate compound to the cells.
[0055] Another aspect of the invention is an article of manufacture
comprising an antibody-drug conjugate compound; a container; and a
package insert or label indicating that the compound can be used to
treat cancer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0056] FIG. 1A shows a three-dimensional representation of the
hu4D5Fabv7 antibody fragment derived by X-ray crystal coordinates.
The structure positions of the exemplary engineered Cys residues of
the heavy and light chains are numbered (according to a sequential
numbering system).
[0057] FIG. 1B shows a sequential numbering scheme (top row),
starting at the N-terminus in comparison with the Kabat numbering
scheme (bottom row) for 4D5v7fabH. Kabat numbering insertions are
noted by a,b,c.
[0058] FIGS. 2A and 2B show binding measurements with detection of
absorbance at 450 nm of hu4D5Fabv8 and hu4D5Fabv8 Cys mutant
(ThioFab) phage variants: (A) non-biotinylated phage-hu4D5Fabv8 and
(B) biotinylated phage-hu4D5Fabv8 (B) by the PHESELECTOR assay for
interactions with BSA (open bar), HER2 (striped bar) or
streptavidin (solid bar).
[0059] FIGS. 3A and 3B show binding measurements with detection of
absorbance at 450 nm of hu4D5Fabv8 (left) and hu4D5Fabv8 Cys mutant
(ThioFab) variants: (A) non-biotinylated phage-hu4D5Fabv8 and (B)
biotinylated phage-hu4D5Fabv8 by the PHESELECTOR assay for
interactions with: BSA (open bar), HER2 (striped bar) and
streptavidin (solid bar). Light chain variants are on the left side
and heavy chain variants are on the right side. Thiol
reactivity=OD.sub.450 nm for streptavidin binding/OD.sub.450 nm for
HER2 (antibody) binding
[0060] FIG. 4A shows Fractional Surface Accessibility values of
residues on wild type hu4D5Fabv8. Light chain sites are on the left
side and heavy chain sites are on the right side.
[0061] FIG. 4B shows binding measurements with detection of
absorbance at 450 nm of biotinylated hu4D5Fabv8 (left) and
hu4D5Fabv8 Cys mutant (ThioFab) variants for interactions with HER2
(day 2), streptavidin (SA) (day 2), HER2 (day 4), and SA (day 4).
Phage-hu4D5Fabv8 Cys variants were isolated and stored at 4.degree.
C. Biotin conjugation was carried out either at day 2 or day 4
followed by PHESELECTOR analyses to monitor their interaction with
Her2 and streptavidin as described in Example 2, and probe the
stability of reactive thiol groups on engineered ThioFab
variants.
[0062] FIG. 5 shows binding measurements with detection of
absorbance at 450 nm of biotin-maleimide conjugated-hu4D5Fabv8
(A121C) and non-biotinylated wild type hu4D5Fabv8 for binding to
streptavidin and HER2. Each Fab was tested at 2 ng and 20 ng.
[0063] FIG. 6 shows ELISA analysis with detection of absorbance at
450 nm of biotinylated ABP-hu4D5Fabv8 wild type (wt), and
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8 cysteine mutants V110C and A121C for binding with
rabbit albumin, streptavidin (SA), and HER2.
[0064] FIG. 7 shows ELISA analysis with detection of absorbance at
450 nm of biotinylated ABP-hu4D5Fabv8 cysteine mutants (ThioFab
variants): (left to right) single Cys variants ABP-V110C,
ABP-A121C, and double Cys variants ABP-V110C-A88C and
ABP-V110C-A121C for binding with rabbit albumin, HER2 and
streptavidin (SA), and probing with Fab-HRP or SA-HRP.
[0065] FIG. 8 shows binding of biotinylated ThioFab phage and an
anti-phage HRP antibody to HER2 (top) and Streptavidin
(bottom).
[0066] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary representation of an ABP-ThioFab
fusion protein drug conjugate binding to a HER2 receptor antigen.
ABP=albumin binding protein.
[0067] FIG. 10 shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of
SK-BR-3 cells treated with - -trastuzumab; -.tangle-solidup.-
trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1; and -.diamond-solid.- hu4D5Fabv8 cysteine
mutant-(A121C)-BMPEO-DM1.
[0068] FIG. 11 shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of
SK-BR-3 cells treated with: trastuzumab; - - trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1;
and -.quadrature.- hu4D5Fabv8 cysteine mutant
(V110C)-BMPEO-DM1.
[0069] FIG. 12 shows the mean tumor volume change over time in
athymic nude mice with MMTV-HER2Fo5 mammary tumor allografts, dosed
on Day 0 with: Vehicle (Buffer); -.box-solid.- ABP-hu4D5Fabv8
cysteine mutant (V110C light chain)-DM1; and - - ABP-hu4D5Fabv8
cysteine mutant (A121C heavy chain)-DM1.
[0070] FIG. 13A shows a cartoon depiction of biotinylated antibody
binding to immobilized HER2 with binding of HRP labeled secondary
antibody for absorbance detection.
[0071] FIG. 13B shows binding measurements with detection of
absorbance at 450 nm of biotin-maleimide conjugated
thio-trastuzumab variants and non-biotinylated wild type
trastuzumab in binding to immobilized HER2. From left to right:
V110C (single cys), A121C (single cys), V110C/A121C (double cys),
and trastuzumab. Each thio IgG variant and trastuzumab was tested
at 1, 10, and 100 ng.
[0072] FIG. 14A shows a cartoon depiction of biotinylated antibody
binding to immobilized HER2 with binding of biotin to anti-IgG-HRP
for absorbance detection.
[0073] FIG. 14B shows binding measurements with detection of
absorbance at 450 nm of biotin-maleimide conjugated-thio
trastuzumab variants and non-biotinylated wild type trastuzumab in
binding to immobilized streptavidin. From left to right: V110C
(single cys), A121C (single cys), V110C/A121C (double cys), and
trastuzumab. Each thio IgG variant and trastuzumab was tested at 1,
10, and 100 ng.
[0074] FIG. 15 shows the general process to prepare a cysteine
engineered antibody (ThioMab) expressed from cell culture for
conjugation.
[0075] FIG. 16 shows non-reducing (top) and reducing (bottom)
denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of 2H9
ThioMab Fc variants (left to right, lanes 1-9): A339C; S337C;
S324C; A287C; V284C; V282C; V279C; V273C, and 2H9 wild type after
purification on immobilized Protein A. The lane on the right is a
size marker ladder, indicating the intact proteins are about 150
kDa, heavy chain fragments about 50 kDa, and light chain fragments
about 25 kDa.
[0076] FIG. 17A shows non-reducing (left) and reducing (+DTT)
(right) denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of
2H9 ThioMab variants (left to right, lanes 1-4): L-V15C; S179C;
S375C; S400C, after purification on immobilized Protein A.
[0077] FIG. 17B shows non-reducing (left) and reducing (+DTT)
(right) denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of
2H9 and 3A5 ThioMab variants after purification on immobilized
Protein A.
[0078] FIG. 18 shows western blot analysis of biotinylated Thio-IgG
variants. 2H9 and 3A5 ThioMab variants were analyzed on reduced
denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the proteins were
transferred to nitrocellulose membrane. The presence of antibody
and conjugated biotin were probed with anti-IgG-HRP (top) and
streptavidin-HRP (bottom), respectively. Lane 1: 3A5H-A121C. Lane
2: 3A5 L-V110C. Lane 3: 2H9H-A121C. Lane 4: 2H9L-V110C. Lane 5: 2H9
wild type.
[0079] FIG. 19 shows ELISA analysis for the binding of biotinylated
2H9 variants to streptavidin by probing with anti-IgG-HRP and
measuring the absorbance at 450 nm of (top bar diagram). Bottom
schematic diagram depicts the experimental design used in the ELISA
analysis.
[0080] FIG. 20 shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of
SK-BR-3 cells treated with: - -trastuzumab; -.tangle-solidup.-
trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 with a drug loading of 3.4 DM1/Ab; and
-.diamond-solid.- thio-trastuzumab (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 with a drug
loading of 1.6 DM1/Ab.
[0081] FIG. 21A shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of HT
1080EphB2 cells treated with: parent 2H9 anti-EphB2R; and
-.quadrature.- thio 2H9 (A121C) BMPEO-DM1.
[0082] FIG. 21B shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of BT
474 cells treated with: parent 2H9 anti-EphB2R; and -.quadrature.-
thio 2H9 (A121C) BMPEO-DM1.
[0083] FIG. 22 shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of
PC3/neo cells treated with: -.diamond-solid.-3A5 anti
MUC16-SMCC-DM1; and -.box-solid.- thio 3A5 (A121C) BMPEO-DM1.
[0084] FIG. 23 shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of
PC3/MUC16 cells treated with: -.diamond-solid.-3A5 anti
MUC16-SMCC-DM1; and -.box-solid.- thio 3A5 (A121C) BMPEO-DM1.
[0085] FIG. 24 shows an in vitro, cell proliferation assay of
OVCAR-3 cells treated with: -.diamond-solid.-3A5 anti
MUC16-SMCC-DM1; and -.box-solid.- thio 3A5 (A121C) BMPEO-DM1.
[0086] FIG. 25 shows the mean tumor volume change over 21 days in
athymic nude mice with MMTV-HER2Fo5 mammary tumor allografts, after
a single dose on Day 0 with: Vehicle (Buffer); - -
trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 10 mg/kg, with a drug loading of 3.4 DM1/Ab;
-.box-solid.- thio trastuzumab (A121C)--SMCC-DM1 21 mg/kg, with a
drug loading of 1.6 DM1/Ab; and -.quadrature.- thio trastuzumab
(A121C)--SMCC-DM110 mg/kg, with a drug loading of 1.6 DM1/Ab.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0087] Reference will now be made in detail to certain embodiments
of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the
accompanying structures and formulas. While the invention will be
described in conjunction with the enumerated embodiments, it will
be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to
those embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to
cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, which may
be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by
the claims.
[0088] One skilled in the art will recognize many methods and
materials similar or equivalent to those described herein, which
could be used in the practice of the present invention. The present
invention is in no way limited to the methods and materials
described.
[0089] Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms
used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of
ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, and are
consistent with: Singleton et al (1994) Dictionary of Microbiology
and Molecular Biology, 2nd Ed., J. Wiley & Sons, New York,
N.Y.; and Janeway, C., Travers, P., Walport, M., Shlomchik (2001)
Immunobiology, 5th Ed., Garland Publishing, New York.
DEFINITIONS
[0090] Unless stated otherwise, the following terms and phrases as
used herein are intended to have the following meanings:
[0091] When trade names are used herein, applicants intend to
independently include the trade name product formulation, the
generic drug, and the active pharmaceutical ingredient(s) of the
trade name product.
[0092] The term "antibody" herein is used in the broadest sense and
specifically covers monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies,
dimers, multimers, multispecific antibodies (e.g., bispecific
antibodies), and antibody fragments, so long as they exhibit the
desired biological activity (Miller et al (2003) Jour. of
Immunology 170:4854-4861). Antibodies may be murine, human,
humanized, chimeric, or derived from other species. An antibody is
a protein generated by the immune system that is capable of
recognizing and binding to a specific antigen. (Janeway, C.,
Travers, P., Walport, M., Shlomchik (2001) Immuno Biology, 5th Ed.,
Garland Publishing, New York). A target antigen generally has
numerous binding sites, also called epitopes, recognized by CDRs on
multiple antibodies. Each antibody that specifically binds to a
different epitope has a different structure. Thus, one antigen may
have more than one corresponding antibody. An antibody includes a
full-length immunoglobulin molecule or an immunologically active
portion of a full-length immunoglobulin molecule, i.e., a molecule
that contains an antigen binding site that immunospecifically binds
an antigen of a target of interest or part thereof, such targets
including but not limited to, cancer cell or cells that produce
autoimmune antibodies associated with an autoimmune disease. The
immunoglobulin disclosed herein can be of any type (e.g., IgG, IgE,
IgM, IgD, and IgA), class (e.g., IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgA1 and
IgA2) or subclass of immunoglobulin molecule. The immunoglobulins
can be derived from any species. In one aspect, however, the
immunoglobulin is of human, murine, or rabbit origin.
[0093] "Antibody fragments" comprise a portion of a full length
antibody, generally the antigen binding or variable region thereof.
Examples of antibody fragments include Fab, Fab', F(ab').sub.2, and
Fv fragments; diabodies; linear antibodies; minibodies (Olafsen et
al (2004) Protein Eng. Design & Sel. 17(4):315-323), fragments
produced by a Fab expression library, anti-idiotypic (anti-Id)
antibodies, CDR (complementary determining region), and
epitope-binding fragments of any of the above which
immunospecifically bind to cancer cell antigens, viral antigens or
microbial antigens, single-chain antibody molecules; and
multispecific antibodies formed from antibody fragments.
[0094] The term "monoclonal antibody" as used herein refers to an
antibody obtained from a population of substantially homogeneous
antibodies, i.e., the individual antibodies comprising the
population are identical except for possible naturally occurring
mutations that may be present in minor amounts. Monoclonal
antibodies are highly specific, being directed against a single
antigenic site. Furthermore, in contrast to polyclonal antibody
preparations which include different antibodies directed against
different determinants (epitopes), each monoclonal antibody is
directed against a single determinant on the antigen. In addition
to their specificity, the monoclonal antibodies are advantageous in
that they may be synthesized uncontaminated by other antibodies.
The modifier "monoclonal" indicates the character of the antibody
as being obtained from a substantially homogeneous population of
antibodies, and is not to be construed as requiring production of
the antibody by any particular method. For example, the monoclonal
antibodies to be used in accordance with the present invention may
be made by the hybridoma method first described by Kohler et al
(1975) Nature 256:495, or may be made by recombinant DNA methods
(see for example: U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567; U.S. Pat. No.
5,807,715). The monoclonal antibodies may also be isolated from
phage antibody libraries using the techniques described in Clackson
et al (1991) Nature, 352:624-628; Marks et al (1991) J. Mol. Biol.,
222:581-597; for example.
[0095] The monoclonal antibodies herein specifically include
"chimeric" antibodies in which a portion of the heavy and/or light
chain is identical with or homologous to corresponding sequences in
antibodies derived from a particular species or belonging to a
particular antibody class or subclass, while the remainder of the
chain(s) is identical with or homologous to corresponding sequences
in antibodies derived from another species or belonging to another
antibody class or subclass, as well as fragments of such
antibodies, so long as they exhibit the desired biological activity
(U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567; and Morrison et al (1984) Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. USA, 81:6851-6855). Chimeric antibodies of interest
herein include "primatized" antibodies comprising variable domain
antigen-binding sequences derived from a non-human primate (e.g.,
Old World Monkey, Ape etc) and human constant region sequences.
[0096] An "intact antibody" herein is one comprising a VL and VH
domains, as well as a light chain constant domain (CL) and heavy
chain constant domains, CH1, CH2 and CH3. The constant domains may
be native sequence constant domains (e.g., human native sequence
constant domains) or amino acid sequence variant thereof. The
intact antibody may have one or more "effector functions" which
refer to those biological activities attributable to the Fc
constant region (a native sequence Fc region or amino acid sequence
variant Fc region) of an antibody. Examples of antibody effector
functions include C1q binding; complement dependent cytotoxicity;
Fc receptor binding; antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity
(ADCC); phagocytosis; and down regulation of cell surface receptors
such as B cell receptor and BCR.
[0097] Depending on the amino acid sequence of the constant domain
of their heavy chains, intact antibodies can be assigned to
different "classes." There are five major classes of intact
immunoglobulin antibodies: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM, and several
of these may be further divided into "subclasses" (isotypes), e.g.,
IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgA, and IgA2. The heavy-chain constant
domains that correspond to the different classes of antibodies are
called .alpha., .delta., .epsilon., .gamma., and .mu.,
respectively. The subunit structures and three-dimensional
configurations of different classes of immunoglobulins are well
known. Ig forms include hinge-modifications or hingeless forms
(Roux et al (1998) J. Immunol. 161:4083-4090; Lund et al (2000)
Eur. J. Biochem. 267:7246-7256; US 2005/0048572; US
2004/0229310).
[0098] An "ErbB receptor" is a receptor protein tyrosine kinase
which belongs to the ErbB receptor family whose members are
important mediators of cell growth, differentiation and survival.
The ErbB receptor family includes four distinct members including
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR, ErbB1, HER1), HER2 (ErbB2
or p185neu), HER3 (ErbB3) and HER4 (ErbB4 or tyro2). A panel of
anti-ErbB2 antibodies has been characterized using the human breast
tumor cell line SKBR3 (Hudziak et al (1989) Mol. Cell. Biol.
9(3):1165-1172. Maximum inhibition was obtained with the antibody
called 4D5 which inhibited cellular proliferation by 56%. Other
antibodies in the panel reduced cellular proliferation to a lesser
extent in this assay. The antibody 4D5 was further found to
sensitize ErbB2-overexpressing breast tumor cell lines to the
cytotoxic effects of TNF-a (U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,171). The
anti-ErbB2 antibodies discussed in Hudziak et al. are further
characterized in Fendly et al (1990) Cancer Research 50:1550-1558;
Kotts et al. (1990) In Vitro 26(3):59A; Sarup et al. (1991) Growth
Regulation 1:72-82; Shepard et al. J. (1991) Clin. Immunol. 11
(3):117-127; Kumar et al. (1991) Mol. Cell. Biol. 11(2):979-986;
Lewis et al. (1993) Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 37:255-263; Pietras
et al. (1994) Oncogene 9:1829-1838; Vitetta et al. (1994) Cancer
Research 54:5301-5309; Sliwkowski et al. (1994) J. Biol. Chem.
269(20):14661-14665; Scott et al. (1991) J. Biol. Chem.
266:14300-5; D'souza et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (1994)
91:7202-7206; Lewis et al. (1996) Cancer Research 56:1457-1465; and
Schaefer et al. (1997) Oncogene 15:1385-1394.
[0099] The ErbB receptor will generally comprise an extracellular
domain, which may bind an ErbB ligand; a lipophilic transmembrane
domain; a conserved intracellular tyrosine kinase domain; and a
carboxyl-terminal signaling domain harboring several tyrosine
residues which can be phosphorylated. The ErbB receptor may be a
"native sequence" ErbB receptor or an "amino acid sequence variant"
thereof. Preferably, the ErbB receptor is native sequence human
ErbB receptor. Accordingly, a "member of the ErbB receptor family"
is EGFR (ErbB1), ErbB2, ErbB3, ErbB4 or any other ErbB receptor
currently known or to be identified in the future.
[0100] The terms "ErbB1", "epidermal growth factor receptor",
"EGFR" and "HER1" are used interchangeably herein and refer to EGFR
as disclosed, for example, in Carpenter et al (1987) Ann. Rev.
Biochem., 56:881-914, including naturally occurring mutant forms
thereof (e.g., a deletion mutant EGFR as in Humphrey et al (1990)
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA) 87:4207-4211). The term erbB1 refers to
the gene encoding the EGFR protein product. Antibodies against HER1
are described, for example, in Murthy et al (1987) Arch. Biochem.
Biophys., 252:549-560 and in WO 95/25167.
[0101] The term "ERRP", "EGF-Receptor Related Protein", "EGFR
Related Protein" and "epidermal growth factor receptor related
protein" are used interchangeably herein and refer to ERRP as
disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,743 and US
Publication No. 2003/0096373.
[0102] The expressions "ErbB2" and "HER2" are used interchangeably
herein and refer to human HER2 protein described, for example, in
Semba et al (1985) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA) 82:6497-6501 and
Yamamoto et al (1986) Nature, 319:230-234 (Genebank accession
number X03363). The term "erbB2" refers to the gene encoding human
ErbB2 and "neu" refers to the gene encoding rat p185neu. Preferred
ErbB2 is native sequence human ErbB2.
[0103] "ErbB3" and "HER3" refer to the receptor polypeptide as
disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,183,884 and 5,480,968
as well as Kraus et al (1989) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA)
86:9193-9197. Antibodies against ErbB3 are known in the art and are
described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,183,884, 5,480,968 and
in WO 97/35885.
[0104] The terms "ErbB4" and "HER4" herein refer to the receptor
polypeptide as disclosed, for example, in EP Pat Application No
599,274; Plowman et al (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
90:1746-1750; and Plowman et al (1993) Nature 366:473-475,
including isoforms thereof, e.g., as disclosed in WO 99/19488.
Antibodies against HER4 are described, for example, in WO
02/18444.
[0105] Antibodies to ErbB receptors are available commercially from
a number of sources, including, for example, Santa Cruz
Biotechnology, Inc., California, USA.
[0106] The term "amino acid sequence variant" refers to
polypeptides having amino acid sequences that differ to some extent
from a native sequence polypeptide. Ordinarily, amino acid sequence
variants will possess at least about 70% sequence identity with at
least one receptor binding domain of a native ErbB ligand or with
at least one ligand binding domain of a native ErbB receptor, and
preferably, they will be at least about 80%, more preferably, at
least about 90% homologous by sequence with such receptor or ligand
binding domains. The amino acid sequence variants possess
substitutions, deletions, and/or insertions at certain positions
within the amino acid sequence of the native amino acid sequence.
Amino acids are designated by the conventional names, one-letter
and three-letter codes.
[0107] "Sequence identity" is defined as the percentage of residues
in the amino acid sequence variant that are identical after
aligning the sequences and introducing gaps, if necessary, to
achieve the maximum percent sequence identity. Methods and computer
programs for the alignment are well known in the art. One such
computer program is "Align 2," authored by Genentech, Inc., which
was filed with user documentation in the United States Copyright
Office, Washington, D.C. 20559, on Dec. 10, 1991.
[0108] "Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity" and "ADCC"
refer to a cell-mediated reaction in which nonspecific cytotoxic
cells that express Fc receptors (FcRs) (e.g., Natural Killer (NK)
cells, neutrophils, and macrophages) recognize bound antibody on a
target cell and subsequently cause lysis of the target cell. The
primary cells for mediating ADCC, NK cells, express Fc.gamma.RIII
only, whereas monocytes express Fc.gamma.RI, Fc.gamma.RII and
Fc.gamma.RIII. FcR expression on hematopoietic cells in summarized
is Table 3 on page 464 of Ravetch and Kinet, (1991) "Annu. Rev.
Immunol." 9:457-92. To assess ADCC activity of a molecule of
interest, an in vitro ADCC assay, such as that described in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,500,362 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,337 may be performed.
Useful effector cells for such assays include peripheral blood
mononuclear cells (PBMC) and Natural Killer (NK) cells.
Alternatively, or additionally, ADCC activity of the molecule of
interest may be assessed in vivo, e.g., in a animal model such as
that disclosed in Clynes et al (1998) PROC. NAT. ACAD. SCl. (USA)
(USA) 95:652-656.
[0109] "Human effector cells" are leukocytes which express one or
more constant region receptors (FcRs) and perform effector
functions. Preferably, the cells express at least Fc.gamma.RIII and
perform ADCC effector function. Examples of human leukocytes which
mediate ADCC include peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC),
natural killer (NK) cells, monocytes, cytotoxic T cells and
neutrophils; with PBMCs and NK cells being preferred. The effector
cells may be isolated from a native source thereof, e.g., from
blood or PBMCs as described herein.
[0110] The terms "Fc receptor" or "FcR" are used to describe a
receptor that binds to the Fc constant region of an antibody. The
preferred FcR is a native sequence human FcR. Moreover, a preferred
FcR is one which binds an IgG antibody (a gamma receptor) and
includes receptors of the Fc.gamma.RI, Fc.gamma.RII, and
Fc.gamma.RIII subclasses, including allelic variants and
alternatively spliced forms of these receptors. Fc.gamma.RII
receptors include Fc.gamma.RIIA (an "activating receptor") and
Fc.gamma.RIIB (an "inhibiting receptor"), which have similar amino
acid sequences that differ primarily in the cytoplasmic domains
thereof. Activating receptor Fc.gamma.RIIA contains an
immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) in its
cytoplasmic domain. Inhibiting receptor Fc.gamma.RIIB contains an
immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif (ITIM) in its
cytoplasmic domain. (See review M. in Da{tilde over (e)}ron, "Annu.
Rev. Immunol." 15:203-234 (1997)). FcRs are reviewed in Ravetch and
Kinet, "Annu. Rev. Immunol"., 9:457-92 (1991); Capel et al (1994)
Immunomethods 4:25-34; and de Haas et al (1995) J. Lab. Clin. Med.
126:330-41. Other FcRs, including those to be identified in the
future, are encompassed by the term "FcR" herein. The term also
includes the neonatal receptor, FcRn, which is responsible for the
transfer of maternal IgGs to the fetus (Guyer et al (1976) J.
Immunol., 117:587 and Kim et al (1994) J. Immunol. 24:249).
[0111] "Complement dependent cytotoxicity" or "CDC" refers to the
ability of a molecule to lyse a target in the presence of
complement. The complement activation pathway is initiated by the
binding of the first component of the complement system (C1q) to a
molecule (e.g., an antibody) complexed with a cognate antigen. To
assess complement activation, a CDC assay, e.g., as described in
Gazzano-Santoro et al J. Immunol. Methods, 202:163 (1996), may be
performed.
[0112] "Native antibodies" are usually heterotetrameric
glycoproteins of about 150,000 daltons, composed of two identical
light (L) chains and two identical heavy (H) chains. Each light
chain is linked to a heavy chain by one covalent disulfide bond,
while the number of disulfide linkages varies among the heavy
chains of different immunoglobulin isotypes. Each heavy and light
chain also has regularly spaced intrachain disulfide bridges. Each
heavy chain has at one end a variable domain (V.sub.H) followed by
a number of constant domains. Each light chain has a variable
domain at one end (V.sub.L) and a constant domain at its other end.
The constant domain of the light chain is aligned with the first
constant domain of the heavy chain, and the light-chain variable
domain is aligned with the variable domain of the heavy chain.
Particular amino acid residues are believed to form an interface
between the light chain and heavy chain variable domains.
[0113] The term "variable" refers to the fact that certain portions
of the variable domains differ extensively in sequence among
antibodies and are used in the binding and specificity of each
particular antibody for its particular antigen. However, the
variability is not evenly distributed throughout the variable
domains of antibodies. It is concentrated in three segments called
hypervariable regions both in the light chain and the heavy chain
variable domains. The more highly conserved portions of variable
domains are called the framework regions (FRs). The variable
domains of native heavy and light chains each comprise four FRs,
largely adopting a .beta.-sheet configuration, connected by three
hypervariable regions, which form loops connecting, and in some
cases forming part of, the .beta.-sheet structure. The
hypervariable regions in each chain are held together in close
proximity by the FRs and, with the hypervariable regions from the
other chain, contribute to the formation of the antigen-binding
site of antibodies (see Kabat et al (1991) Sequences of Proteins of
Immunological Interest, 5th Ed. Public Health Service, National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.). The constant domains are not
involved directly in binding an antibody to an antigen, but exhibit
various effector functions, such as participation of the antibody
in antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC).
[0114] The term "hypervariable region" when used herein refers to
the amino acid residues of an antibody which are responsible for
antigen-binding. The hypervariable region generally comprises amino
acid residues from a "complementarity determining region" or "CDR"
(e.g., residues 24-34 (L1), 50-56 (L2) and 89-97 (L3) in the light
chain variable domain and 31-35 (H1), 50-65 (H2) and 95-102 (H3) in
the heavy chain variable domain; Kabat et al supra) and/or those
residues from a "hypervariable loop" (e.g., residues 26-32 (L1),
50-52 (L2) and 91-96 (L3) in the light chain variable domain and
26-32 (H1), 53-55 (H2) and 96-101 (H3) in the heavy chain variable
domain; Chothia and Lesk (1987) J. Mol. Biol., 196:901-917).
"Framework Region" or "FR" residues are those variable domain
residues other than the hypervariable region residues as herein
defined.
[0115] Papain digestion of antibodies produces two identical
antigen-binding fragments, called "Fab" fragments, each with a
single antigen-binding site, and a residual "Fc" fragment, whose
name reflects its ability to crystallize readily. Pepsin treatment
yields an F(ab')2 fragment that has two antigen-binding sites and
is still capable of cross-linking antigen.
[0116] "Fv" is the minimum antibody fragment which contains a
complete antigen-recognition and antigen-binding site. This region
consists of a dimer of one heavy chain and one light chain variable
domain in tight, non-covalent association. It is in this
configuration that the three hypervariable regions of each variable
domain interact to define an antigen-binding site on the surface of
the V.sub.H-V.sub.L dimer. Collectively, the six hypervariable
regions confer antigen-binding specificity to the antibody.
However, even a single variable domain (or half of an Fv comprising
only three hypervariable regions specific for an antigen) has the
ability to recognize and bind antigen, although at a lower affinity
than the entire binding site.
[0117] The Fab fragment also contains the constant domain of the
light chain and the first constant domain (CH1) of the heavy chain.
Fab' fragments differ from Fab fragments by the addition of a few
residues at the carboxy terminus of the heavy chain CH1 domain
including one or more cysteines from the antibody hinge region.
Fab'-SH is the designation herein for Fab' in which the cysteine
residue(s) of the constant domains bear at least one free thiol
group. F(ab')2 antibody fragments originally were produced as pairs
of Fab' fragments which have hinge cysteines between them. Other
chemical couplings of antibody fragments are also known.
[0118] The "light chains" of antibodies from any vertebrate species
can be assigned to one of two clearly distinct types, called kappa
(.kappa.) and lambda (.lamda.), based on the amino acid sequences
of their constant domains.
[0119] "Single-chain Fv" or "scFv" antibody fragments comprise the
V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains of antibody, wherein these domains are
present in a single polypeptide chain. Preferably, the Fv
polypeptide further comprises a polypeptide linker between the
V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains which enables the scFv to form the
desired structure for antigen binding. For a review of scFv, see
Pluckthun in The Pharmacology of Monoclonal Antibodies, vol. 113,
Rosenburg and Moore eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 269-315
(1994). Anti-ErbB2 antibody scFv fragments are described in WO
93/16185; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,571,894; and 5,587,458.
[0120] The term "diabodies" refers to small antibody fragments with
two antigen-binding sites, which fragments comprise a variable
heavy domain (VH) connected to a variable light domain (VL) in the
same polypeptide chain (VH-VL). By using a linker that is too short
to allow pairing between the two domains on the same chain, the
domains are forced to pair with the complementary domains of
another chain and create two antigen-binding sites. Diabodies are
described more fully in, for example, EP 404,097; WO 93/11161; and
Hollinger et al (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:6444-6448.
[0121] "Humanized" forms of non-human (e.g., rodent) antibodies are
chimeric antibodies that contain minimal sequence derived from
non-human immunoglobulin. Humanization is a method to transfer the
murine antigen binding information to a non-immunogenic human
antibody acceptor, and has resulted in many therapeutically useful
drugs. The method of humanization generally begins by transferring
all six murine complementarity determining regions (CDRs) onto a
human antibody framework (Jones et al, (1986) Nature 321:522-525).
These CDR-grafted antibodies generally do not retain their original
affinity for antigen binding, and in fact, affinity is often
severely impaired. Besides the CDRs, select non-human antibody
framework residues must also be incorporated to maintain proper CDR
conformation (Chothia et al (1989) Nature 342:877). The transfer of
key mouse framework residues to the human acceptor in order to
support the structural conformation of the grafted CDRs has been
shown to restore antigen binding and affinity (Riechmann et al
(1992) J. Mol. Biol. 224, 487-499; Foote and Winter, (1992) J. Mol.
Biol. 224:487-499; Presta et al (1993) J. Immunol. 151, 2623-2632;
Werther et al (1996) J. Immunol. Methods 157:4986-4995; and Presta
et al (2001) Thromb. Haemost. 85:379-389). For the most part,
humanized antibodies are human immunoglobulins (recipient antibody)
in which residues from a hypervariable region of the recipient are
replaced by residues from a hypervariable region of a non-human
species (donor antibody) such as mouse, rat, rabbit or nonhuman
primate having the desired specificity, affinity, and capacity. In
some instances, framework region (FR) residues of the human
immunoglobulin are replaced by corresponding non-human residues.
Furthermore, humanized antibodies may comprise residues that are
not found in the recipient antibody or in the donor antibody. These
modifications are made to further refine antibody performance. In
general, the humanized antibody will comprise substantially all of
at least one, and typically two, variable domains, in which all or
substantially all of the hypervariable loops correspond to those of
a non-human immunoglobulin and all or substantially all of the FRs
are those of a human immunoglobulin sequence. The humanized
antibody optionally also will comprise at least a portion of an
immunoglobulin constant region (Fc), typically that of a human
immunoglobulin. For further details, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,213;
Jones et al (1986) Nature, 321:522-525; Riechmann et al (1988)
Nature 332:323-329; and Presta, (1992) Curr. Op. Struct. Biol.,
2:593-596.
[0122] A "free cysteine amino acid" refers to a cysteine amino acid
residue which has been engineered into a parent antibody, has a
thiol functional group (--SH), and is not paired as an
intramolecular or intermolecular disulfide bridge.
[0123] The term "thiol reactivity value" is a quantitative
characterization of the reactivity of free cysteine amino acids.
The thiol reactivity value is the percentage of a free cysteine
amino acid in a cysteine engineered antibody which reacts with a
thiol-reactive reagent, and converted to a maximum value of 1. For
example, a free cysteine amino acid on a cysteine engineered
antibody which reacts in 100% yield with a thiol-reactive reagent,
such as a biotin-maleimide reagent, to form a biotin-labelled
antibody has a thiol reactivity value of 1.0. Another cysteine
amino acid engineered into the same or different parent antibody
which reacts in 80% yield with a thiol-reactive reagent has a thiol
reactivity value of 0.8. Another cysteine amino acid engineered
into the same or different parent antibody which fails totally to
react with a thiol-reactive reagent has a thiol reactivity value of
0. Determination of the thiol reactivity value of a particular
cysteine may be conducted by ELISA assay, mass spectroscopy, liquid
chromatography, autoradiography, or other quantitative analytical
tests.
[0124] A "parent antibody" is an antibody comprising an amino acid
sequence from which one or more amino acid residues are replaced by
one or more cysteine residues. The parent antibody may comprise a
native or wild type sequence. The parent antibody may have
pre-existing amino acid sequence modifications (such as additions,
deletions and/or substitutions) relative to other native, wild
type, or modified forms of an antibody. A parent antibody may be
directed against a target antigen of interest, e.g. a biologically
important polypeptide. Antibodies directed against nonpolypeptide
antigens (such as tumor-associated glycolipid antigens; see U.S.
Pat. No. 5,091,178) are also contemplated.
[0125] Exemplary parent antibodies include antibodies having
affinity and selectivity for cell surface and transmembrane
receptors and tumor-associated antigens (TAA).
[0126] Other exemplary parent antibodies include those selected
from, and without limitation, anti-estrogen receptor antibody,
anti-progesterone receptor antibody, anti-p53 antibody,
anti-HER-2/neu antibody, anti-EGFR antibody, anti-cathepsin D
antibody, anti-Bcl-2 antibody, anti-E-cadherin antibody, anti-CA125
antibody, anti-CA15-3 antibody, anti-CA19-9 antibody, anti-c-erbB-2
antibody, anti-P-glycoprotein antibody, anti-CEA antibody,
anti-retinoblastoma protein antibody, anti-ras oncoprotein
antibody, anti-Lewis X antibody, anti-Ki-67 antibody, anti-PCNA
antibody, anti-CD3 antibody, anti-CD4 antibody, anti-CD5 antibody,
anti-CD7 antibody, anti-CD8 antibody, anti-CD9/p24 antibody,
anti-CD10 antibody, anti-CD11c antibody, anti-CD13 antibody,
anti-CD14 antibody, anti-CD15 antibody, anti-CD19 antibody,
anti-CD20 antibody, anti-CD22 antibody, anti-CD23 antibody,
anti-CD30 antibody, anti-CD31 antibody, anti-CD33 antibody,
anti-CD34 antibody, anti-CD35 antibody, anti-CD38 antibody,
anti-CD41 antibody, anti-LCA/CD45 antibody, anti-CD45RO antibody,
anti-CD45RA antibody, anti-CD39 antibody, anti-CD100 antibody,
anti-CD95/Fas antibody, anti-CD99 antibody, anti-CD106 antibody,
anti-ubiquitin antibody, anti-CD71 antibody, anti-c-myc antibody,
anti-cytokeratins antibody, anti-vimentins antibody, anti-HPV
proteins antibody, anti-kappa light chains antibody, anti-lambda
light chains antibody, anti-melanosomes antibody, anti-prostate
specific antigen antibody, anti-S-100 antibody, anti-tau antigen
antibody, anti-fibrin antibody, anti-keratins antibody and
anti-Tn-antigen antibody.
[0127] An "isolated" antibody is one which has been identified and
separated and/or recovered from a component of its natural
environment. Contaminant components of its natural environment are
materials which would interfere with diagnostic or therapeutic uses
for the antibody, and may include enzymes, hormones, and other
proteinaceous or nonproteinaceous solutes. In preferred
embodiments, the antibody will be purified (1) to greater than 95%
by weight of antibody as determined by the Lowry method, and most
preferably more than 99% by weight, (2) to a degree sufficient to
obtain at least 15 residues of N-terminal or internal amino acid
sequence by use of a spinning cup sequenator, or (3) to homogeneity
by SDS-PAGE under reducing or nonreducing conditions using
Coomassie blue or, preferably, silver stain. Isolated antibody
includes the antibody in situ within recombinant cells since at
least one component of the antibody's natural environment will not
be present. Ordinarily, however, isolated antibody will be prepared
by at least one purification step.
[0128] An antibody "which binds" a molecular target or an antigen
of interest, e.g., ErbB2 antigen, is one capable of binding that
antigen with sufficient affinity such that the antibody is useful
in targeting a cell expressing the antigen. Where the antibody is
one which binds ErbB2, it will usually preferentially bind ErbB2 as
opposed to other ErbB receptors, and may be one which does not
significantly cross-react with other proteins such as EGFR, ErbB3
or ErbB4. In such embodiments, the extent of binding of the
antibody to these non-ErbB2 proteins (e.g., cell surface binding to
endogenous receptor) will be less than 10% as determined by
fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis or
radioimmunoprecipitation (RIA). Sometimes, the anti-ErbB2 antibody
will not significantly cross-react with the rat neu protein, e.g.,
as described in Schecter et al. (1984) Nature 312:513 and Drebin et
al (1984) Nature 312:545-548.
[0129] Molecular targets for antibodies encompassed by the present
invention include CD proteins and their ligands, such as, but not
limited to: (i) CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD20, CD22, CD34, CD40,
CD79.alpha. (CD79a), and CD79.beta. (CD79b); (ii) members of the
ErbB receptor family such as the EGF receptor, HER2, HER3 or HER4
receptor; (iii) cell adhesion molecules such as LFA-1, Mac1,
p150,95, VLA-4, ICAM-1, VCAM and .alpha.v/.beta.3 integrin,
including either alpha or beta subunits thereof (e.g. anti-CD11a,
anti-CD18 or anti-CD11b antibodies); (iv) growth factors such as
VEGF; IgE; blood group antigens; flk2/flt3 receptor; obesity (OB)
receptor; mpl receptor; CTLA-4; protein C, BR3, c-met, tissue
factor, .beta.7 etc; and (v) cell surface and transmembrane
tumor-associated antigens (TAA).
[0130] Unless indicated otherwise, the term "monoclonal antibody
4D5" refers to an antibody that has antigen binding residues of, or
derived from, the murine 4D5 antibody (ATCC CRL 10463). For
example, the monoclonal antibody 4D5 may be murine monoclonal
antibody 4D5 or a variant thereof, such as a humanized 4D5.
Exemplary humanized 4D5 antibodies include huMAb4D5-1, huMAb4D5-2,
huMAb4D5-3, huMAb4D5-4, huMAb4D5-5, huMAb4D5-6, huMAb4D5-7 and
huMAb4D5-8 (trastuzumab, HERCEPTIN.RTM.) as in U.S. Pat. No.
5,821,337.
[0131] The terms "treat" or "treatment" refer to both therapeutic
treatment and prophylactic or preventative measures, wherein the
object is to prevent or slow down (lessen) an undesired
physiological change or disorder, such as the development or spread
of cancer. For purposes of this invention, beneficial or desired
clinical results include, but are not limited to, alleviation of
symptoms, diminishment of extent of disease, stabilized (i.e., not
worsening) state of disease, delay or slowing of disease
progression, amelioration or palliation of the disease state, and
remission (whether partial or total), whether detectable or
undetectable. "Treatment" can also mean prolonging survival as
compared to expected survival if not receiving treatment. Those in
need of treatment include those already with the condition or
disorder as well as those prone to have the condition or disorder
or those in which the condition or disorder is to be prevented.
[0132] The term "therapeutically effective amount" refers to an
amount of a drug effective to treat a disease or disorder in a
mammal. In the case of cancer, the therapeutically effective amount
of the drug may reduce the number of cancer cells; reduce the tumor
size; inhibit (i.e., slow to some extent and preferably stop)
cancer cell infiltration into peripheral organs; inhibit (i.e.,
slow to some extent and preferably stop) tumor metastasis; inhibit,
to some extent, tumor growth; and/or relieve to some extent one or
more of the symptoms associated with the cancer. To the extent the
drug may prevent growth and/or kill existing cancer cells, it may
be cytostatic and/or cytotoxic. For cancer therapy, efficacy can,
for example, be measured by assessing the time to disease
progression (TTP) and/or determining the response rate (RR).
[0133] The term "bioavailability" refers to the systemic
availability (i.e., blood/plasma levels) of a given amount of drug
administered to a patient. Bioavailability is an absolute term that
indicates measurement of both the time (rate) and total amount
(extent) of drug that reaches the general circulation from an
administered dosage form.
[0134] The terms "cancer" and "cancerous" refer to or describe the
physiological condition in mammals that is typically characterized
by unregulated cell growth. A "tumor" comprises one or more
cancerous cells. Examples of cancer include, but are not limited
to, carcinoma, lymphoma, blastoma, sarcoma, and leukemia or
lymphoid malignancies. More particular examples of such cancers
include squamous cell cancer (e.g., epithelial squamous cell
cancer), lung cancer including small- cell lung cancer, non-small
cell lung cancer ("NSCLC"), adenocarcinoma of the lung and squamous
carcinoma of the lung, cancer of the peritoneum, hepatocellular
cancer, gastric or stomach cancer including gastrointestinal
cancer, pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma, cervical cancer, ovarian
cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, hepatoma, breast cancer,
colon cancer, rectal cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial or
uterine carcinoma, salivary gland carcinoma, kidney or renal
cancer, prostate cancer, vulval cancer, thyroid cancer, hepatic
carcinoma, anal carcinoma, penile carcinoma, as well as head and
neck cancer.
[0135] An "ErbB-expressing cancer" is one comprising cells which
have ErbB protein present at their cell surface. An
"ErbB2-expressing cancer" is one which produces sufficient levels
of ErbB2 at the surface of cells thereof, such that an anti-ErbB2
antibody can bind thereto and have a therapeutic effect with
respect to the cancer.
[0136] A cancer which "overexpresses" an antigenic receptor is one
which has significantly higher levels of the receptor, such as
ErbB2, at the cell surface thereof, compared to a noncancerous cell
of the same tissue type. Such overexpression may be caused by gene
amplification or by increased transcription or translation.
Receptor overexpression may be determined in a diagnostic or
prognostic assay by evaluating increased levels of the receptor
protein present on the surface of a cell (e.g., via an
immunohistochemistry assay; IHC). Alternatively, or additionally,
one may measure levels of receptor-encoding nucleic acid in the
cell, e.g., via fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH; see WO
98/45479), southern blotting, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
techniques, such as real time quantitative PCR (RT-PCR).
[0137] The tumors overexpressing ErbB2 (HER2) are rated by
immunohistochemical scores corresponding to the number of copies of
HER2 molecules expressed per cell, and can been determined
biochemically: 0=0-10,000 copies/cell, 1+=at least about 200,000
copies/cell, 2+=at least about 500,000 copies/cell, 3+=about
1-2.times.10.sup.6 copies/cell. Overexpression of HER2 at the
3+level, which leads to ligand-independent activation of the
tyrosine kinase (Hudziak et al (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,
84:7159-7163), occurs in approximately 30% of breast cancers, and
in these patients, relapse-free survival and overall survival are
diminished (Slamon et al (1989) Science, 244:707-712; Slamon et al
(1987) Science, 235:177-182).
[0138] The term "cytotoxic agent" as used herein refers to a
substance that inhibits or prevents the function of cells and/or
causes destruction of cells. The term is intended to include
radioactive isotopes (e.g., .sup.211At, .sup.131I, .sup.125I,
.sup.90Y, .sup.186Re, .sup.188Re, .sup.153Sm, .sup.212Bi, .sup.32P,
.sup.60C, and radioactive isotopes of Lu), chemotherapeutic agents,
and toxins such as small molecule toxins or enzymatically active
toxins of bacterial, fungal, plant or animal origin, including
synthetic analogs and derivatives thereof.
[0139] An "autoimmune disease" herein is a disease or disorder
arising from and directed against an individual's own tissues or
organs or a co-segregate or manifestation thereof or resulting
condition therefrom. In many of these autoimmune and inflammatory
disorders, a number of clinical and laboratory markers may exist,
including, but not limited to, hypergammaglobulinemia, high levels
of autoantibodies, antigen-antibody complex deposits in tissues,
benefit from corticosteroid or immunosuppressive treatments, and
lymphoid cell aggregates in affected tissues. Without being limited
to any one theory regarding B-cell mediated autoimmune disease, it
is believed that B cells demonstrate a pathogenic effect in human
autoimmune diseases through a multitude of mechanistic pathways,
including autoantibody production, immune complex formation,
dendritic and T-cell activation, cytokine synthesis, direct
chemokine release, and providing a nidus for ectopic
neo-lymphogenesis. Each of these pathways may participate to
different degrees in the pathology of autoimmune diseases. An
autoimmune disease can be an organ-specific disease (i.e., the
immune response is specifically directed against an organ system
such as the endocrine system, the hematopoietic system, the skin,
the cardiopulmonary system, the gastrointestinal and liver systems,
the renal system, the thyroid, the ears, the neuromuscular system,
the central nervous system, etc.) or a systemic disease which can
affect multiple organ systems (for example, systemic lupus
erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, etc.).
[0140] The term "cytostatic" refers to the effect of limiting the
function of cells, such as limiting cellular growth or
proliferation of cells.
[0141] A "chemotherapeutic agent" is a chemical compound useful in
the treatment of cancer. Examples of chemotherapeutic agents
include Erlotinib (TARCEVA.RTM., Genentech/OSI Pharm.), Bortezomib
(VELCADEL.TM., Millenium Pharm.), Fulvestrant (FASLODEX.RTM.,
Astrazeneca), Sutent (SU11248, Pfizer), Letrozole (FEMARA.RTM.,
Novartis), Imatinib mesylate (GLEEVEC.RTM., Novartis), PTK787/ZK
222584 (Novartis), Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin.RTM., Sanofi), 5-FU
(5-fluorouracil), Leucovorin, Rapamycin (Sirolimus, RAPAMUNE.RTM.,
Wyeth), Lapatinib (GSK572016, GlaxoSmithKline), Lonafarnib (SCH
66336), Sorafenib (BAY43-9006, Bayer Labs.), and Gefitinib
(IRESSA.RTM., Astrazeneca), AG1478, AG1571 (SU 5271; Sugen),
alkylating agents such as thiotepa and CYTOXAN.RTM.
cyclosphosphamide; alkyl sulfonates such as busulfan, improsulfan
and piposulfan; aziridines such as benzodopa, carboquone,
meturedopa, and uredopa; ethylenimines and methylamelamines
including altretamine, triethylenemelamine,
triethylenephosphoramide, triethylenethiophosphoramide and
trimethylomelamine; acetogenins (especially bullatacin and
bullatacinone); a camptothecin (including the synthetic analogue
topotecan); bryostatin; callystatin; CC-1065 (including its
adozelesin, carzelesin and bizelesin synthetic analogues);
cryptophycins (particularly cryptophycin 1 and cryptophycin 8);
dolastatin; duocarmycin (including the synthetic analogues, KW-2189
and CB1-TM1); eleutherobin; pancratistatin; a sarcodictyin;
spongistatin; nitrogen mustards such as chlorambucil,
chlornaphazine, cholophosphamide, estramustine, ifosfamide,
mechlorethamine, mechlorethamine oxide hydrochloride, melphalan,
novembichin, phenesterine, prednimustine, trofosfamide, uracil
mustard; nitrosureas such as carmustine, chlorozotocin,
fotemustine, lomustine, nimustine, and ranimnustine; antibiotics
such as the enediyne antibiotics (e.g., calicheamicin, especially
calicheamicin gamma1I and calicheamicin omegaI1 (Angew Chem. Intl.
Ed. Engl. (1994) 33:183-186); dynemicin, including dynemicin A;
bisphosphonates, such as clodronate; an esperamicin; as well as
neocarzinostatin chromophore and related chromoprotein enediyne
antibiotic chromophores), aclacinomysins, actinomycin, anthramycin,
azaserine, bleomycins, cactinomycin, carabicin, caminomycin,
carzinophilin, chromomycinis, dactinomycin, daunorubicin,
detorubicin, 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine, ADRIAMYCIN.RTM.
doxorubicin (including morpholino-doxorubicin,
cyanomorpholino-doxorubicin, 2-pyrrolino-doxorubicin and
deoxydoxorubicin), epirubicin, esorubicin, idarubicin,
marcellomycin, mitomycins such as mitomycin C, mycophenolic acid,
nogalamycin, olivomycins, peplomycin, potfiromycin, puromycin,
quelamycin, rodorubicin, streptonigrin, streptozocin, tubercidin,
ubenimex, zinostatin, zorubicin; anti-metabolites such as
methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU); folic acid analogues such
as denopterin, methotrexate, pteropterin, trimetrexate; purine
analogs such as fludarabine, 6-mercaptopurine, thiamiprine,
thioguanine; pyrimidine analogs such as ancitabine, azacitidine,
6-azauridine, carmofur, cytarabine, dideoxyuridine, doxifluridine,
enocitabine, floxuridine; androgens such as calusterone,
dromostanolone propionate, epitiostanol, mepitiostane,
testolactone; anti-adrenals such as aminoglutethimide, mitotane,
trilostane; folic acid replenisher such as frolinic acid;
aceglatone; aldophosphamide glycoside; aminolevulinic acid;
eniluracil; amsacrine; bestrabucil; bisantrene; edatraxate;
defofamine; demecolcine; diaziquone; elfomithine; elliptinium
acetate; an epothilone; etoglucid; gallium nitrate; hydroxyurea;
lentinan; lonidainine; maytansinoids such as maytansine and
ansamitocins; mitoguazone; mitoxantrone; mopidanmol; nitraerine;
pentostatin; phenamet; pirarubicin; losoxantrone; podophyllinic
acid; 2-ethylhydrazide; procarbazine; PSKR polysaccharide complex
(JHS Natural Products, Eugene, Oreg.); razoxane; rhizoxin;
sizofuran; spirogermanium; tenuazonic acid; triaziquone;
2,2',2''-trichlorotriethylamine; trichothecenes (especially T-2
toxin, verracurin A, roridin A and anguidine); urethan; vindesine;
dacarbazine; mannomustine; mitobronitol; mitolactol; pipobroman;
gacytosine; arabinoside ("Ara-C"); cyclophosphamide; thiotepa;
taxoids, e.g., TAXOL.RTM. paclitaxel (Bristol-Myers Squibb
Oncology, Princeton, N.J.), ABRAXANE.TM. Cremophor-free,
albumin-engineered nanoparticle formulation of paclitaxel (American
Pharmaceutical Partners, Schaumberg, Ill.), and TAXOTERE.RTM.
doxetaxel (Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Antony, France); chloranbucil;
GEMZAR.RTM. gemcitabine; 6-thioguanine; mercaptopurine;
methotrexate; platinum analogs such as cisplatin and carboplatin;
vinblastine; platinum; etoposide (VP-16); ifosfamide; mitoxantrone;
vincristine; NAVELBINE.RTM. vinorelbine; novantrone; teniposide;
edatrexate; daunomycin; aminopterin; xeloda; ibandronate; CPT-11;
topoisomerase inhibitor RFS 2000; difluoromethylomithine (DMFO);
retinoids such as retinoic acid; capecitabine; and pharmaceutically
acceptable salts, acids or derivatives of any of the above.
[0142] Also included in this definition of "chemotherapeutic agent"
are: (i) anti-hormonal agents that act to regulate or inhibit
hormone action on tumors such as anti-estrogens and selective
estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), including, for example,
tamoxifen (including NOLVADEX.RTM. tamoxifen), raloxifene,
droloxifene, 4-hydroxytamoxifen, trioxifene, keoxifene, LY 117018,
onapristone, and FARESTON.toremifene; (ii) aromatase inhibitors
that inhibit the enzyme aromatase, which regulates estrogen
production in the adrenal glands, such as, for example,
4(5)-imidazoles, aminoglutethimide, MEGASE.RTM. megestrol acetate,
AROMASIN.RTM. exemestane, formestanie, fadrozole, RIVISOR.RTM.
vorozole, FEMARA.RTM. letrozole, and ARIMIDEX.RTM. anastrozole;
(iii) anti-androgens such as flutamide, nilutamide, bicalutamide,
leuprolide, and goserelin; as well as troxacitabine (a
1,3-dioxolane nucleoside cytosine analog); (iv) aromatase
inhibitors; (v) protein kinase inhibitors; (vi) lipid kinase
inhibitors; (vii) antisense oligonucleotides, particularly those
which inhibit expression of genes in signaling pathways implicated
in abherant cell proliferation, such as, for example, PKC-alpha,
Ralf and H-Ras; (viii) ribozymes such as a VEGF expression
inhibitor (e.g., ANGIOZYME.RTM. ribozyme) and a HER2 expression
inhibitor; (ix) vaccines such as gene therapy vaccines, for
example, ALLOVECTIN.RTM. vaccine, LEUVECTIN.RTM. vaccine, and
VAXID.RTM. vaccine; PROLEUKIN.RTM. rIL-2; LURTOTECAN.RTM.
topoisomerase 1 inhibitor; ABARELIX.RTM. rmRH; (x) anti-angiogenic
agents such as bevacizumab (AVASTIN.RTM., Genentech); and (xi)
pharmaceutically acceptable salts, acids or derivatives of any of
the above.
[0143] As used herein, the term "EGFR-targeted drug" refers to a
therapeutic agent that binds to EGFR and, optionally, inhibits EGFR
activation. Examples of such agents include antibodies and small
molecules that bind to EGFR. Examples of antibodies which bind to
EGFR include MAb 579 (ATCC CRL HB 8506), MAb 455 (ATCC CRL HB8507),
MAb 225 (ATCC CRL 8508), MAb 528 (ATCC CRL 8509) (see, U.S. Pat.
No. 4,943,533, Mendelsohn et al.) and variants thereof, such as
chimerized 225 (C225 or Cetuximab; ERBITUX.RTM.) and reshaped human
225 (H225) (see, WO 96/40210, Imclone Systems Inc.); antibodies
that bind type II mutant EGFR (U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,290); humanized
and chimeric antibodies that bind EGFR as described in U.S. Pat.
No. 5,891,996; and human antibodies that bind EGFR, such as ABX-EGF
(see WO 98/50433, Abgenix). The anti-EGFR antibody may be
conjugated with a cytotoxic agent, thus generating an
immunoconjugate (see, e.g., EP 659,439A2, Merck Patent GmbH).
Examples of small molecules that bind to EGFR include ZD 1839 or
Gefitinib (IRESSA.TM.; Astra Zeneca), Erlotinib HCl (CP-358774,
TARCEVA.TM.; Genentech/OSI) and AG1478, AG1571 (SU 5271;
Sugen).
[0144] Protein kinase inhibitors include tyrosine kinase inhibitors
which inhibits to some extent tyrosine kinase activity of a
tyrosine kinase such as an ErbB receptor. Examples of such
inhibitors include the EGFR-targeted drugs noted in the preceding
paragraph as well as quinazolines such as PD
153035,4-(3-chloroanilino) quinazoline, pyridopyrimidines,
pyrimidopyrimidines, pyrrolopyrimidines, such as CGP 59326, CGP
60261 and CGP 62706, and pyrazolopyrimidines,
4-(phenylamino)-7H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines, curcumin (diferuloyl
methane, 4,5-bis(4-fluoroanilino)phthalimide), tyrphostines
containing nitrothiophene moieties; PD-0183805 (Warner-Lambert);
antisense molecules (e.g., those that bind to ErbB-encoding nucleic
acid); quinoxalines (U.S. Pat. No. 5,804,396); tryphostins (U.S.
Pat. No. 5,804,396); ZD6474 (Astra Zeneca); PTK-787
(Novartis/Schering AG); pan-ErbB inhibitors such as CI-1033
(Pfizer); Affinitac (ISIS 3521; Isis/Lilly); Imatinib mesylate
(Gleevec; Novartis); PKI 166 (Novartis); GW2016 (Glaxo SmithKline);
CI-1033 (Pfizer); EKB-569 (Wyeth); Semaxanib (Sugen); ZD6474
(AstraZeneca); PTK-787 (Novartis/Schering AG); INC-1C11 (Imclone);
or as described in any of the following patent publications: WO
99/09016 (American Cyanamid); WO 98/43960 (American Cyanamid); WO
97/38983 (Warner Lambert); WO 99/06378 (Warner Lambert); WO
99/06396 (Warner Lambert); WO 96/30347 (Pfizer, Inc); WO 96/33978
(Zeneca); WO 96/3397 (Zeneca); and WO 96/33980 (Zeneca).
[0145] An "anti-angiogenic agent" refers to a compound which
blocks, or interferes with to some degree, the development of blood
vessels. The anti-angiogenic factor may, for instance, be a small
molecule or antibody that binds to a growth factor or growth factor
receptor involved in promoting angiogenesis. The preferred
anti-angiogenic factor herein is an antibody that binds to Vascular
Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).
[0146] The term "cytokine" is a generic term for proteins released
by one cell population which act on another cell as intercellular
mediators. Examples of such cytokines are lymphokines, monokines,
and traditional polypeptide hormones. Included among the cytokines
are growth hormone such as human growth hormone, N-methionyl human
growth hormone, and bovine growth hormone; parathyroid hormone;
thyroxine; insulin; proinsulin; relaxin; prorelaxin; glycoprotein
hormones such as follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), thyroid
stimulating hormone (TSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH); hepatic
growth factor; fibroblast growth factor; prolactin; placental
lactogen; tumor necrosis factor-.alpha. and -.beta.;
mullerian-inhibiting substance; mouse gonadotropin-associated
peptide; inhibin; activin; vascular endothelial growth factor;
integrin; thrombopoietin (TPO); nerve growth factors such as
NGF-.beta.; platelet-growth factor; transforming growth factors
(TGFs) such as TGF-.alpha. and TGF-.beta.; insulin-like growth
factor-I and -II; erythropoietin (EPO); osteoinductive factors;
interferons such as interferon-.alpha., -.beta., and -.gamma.;
colony stimulating factors (CSFs) such as macrophage-CSF (M-CSF);
granulocyte-macrophage-CSF (GM-CSF); and granulocyte-CSF (G-CSF);
interleukins (ILs) such as IL-1, IL-1.alpha., IL-2, IL-3, IL-4,
IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-11, IL-12; a tumor necrosis
factor such as TNF-.alpha. or TNF-.beta.; and other polypeptide
factors including LIF and kit ligand (KL). As used herein, the term
cytokine includes proteins from natural sources or from recombinant
cell culture and biologically active equivalents of the native
sequence cytokines.
[0147] The term "prodrug" as used in this application refers to a
precursor or derivative form of a pharmaceutically active substance
that is less cytotoxic to tumor cells compared to the parent drug
and is capable of being enzymatically or hydrolytically activated
or converted into the more active parent form. See, e.g., Wilman,
"Prodrugs in Cancer Chemotherapy" Biochemical Society Transactions,
14, pp. 375-382, 615th Meeting Belfast (1986) and Stella et al
"Prodrugs: A Chemical Approach to Targeted Drug Delivery," Directed
Drug Delivery, Borchardt et al (ed.), pp. 247-267, Humana Press
(1985). The prodrugs of this invention include, but are not limited
to, phosphate-containing prodrugs, thiophosphate-containing
prodrugs, sulfate-containing prodrugs, peptide-containing prodrugs,
D-amino acid-modified prodrugs, glycosylated prodrugs,
.beta.-lactam-containing prodrugs, optionally substituted
phenoxyacetamide-containing prodrugs or optionally substituted
phenylacetamide-containing prodrugs, 5-fluorocytosine and other
5-fluorouridine prodrugs which can be converted into the more
active cytotoxic free drug. Examples of cytotoxic drugs that can be
derivatized into a prodrug form for use in this invention include,
but are not limited to, those chemotherapeutic agents described
above.
[0148] A "liposome" is a small vesicle composed of various types of
lipids, phospholipids and/or surfactant which is useful for
delivery of a drug (such as the anti-ErbB2 antibodies disclosed
herein and, optionally, a chemotherapeutic agent) to a mammal. The
components of the liposome are commonly arranged in a bilayer
formation, similar to the lipid arrangement of biological
membranes.
[0149] The term "package insert" is used to refer to instructions
customarily included in commercial packages of therapeutic
products, that contain information about the indications, usage,
dosage, administration, contraindications and/or warnings
concerning the use of such therapeutic products.
[0150] "Phage display" is a technique by which variant polypeptides
are displayed as fusion proteins to a coat protein on the surface
of phage, e.g., filamentous phage, particles. One utility of phage
display lies in the fact that large libraries of randomized protein
variants can be rapidly and efficiently sorted for those sequences
that bind to a target molecule with high affinity. Display of
peptide and protein libraries on phage has been used for screening
millions of polypeptides for ones with specific binding properties.
Polyvalent phage display methods have been used for displaying
small random peptides and small proteins, typically through fusions
to either pIII or pVIII of filamentous phage (Wells and Lowman,
(1992) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol., 3:355-362, and references cited
therein). In monovalent phage display, a protein or peptide library
is fused to a phage coat protein or a portion thereof, and
expressed at low levels in the presence of wild type protein.
Avidity effects are reduced relative to polyvalent phage so that
sorting is on the basis of intrinsic ligand affinity, and phagemid
vectors are used, which simplify DNA manipulations. Lowman and
Wells, Methods: A companion to Methods in Enzymology, 3:205-0216
(1991). Phage display includes techniques for producing
antibody-like molecules (Janeway, C., Travers, P., Walport, M.,
Shlomchik (2001) Immunobiology, 5th Ed., Garland Publishing, New
York, p627-628; Lee et al).
[0151] A "phagemid" is a plasmid vector having a bacterial origin
of replication, e.g., Co1E1, and a copy of an intergenic region of
a bacteriophage. The phagemid may be used on any known
bacteriophage, including filamentous bacteriophage and lambdoid
bacteriophage. The plasmid will also generally contain a selectable
marker for antibiotic resistance. Segments of DNA cloned into these
vectors can be propagated as plasmids. When cells harboring these
vectors are provided with all genes necessary for the production of
phage particles, the mode of replication of the plasmid changes to
rolling circle replication to generate copies of one strand of the
plasmid DNA and package phage particles. The phagemid may form
infectious or non-infectious phage particles. This term includes
phagemids which contain a phage coat protein gene or fragment
thereof linked to a heterologous polypeptide gene as a gene fusion
such that the heterologous polypeptide is displayed on the surface
of the phage particle.
[0152] "Linker", "Linker Unit", or "link" means a chemical moiety
comprising a covalent bond or a chain of atoms that covalently
attaches an antibody to a drug moiety. In various embodiments, a
linker is specified as L. Linkers include a divalent radical such
as an alkyldiyl, an arylene, a heteroarylene, moieties such as:
--(CR.sub.2).sub.nO(CR.sub.2).sub.n--, repeating units of alkyloxy
(e.g. polyethylenoxy, PEG, polymethyleneoxy) and alkylamino (e.g.
polyethyleneamino, Jeffamine.TM.); and diacid ester and amides
including succinate, succinamide, diglycolate, malonate, and
caproamide.
[0153] The term "label" means any moiety which can be covalently
attached to an antibody and that functions to: (i) provide a
detectable signal; (ii) interact with a second label to modify the
detectable signal provided by the first or second label, e.g. FRET
(fluorescence resonance energy transfer); (iii) stabilize
interactions or increase affinity of binding, with antigen or
ligand; (iv) affect mobility, e.g. electrophoretic mobility, or
cell-permeability, by charge, hydrophobicity, shape, or other
physical parameters, or (v) provide a capture moiety, to modulate
ligand affinity, antibody/antigen binding, or ionic
complexation.
[0154] Stereochemical definitions and conventions used herein
generally follow S. P. Parker, Ed., McGraw-Hill Dictionary of
Chemical Terms (1984) McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York; and
Eliel, E. and Wilen, S., Stereochemistry of Organic Compounds
(1994) John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. Many organic
compounds exist in optically active forms, i.e., they have the
ability to rotate the plane of plane-polarized light. In describing
an optically active compound, the prefixes D and L, or R and S, are
used to denote the absolute configuration of the molecule about its
chiral center(s). The prefixes d and 1 or (+) and (-) are employed
to designate the sign of rotation of plane-polarized light by the
compound, with (-) or 1 meaning that the compound is levorotatory.
A compound prefixed with (+) or d is dextrorotatory. For a given
chemical structure, these stereoisomers are identical except that
they are mirror images of one another. A specific stereoisomer may
also be referred to as an enantiomer, and a mixture of such isomers
is often called an enantiomeric mixture. A 50:50 mixture of
enantiomers is referred to as a racemic mixture or a racemate,
which may occur where there has been no stereoselection or
stereospecificity in a chemical reaction or process. The terms
"racemic mixture" and "racemate" refer to an equimolar mixture of
two enantiomeric species, devoid of optical activity.
[0155] The phrase "pharmaceutically acceptable salt," as used
herein, refers to pharmaceutically acceptable organic or inorganic
salts of an ADC. Exemplary salts include, but are not limited, to
sulfate, citrate, acetate, oxalate, chloride, bromide, iodide,
nitrate, bisulfate, phosphate, acid phosphate, isonicotinate,
lactate, salicylate, acid citrate, tartrate, oleate, tannate,
pantothenate, bitartrate, ascorbate, succinate, maleate,
gentisinate, fumarate, gluconate, glucuronate, saccharate, formate,
benzoate, glutamate, methanesulfonate, ethanesulfonate,
benzenesulfonate, p-toluenesulfonate, and pamoate (i.e.,
1,1'-methylene-bis -(2-hydroxy-3-naphthoate)) salts. A
pharmaceutically acceptable salt may involve the inclusion of
another molecule such as an acetate ion, a succinate ion or other
counterion. The counterion may be any organic or inorganic moiety
that stabilizes the charge on the parent compound. Furthermore, a
pharmaceutically acceptable salt may have more than one charged
atom in its structure. Instances where multiple charged atoms are
part of the pharmaceutically acceptable salt can have multiple
counter ions. Hence, a pharmaceutically acceptable salt can have
one or more charged atoms and/or one or more counterion.
[0156] "Pharmaceutically acceptable solvate" refers to an
association of one or more solvent molecules and an ADC. Examples
of solvents that form pharmaceutically acceptable solvates include,
but are not limited to, water, isopropanol, ethanol, methanol,
DMSO, ethyl acetate, acetic acid, and ethanolamine.
[0157] The following abbreviations are used herein and have the
indicated definitions: BME is beta-mercaptoethanol, Boc is
N-(t-butoxycarbonyl), cit is citrulline (2-amino-5-ureido pentanoic
acid), dap is dolaproine, DCC is 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, DCM
is dichloromethane, DEA is diethylamine, DEAD is
diethylazodicarboxylate, DEPC is diethylphosphorylcyanidate, DIAD
is diisopropylazodicarboxylate, DIEA is N,N-diisopropylethylamine,
dil is dolaisoleucine, DMA is dimethylacetamide, DMAP is
4-dimethylaminopyridine, DME is ethyleneglycol dimethyl ether (or
1,2-dimethoxyethane), DMF is N,N-dimethylformamide, DMSO is
dimethylsulfoxide, doe is dolaphenine, dov is N,N-dimethylvaline,
DTNB is 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), DTPA is
diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, DTT is dithiothreitol, EDCI is
1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride, EEDQ
is 2-ethoxy-1-ethoxycarbonyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline, ES-MS is
electrospray mass spectrometry, EtOAc is ethyl acetate, Fmoc is
N-(9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl), gly is glycine, HATU is
O-(7-azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyluronium
hexafluorophosphate, HOBt is 1-hydroxybenzotriazole, HPLC is high
pressure liquid chromatography, ile is isoleucine, lys is lysine,
MeCN(CH.sub.3CN) is acetonitrile, MeOH is methanol, Mtr is
4-anisyldiphenylmethyl (or 4-methoxytrityl),nor is
(1S,2R)-(+)-norephedrine, PAB is p-aminobenzylcarbamoyl, PBS is
phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7), PEG is polyethylene glycol, Ph is
phenyl, Pnp is p-nitrophenyl, MC is 6-maleimidocaproyl, phe is
L-phenylalanine, PyBrop is bromo tris-pyrrolidino phosphonium
hexafluorophosphate, SEC is size-exclusion chromatography, Su is
succinimide, TFA is trifluoroacetic acid, TLC is thin layer
chromatography, UV is ultraviolet, and val is valine.
Cysteine Engineered Antibodies
[0158] The compounds of the invention include cysteine engineered
antibodies where one or more amino acids of a wild-type or parent
antibody are replaced with a cysteine amino acid. Any form of
antibody may be so engineered, i.e. mutated. For example, a parent
Fab antibody fragment may be engineered to form a cysteine
engineered Fab, referred to herein as "ThioFab." Similarly, a
parent monoclonal antibody may be engineered to form a "ThioMab."
It should be noted that a single site mutation yields a single
engineered cysteine residue in a ThioFab, while a single site
mutation yields two engineered cysteine residues in a ThioMab, due
to the dimeric nature of the IgG antibody. Mutants with replaced
("engineered") cysteine (Cys) residues are evaluated for the
reactivity of the newly introduced, engineered cysteine thiol
groups. The thiol reactivity value is a relative, numerical term in
the range of 0 to 1.0 and can be measured for any cysteine
engineered antibody. Thiol reactivity values of cysteine engineered
antibodies of the invention are in the ranges of 0.6 to 1.0; 0.7 to
1.0; or 0.8 to 1.0.
[0159] The design, selection, and preparation methods of the
invention enable cysteine engineered antibodies which are reactive
with electrophilic functionality. These methods further enable
antibody conjugate compounds such as antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)
compounds with drug molecules at designated, designed, selective
sites. Reactive cysteine residues on an antibody surface allow
specifically conjugating a drug moiety through a thiol reactive
group such as maleimide or haloacetyl. The nucleophilic reactivity
of the thiol functionality of a Cys residue to a maleimide group is
about 1000 times higher compared to any other amino acid
functionality in a protein, such as amino group of lysine residues
or the N-terminal amino group. Thiol specific functionality in
iodoacetyl and maleimide reagents may react with amine groups, but
higher pH (>9.0) and longer reaction times are required (Garman,
1997, Non-Radioactive Labelling: A Practical Approach, Academic
Press, London).
[0160] Cysteine engineered antibodies of the invention preferably
retain the antigen binding capability of their wild type, parent
antibody counterparts. Thus, cysteine engineered antibodies are
capable of binding, preferably specifically, to antigens. Such
antigens include, for example, tumor-associated antigens (TAA),
cell surface receptor proteins and other cell surface molecules,
transmembrane proteins, signalling proteins, cell survival
regulatory factors, cell proliferation regulatory factors,
molecules associated with (for e.g., known or suspected to
contribute functionally to) tissue development or differentiation,
lymphokines, cytokines, molecules involved in cell cycle
regulation, molecules involved in vasculogenesis and molecules
associated with (for e.g., known or suspected to contribute
functionally to) angiogenesis. The tumor-associated antigen may be
a cluster differentiation factor (i.e., a CD protein). An antigen
to which a cysteine engineered antibody is capable of binding may
be a member of a subset of one of the above-mentioned categories,
wherein the other subset(s) of said category comprise other
molecules/antigens that have a distinct characteristic (with
respect to the antigen of interest).
[0161] The parent antibody may also be a humanized antibody
selected from huMAb4D5-1, huMAb4D5-2, huMAb4D5-3, huMAb4D5-4,
huMAb4D5-5, huMAb4D5-6, huMAb4D5-7 and huMAb4D5-8 (Trastuzumab,
HERCEPTIN.RTM.) as described in Table 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,337,
expressly incorporated herein by reference; humanized 520C9 (WO
93/21319) and humanized 2C4 antibodies as described herein.
[0162] Cysteine engineered antibodies of the invention may be
site-specifically and efficiently coupled with a thiol-reactive
reagent. The thiol-reactive reagent may be a multifunctional linker
reagent, a capture, i.e. affinity, label reagent (e.g. a
biotin-linker reagent), a detection label (e.g. a fluorophore
reagent), a solid phase immobilization reagent (e.g. SEPHAROSE.TM.,
polystyrene, or glass), or a drug-linker intermediate. One example
of a thiol-reactive reagent is N-ethyl maleimide (NEM). In an
exemplary embodiment, reaction of a ThioFab with a biotin-linker
reagent provides a biotinylated ThioFab by which the presence and
reactivity of the engineered cysteine residue may be detected and
measured. Reaction of a ThioFab with a multifunctional linker
reagent provides a ThioFab with a functionalized linker which may
be further reacted with a drug moiety reagent or other label.
Reaction of a ThioFab with a drug-linker intermediate provides a
ThioFab drug conjugate.
[0163] The exemplary methods described here may be applied
generally to the identification and production of antibodies, and
more generally, to other proteins through application of the design
and screening steps described herein.
[0164] Such an approach may be applied to the conjugation of other
thiol-reactive agents in which the reactive group is, for example,
a maleimide, an iodoacetamide, a pyridyl disulfide, or other
thiol-reactive conjugation partner (Haugland, 2003, Molecular
Probes Handbook of Fluorescent Probes and Research Chemicals,
Molecular Probes, Inc.; Brinkley, 1992, Bioconjugate Chem. 3:2;
Garman, 1997, Non-Radioactive Labelling: A Practical Approach,
Academic Press, London; Means (1990) Bioconjugate Chem. 1:2;
Hermanson, G. in Bioconjugate Techniques (1996) Academic Press, San
Diego, pp. 40-55, 643-671). The partner may be a cytotoxic agent
(e.g. a toxin such as doxorubicin or pertussis toxin), a
fluorophore such as a fluorescent dye like fluorescein or
rhodamine, a chelating agent for an imaging or radiotherapeutic
metal, a peptidyl or non-peptidyl label or detection tag, or a
clearance-modifying agent such as various isomers of polyethylene
glycol, a peptide that binds to a third component, or another
carbohydrate or lipophilic agent.
[0165] The sites identified on the exemplary antibody fragment,
hu4D5Fabv8, herein are primarily in the constant domain of an
antibody which is well conserved across all species of antibodies.
These sites should be broadly applicable to other antibodies,
without further need of structural design or knowledge of specific
antibody structures, and without interference in the antigen
binding properties inherent to the variable domains of the
antibody.
[0166] Cysteine engineered antibodies which may be useful in the
treatment of cancer include, but are not limited to, antibodies
against cell surface receptors and tumor-associated antigens (TAA).
Such antibodies may be used as naked antibodies (unconjugated to a
drug or label moiety) or as Formula I antibody-drug conjugates
(ADC). Tumor-associated antigens are known in the art, and can
prepared for use in generating antibodies using methods and
information which are well known in the art. In attempts to
discover effective cellular targets for cancer diagnosis and
therapy, researchers have sought to identify transmembrane or
otherwise tumor-associated polypeptides that are specifically
expressed on the surface of one or more particular type(s) of
cancer cell as compared to on one or more normal non-cancerous
cell(s). Often, such tumor-associated polypeptides are more
abundantly expressed on the surface of the cancer cells as compared
to on the surface of the non-cancerous cells. The identification of
such tumor-associated cell surface antigen polypeptides has given
rise to the ability to specifically target cancer cells for
destruction via antibody-based therapies.
[0167] Examples of TAA include, but are not limited to, TAA
(1)-(36) listed below. For convenience, information relating to
these antigens, all of which are known in the art, is listed below
and includes names, alternative names, Genbank accession numbers
and primary reference(s), following nucleic acid and protein
sequence identification conventions of the National Center for
Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Nucleic acid and protein
sequences corresponding to TAA (1)-(36) are available in public
databases such as GenBank. Tumor-associated antigens targeted by
antibodies include all amino acid sequence variants and isoforms
possessing at least about 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, or 95% sequence
identity relative to the sequences identified in the cited
references, or which exhibit substantially the same biological
properties or characteristics as a TAA having a sequence found in
the cited references. For example, a TAA having a variant sequence
generally is able to bind specifically to an antibody that binds
specifically to the TAA with the corresponding sequence listed. The
sequences and disclosure in the reference specifically recited
herein are expressly incorporated by reference.
Tumor-associated Antigens (1)-(36):
[0168] (1) BMPR1B (bone morphogenetic protein receptor-type IB,
Genbank accession no. NM.sub.--001203) ten Dijke, P., et al Science
264 (5155):101-104 (1994), Oncogene 14 (11):1377-1382 (1997));
WO2004063362 (claim 2); WO2003042661 (claim 12); US2003134790-A1
(Page 38-39); WO2002102235 (claim 13; Page 296); WO2003055443 (Page
91-92); WO200299122 (Example 2; Page 528-530); WO2003029421 (claim
6); WO2003024392 (claim 2; FIG. 112); WO200298358 (claim 1; Page
183); WO200254940 (Page 100-101); WO200259377(Page 349-350);
WO200230268 (claim 27; Page 376); WO200148204 (Example; FIG. 4)
NP.sub.--001194 bone morphogenetic protein receptor, type
IB/pid=NP.sub.--001194.1-Cross-references: MIM:603248;
NP.sub.--001194.1; AY065994 (2) E16 (LAT1, SLC7A5, Genbank
accession no. NM.sub.--003486) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 255
(2), 283-288 (1999), Nature 395 (6699):288-291 (1998), Gaugitsch,
H. W., et al (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267 (16):11267-11273);
WO2004048938 (Example 2); WO2004032842 (Example IV); WO2003042661
(claim 12); WO2003016475 (claim 1); WO200278524 (Example 2);
WO200299074 (claim 19; Page 127-129); WO200286443 (claim 27; Pages
222, 393); WO2003003906 (claim 10; Page 293); WO200264798 (claim
33; Page 93-95); WO200014228 (claim 5; Page 133-136); US2003224454
(FIG. 3); WO2003025138 (claim 12; Page 150); NP.sub.--003477 solute
carrier family 7 (cationic amino acid transporter, y+ system),
member 5/pid=NP.sub.--003477.3--Homo sapiens
Cross-references: MIM:600182; NP.sub.--003477.3; NM.sub.--015923;
NM.sub.--003486.sub.--1
[0169] (3) STEAP1 (six transmembrane epithelial antigen of
prostate, Genbank accession no. NM.sub.--012449) Cancer Res. 61
(15), 5857-5860 (2001), Hubert, R. S., et al (1999) Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 96 (25):14523-14528); WO2004065577 (claim 6);
WO2004027049 (FIG. 1L); EP1394274 (Example 11); WO2004016225 (claim
2); WO2003042661 (claim 12); US2003157089 (Example 5); US2003185830
(Example 5); US2003064397 (FIG. 2); WO200289747 (Example 5; Page
618-619); WO2003022995 (Example 9; FIG. 13A, Example 53; Page 173,
Example 2; FIG. 2A); NP.sub.--036581 six transmembrane epithelial
antigen of the prostate
Cross-references: MIM:604415; NP.sub.--036581.1;
NM.sub.--012449.sub.--1
[0170] (4) 0772P (CA125, MUC16, Genbank accession no. AF361486) J.
Biol. Chem. 276 (29):27371-27375 (2001)); WO2004045553 (claim 14);
WO200292836 (claim 6; FIG. 12); WO200283866 (claim 15; Page
116-121); US2003124140 (Example 16); Cross-references: GI:34501467;
AAK74120.3; AF361486.sub.--1 (5) MPF (MPF, MSLN, SMR, megakaryocyte
potentiating factor, mesothelin, Genbank accession no.
NM.sub.--005823) Yamaguchi, N., et al Biol. Chem. 269 (2), 805-808
(1994), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 96 (20):11531-11536 (1999),
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93 (1):136-140 (1996), J. Biol. Chem.
270 (37):21984-21990 (1995)); WO2003101283 (claim 14);
(WO2002102235 (claim 13; Page 287-288); WO2002101075 (claim 4; Page
308-309); WO200271928 (Page 320-321); WO9410312 (Page 52-57);
Cross-references: MIM:601051; NP.sub.--005814.2;
NM.sub.--005823.sub.--1 (6) Napi3b (NAPI-3B, NPTIIb, SLC34A2,
solute carrier family 34 (sodium phosphate), member 2, type II
sodium-dependent phosphate transporter 3b,Genbank accession no.
NM.sub.--006424) J. Biol. Chem. 277 (22):19665-19672 (2002),
Genomics 62 (2):281-284 (1999), Feild, J. A., et al (1999) Biochem.
Biophys. Res. Commun. 258 (3):578-582); WO2004022778 (claim 2);
EP1394274 (Example 11); WO2002102235 (claim 13; Page 326); EP875569
(claim 1; Page 17-19); WO200157188 (claim 20; Page 329);
WO2004032842 (Example IV); WO200175177 (claim 24; Page
139-140);
Cross-references: MIM:604217; NP.sub.--006415.1;
NM.sub.--006424.sub.--1
[0171] (7) Sema 5b (FLJ10372, KIAA1445, Mm.42015, SEMA5B, SEMAG,
Semaphorin 5b Hlog, sema domain, seven thrombospondin repeats (type
1 and type 1-like), transmembrane domain (TM) and short cytoplasmic
domain, (semaphorin) 5B, Genbank accession no. AB040878) Nagase T.,
et al (2000) DNA Res. 7 (2):143-150); WO2004000997 (claim 1);
WO2003003984 (claim 1); WO200206339 (claim 1; Page 50); WO200188133
(claim 1; Page 41-43, 48-58); WO2003054152 (claim 20); WO2003101400
(claim 11); Accession: Q9P283; EMBL; AB040878; BAA95969.1. Genew;
HGNC:10737; (8) PSCA hlg (2700050C12Rik, C530008016Rik, RIKEN cDNA
2700050C12, RIKEN cDNA 2700050C12 gene, Genbank accession no.
AY358628); Ross et al (2002) Cancer Res. 62:2546-2553; US2003129192
(claim 2); US2004044180 (claim 12); US2004044179 (claim 11);
US2003096961 (claim 11); US2003232056 (Example 5); WO2003105758
(claim 12); US2003206918 (Example 5); EP1347046 (claim 1);
WO2003025148 (claim 20);
Cross-references: GI:37182378; AAQ88991.1; AY358628.sub.--1
[0172] (9) ETBR (Endothelin type B receptor, Genbank accession no.
AY275463); Nakamuta M., et al Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 177,
34-39, 1991; Ogawa Y., et al Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 178,
248-255, 1991; Arai H., et al Jpn. Circ. J. 56, 1303-1307, 1992;
Arai H., et al J. Biol. Chem. 268, 3463-3470, 1993; Sakamoto A.,
Yanagisawa M., et al Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 178, 656-663,
1991; Elshourbagy N. A., et al J. Biol. Chem. 268, 3873-3879, 1993;
Haendler B., et al J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. 20, s1-S4, 1992;
Tsutsumi M., et al Gene 228, 43-49, 1999; Strausberg R. L., et al
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99, 16899-16903, 2002; Bourgeois C.,
et al J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 82, 3116-3123, 1997; Okamoto Y.,
et al Biol. Chem. 272, 21589-21596, 1997; Verheij J. B., et al Am.
J. Med. Genet. 108, 223-225, 2002; Hofstra R. M. W., et al Eur. J.
Hum. Genet. 5, 180-185, 1997; Puffenberger E. G., et al Cell 79,
1257-1266, 1994; Attie T., et al, Hum. Mol. Genet. 4, 2407-2409,
1995; Auricchio A., et al Hum. Mol. Genet. 5:351-354, 1996; Amiel
J., et al Hum. Mol. Genet. 5, 355-357, 1996; Hofstra R. M. W., et
al Nat. Genet. 12, 445-447, 1996; Svensson P. J., et al Hum. Genet.
103, 145-148, 1998; Fuchs S., et al Mol. Med. 7, 115-124, 2001;
Pingault V., et al (2002) Hum. Genet. 111, 198-206; WO2004045516
(claim 1); WO2004048938 (Example 2); WO2004040000 (claim 151);
WO2003087768 (claim 1); WO2003016475 (claim 1); WO2003016475 (claim
1); WO200261087 (FIG. 1); WO2003016494 (FIG. 6); WO2003025138
(claim 12; Page 144); WO200198351 (claim 1; Page 124-125); EP522868
(claim 8; FIG. 2); WO200177172 (claim 1; Page 297-299);
US2003109676; U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,404 (FIG. 3); U.S. Pat. No.
5,773,223 (Claim 1a; Col 31-34); WO2004001004; (10) MSG783 (RNF124,
hypothetical protein FLJ20315, Genbank accession no.
NM.sub.--017763); WO2003104275 (claim 1); WO2004046342 (Example 2);
WO2003042661 (claim 12); WO2003083074 (claim 14; Page 61);
WO2003018621 (claim 1); WO2003024392 (claim 2; FIG. 93);
WO200166689 (Example 6);
Cross-references: LocusID:54894; NP.sub.--060233.2;
NM.sub.--017763.sub.--1
[0173] (11) STEAP2 (HGNC.sub.--8639, IPCA-1, PCANAP1, STAMP1,
STEAP2, STMP, prostate cancer associated gene 1, prostate cancer
associated protein 1, six transmembrane epithelial antigen of
prostate 2, six transmembrane prostate protein, Genbank accession
no. AF455138) Lab. Invest. 82 (11):1573-1582 (2002)); WO2003087306;
US2003064397 (claim 1; FIG. 1); WO200272596 (claim 13; Page 54-55);
WO200172962 (claim 1; FIG. 4B); WO2003104270 (claim 11);
WO2003104270 (claim 16); US2004005598 (claim 22); WO2003042661
(claim 12); US2003060612 (claim 12; FIG. 10); WO200226822 (claim
23; FIG. 2); WO200216429 (claim 12; FIG. 10);
Cross-references: GI:22655488; AAN04080.1; AF455138.sub.--1
[0174] (12) TrpM4 (BR22450, FLJ20041, TRPM4, TRPM4B, transient
receptor potential cation channel, subfamily M, member 4, Genbank
accession no. NM.sub.--017636) Xu, X. Z., et al Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. U.S.A. 98 (19):10692-10697 (2001), Cell 109 (3):397-407
(2002), J. Biol. Chem. 278 (33):30813-30820 (2003)); US2003143557
(claim 4); WO200040614 (claim 14; Page 100-103); WO200210382 (claim
1; FIG. 9A); WO2003042661 (claim 12); WO200230268 (claim 27; Page
391); US2003219806 (claim 4); WO200162794 (claim 14; FIG.
1A-D);
Cross-references: MIM:606936; NP.sub.--060106.2;
NM.sub.--017636.sub.--1
[0175] (13) CRIPTO (CR, CR1, CRGF, CRIPTO, TDGF1,
teratocarcinoma-derived growth factor, Genbank accession no.
NP.sub.--003203 or NM.sub.--003212) Ciccodicola, A., et al EMBO J.
8 (7):1987-1991 (1989), Am. J. Hum. Genet. 49 (3):555-565 (1991));
US2003224411 (claim 1); WO2003083041 (Example 1); WO2003034984
(claim 12); WO200288170 (claim 2; Page 52-53); WO2003024392 (claim
2; FIG. 58); WO200216413 (claim 1; Page 94-95, 105); WO200222808
(claim 2; FIG. 1); U.S. Pat. No. 5,854,399 (Example 2; Col 17-18);
U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,616 (FIG. 2);
Cross-references: MIM:187395; NP.sub.--003203.1;
NM.sub.--003212.sub.--1
[0176] (14) CD21 (CR2 (Complement receptor 2) or C3DR(C3d/Epstein
Barr virus receptor) or Hs.73792 Genbank accession no. M26004)
Fujisaku et al (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264 (4):2118-2125); Weis J.
J., et al J. Exp. Med. 167, 1047-1066, 1988; Moore M., et al Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 9194-9198, 1987; Barel M., et al Mol.
Immunol. 35, 1025-1031, 1998; Weis J. J., et al Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. U.S.A. 83, 5639-5643, 1986; Sinha S. K., et al (1993) J.
Immunol. 150, 5311-5320; WO2004045520 (Example 4); US2004005538
(Example 1); WO2003062401 (claim 9); WO2004045520 (Example 4);
WO9102536 (FIG. 9.1-9.9); WO2004020595 (claim 1);
Accession: P20023; Q13866; Q14212; EMBL; M26004; AAA35786.1.
[0177] (15) CD79b (CD79B, CD79p, 1 Gb (immunoglobulin-associated
beta), B29, Genbank accession no. NM.sub.--000626 or 11038674)
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2003) 100 (7):4126-4131, Blood
(2002) 100 (9):3068-3076, Muller et al (1992) Eur. J. Immunol. 22
(6):1621-1625); WO2004016225 (claim 2, FIG. 140); WO2003087768,
US2004101874 (claim 1, page 102); WO2003062401 (claim 9);
WO200278524 (Example 2); US2002150573 (claim 5, page 15); U.S. Pat.
No. 5,644,033; WO2003048202 (claim 1, pages 306 and 309); WO
99/558658, U.S. Pat. No. 6,534,482 (claim 13, FIG. 17A/B);
WO200055351 (claim 11, pages 1145-1146);
Cross-references: MIM:147245; NP.sub.--000617.1;
NM.sub.--000626.sub.--1
[0178] (16) FcRH2 (IFGP4, IRTA4, SPAP1A (SH2 domain containing
phosphatase anchor protein 1a), SPAP 1B, SPAPIC, Genbank accession
no. NM.sub.--030764, AY358130) Genome Res. 13 (10):2265-2270
(2003), Immunogenetics 54 (2):87-95 (2002), Blood 99 (8):2662-2669
(2002), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98 (17):9772-9777 (2001), Xu,
M. J., et al (2001) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 280 (3):768-775;
WO2004016225 (claim 2); WO2003077836; WO200138490 (claim 5; FIG.
18D-1-18D-2); WO2003097803 (claim 12); WO2003089624 (claim 25);
Cross-references: MIM:606509; NP.sub.--110391.2;
NM.sub.--030764.sub.--1
[0179] (17) HER2 (ErbB2, Genbank accession no. M11730) Coussens L.,
et al Science (1985) 230(4730):1132-1139); Yamamoto T., et al
Nature 319, 230-234, 1986; Semba K., et al Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
U.S.A. 82, 6497-6501, 1985; Swiercz J. M., et al J. Cell Biol. 165,
869-880, 2004; Kuhns J. J., et al J. Biol. Chem. 274, 36422-36427,
1999; Cho H.-S., et al Nature 421, 756-760, 2003; Ehsani A., et al
(1993) Genomics 15, 426-429; WO2004048938 (Example 2); WO2004027049
(FIG. 11); WO2004009622; WO2003081210; WO2003089904 (claim 9);
WO2003016475 (claim 1); US2003118592; WO2003008537 (claim 1);
WO2003055439 (claim 29; FIG. 1A-B); WO2003025228 (claim 37; FIG.
5C); WO200222636 (Example 13; Page 95-107); WO200212341 (claim 68;
FIG. 7); WO200213847 (Page 71-74); WO200214503 (Page 114-117);
WO200153463 (claim 2; Page 41-46); WO200141787 (Page 15);
WO200044899 (claim 52; FIG. 7); WO200020579 (claim 3; FIG. 2); U.S.
Pat. No. 5,869,445 (claim 3; Col 31-38); WO9630514 (claim 2; Page
56-61); EP1439393 (claim 7); WO2004043361 (claim 7); WO2004022709;
WO200100244 (Example 3; FIG. 4);
Accession: P04626; EMBL; M11767; AAA35808.I. EMBL; M11761;
AAA35808.1.
[0180] (18) NCA (CEACAM6, Genbank accession no. M18728); Barnett
T., et al Genomics 3, 59-66, 1988; Tawaragi Y., et al Biochem.
Biophys. Res. Commun. 150, 89-96, 1988; Strausberg R. L., et al
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99:16899-16903, 2002; WO2004063709;
EP1439393 (claim 7); WO2004044178 (Example 4); WO2004031238;
WO2003042661 (claim 12); WO200278524 (Example 2); WO200286443
(claim 27; Page 427); WO200260317 (claim 2);
Accession: P40199; Q14920; EMBL; M29541; AAA59915.1. EMBL;
M18728;
[0181] (19) MDP (DPEP1, Genbank accession no. BC017023) Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (26):16899-16903 (2002)); WO2003016475 (claim
1); WO200264798 (claim 33; Page 85-87); JP05003790 (FIG. 6-8);
WO9946284 (FIG. 9);
Cross-references: MIM:179780; AAH 17023.1; BC017023.sub.--1
[0182] (20) IL20R.alpha. (IL20Ra, ZCYTOR7, Genbank accession no.
AF184971); Clark H. F., et al Genome Res. 13, 2265-2270, 2003;
Mungall A. J., et al Nature 425, 805-811, 2003; Blumberg H., et al
Cell 104, 9-19, 2001; Dumoutier L., et al J. Immunol. 167,
3545-3549, 2001; Parrish-Novak J., et al J. Biol. Chem. 277,
47517-47523, 2002; Pletnev S., et al (2003) Biochemistry
42:12617-12624; Sheikh F., et al (2004) J. Immunol. 172, 2006-2010;
EP1394274 (Example 11); US2004005320 (Example 5); WO2003029262
(Page 74-75); WO2003002717 (claim 2; Page 63); WO200222153 (Page
45-47); US2002042366 (Page 20-21); WO200146261 (Page 57-59);
WO200146232 (Page 63-65); WO9837193 (claim 1; Page 55-59);
Accession: .quadrature.9UHF4; Q6UWA9; Q96SH8; EMBL; AF184971;
AAF01320.1.
[0183] (21) Brevican (BCAN, BEHAB, Genbank accession no. AF229053)
Gary S. C., et al Gene 256, 139-147, 2000; Clark H. F., et al
Genome Res. 13, 2265-2270, 2003; Strausberg R. L., et al Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99, 16899-16903, 2002; US2003186372 (claim
11); US2003186373 (claim 11); US2003119131 (claim 1; FIG. 52);
US2003119122 (claim 1; FIG. 52); US2003119126 (claim 1);
US2003119121 (claim 1; FIG. 52); US2003119129 (claim 1);
US2003119130 (claim 1); US2003119128 (claim 1; FIG. 52);
US2003119125 (claim 1); WO2003016475 (claim 1); WO200202634 (claim
1); (22) EphB2R (DRT, ERK, Hek5, EPHT3, Tyro5, Genbank accession
no. NM.sub.--004442) Chan, J. and Watt, V. M., Oncogene 6 (6),
1057-1061 (1991) Oncogene 10 (5):897-905 (1995), Annu. Rev.
Neurosci. 21:309-345 (1998), Int. Rev. Cytol. 196:177-244 (2000));
WO2003042661 (claim 12); WO200053216 (claim 1; Page 41);
WO2004065576 (claim 1); WO2004020583 (claim 9); WO2003004529 (Page
128-132); WO200053216 (claim 1; Page 42);
Cross-references: MIM:600997; NP.sub.--004433.2;
NM.sub.--004442.sub.--1
[0184] (23) ASLG659 (B7h, Genbank accession no. AX092328)
US20040101899 (claim 2); WO2003104399 (claim 11); WO2004000221
(FIG. 3); US2003165504 (claim 1); US2003124140 (Example 2);
US2003065143 (FIG. 60); WO2002102235 (claim 13; Page 299);
US2003091580 (Example 2); WO200210187 (claim 6; FIG. 10);
WO200194641 (claim 12; FIG. 7b); WO200202624 (claim 13; FIG.
1A-1B); US2002034749 (claim 54; Page 45-46); WO200206317 (Example
2; Page 320-321, claim 34; Page 321-322); WO200271928 (Page
468-469); WO200202587 (Example 1; FIG. 1); WO200140269 (Example 3;
Pages 190-192); WO200036107 (Example 2; Page 205-207); WO2004053079
(claim 12); WO2003004989 (claim 1); WO200271928 (Page 233-234,
452-453); WO 0116318; (24) PSCA (Prostate stem cell antigen
precursor, Genbank accession no. AJ297436) Reiter R. E., et al
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95, 1735-1740, 1998; Gu Z., et al
Oncogene 19, 1288-1296, 2000; Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. (2000)
275(3):783-788; WO2004022709; EP1394274 (Example 11); US2004018553
(claim 17); WO2003008537 (claim 1); WO200281646 (claim 1; Page
164); WO2003003906 (claim 10; Page 288); WO200140309 (Example 1;
FIG. 17); US2001055751 (Example 1; FIG. 1b); WO200032752 (claim 18;
FIG. 1); WO9851805 (claim 17; Page 97); WO9851824 (claim 10; Page
94); WO9840403 (claim 2; FIG. 1B);
Accession: 043653; EMBL; AF043498; AAC39607.1.
[0185] (25) GEDA (Genbank accession No. AY260763); AAP14954 lipoma
HMGIC fusion-partner-like protein/pid=AAP14954.1--Homo sapiens
Species: Homo sapiens (human) WO2003054152 (claim 20); WO2003000842
(claim 1); WO2003023013 (Example 3, claim 20); US2003194704 (claim
45);
Cross-references: GI:30102449; AAP14954.1; AY260763.sub.--1
[0186] (26) BAFF-R (B cell-activating factor receptor, BLyS
receptor 3, BR3, Genbank accession No. AF116456); BAFF
receptor/pid=NP.sub.--443177.1--Homo sapiens Thompson, J. S., et al
Science 293 (5537), 2108-2111 (2001); WO2004058309; WO2004011611;
WO2003045422 (Example; Page 32-33); WO2003014294 (claim 35; FIG.
6B); WO2003035846 (claim 70; Page 615-616); WO200294852 (Col
136-137); WO200238766 (claim 3; Page 133); WO200224909 (Example 3;
FIG. 3);
Cross-references: MIM:606269; NP.sub.--443177.1;
NM.sub.--052945.sub.--1; AF132600
[0187] (27) CD22 (B-cell receptor CD22-B isoform, BL-CAM, Lyb-8,
Lyb8, SIGLEC-2, FLJ22814, Genbank accession No. AK026467); Wilson
et al (1991) J. Exp. Med. 173:137-146; WO2003072036 (claim 1; FIG.
1);
Cross-references: MIM:107266; NP.sub.--001762.1;
NM.sub.--001771.sub.--1
[0188] (28) CD79a (CD79A, CD79.alpha., immunoglobulin-associated
alpha, a B cell-specific protein that covalently interacts with Ig
beta (CD79B) and forms a complex on the surface with Ig M
molecules, transduces a signal involved in B-cell differentiation),
pI: 4.84, MW: 25028 .TM.: 2 [P] Gene Chromosome: 19q13.2, Genbank
accession No. NP.sub.--001774.10) WO2003088808, US20030228319;
WO2003062401 (claim 9); US2002150573 (claim 4, pages 13-14);
WO9958658 (claim 13, FIG. 16); WO9207574 (FIG. 1); U.S. Pat. No.
5,644,033; Ha et al (1992) J. Immunol. 148(5):1526-1531; Mueller et
al (1992) Eur. J. Biochem. 22:1621-1625; Hashimoto et al (1994)
Immunogenetics 40(4):287-295; Preud'homme et al (1992) Clin. Exp.
Immunol. 90(1):141-146; Yu et al (1992) J. Immunol. 148(2) 633-637;
Sakaguchi et al (1988) EMBO J. 7(11):3457-3464; (29) CXCR5
(Burkitt's lymphoma receptor 1, a G protein-coupled receptor that
is activated by the CXCL13 chemokine, functions in lymphocyte
migration and humoral defense, plays a role in HIV-2 infection and
perhaps development of AIDS, lymphoma, myeloma, and leukemia); 372
aa, pI: 8.54 MW: 41959 .TM.: 7 [P] Gene Chromosome: 11q23.3,
Genbank accession No. NP.sub.--001707.1) WO2004040000;
WO2004015426; US2003105292 (Example 2); U.S. Pat. No. 6,555,339
(Example 2); WO200261087 (FIG. 1); WO200157188 (claim 20, page
269); WO200172830 (pages 12-13); WO200022129 (Example 1, pages
152-153, Example 2, pages 254-256); WO9928468 (claim 1, page 38);
U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,021 (Example 2, col 49-52); WO9428931 (pages
56-58); WO9217497 (claim 7, FIG. 5); Dobner et al (1992) Eur. J.
Immunol. 22:2795-2799; Barella et al (1995) Biochem. J.
309:773-779; (30) HLA-DOB (Beta subunit of MHC class II molecule
(Ia antigen) that binds peptides and presents them to CD4+ T
lymphocytes); 273 aa, pI: 6.56 MW: 30820 .TM.: 1 [P] Gene
Chromosome: 6p21.3, Genbank accession No. NP.sub.--002111.1)
Tonnelle et al (1985) EMBO J. 4(11):2839-2847; Jonsson et al (1989)
Immunogenetics 29(6):411-413; Beck et al (1992) J. Mol. Biol.
228:433-441; Strausberg et al (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
99:16899-16903; Servenius et al (1987) J. Biol. Chem.
262:8759-8766; Beck et al (1996) J. Mol. Biol. 255:1-13; Naruse et
al (2002) Tissue Antigens 59:512-519; WO9958658 (claim 13, FIG.
15); U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,408 (Col 35-38); U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,551
(col 168-170); U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,146 (col 145-146); Kasahara et
al (1989) Immunogenetics 30(1):66-68; Larhammar et al (1985) J.
Biol. Chem. 260(26):14111-14119; (31) P2X5 (Purinergic receptor P2X
ligand-gated ion channel 5, an ion channel gated by extracellular
ATP, may be involved in synaptic transmission and neurogenesis,
deficiency may contribute to the pathophysiology of idiopathic
detrusor instability); 422 aa), pI: 7.63, MW: 47206 .TM.: 1 [P]
Gene Chromosome: 17p 13.3, Genbank accession No. NP.sub.--002552.2)
Le et al (1997) FEBS Lett. 418(1-2):195-199; WO2004047749;
WO2003072035 (claim 10); Touchman et al (2000) Genome Res.
10:165-173; WO200222660 (claim 20); WO2003093444 (claim 1);
WO2003087768 (claim 1); WO2003029277 (page 82); (32) CD72 (B-cell
differentiation antigen CD72, Lyb-2) PROTEIN SEQUENCE Full maeaity
. . . tafrfpd (1.359; 359 aa), pI: 8.66, MW: 40225 .TM.: 1 [P] Gene
Chromosome: 9p13.3, Genbank accession No. NP.sub.--001773.1)
WO2004042346 (claim 65); WO2003026493 (pages 51-52, 57-58);
WO200075655 (pages 105-106); Von Hoegen et al (1990) J. Immunol.
144(12):4870-4877; Strausberg et al (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
USA 99:16899-16903; (33) LY64 (Lymphocyte antigen 64 (RP105), type
I membrane protein of the leucine rich repeat (LRR) family,
regulates B-cell activation and apoptosis, loss of function is
associated with increased disease activity in patients with
systemic lupus erythematosis); 661 aa, pI: 6.20, MW: 74147 .TM.: 1
[P] Gene Chromosome: 5q12, Genbank accession No. NP.sub.--005573.1)
US2002193567; WO9707198 (claim 11, pages 39-42); Miura et al (1996)
Genomics 38(3):299-304; Miura et al (1998) Blood 92:2815-2822;
WO2003083047; WO9744452 (claim 8, pages 57-61); WO200012130 (pages
24-26); (34) FcRH1 (Fc receptor-like protein 1, a putative receptor
for the immunoglobulin Fc domain that contains C2 type Ig-like and
ITAM domains, may have a role in B-lymphocyte differentiation); 429
aa, pI: 5.28, MW: 46925 .TM.: 1 [P] Gene Chromosome: 1q21-1q22,
Genbank accession No. NP.sub.--443170.1) WO2003077836; WO200138490
(claim 6, FIG. 18E-1-18-E-2); Davis et al (2001) Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA 98(17):9772-9777; WO2003089624 (claim 8); EP1347046 (claim
1); WO2003089624 (claim 7); (35) IRTA2 (Immunoglobulin superfamily
receptor translocation associated 2, a putative immunoreceptor with
possible roles in B cell development and lymphomagenesis;
deregulation of the gene by translocation occurs in some B cell
malignancies); 977 aa, pI: 6.88 MW: 106468 .TM.: 1 [P] Gene
Chromosome: 1q21, Genbank accession No. Human:AF343662, AF343663,
AF343664, AF343665, AF369794, AF397453, AK090423, AK090475,
AL834187, AY358085; Mouse:AK089756, AY158090, AY506558;
NP.sub.--112571.1 WO2003024392 (claim 2, FIG. 97); Nakayama et al
(2000) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 277(1):124-127; WO2003077836;
WO200138490 (claim 3, FIG. 18B-1-18B-2); (36) TENB2 (TMEFF2,
tomoregulin, TPEF, HPP1, TR, putative transmembrane proteoglycan,
related to the EGF/heregulin family of growth factors and
follistatin); 374 aa, NCBI Accession: AAD55776, AAF91397, AAG49451,
NCBI RefSeq: NP.sub.--057276; NCBI Gene: 23671; OMIM: 605734;
SwissProt Q9UIK5; Genbank accession No. AF179274; AY358907,
CAF85723, CQ782436 WO2004074320 (SEQ ID NO 810); JP2004113151 (SEQ
ID NOS 2, 4, 8); WO2003042661 (SEQ ID NO 580); WO2003009814 (SEQ ID
NO 411); EP1295944 (pages 69-70); WO200230268 (page 329);
WO200190304 (SEQ ID NO 2706); US2004249130; US2004022727;
WO2004063355; US2004197325; US2003232350; US2004005563;
US2003124579; Horie et al (2000) Genomics 67:146-152; Uchida et al
(1999) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 266:593-602; Liang et al
(2000) Cancer Res. 60:4907-12; Glynne-Jones et al (2001) Int J.
Cancer. October 15; 94(2):178-84.
[0189] The parent antibody may also be a fusion protein comprising
an albumin-binding peptide (ABP) sequence (Dennis et al. (2002)
"Albumin Binding As A General Strategy For Improving The
Pharmacokinetics Of Proteins" J Biol. Chem. 277:35035-35043; WO
01/45746). Antibodies of the invention include fusion proteins with
ABP sequences taught by: (i) Dennis et al (2002) J Biol. Chem.
277:35035-35043 at Tables III and IV, page 35038; (ii) US
20040001827 at [0076] SEQ ID NOS: 9-22; and (iii) WO 01/45746 at
pages 12-13, SEQ ID NOS: z1-z14, and all of which are incorporated
herein by reference.
Mutagenesis
[0190] DNA encoding an amino acid sequence variant of the starting
polypeptide is prepared by a variety of methods known in the art.
These methods include, but are not limited to, preparation by
site-directed (or oligonucleotide-mediated) mutagenesis, PCR
mutagenesis, and cassette mutagenesis of an earlier prepared DNA
encoding the polypeptide. Variants of recombinant antibodies may be
constructed also by restriction fragment manipulation or by overlap
extension PCR with synthetic oligonucleotides. Mutagenic primers
encode the cysteine codon replacement(s). Standard mutagenesis
techniques can be employed to generate DNA encoding such mutant
cysteine engineered antibodies. General guidance can be found in
Sambrook et al Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989; and
Ausubel et al Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Greene
Publishing and Wiley-Interscience, New York, N.Y., 1993.
[0191] Site-directed mutagenesis is one method for preparing
substitution variants, i.e. mutant proteins. This technique is well
known in the art (see for example, Carter (1985) et al Nucleic
Acids Res. 13:4431-4443; Ho et al (1989) Gene (Amst.) 77:51-59; and
Kunkel et al (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:488). Briefly, in
carrying out site-directed mutagenesis of DNA, the starting DNA is
altered by first hybridizing an oligonucleotide encoding the
desired mutation to a single strand of such starting DNA. After
hybridization, a DNA polymerase is used to synthesize an entire
second strand, using the hybridized oligonucleotide as a primer,
and using the single strand of the starting DNA as a template.
Thus, the oligonucleotide encoding the desired mutation is
incorporated in the resulting double-stranded DNA. Site-directed
mutagenesis may be carried out within the gene expressing the
protein to be mutagenized in an expression plasmid and the
resulting plasmid may be sequenced to confirm the introduction of
the desired cysteine replacement mutations (Liu et al (1998) J.
Biol. Chem. 273:20252-20260). Site-directed of protocols and
formats, including those commercially available, e.g. QuikChangeR
Multi Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit (Stratagene, La Jolla,
Calif.).
[0192] PCR mutagenesis is also suitable for making amino acid
sequence variants of the starting polypeptide. See Higuchi, (1990)
in PCR Protocols, pp. 177-183, Academic Press; Ito et al (1991)
Gene 102:67-70; Bernhard et al (1994) Bioconjugate Chem. 5:126-132;
and Vallette et al (1989) Nuc. Acids Res. 17:723-733. Briefly, when
small amounts of template DNA are used as starting material in a
PCR, primers that differ slightly in sequence from the
corresponding region in a template DNA can be used to generate
relatively large quantities of a specific DNA fragment that differs
from the template sequence only at the positions where the primers
differ from the template.
[0193] Another method for preparing variants, cassette mutagenesis,
is based on the technique described by Wells et al (1985) Gene
34:315-323. The starting material is the plasmid (or other vector)
comprising the starting polypeptide DNA to be mutated. The codon(s)
in the starting DNA to be mutated are identified. There must be a
unique restriction endonuclease site on each side of the identified
mutation site(s). If no such restriction sites exist, they may be
generated using the above described oligonucleotide-mediated
mutagenesis method to introduce them at appropriate locations in
the starting polypeptide DNA. The plasmid DNA is cut at these sites
to linearize it. A double-stranded oligonucleotide encoding the
sequence of the DNA between the restriction sites but containing
the desired mutation(s) is synthesized using standard procedures,
wherein the two strands of the oligonucleotide are synthesized
separately and then hybridized together using standard techniques.
This double-stranded oligonucleotide is referred to as the
cassette. This cassette is designed to have 5' and 3' ends that are
compatible with the ends of the linearized plasmid, such that it
can be directly ligated to the plasmid. This plasmid now contains
the mutated DNA sequence. Mutant DNA containing the encoded
cysteine replacements can be confirmed by DNA sequencing.
[0194] Single mutations are also generated by oligonucleotide
directed mutagenesis using double stranded plasmid DNA as template
by PCR based mutagenesis (Sambrook and Russel, (2001) Molecular
Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 3rd edition; Zoller et al (1983)
Methods Enzymol. 100:468-500; Zoller, M. J. and Smith, M. (1982)
Nucl. Acids Res. 10:6487-6500).
[0195] In the present invention, hu4D5Fabv8 displayed on M13 phage
(Gerstner et al (2002) "Sequence Plasticity In The Antigen-Binding
Site Of A Therapeutic Anti-HER2 Antibody", J Mol. Biol. 321:851-62)
was used for experiments as a model system. Cysteine mutations were
introduced in hu4D5Fabv8-phage, hu4D5Fabv8, and ABP-hu4D5Fabv8
constructs. The hu4D5-ThioFab-Phage preps were carried out using
the polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation method as described
earlier (Lowman, Henry B. (1998) Methods in Molecular Biology
(Totowa, N.J.) 87 (Combinatorial Peptide Library Protocols)
249-264).
[0196] Oligonucleotides are prepared by the phosphoramidite
synthesis method (U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,732; U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,066;
Beaucage, S, and Iyer, R. (1992) "Advances in the synthesis of
oligonucleotides by the phosphoramidite approach", Tetrahedron
48:2223-2311). The phosphoramidite method entails cyclical addition
of nucleotide monomer units with a reactive 3' phosphoramidite
moiety to an oligonucleotide chain growing on a solid-support
comprised of controlled-pore glass or highly crosslinked
polystyrene, and most commonly in the 3' to 5' direction in which
the 3' terminus nucleoside is attached to the solid-support at the
beginning of synthesis (U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,524; U.S. Pat. No.
5,262,530). The method is usually practiced using automated,
commercially available synthesizers (Applied Biosystems, Foster
City, Calif.). Oligonucleotides can be chemically labelled with
non-isotopic moieties for detection, capture, stabilization, or
other purposes (Andrus, A. "Chemical methods for 5' non-isotopic
labelling of PCR probes and primers" (1995) in PCR 2: A Practical
Approach, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 39-54; Hermanson, G.
in Bioconjugate Techniques (1996) Academic Press, San Diego, pp.
40-55, 643-671; Keller, G. and Manak, M. in DNA Probes Second
Edition (1993), Stockton Press, New York, pp. 121-23).
PHESELECTOR Assay
[0197] The PHESELECTOR (Phage ELISA for Selection of Reactive
Thiols) assay allows for detection of reactive cysteine groups in
antibodies in an ELISA phage format. The process of coating the
protein (e.g. antibody) of interest on well surfaces, followed
incubation with phage particles and then HRP labeled secondary
antibody with absorbance detection is detailed in Example 2. Mutant
proteins displayed on phage may be screened in a rapid, robust, and
high-throughput manner. Libraries of cysteine engineered antibodies
can be produced and subjected to binding selection using the same
approach to identify appropriately reactive sites of free Cys
incorporation from random protein-phage libraries of antibodies or
other proteins. This technique includes reacting cysteine mutant
proteins displayed on phage with an affinity reagent or reporter
group which is also thiol-reactive. FIG. 8 illustrates the
PHESELECTOR Assay by a schematic representation depicting the
binding of Fab or ThioFab to HER2 (top) and biotinylated ThioFab to
streptavidin (bottom).
Protein Expression and Purification
[0198] DNA encoding the cysteine engineered antibodies is readily
isolated and sequenced using conventional procedures (e.g., by
using oligonucleotide probes that are capable of binding
specifically to genes encoding the heavy and light chains of murine
antibodies). The hybridoma cells serve as a source of such DNA.
Once isolated, the DNA may be placed into expression vectors, which
are then transfected into host cells such as E. coli cells, simian
COS cells, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, or other mammalian
host cells, such as myeloma cells (U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,715; US
2005/0048572; US 2004/0229310) that do not otherwise produce the
antibody protein, to obtain the synthesis of monoclonal antibodies
in the recombinant host cells. The yields of hu4D5Fabv8 cysteine
engineered antibodies were similar to wild type hu4D5Fabv8. Review
articles on recombinant expression in bacteria of DNA encoding the
antibody include Skerra et al (1993) Curr. Opinion in Immunol.
5:256-262 and Pl{umlaut over (c)}kthun (1992) Immunol. Revs.
130:151-188.
[0199] After design and selection, cysteine engineered antibodies,
e.g. ThioFabs, with highly reactive unpaired Cys residues, may be
produced by: (i) expression in a bacterial, e.g. E. coli, system or
a mammalian cell culture system (WO 01/00245), e.g. Chinese Hamster
Ovary cells (CHO); and (ii) purification using common protein
purification techniques (Lowman et al (1991) J. Biol. Chem.
266(17):10982-10988).
[0200] ThioFabs were expressed upon induction in 34B8, a
non-suppressor E. coli strain (Baca et al (1997) Journal Biological
Chemistry 272(16):10678-84). See Example 3a. The harvested cell
pellet was resuspended in PBS (phosphate buffered saline), total
cell lysis was performed by passing through a microfluidizer and
the ThioFabs were purified by affinity chromatography with protein
G SEPHAROSE.TM. (Amersham). ThioFabs were conjugated with
biotin-PEO-maleimide as described above and the
biotinylated-ThioFabs were further purified by Superdex-200.TM.
(Amersham) gel filtration chromatography, which eliminated the free
biotin-PEO-maleimide and the oligomeric fraction of ThioFabs.
Mass Spectroscopy Analysis
[0201] Liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass
spectrometric (LC-ESI-MS) analysis was employed for the accurate
molecular weight determination of biotin conjugated Fab (Cole, R.
B. Electro Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometry: Fundamentals,
Instrumentation And Applications. (1997) Wiley, New York). The
amino acid sequence of biotinylated hu4D5Fabv8 (A121C) peptide was
determined by tryptic digestion followed by LC-ESI-Tandem MS
analysis (Table 4, Example 3b).
[0202] The antibody Fab fragment hu4D5Fabv8 contains about 445
amino acid residues, including 10 Cys residues (five on the light
and five on the heavy chain). The high-resolution structure of the
humanized 4D5 variable fragment (Fv4D5) has been established, see:
Eigenbrot et al "X-Ray Structures Of The Antigen-Binding Domains
From Three Variants Of Humanized Anti-P185her2 Antibody 4D5 And
Comparison With Molecular Modeling" (1993) J Mol. Biol.
229:969-995). All the Cys residues are present in the form of
disulfide bonds, therefore these residues do not have any reactive
thiol groups to conjugate with drug-maleimide (unless treated with
a reducing agent). Hence, the newly engineered Cys residue, can
remain unpaired, and able to react with, i.e. conjugate to, an
electrophilic linker reagent or drug-linker intermediate, such as a
drug-maleimide. FIG. 1A shows a three-dimensional representation of
the hu4D5Fabv8 antibody fragment derived by X-ray crystal
coordinates. The structure positions of the engineered Cys residues
of the heavy and light chains are numbered according to a
sequential numbering system. This sequential numbering system is
correlated to the Kabat numbering system (Kabat et al., (1991)
Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, 5th Ed. Public
Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.) for
the 4d5v7fabH variant of trastuzumab according to FIG. 1B which
shows the sequential numbering scheme (top row), starting at the
N-terminus, differs from the Kabat numbering scheme (bottom row) by
insertions noted by a,b,c. Using the Kabat numbering system, the
actual linear amino acid sequence may contain fewer or additional
amino acids corresponding to a shortening of, or insertion into, a
FR or CDR of the variable domain. The cysteine engineered heavy
chain variant sites are identified by the sequential numbering and
Kabat numbering schemes in the following chart:
TABLE-US-00001 4D5Fab Heavy chain variants Sequential Numbering
Kabat Numbering A40C Ala-40 Ala-40 A88C Ala-88 Ala-84 S119C Ser-119
Ser-112 S120C Ser-120 Ser-113 A121C Ala-121 Ala-114 S122C Ser-122
Ser-115 A175C Ala-175 Ala-168
[0203] M13 phagemid-Cys mutant Fabs (FIGS. 3A and 3B) can be
rapidly screened compared to Fab proteins. Phagemid-ThioFab binding
to antigen and to streptavidin can be tested by coating HER2 and
streptavidin, respectively, onto ELISA plates followed by probing
with anti-Fab-HRP (Horse radish peroxidase) as described in Example
2 and depicted in FIG. 8. This method allowed simultaneous
monitoring of the effect on the antigen binding and the reactivity
of the thiol group by the engineered Cys residue/conjugated biotin
molecule. Also, the method can be applied to screen the reactive
thiol groups for any protein displayed on M13 phage. Conjugated or
unconjugated phagemid-ThioFabs are purified by simple PEG
precipitation.
[0204] The antigen-binding fragment of humanized 4D5 (hu4D5Fab) is
well expressed in E. Coli and has been displayed on bacteriophage
(Garrard et al (1993) Gene 128: 103-109). The antibody Fab fragment
hu4D5Fabv8 was displayed on M13 phage as a model system in the
ELISA based assay to probe thiol reactivity. FIG. 8 is a graphical
representation of the PHESELECTOR assay, depicting binding of a
biotinylated ThioFab phage and an anti-phage HRP antibody to HER2
(top) and Streptavidin (bottom). Five amino acid residues (L-Ala43,
H-Ala40, H-Serl 19, H-Ala121 and H-Ser122) were initially selected
from crystal structure information as remote from the antigen
binding surface (Eigenbrot et al. (1993) J Mol Biol. 229:969-995).
The Protein Database X-ray crystal structure was designated as
1FVC. Cys residues were engineered at these positions by site
directed mutagenesis. ThioFab-phage preparations were isolated and
reacted with the biotinylation reagent.
[0205] Biotin conjugated and unconjugated variants were tested for
HER2 and streptavidin binding using an ELISA based PHESELECTOR
assay (FIG. 8, Example 2) with an HRP (horseradish
peroxidase)-conjugated anti-phage antibody. The interaction of
non-biotinylated phage-hu4D5Fabv8 (FIG. 2A) and biotinylated
phage-hu4D5Fabv8 (FIG. 2B) with BSA (open box), HER2 (grey box) or
streptavidin (solid box) were monitored through
anti-M13-horseradish peroxidase (HRP) antibody by developing a
standard HRP reaction and measuring absorbance at 450 nm. The
absorbance produced by turnover of a colorimetric substrate was
measured at 450 nm. The reactivity of ThioFab with HER2 measures
antigen binding. The reactivity of ThioFab with streptavidin
measures the extent of biotinylation. The reactivity of ThioFab
with BSA is a negative control for nonspecific interaction. As seen
in FIG. 2A, all the ThioFab-phage variants have similar binding to
HER2 compared to that of wild type hu4D5Fabv8-phage. Furthermore,
conjugation with biotin did not interfere in the ThioFab binding to
HER2 (FIG. 2B).
[0206] Surprisingly and unexpectedly, the ThioFabs-phage samples
showed varying levels of streptavidin binding activity. From all
the tested phage-ThioFabs, the A121C cysteine engineered antibody
exhibited maximal thiol reactivity. Even though wild type
hu4D5Fabv8-phage was incubated with the same amounts of
biotin-maleimide, these phage had little streptavidin binding
indicating that preexisting cysteine residues (involved in
disulfide bond formation) from the hu4D5Fabv8 and M13 phage coat
proteins did not interfere with the site-specific conjugation of
biotin-maleimide. These results demonstrate that the phage ELISA
assay can be used successfully to screen reactive thiol groups on
the Fab surface.
[0207] The PHESELECTOR assay allows screening of reactive thiol
groups in antibodies. Identification of the A121C variant by this
method is exemplary. The entire Fab molecule may be effectively
searched to identify more ThioFab variants with reactive thiol
groups. A parameter, fractional surface accessibility, was employed
to identify and quantitate the accessibility of solvent to the
amino acid residues in a polypeptide. The surface accessibility can
be expressed as the surface area (.ANG..sup.2) that can be
contacted by a solvent molecule, e.g. water. The occupied space of
water is approximated as a 1.4 .ANG. radius sphere. Software is
freely available or licensable (Secretary to CCP4, Daresbury
Laboratory, Warrington, WA4 4AD, United Kingdom, Fax: (+44) 1925
603825, or by internet: www.ccp4.ac.uk/dist/html/INDEX.html) as the
CCP4 Suite of crystallography programs which employ algorithms to
calculate the surface accessibility of each amino acid of a protein
with known x-ray crystallography derived coordinates ("The CCP4
Suite: Programs for Protein Crystallography" (1994) Acta. Cryst.
D50:760-763). Two exemplary software modules that perform surface
accessibility calculations are "AREAIMOL" and "SURFACE", based on
the algorithms of B. Lee and F. M. Richards (1971) J. Mol. Biol.
55:379-400. AREAIMOL defines the solvent accessible surface of a
protein as the locus of the centre of a probe sphere (representing
a solvent molecule) as it rolls over the Van der Waals surface of
the protein. AREAIMOL calculates the solvent accessible surface
area by generating surface points on an extended sphere about each
atom (at a distance from the atom centre equal to the sum of the
atom and probe radii), and eliminating those that lie within
equivalent spheres associated with neighboring atoms. AREAIMOL
finds the solvent accessible area of atoms in a PDB coordinate
file, and summarizes the accessible area by residue, by chain and
for the whole molecule. Accessible areas (or area differences) for
individual atoms can be written to a pseudo-PDB output file.
AREAIMOL assumes a single radius for each element, and only
recognizes a limited number of different elements. Unknown atom
types (i.e. those not in AREAIMOL's internal database) will be
assigned the default radius of 1.8 .ANG.. The list of recognized
atoms is:
TABLE-US-00002 Atom Atomic no. Van der Waals rad. (.ANG.) C 6 1.80
N 7 1.65 O 8 1.60 Mg 12 1.60 S 16 1.85 P 15 1.90 Cl 17 1.80 Co 27
1.80
[0208] AREAIMOL and SURFACE report absolute accessibilities, i.e.
the number of square Angstroms (.ANG.). Fractional surface
accessibility is calculated by reference to a standard state
relevant for an amino acid within a polypeptide. The reference
state is tripeptide Gly-X-Gly, where X is the amino acid of
interest, and the reference state should be an `extended`
conformation, i.e. like those in beta-strands. The extended
conformation maximizes the accessibility of X. A calculated
accessible area is divided by the accessible area in a Gly-X-Gly
tripeptide reference state and reports the quotient, which is the
fractional accessibility. Percent accessibility is fractional
accessibility multiplied by 100.
[0209] Another exemplary algorithm for calculating surface
accessibility is based on the SOLV module of the program xsae
(Broger, C., F. Hoffman-LaRoche, Basel) which calculates fractional
accessibility of an amino acid residue to a water sphere based on
the X-ray coordinates of the polypeptide.
[0210] The fractional surface accessibility for every amino acid in
hu4D5Fabv7 was calculated using the crystal structure information
(Eigenbrot et al. (1993) J Mol Biol. 229:969-995). The fractional
surface accessibility values for the amino acids of the light chain
and heavy chain of hu4D5Fabv7 are shown in descending order in
Table 1.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 1 hu4D5Fabv7-light chain SER A 202 frac acc =
101.236 GLY A 41 frac acc = 90.775 GLY A 157 frac acc = 88.186 ASP
A 1 frac acc = 87.743 SER A 156 frac acc = 83.742 GLY A 57 frac acc
= 81.611 SER A 168 frac acc = 79.680 SER A 56 frac acc = 79.181 LYS
A 169 frac acc = 77.591 SER A 60 frac acc = 75.291 THR A 109 frac
acc = 74.603 CYS A 214 frac acc = 72.021 LYS A 126 frac acc =
71.002 SER A 67 frac acc = 66.694 ARG A 18 frac acc = 66.126 ASN A
152 frac acc = 65.415 SER A 127 frac acc = 65.345 LYS A 190 frac
acc = 65.189 LYS A 145 frac acc = 63.342 GLN A 199 frac acc =
62.470 GLU A 143 frac acc = 61.681 GLN A 3 frac acc = 59.976 LYS A
188 frac acc = 59.680 ARG A 24 frac acc = 59.458 PHE A 53 frac acc
= 58.705 SER A 9 frac acc = 58.446 GLN A 27 frac acc = 57.247 ALA A
153 frac acc = 56.538 SER A 203 frac acc = 55.864 LYS A 42 frac acc
= 54.730 GLY A 16 frac acc = 54.612 LYS A 45 frac acc = 54.464 PRO
A 204 frac acc = 53.172 GLU A 213 frac acc = 53.084 ALA A 184 frac
acc = 52.556 VAL A 15 frac acc = 52.460 SER A 7 frac acc = 51.936
LEU A 154 frac acc = 51.525 GLN A 100 frac acc = 51.195 SER A 10
frac acc = 49.907 THR A 5 frac acc = 48.879 THR A 206 frac acc =
48.853 ASP A 28 frac acc = 48.758 GLY A 68 frac acc = 48.690 THR A
20 frac acc = 48.675 ASP A 122 frac acc = 47.359 PRO A 80 frac acc
= 46.984 SER A 52 frac acc = 46.917 SER A 26 frac acc = 46.712 TYR
A 92 frac acc = 46.218 LYS A 107 frac acc = 45.912 GLU A 161 frac
acc = 45.100 VAL A 110 frac acc = 44.844 GLU A 81 frac acc = 44.578
PRO A 59 frac acc = 44.290 ASN A 30 frac acc = 42.721 GLN A 160
frac acc = 42.692 SER A 114 frac acc = 42.374 PRO A 40 frac acc =
41.928 ASP A 151 frac acc = 41.586 SER A 12 frac acc = 40.633 ASN A
210 frac acc = 40.158 SER A 63 frac acc = 39.872 ARG A 66 frac acc
= 39.669 PRO A 8 frac acc = 39.297 SER A 65 frac acc = 39.219 SER A
77 frac acc = 38.820 THR A 180 frac acc = 38.296 ASP A 185 frac acc
= 38.234 THR A 31 frac acc = 38.106 THR A 94 frac acc = 37.452 THR
A 93 frac acc = 37.213 THR A 197 frac acc = 36.709 SER A 182 frac
acc = 36.424 GLY A 128 frac acc = 35.779 LYS A 207 frac acc =
35.638 ASP A 17 frac acc = 35.413 GLY A 200 frac acc = 35.274 GLU A
165 frac acc = 35.067 ALA A 112 frac acc = 34.912 GLN A 79 frac acc
= 34.601 VAL A 191 frac acc = 33.935 SER A 208 frac acc = 33.525
LYS A 39 frac acc = 33.446 GLU A 123 frac acc = 32.486 THR A 69
frac acc = 32.276 SER A 76 frac acc = 32.108 HIS A 189 frac acc =
31.984 ARG A 108 frac acc = 31.915 ASN A 158 frac acc = 31.447 VAL
A 205 frac acc = 31.305 SER A 14 frac acc = 31.094 GLN A 155 frac
acc = 30.630 GLU A 187 frac acc = 30.328 ARG A 211 frac acc =
30.027 LYS A 183 frac acc = 29.751 ASN A 138 frac acc = 29.306 ASP
A 170 frac acc = 29.041 SER A 159 frac acc = 27.705 GLN A 147 frac
acc = 27.485 THR A 22 frac acc = 27.121 ALA A 43 frac acc = 26.801
ARG A 142 frac acc = 26.447 LEU A 54 frac acc = 25.882 ASP A 167
frac acc = 25.785 THR A 129 frac acc = 23.880 ALA A 144 frac acc =
23.652 VAL A 163 frac acc = 22.261 PRO A 95 frac acc = 20.607 ALA A
111 frac acc = 19.942 LYS A 103 frac acc = 18.647 LEU A 181 frac
acc = 18.312 THR A 72 frac acc = 18.226 GLU A 195 frac acc = 18.006
THR A 178 frac acc = 17.499 THR A 85 frac acc = 17.343 ASP A 70
frac acc = 17.194 LEU A 11 frac acc = 16.568 PHE A 116 frac acc =
16.406 THR A 97 frac acc = 16.204 ARG A 61 frac acc = 16.192 TYR A
49 frac acc = 16.076 SER A 50 frac acc = 15.746 LYS A 149 frac acc
= 15.510 GLU A 55 frac acc = 14.927 LEU A 201 frac acc = 14.012 GLY
A 64 frac acc = 13.735 GLY A 212 frac acc = 13.396 PHE A 98 frac
acc = 12.852 THR A 74 frac acc = 12.169 SER A 171 frac acc = 11.536
PRO A 141 frac acc = 11.073 PHE A 83 frac acc = 10.871 THR A 164
frac acc = 10.325 ALA A 32 frac acc = 9.971 HIS A 198 frac acc =
9.958 VAL A 146 frac acc = 9.861 SER A 121 frac acc = 9.833 ALA A
13 frac acc = 9.615 GLU A 105 frac acc = 9.416 SER A 162 frac acc =
9.304 ILE A 117 frac acc = 8.780 HIS A 91 frac acc = 8.557 ALA A
193 frac acc = 8.547 GLN A 37 frac acc = 8.442 VAL A 58 frac acc =
8.281 PRO A 120 frac acc = 8.095 GLN A 38 frac acc = 6.643 PRO A
113 frac acc = 6.594 GLY A 101 frac acc = 6.558 TYR A 140 frac acc
= 5.894 VAL A 115 frac acc = 5.712 TYR A 87 frac acc = 4.539 SER A
176 frac acc = 4.106 ILE A 2 frac acc = 4.080 ASN A 137 frac acc =
3.906 TRP A 148 frac acc = 3.676 GLY A 99 frac acc = 3.550 PRO A 44
frac acc = 3.543 LEU A 175 frac acc = 3.488 VAL A 19 frac acc =
3.420 ILE A 106 frac acc = 3.337 PRO A 119 frac acc = 2.953 LEU A
46 frac acc = 2.887 GLN A 6 frac acc = 2.860 TYR A 173 frac acc =
2.825 VAL A 150 frac acc = 2.525 GLN A 166 frac acc = 2.525 THR A
172 frac acc = 2.436 LEU A 125 frac acc = 2.398 PRO A 96 frac acc =
2.387 LEU A 47 frac acc = 2.180 ALA A 51 frac acc = 1.837 PHE A 118
frac acc = 1.779 PHE A 62 frac acc = 1.581 ALA A 25 frac acc =
1.538 VAL A 133 frac acc = 1.315 ASP A 82 frac acc = 1.141 LEU A
179 frac acc = 0.872 GLN A 124 frac acc = 0.787 MET A 4 frac acc =
0.778 SER A 177 frac acc = 0.693 SER A 131 frac acc = 0.693 LEU A
135 frac acc = 0.654 PHE A 71 frac acc = 0.593 TRP A 35 frac acc =
0.448 PHE A 209 frac acc = 0.395 TYR A 186 frac acc = 0.259 LEU A
78 frac acc = 0.157 VAL A 196 frac acc = 0.000 VAL A 132 frac acc =
0.000 VAL A 104 frac acc = 0.000 VAL A 33 frac acc = 0.000 VAL A 29
frac acc = 0.000 TYR A 192 frac acc = 0.000 TYR A 86 frac acc =
0.000 TYR A 36 frac acc = 0.000 THR A 102 frac acc = 0.000 SER A
174 frac acc = 0.000 PHE A 139 frac acc = 0.000 LEU A 136 frac acc
= 0.000 LEU A 73 frac acc = 0.000 ILE A 75 frac acc = 0.000 ILE A
48 frac acc = 0.000 ILE A 21 frac acc = 0.000 GLN A 90 frac acc =
0.000 GLN A 89 frac acc = 0.000 CYS A 194 frac acc = 0.000 CYS A
134 frac acc = 0.000 CYS A 88 frac acc = 0.000 CYS A 23 frac acc =
0.000 ALA A 130 frac acc = 0.000 ALA A 84 frac acc = 0.000 ALA A 34
frac acc = 0.000 hu4D5Fabv7-heavy chain SER B 179 frac acc = 99.479
GLY B 42 frac acc = 95.850 GLU B 1 frac acc = 87.276 GLY B 66 frac
acc = 84.541 ASP B 102 frac acc = 83.794 SER B 75 frac acc = 80.567
GLY B 140 frac acc = 80.344 ASN B 211 frac acc = 79.588 GLY B 197
frac acc = 78.676 ASP B 62 frac acc = 77.716 GLY B 103 frac acc =
77.176 SER B 163 frac acc = 76.664 SER B 139 frac acc = 74.946 LYS
B 213 frac acc = 74.442 ALA B 165 frac acc = 74.339 THR B 167 frac
acc = 73.934 SER B 122 frac acc = 72.870 SER B 194 frac acc =
71.959 PRO B 41 frac acc = 71.540 THR B 198 frac acc = 68.668 SER B
222 frac acc = 68.128 LYS B 43 frac acc = 67.782 GLY B 26 frac acc
= 67.782 THR B 138 frac acc = 65.826 ASP B 31 frac acc = 64.222 GLY
B 15 frac acc = 64.172 SER B 168 frac acc = 62.100 SER B 120 frac
acc = 61.332 LYS B 76 frac acc = 61.092 GLY B 141 frac acc = 59.419
SER B 137 frac acc = 59.179 TYR B 57 frac acc = 58.916
GLU B 89 frac acc = 58.483 SER B 180 frac acc = 56.289 LYS B 65
frac acc = 55.044 ASP B 215 frac acc = 54.656 GLN B 13 frac acc =
53.719 GLN B 112 frac acc = 53.215 TYR B 105 frac acc = 51.940 ALA
B 88 frac acc = 51.602 GLY B 164 frac acc = 50.259 PRO B 192 frac
acc = 49.826 THR B 158 frac acc = 49.694 THR B 142 frac acc =
48.896 ASN B 55 frac acc = 48.344 LYS B 136 frac acc = 48.312 ARG B
19 frac acc = 48.082 PRO B 156 frac acc = 47.366 PRO B 174 frac acc
= 47.157 LYS B 217 frac acc = 47.102 GLN B 199 frac acc = 46.650
SER B 17 frac acc = 45.980 SER B 85 frac acc = 45.824 PRO B 14 frac
acc = 45.729 THR B 54 frac acc = 45.503 THR B 200 frac acc = 45.369
LEU B 177 frac acc = 45.337 GLY B 8 frac acc = 44.898 SER B 7 frac
acc = 43.530 THR B 69 frac acc = 43.503 PRO B 220 frac acc = 43.378
LYS B 208 frac acc = 43.138 LYS B 30 frac acc = 42.380 ALA B 23
frac acc = 41.952 GLU B 46 frac acc = 41.430 SER B 25 frac acc =
41.323 ARG B 87 frac acc = 41.282 LYS B 124 frac acc = 40.888 ASN B
28 frac acc = 40.529 GLN B 3 frac acc = 39.824 THR B 123 frac acc =
39.306 SER B 63 frac acc = 38.867 GLY B 56 frac acc = 38.582 GLY B
169 frac acc = 38.469 THR B 172 frac acc = 38.421 PRO B 209 frac
acc = 38.309 GLY B 101 frac acc = 38.040 TYR B 109 frac acc =
36.829 LYS B 221 frac acc = 36.520 GLY B 44 frac acc = 35.147 GLY B
181 frac acc = 34.735 THR B 58 frac acc = 34.457 GLY B 9 frac acc =
34.254 VAL B 5 frac acc = 34.198 ALA B 121 frac acc = 33.049 SER B
127 frac acc = 32.390 GLY B 10 frac acc = 32.230 SER B 71 frac acc
= 30.659 ASP B 73 frac acc = 30.245 LEU B 115 frac acc = 29.867 LEU
B 11 frac acc = 29.825 ASN B 84 frac acc = 29.765 SER B 210 frac
acc = 28.656 GLU B 155 frac acc = 28.162 SER B 160 frac acc =
26.526 CYS B 223 frac acc = 26.270 GLY B 16 frac acc = 26.158 ILE B
202 frac acc = 26.068 GLN B 82 frac acc = 25.836 SER B 193 frac acc
= 25.550 ASN B 77 frac acc = 25.418 ARG B 59 frac acc = 25.301 VAL
B 93 frac acc = 25.254 THR B 74 frac acc = 24.902 GLU B 219 frac
acc = 24.778 ASN B 206 frac acc = 24.647 VAL B 170 frac acc =
24.549 TYR B 52 frac acc = 24.298 ALA B 175 frac acc = 23.804 LYS B
216 frac acc = 23.277 VAL B 214 frac acc = 23.150 GLY B 125 frac
acc = 22.802 ASN B 162 frac acc = 22.245 ALA B 72 frac acc = 22.166
ALA B 40 frac acc = 21.974 LEU B 18 frac acc = 20.273 THR B 212
frac acc = 20.170 LEU B 182 frac acc = 19.619 TYR B 33 frac acc =
19.398 THR B 190 frac acc = 19.365 VAL B 176 frac acc = 18.941 SER
B 21 frac acc = 18.929 SER B 119 frac acc = 18.877 THR B 91 frac
acc = 18.237 ASP B 151 frac acc = 17.849 THR B 114 frac acc =
17.601 SER B 134 frac acc = 17.571 LEU B 196 frac acc = 17.090 TYR
B 60 frac acc = 16.575 TYR B 183 frac acc = 15.968 VAL B 2 frac acc
= 15.901 PRO B 130 frac acc = 15.342 LEU B 166 frac acc = 15.268
GLY B 100 frac acc = 15.003 PHE B 27 frac acc = 14.383 ASN B 204
frac acc = 13.873 PHE B 104 frac acc = 13.836 TYR B 80 frac acc =
13.490 VAL B 159 frac acc = 12.782 ARG B 67 frac acc = 12.362 GLN B
178 frac acc = 12.131 HIS B 171 frac acc = 11.412 SER B 184 frac
acc = 11.255 ARG B 98 frac acc = 11.115 PRO B 53 frac acc = 11.071
GLN B 39 frac acc = 11.037 SER B 195 frac acc = 10.909 ASP B 108
frac acc = 10.525 LEU B 185 frac acc = 10.464 GLY B 113 frac acc =
10.406 THR B 78 frac acc = 10.213 THR B 117 frac acc = 9.990 LYS B
150 frac acc = 9.447 VAL B 157 frac acc = 9.323 VAL B 12 frac acc =
9.207 TRP B 110 frac acc = 9.069 ALA B 143 frac acc = 8.903 SER B
135 frac acc = 8.897 PHE B 129 frac acc = 8.895 ARG B 50 frac acc =
8.639 ALA B 61 frac acc = 8.547 ALA B 132 frac acc = 7.882 VAL B
191 frac acc = 7.366 PRO B 126 frac acc = 7.258 PHE B 153 frac acc
= 6.918 PRO B 154 frac acc = 6.767 PRO B 133 frac acc = 6.767 TRP B
99 frac acc = 6.502 THR B 32 frac acc = 6.291 LEU B 45 frac acc =
4.649 VAL B 128 frac acc = 4.515 ILE B 51 frac acc = 4.307 SER B
186 frac acc = 4.084 PHE B 173 frac acc = 3.969 ARG B 38 frac acc =
3.734 TRP B 47 frac acc = 3.561 VAL B 118 frac acc = 3.409 ALA B 24
frac acc = 3.376 TYR B 95 frac acc = 3.242 GLU B 6 frac acc = 3.216
ALA B 144 frac acc = 3.167 ILE B 70 frac acc = 1.958 GLY B 111 frac
acc = 1.868 LEU B 4 frac acc = 1.808 TYR B 201 frac acc = 1.758 LEU
B 148 frac acc = 1.744 PHE B 68 frac acc = 1.708 VAL B 188 frac acc
= 1.315 CYS B 22 frac acc = 0.935 TRP B 161 frac acc = 0.876 LEU B
131 frac acc = 0.654 VAL B 205 frac acc = 0.495 ALA B 92 frac acc =
0.356 ALA B 79 frac acc = 0.356 VAL B 64 frac acc = 0.263 ILE B 29
frac acc = 0.227 VAL B 218 frac acc = 0.000 VAL B 189 frac acc =
0.000 VAL B 149 frac acc = 0.000 VAL B 116 frac acc = 0.000 VAL B
48 frac acc = 0.000 VAL B 37 frac acc = 0.000 TYR B 152 frac acc =
0.000 TYR B 94 frac acc = 0.000 TRP B 36 frac acc = 0.000 SER B 187
frac acc = 0.000 SER B 97 frac acc = 0.000 MET B 107 frac acc =
0.000 MET B 83 frac acc = 0.000 LEU B 145 frac acc = 0.000 LEU B 86
frac acc = 0.000 LEU B 81 frac acc = 0.000 LEU B 20 frac acc =
0.000 ILE B 34 frac acc = 0.000 HIS B 207 frac acc = 0.000 HIS B 35
frac acc = 0.000 GLY B 146 frac acc = 0.000 CYS B 203 frac acc =
0.000 CYS B 147 frac acc = 0.000 CYS B 96 frac acc = 0.000 ASP B 90
frac acc = 0.000 ALA B 106 frac acc = 0.000 ALA B 49 frac acc =
0.000
[0211] The following two criteria were applied to identify the
residues of hu4D5Fabv8 that can be engineered to replace with Cys
residues:
[0212] 1. Amino acid residues that are completely buried are
eliminated, i.e. less than 10% fractional surface accessibility.
Table 1 shows there are 134 (light chain) and 151 (heavy chain)
residues of hu4D5Fabv8 that are more than 10% accessible
(fractional surface accessibility). The top ten most accessible
Ser, Ala and Val residues were selected due to their close
structural similarity to Cys over other amino acids, introducing
only minimal structural constraints in the antibody by newly
engineered Cys. Other cysteine replacement sites can also be
screened, and may be useful for conjugation.
[0213] 2. Residues are sorted based on their role in functional and
structural interactions of Fab. The residues which are not involved
in antigen interactions and distant from the existing disulfide
bonds were further selected. The newly engineered Cys residues
should be distinct from, and not interfere with, antigen binding
nor mispair with cysteines involved in disulfide bond
formation.
[0214] The following residues of hu4D5Fabv8 possessed the above
criteria and were selected to be replaced with Cys: L-V15, L-A43,
L-V110, L-A144, L-S168, H-A88, H-A121, H-S122, H-A175 and H-S179
(shown in FIG. 1).
[0215] Thiol reactivity may be generalized to any antibody where
substitution of amino acids with reactive cysteine amino acids may
be made within the ranges in the light chain selected from: L-10 to
L-20; L-38 to L-48; L-105 to L-115; L-139 to L-149; L-163 to L-173;
and within the ranges in the heavy chain selected from: H-35 to
H-45; H-83 to H-93; H-114 to H-127; and H-170 to H-184, and in the
Fc region within the ranges selected from H-268 to H-291; H-319 to
H-344; H-370 to H-380; and H-395 to H-405.
[0216] Thiol reactivity may also be generalized to certain domains
of an antibody, such as the light chain constant domain (CL) and
heavy chain constant domains, CH1, CH2 and CH3. Cysteine
replacements resulting in thiol reactivity values of 0.6 and higher
may be made in the heavy chain constant domains .alpha., .delta.,
.epsilon., .gamma., and .mu. of intact antibodies: IgA, IgD, IgE,
IgG, and IgM, respectively, including the IgG subclasses: IgG1,
IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgA, and IgA2.
[0217] It is evident from the crystal structure data that the
selected 10 Cys mutants are far away from the antigen-combining
site, such as the interface with HER2 in this case. These mutants
can be tested experimentally for indirect effects on functional
interactions. The thiol reactivities of all the Cys Fab variants
were measured and calculated as described in Examples 1 and 2, and
presented in Table 2. The residues L-V15C, L-V110C, H-A88C and
H-A121C have reactive and stable thiol groups (FIGS. 3A and 3B).
Mutants V15C, V110C, A144C, S168C are light chain Cysvariants.
Mutants A88C, A121C, A175C, S179C are heavy chain Cys variants. It
was surprising and unexpected that the sites with high fractional
surface accessibility did not have the highest thiol reactivity as
calculated by the PHESELECTOR assay (Table 2). In other words,
fractional surface accessibility (Tables 1, 2) did not correlate
with thiol reactivity (Table 2). In fact, the Cys residues
engineered at the sites with moderate surface accessibility of 20%
to 80% (FIG. 4A, Table 1), or partially exposed sites, like Ala or
Val residues, exhibited better thiol reactivity, i.e. >0.6,
(FIG. 3B, Table 2) than the Cys introduced at Ser residues, thus
necessitating the use of PHESELECTOR assay in the screening of
thiol reactive sites since the crystal structure information alone
is not sufficient to select these sites (FIGS. 3B and 4A).
[0218] Thiol reactivity data is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B for amino
acid residues of 4D5 ThioFab Cys mutants: (3A) non-biotinylated
(control) and (3B) biotinylated phage-ThioFabs. Reactive thiol
groups on antibody/Fab surface were identified by PHESELECTOR assay
analyses for the interaction of non-biotinylated phage-hu4D5Fabv8
(3A) and biotinylated phage-hu4D5Fabv8 (3B) with BSA (open box),
HER2 (grey box) or streptavidin (solid box). The assay was carried
out as described in Example 2. Light chain variants are on the left
side and heavy chain variants are on the right side. The binding of
non-biotinylated 4D5 ThioFab Cys mutants is low as expected, but
strong binding to HER2 is retained. The ratio of binding to
streptavidin and to HER2 of the biotinylated 4D5 ThioFab Cys
mutants gives the thiol reactivity values in Table 2. Background
absorbance at 450 nm or small amounts of non-specific protein
binding of the biotinylated 4D5 ThioFab Cys mutants to BSA is also
evident in FIG. 3B. Fractional Surface Accessibility values of the
selected amino acid residues that were replaced with a Cys residue
are shown in FIG. 4A. Fractional surface accessibility was
calculated from the available hu4D5Fabv7 structure and shown on
Table 1 (Eigenbrot et al. (1993) J Mol Biol. 229:969-995). The
conformational parameters of the hu4D5Fabv7 and hu4D5Fabv8
structures are highly consistent and allow for determination of any
correlation between fractional surface accessibility calculations
of hu4D5Fabv7 and thiol reactivity of hu4D5Fabv8 cysteine mutants.
The measured thiol reactivity of phage ThioFab Cys residues
introduced at partially exposed residues (Ala or Val) have better
thiol reactivity compared to the ones introduced at Ser residues
(Table 2). It can be seen from the ThioFab Cys mutants of Table 2
that there is little or no correlation between thio reactivity
values and fractional surface accessibility.
[0219] Amino acids at positions L-15, L-43, L-110, L-144, L-168,
H-40, H-88, H-119, H-121, H-122, H-175, and H-179 of an antibody
may generally be mutated (replaced) with free cysteine amino acids.
Ranges within about 5 amino acid residues on each side of these
positions may also be replaced with free cysteine acids, i.e. L-10
to L-20; L-38 to L-48; L-105 to L-115; L-139 to L-149; L-163 to
L-173; H-35 to H-45; H-83 to H-93; H-114 to H-127; and H-170 to
H-184, as well as the ranges in the Fc region selected from H-268
to H-291; H-319 to H-344; H-370 to H-380; and H-395 to H-405, to
yield the cysteine engineered antibodies of the invention.
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 2 Thiol reactivity of phage-ThioFabs
Phage-ThioFab Thiol Fractional Surface construct Reactivity*
Accessibility (%) (from Table 1) hu4D5Fabv8-wt 0.125 -- L-V15C
0.934 52.46 L-A43C 0.385 26.80 L-V110C 0.850 44.84 L-A144C 0.373
23.65 L-S168C 0.514 79.68 H-A40C 0.450 21.97 H-A88C 0.914 51.60
H-S119C 0.680 18.88 H-A121C 0.925 33.05 H-S122C 0.720 72.87 H-A175C
0.19 23.80 H-S179C 0.446 99.48 L = light chain, H = heavy chain, A
= alanine, S = serine, V = valine, C = cysteine *Thiol reactivity
is measured as the ratio of OD.sub.450 nm for streptavidin binding
to OD.sub.450 nm for HER2 (antibody) binding (Example 2). Thiol
reactivity value of 1 indicates complete biotinylation of the
cysteine thiol.
[0220] Two Cys variants from light chain (L-V15C and L-V110C) and
two from heavy chain (H-A88C and H-A121C) were selected for further
analysis as these variants showed the highest thiol reactivity
(Table 2).
[0221] Unlike phage purification, Fab preparation may require 2-3
days, depending on the scale of production. During this time, thiol
groups may lose reactivity due to oxidation. To probe the stability
of thiol groups on hu4D5Fabv8-phage, stability of the thiol
reactivity of phage-thioFabs was measured (FIG. 4B). After
ThioFab-phage purification, on day 1, day 2 and day 4, all the
samples were conjugated with biotin-PEO-maleimide and probed with
phage ELISA assay (PHESELECTOR) to test HER2 and streptavidin
binding. L-V15C, L-V110C, H-A88C and H-A121C retain significant
amounts of thiol reactivity compared to other ThioFab variants
(FIG. 4B).
Labelled Cysteine Engineered Antibodies
[0222] The cysteine engineered antibodies of the invention may be
conjugated with any label moiety which can be covalently attached
to the antibody through a reactive cysteine thiol group (Singh et
al (2002) Anal. Biochem. 304:147-15; Harlow E. and Lane, D. (1999)
Using Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Springs Harbor
Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; Lundblad R. L. (1991)
Chemical Reagents for Protein Modification, 2nd ed. CRC Press, Boca
Raton, Fla.). The attached label may function to: (i) provide a
detectable signal; (ii) interact with a second label to modify the
detectable signal provided by the first or second label, e.g. to
give FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer); (iii) stabilize
interactions or increase affinity of binding, with antigen or
ligand; (iv) affect mobility, e.g. electrophoretic mobility or
cell-permeability, by charge, hydrophobicity, shape, or other
physical parameters, or (v) provide a capture moiety, to modulate
ligand affinity, antibody/antigen binding, or ionic
complexation.
[0223] Labelled cysteine engineered antibodies may be useful in
diagnostic assays, e.g., for detecting expression of an antigen of
interest in specific cells, tissues, or serum. For diagnostic
applications, the antibody will typically be labeled with a
detectable moiety. Numerous labels are available which can be
generally grouped into the following categories:
[0224] (a) Radioisotopes (radionuclides), such as .sup.3H, .sup.11C
.sup.14C, .sup.18F, .sup.32P, .sup.35S, .sup.64Cu, .sup.68Ga,
.sup.86Y, .sup.99Tc, .sup.111In, .sup.123I, .sup.124I, .sup.125I,
.sup.131I, .sup.133Xe, .sup.177Lu, .sup.211At, or .sup.213Bi.
Radioisotope labelled antibodies are useful in receptor targeted
imaging experiments. The antibody can be labeled with ligand
reagents that bind, chelate or otherwise complex a radioisotope
metal where the reagent is reactive with the engineered cysteine
thiol of the antibody, using the techniques described in Current
Protocols in Immunology, Volumes 1 and 2, Coligen et al, Ed.
Wiley-Interscience, New York, N.Y., Pubs. (1991). Chelating ligands
which may complex a metal ion include DOTA, DOTP, DOTMA, DTPA and
TETA (Macrocyclics, Dallas, Tex.). Radionuclides can be targetted
via complexation with the antibody-drug conjugates of the invention
(Wu et al (2005) Nature Biotechnology 23(9):1137-1146).
[0225] Metal-chelate complexes suitable as antibody labels for
imaging experiments are disclosed: U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,606; U.S.
Pat. No. 5,428,155; U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,757; U.S. Pat. No.
5,480,990; U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,725; U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,139; U.S.
Pat. No. 5,385,893; U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,294; U.S. Pat. No.
5,750,660; U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,456; Hnatowich et al (1983) J.
Immunol. Methods 65:147-157; Meares et al (1984) Anal. Biochem.
142:68-78; Mirzadeh et al (1990) Bioconjugate Chem. 1:59-65; Meares
et al (1990) J. Cancer1990, Suppl. 10:21-26; Izard et al (1992)
Bioconjugate Chem. 3:346-350; Nikula et al (1995) Nucl. Med. Biol.
22:387-90; Camera et al (1993) Nucl. Med. Biol. 20:955-62; Kukis et
al (1998) J. Nucl. Med. 39:2105-2110; Verel et al (2003) J. Nucl.
Med. 44:1663-1670; Camera et al (1994) J. Nucl. Med. 21:640-646;
Ruegg et al (1990) Cancer Res. 50:4221-4226; Verel et al (2003) J.
Nucl. Med. 44:1663-1670; Lee et al (2001) Cancer Res. 61:4474-4482;
Mitchell, et al (2003) J. Nucl. Med. 44:1105-1112; Kobayashi et al
(1999) Bioconjugate Chem. 10:103-111; Miederer et al (2004) J.
Nucl. Med. 45:129-137; DeNardo et al (1998) Clinical Cancer
Research 4:2483-90; Blend et al (2003) Cancer Biotherapy &
Radiopharmaceuticals 18:355-363; Nikula et al (1999) J. Nucl. Med.
40:166-76; Kobayashi et al (1998) J. Nucl. Med. 39:829-36;
Mardirossian et al (1993) Nucl. Med. Biol. 20:65-74; Roselli et al
(1999) Cancer Biotherapy & Radiopharmaceuticals, 14:209-20.
[0226] (b) Fluorescent labels such as rare earth chelates (europium
chelates), fluorescein types including
FITC.sub.1-5-carboxyfluorescein, 6-carboxy fluorescein; rhodamine
types including TAMRA; dansyl; Lissamine; cyanines; phycoerythrins;
Texas Red; and analogs thereof. The fluorescent labels can be
conjugated to antibodies using the techniques disclosed in Current
Protocols in Immunology, supra, for example. Fluorescent dyes and
fluorescent label reagents include those which are commercially
available from Invitrogen/Molecular Probes (Eugene, Oreg.) and
Pierce Biotechnology, Inc. (Rockford, Ill.).
[0227] (c) Various enzyme-substrate labels are available or
disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,149). The enzyme generally catalyzes
a chemical alteration of a chromogenic substrate that can be
measured using various techniques. For example, the enzyme may
catalyze a color change in a substrate, which can be measured
spectrophotometrically. Alternatively, the enzyme may alter the
fluorescence or chemiluminescence of the substrate. Techniques for
quantifying a change in fluorescence are described above. The
chemiluminescent substrate becomes electronically excited by a
chemical reaction and may then emit light which can be measured
(using a chemiluminometer, for example) or donates energy to a
fluorescent acceptor. Examples of enzymatic labels include
luciferases (e.g., firefly luciferase and bacterial luciferase;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,456), luciferin, 2,3-dihydrophthalazinediones,
malate dehydrogenase, urease, peroxidase such as horseradish
peroxidase (HRP), alkaline phosphatase (AP), .beta.-galactosidase,
glucoamylase, lysozyme, saccharide oxidases (e.g., glucose oxidase,
galactose oxidase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase),
heterocyclic oxidases (such as uricase and xanthine oxidase),
lactoperoxidase, microperoxidase, and the like. Techniques for
conjugating enzymes to antibodies are described in O'Sullivan et al
(1981) "Methods for the Preparation of Enzyme-Antibody Conjugates
for use in Enzyme Immunoassay", in Methods in Enzym. (ed J. Langone
& H. Van Vunakis), Academic Press, New York, 73:147-166.
[0228] Examples of enzyme-substrate combinations include, for
example:
[0229] (i) Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with hydrogen peroxidase as
a substrate,
[0230] wherein the hydrogen peroxidase oxidizes a dye precursor
(e.g., orthophenylene diamine (OPD) or
3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine hydrochloride (TMB));
[0231] (ii) alkaline phosphatase (AP) with para-nitrophenyl
phosphate as chromogenic substrate; and
[0232] (iii) .beta.-D-galactosidase (.beta.-D-Gal) with a
chromogenic substrate (e.g., p-nitrophenyl-.beta.-D-galactosidase)
or fluorogenic substrate
4-methylumbelliferyl-.beta.-D-galactosidase.
[0233] Numerous other enzyme-substrate combinations are available
to those skilled in the art. For a general review, see U.S. Pat.
No. 4,275,149 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,980.
[0234] A label may be indirectly conjugated with a cysteine
engineered antibody. For example, the antibody can be conjugated
with biotin and any of the three broad categories of labels
mentioned above can be conjugated with avidin or streptavidin, or
vice versa. Biotin binds selectively to streptavidin and thus, the
label can be conjugated with the antibody in this indirect manner.
Alternatively, to achieve indirect conjugation of the label with
the polypeptide variant, the polypeptide variant is conjugated with
a small hapten (e.g., digoxin) and one of the different types of
labels mentioned above is conjugated with an anti-hapten
polypeptide variant (e.g., anti-digoxin antibody). Thus, indirect
conjugation of the label with the polypeptide variant can be
achieved (Hermanson, G. (1996) in Bioconjugate Techniques Academic
Press, San Diego).
[0235] The polypeptide variant of the present invention may be
employed in any known assay method, such as ELISA, competitive
binding assays, direct and indirect sandwich assays, and
immunoprecipitation assays (Zola, (1987) Monoclonal Antibodies: A
Manual of Techniques, pp. 147-158, CRC Press, Inc.).
[0236] A detection label may be useful for localizing, visualizing,
and quantitating a binding or recognition event. The labelled
antibodies of the invention can detect cell-surface receptors.
Another use for detectably labelled antibodies is a method of
bead-based immunocapture comprising conjugating a bead with a
fluorescent labelled antibody and detecting a fluorescence signal
upon binding of a ligand. Similar binding detection methodologies
utilize the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect to measure and
detect antibody-antigen interactions.
[0237] Detection labels such as fluorescent dyes and
chemiluminescent dyes (Briggs et al (1997) "Synthesis of
Functionalised Fluorescent Dyes and Their Coupling to Amines and
Amino Acids," J. Chem. Soc., Perkin-Trans. 1:1051-1058) provide a
detectable signal and are generally applicable for labelling
antibodies, preferably with the following properties: (i) the
labelled antibody should produce a very high signal with low
background so that small quantities of antibodies can be
sensitively detected in both cell-free and cell-based assays; and
(ii) the labelled antibody should be photostable so that the
fluorescent signal may be observed, monitored and recorded without
significant photo bleaching. For applications involving cell
surface binding of labelled antibody to membranes or cell surfaces,
especially live cells, the labels preferably (iii) have good
water-solubility to achieve effective conjugate concentration and
detection sensitivity and (iv) are non-toxic to living cells so as
not to disrupt the normal metabolic processes of the cells or cause
premature cell death.
[0238] Direct quantification of cellular fluorescence intensity and
enumeration of fluorescently labelled events, e.g. cell surface
binding of peptide-dye conjugates may be conducted on an system
(FMAT.RTM. 8100 HTS System, Applied Biosystems, Foster City,
Calif.) that automates mix-and-read, non-radioactive assays with
live cells or beads (Miraglia, "Homogeneous cell- and bead-based
assays for high throughput screening using fluorometric microvolume
assay technology", (1999) J. of Biomolecular Screening 4:193-204).
Uses of labelled antibodies also include cell surface receptor
binding assays, immunocapture assays, fluorescence linked
immunosorbent assays (FLISA), caspase-cleavage (Zheng, "Caspase-3
controls both cytoplasmic and nuclear events associated with
Fas-mediated apoptosis in vivo", (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
95:618-23; U.S. Pat. No. 6,372,907), apoptosis (Vermes, "A novel
assay for apoptosis. Flow cytometric detection of
phosphatidylserine expression on early apoptotic cells using
fluorescein labelled Annexin V" (1995) J. Immunol. Methods
184:39-51) and cytotoxicity assays. Fluorometric microvolume assay
technology can be used to identify the up or down regulation by a
molecule that is targeted to the cell surface (Swartzman, "A
homogeneous and multiplexed immunoassay for high-throughput
screening using fluorometric microvolume assay technology", (1999)
Anal. Biochem. 271:143-51).
[0239] Labelled cysteine engineered antibodies of the invention are
useful as imaging biomarkers and probes by the various methods and
techniques of biomedical and molecular imaging such as: (i) MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging); (ii) MicroCT (computerized
tomography); (iii) SPECT (single photon emission computed
tomography); (iv) PET (positron emission tomography) Chen et al
(2004) Bioconjugate Chem. 15:41-49; (v) bioluminescence; (vi)
fluorescence; and (vii) ultrasound. Immunoscintigraphy is an
imaging procedure in which antibodies labeled with radioactive
substances are administered to an animal or human patient and a
picture is taken of sites in the body where the antibody localizes
(U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,624). Imaging biomarkers may be objectively
measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological
processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacological responses to a
therapeutic intervention. Biomarkers may be of several types: Type
0 are natural history markers of a disease and correlate
longitudinally with known clinical indices, e.g. MRI assessment of
synovial inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis; Type I markers
capture the effect of an intervention in accordance with a
mechanism-of-action, even though the mechanism may not be
associated with clinical outcome; Type II markers function as
surrogate endpoints where the change in, or signal from, the
biomarker predicts a clinical benefit to "validate" the targeted
response, such as measured bone erosion in rheumatoid arthritis by
CT. Imaging biomarkers thus can provide pharmacodynamic (PD)
therapeutic information about: (i) expression of a target protein,
(ii) binding of a therapeutic to the target protein, i.e.
selectivity, and (iii) clearance and half-life pharmacokinetic
data. Advantages of in vivo imaging biomarkers relative to
lab-based biomarkers include: non-invasive treatment, quantifiable,
whole body assessment, repetitive dosing and assessment, i.e.
multiple time points, and potentially transferable effects from
preclinical (small animal) to clinical (human) results. For some
applications, bioimaging supplants or minimizes the number of
animal experiments in preclinical studies.
[0240] Radionuclide imaging labels include radionuclides such as
.sup.3H, .sup.11C, .sup.14C, .sup.18F, .sup.32P, .sup.35S,
.sup.64Cu, .sup.68Ga, .sup.86Y, .sup.99Tc, .sup.111In, .sup.123I,
.sup.124I, .sup.125I, .sup.131I, .sup.133Xe, .sup.177Lu,
.sup.211At, or .sup.213Bi The radionuclide metal ion can be
complexed with a chelating linker such as DOTA. Linker reagents
such as DOTA-maleimide (4-maleimidobutyramidobenzyl-DOTA) can be
prepared by the reaction of aminobenzyl-DOTA with
4-maleimidobutyric acid (Fluka) activated with
isopropylchloroformate (Aldrich), following the procedure of
Axworthy et al (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97(4):1802-1807).
DOTA-maleimide reagents react with the free cysteine amino acids of
the cysteine engineered antibodies and provide a metal complexing
ligand on the antibody (Lewis et al (1998) Bioconj. Chem. 9:72-86).
Chelating linker labelling reagents such as DOTA-NHS
(1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid mono
(N-hydroxysuccinimide ester) are commercially available
(Macrocyclics, Dallas, Tex.). Receptor target imaging with
radionuclide labelled antibodies can provide a marker of pathway
activation by detection and quantitation of progressive
accumulation of antibodies in tumor tissue (Albert et al (1998)
Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 8:1207-1210). The conjugated radio-metals
may remain intracellular following lysosomal degradation.
[0241] Peptide labelling methods are well known. See Haugland,
2003, Molecular Probes Handbook of Fluorescent Probes and Research
Chemicals, Molecular Probes, Inc.; Brinkley, 1992, Bioconjugate
Chem. 3:2; Garman, (1997) Non-Radioactive Labelling: A Practical
Approach, Academic Press, London; Means (1990) Bioconjugate Chem.
1:2; Glazer et al (1975) Chemical Modification of Proteins.
Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (T. S.
Work and E. Work, Eds.) American Elsevier Publishing Co., New York;
Lundblad, R. L. and Noyes, C. M. (1984) Chemical Reagents for
Protein Modification, Vols. I and II, CRC Press, New York;
Pfleiderer, G. (1985) "Chemical Modification of Proteins", Modern
Methods in Protein Chemistry, H. Tschesche, Ed., Walter DeGryter,
Berlin and New York; and Wong (1991) Chemistry of Protein
Conjugation and Cross-linking, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.); De
Leon-Rodriguez et al (2004) Chem. Eur. J. 10: 1149-1155; Lewis et
al (2001) Bioconjugate Chem. 12:320-324; Li et al (2002)
Bioconjugate Chem. 13:110-115; Mier et al (2005) Bioconjugate Chem.
16:240-237.
[0242] Peptides and proteins labelled with two moieties, a
fluorescent reporter and quencher in sufficient proximity undergo
fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Reporter groups are
typically fluorescent dyes that are excited by light at a certain
wavelength and transfer energy to an acceptor, or quencher, group,
with the appropriate Stokes shift for emission at maximal
brightness. Fluorescent dyes include molecules with extended
aromaticity, such as fluorescein and rhodamine, and their
derivatives. The fluorescent reporter may be partially or
significantly quenched by the quencher moiety in an intact peptide.
Upon cleavage of the peptide by a peptidase or protease, a
detectable increase in fluorescence may be measured (Knight, C.
(1995) "Fluorimetric Assays of Proteolytic Enzymes", Methods in
Enzymology, Academic Press, 248:18-34).
[0243] The labelled antibodies of the invention may also be used as
an affinity purification agent. In this process, the labelled
antibody is immobilized on a solid phase such a Sephadex resin or
filter paper, using methods well known in the art. The immobilized
antibody is contacted with a sample containing the antigen to be
purified, and thereafter the support is washed with a suitable
solvent that will remove substantially all the material in the
sample except the antigen to be purified, which is bound to the
immobilized polypeptide variant. Finally, the support is washed
with another suitable solvent, such as glycine buffer, pH 5.0, that
will release the antigen from the polypeptide variant.
[0244] Labelling reagents typically bear reactive functionality
which may react (i) directly with a cysteine thiol of a cysteine
engineered antibody to form the labelled antibody, (ii) with a
linker reagent to form a linker-label intermediate, or (iii) with a
linker antibody to form the labelled antibody. Reactive
functionality of labelling reagents include: maleimide, haloacetyl,
iodoacetamide succinimidyl ester (e.g. NHS, N-hydroxysuccinimide),
isothiocyanate, sulfonyl chloride, 2,6-dichlorotriazinyl,
pentafluorophenyl ester, and phosphoramidite, although other
functional groups can also be used.
[0245] An exemplary reactive functional group is
N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester (NHS) of a carboxyl group substituent
of a detectable label, e.g. biotin or a fluorescent dye. The NHS
ester of the label may be preformed, isolated, purified, and/or
characterized, or it may be formed in situ and reacted with a
nucleophilic group of an antibody. Typically, the carboxyl form of
the label is activated by reacting with some combination of a
carbodiimide reagent, e.g. dicyclohexylcarbodiimide,
diisopropylcarbodiimide, or a uronium reagent, e.g. TSTU
(O--(N-Succinimidyl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyluronium
tetrafluoroborate, HBTU
(O-benzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyluronium
hexafluorophosphate), or HATU
(O-(7-azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyluronium
hexafluorophosphate), an activator, such as 1-hydroxybenzotriazole
(HOBt), and N-hydroxysuccinimide to give the NHS ester of the
label. In some cases, the label and the antibody may be coupled by
in situ activation of the label and reaction with the antibody to
form the label-antibody conjugate in one step. Other activating and
coupling reagents include TBTU
(2-(1H-benzotriazo-1-yl)-1-1,3,3-tetramethyluronium
hexafluorophosphate), TFFH(N,N',N'',N'''-tetramethyluronium
2-fluoro-hexafluorophosphate), PyBOP
(benzotriazole-1-yl-oxy-tris-pyrrolidino-phosphonium
hexafluorophosphate, EEDQ
(2-ethoxy-1-ethoxycarbonyl-1,2-dihydro-quinoline), DCC
(dicyclohexylcarbodiimide); DIPCDI (diisopropylcarbodiimide), MSNT
(1-(mesitylene-2-sulfonyl)-3-nitro-1H-1,2,4-triazole, and aryl
sulfonyl halides, e.g. triisopropylbenzenesulfonyl chloride.
Conjugation of Biotin-maleimide to Thiofabs
[0246] The above-described ThioFab properties were established in
the presence of phage because fusion of the Fab to the phage coat
protein could potentially alter Cys thiol accessibility or
reactivity. Therefore, the ThioFab constructs were cloned into an
expression vector under alkaline phosphatase promoter (Chang et al
(1987) Gene 55:189-196) and the ThioFab expression was induced by
growing E. coli cells in the phosphate-free medium. ThioFabs were
purified on a Protein G SEPHAROSE.TM. column and analyzed on
reducing and non-reducing SDS-PAGE gels. These analyses allow
assessment of whether ThioFabs retained their reactive thiol group
or were rendered inactive by forming intramolecular or
intermolecular disulfide bonds. ThioFabs L-V15C, L-V110C, H-A88C,
and H-A121C were expressed and purified by Protein-G SEPHAROSE.TM.
column chromatography (see methods sections for details). Purified
proteins were analyzed on SDS-PAGE gel in reducing (with DTT) and
non-reducing (without DTT) conditions. Other reducing agents such
as BME (beta-mercaptoethanol) can used in the gel to cleave
interchain disulfide groups. It is evident from SDS-PAGE gel
analysis that the major (90%) fraction of ThioFab is in the
monomeric form, while wild type hu4D5Fabv8 is essentially in the
monomeric form (47 kDa).
[0247] ThioFab (A121C) and wild type hu4D5Fabv8 were incubated with
100 fold excess of biotin-maleimide for 3 hours at room temperature
and the biotinylated Fabs were loaded onto a Superdex-200.TM. gel
filtration column. This purification step was useful in separating
monomeric Fab from oligomeric Fab and also from excess free
biotin-maleimide (or free cytotoxic drug).
[0248] FIG. 5 shows validation of the properties of ThioFab
variants in the absence of the phage context. The proteins without
phage fusion, hu4D5Fabv8 and hu4D5Fabv8-A121C (ThioFab-A121C), were
expressed and purified using protein-G agarose beads followed by
incubation with 100 fold molar excess of biotin-maleimide.
Streptavidin and HER2 binding of a biotinylated cys engineered
ThioFab and a non-biotinylated wild type Fab was compared. The
extent of biotin conjugation (interaction with streptavidin) and
their binding ability to HER2 were monitored by ELISA analyses.
Each Fab was tested at 2 ng and 20 ng.
[0249] Biotinylated A121C ThioFab retained comparable HER2 binding
to that of wild type hu4D5Fabv8 (FIG. 5). Wild type Fab and
A121C-ThioFab were purified by gel filtration column
chromatography. The two samples were tested for HER2 and
streptavidin binding by ELISA using goat anti-Fab-HRP as secondary
antibody. Both wild type (open box) and ThioFab (dotted box) have
similar binding to HER2 but only ThioFab retained streptavidin
binding. Only a background level of interaction with streptavidin
was observed with non-biotinylated wild type hu4D5Fabv8 (FIG. 5).
Mass spectral (LC-ESI-MS) analysis of biotinylated-ThioFab (A121C)
resulted in a major peak with 48294.5 daltons compared to the wild
type hu4D5Fabv8 (47737 daltons). The 537.5 daltons difference
between the two molecules exactly corresponds to a single
biotin-maleimide conjugated to the ThioFab. Mass spec protein
sequencing (LC-ESI-Tandem mass spec analysis) results further
confirmed that the conjugated biotin molecule was at the newly
engineered Cys residue (Table 4, Example 3).
Site Specific Conjugation of Biotin-maleimide to Albumin Binding
Peptide (ABP)-thiofabs
[0250] Plasma-protein binding can be an effective means of
improving the pharmacokinetic properties of short lived molecules.
Albumin is the most abundant protein in plasma. Serum albumin
binding peptides (ABP) can alter the pharmacodynamics of fused
active domain proteins, including alteration of tissue uptake,
penetration, and diffusion. These pharmacodynamic parameters can be
modulated by specific selection of the appropriate serum albumin
binding peptide sequence (US 20040001827). A series of albumin
binding peptides were identified by phage display screening (Dennis
et al. (2002) "Albumin Binding As A General Strategy For Improving
The Pharmacokinetics Of Proteins" J Biol. Chem. 277:35035-35043; WO
01/45746). Compounds of the invention include ABP sequences taught
by: (i) Dennis et al (2002) J Biol. Chem. 277:35035-35043 at Tables
III and IV, page 35038; (ii) US 20040001827 at [0076] SEQ ID NOS:
9-22; and (iii) WO 01/45746 at pages 12-13, SEQ ID NOS: z1-z14, and
all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0251] Albumin Binding (ABP)-Fabs were engineered by fusing an
albumin binding peptide to the C-terminus of Fab heavy chain in 1:1
stoichiometric ratio (1 ABP/1 Fab). It was shown that association
of these ABP-Fabs with albumin increased their half life by more
than 25 fold in rabbits and mice. The above described reactive Cys
residues can therefore be introduced in these ABP-Fabs and used for
site-specific conjugation with cytotoxic drugs followed by in vivo
animal studies. FIG. 9 shows a graphical albumin binding
peptide-Fab fusion (ABP-Fab) linker drug conjugate.
[0252] Exemplary albumin binding peptide sequences include, but are
not limited to the amino acid sequences listed in SEQ ID NOS:
1-5:
TABLE-US-00005 CDKTHTGGGSQRLMEDICLPRWGCLWEDDF SEQ ID NO: 1
QRLMEDICLPRWGCLWEDDF SEQ ID NO: 2 QRLIEDICLPRWGCLWEDDF SEQ ID NO: 3
RLIEDICLPRWGCLWEDD SEQ ID NO: 4 DICLPRWGCLW SEQ ID NO: 5
[0253] The albumin binding peptide (ABP) sequences bind albumin
from multiple species (mouse, rat, rabbit, bovine, rhesus, baboon,
and human) with Kd (rabbit)=0.3 .mu.M. The albumin binding peptide
does not compete with ligands known to bind albumin and has a half
life (T1/2) in rabbit of 2.3 hr. ABP-ThioFab proteins were purified
on BSA-SEPHAROSE.TM. followed by biotin-maleimide conjugation and
purification on Superdex-S200 column chromatography as described in
previous sections. Purified biotinylated proteins were homogeneous
and devoid of any oligomeric forms (Example 4).
[0254] FIG. 6 shows the properties of Albumin Binding Peptide
(ABP)-ThioFab variants. ELISA analyses were carried out to test the
binding ability of ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-wt, ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-V110C and
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-A121C with rabbit albumin, streptavidin and HER2.
Biotinylated ABP-ThioFabs are capable of binding to albumin and
HER2 with similar affinity to that of wild type ABP-hu4D5Fabv8 as
confirmed by ELISA (FIG. 6) and BIAcore binding kinetics analysis
(Table 3). An ELISA plate was coated with albumin, HER2 and SA as
described. Binding of biotinylated ABP-ThioFabs to albumin, HER2
and SA was probed with anti-Fab HRP. Biotinylated ABP-ThioFabs were
capable of binding to streptavidin compared to non biotinylated
control ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-wt indicating that ABP-ThioFabs were
conjugated with biotin maleimide like ThioFabs in a site specific
manner as the same Cys mutants were used for both the variants
(FIG. 6).
TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 3 BIAcore kinetic analysis for HER2 and rabbit
albumin binding to biotinylated ABP- hu4D5Fabv8 wild type and
ThioFabs Antibody k.sub.on (M.sup.-1s.sup.-1) k.sub.off (s.sup.-1)
K.sub.d (nM) HER2 binding wild type 4.57 .times. 10.sup.5 4.19
.times. 10.sup.-5 0.0917 V110C 4.18 .times. 10.sup.5 4.05 .times.
10.sup.-5 0.097 A121C 3.91 .times. 10.sup.5 4.15 .times. 10.sup.-5
0.106 Rabbit albumin binding wild type 1.66 .times. 10.sup.5 0.0206
124 V110C 2.43 .times. 10.sup.5 0.0331 136 A121C 1.70 .times.
10.sup.5 0.0238 140 ABP = albumin binding peptide
[0255] Alternatively, an albumin-binding peptide may be linked to
the antibody by covalent attachment through a linker moiety.
Engineering of ABP-thiofabs with Two Free Thiol Groups per Fab
[0256] The above results indicate that all four (L-V15C, L-V110C,
H-A88C and H-A121C) thioFab (cysteine engineered Fab antibodies)
variants have reactive thiol groups that can be used for site
specific conjugation with a label reagent, linker reagent, or
drug-linker intermediate. L-V15C can be expressed and purified but
with relatively low yields. However the expression and purification
yields of L-V110C, H-A88C and H-A121C variants were similar to that
of hu4D5Fabv8. Therefore these mutants can be used for further
analysis and recombined to get more than one thiol group per Fab.
Towards this objective, one thiol group on the light and one on
heavy chain were constructed to obtain two thiol groups per Fab
molecule (L-V110C/H-A88C and L-V110C/H-A121C). These two double Cys
variants were expressed in an E. coli expression system and
purified. The homogeneity of purified biotinylated ABP-ThioFabs was
found to be similar to that of single Cys variants.
[0257] The effects of engineering two reactive Cys residues per Fab
was investigated (FIG. 7). The presence of a second biotin was
tested by probing the binding of biotinylated ABP-ThioFab to SA
using streptavidin-HRP (FIG. 7). For HER2/Fab analysis, an ELISA
plate was coated with HER2 and probed with anti-Fab HRP. For SA/Fab
analysis, an ELISA plate was coated with SA and probed with
anti-Fab HRP. For SA/SA analysis, an ELISA plate was coated with SA
and probed with SA-HRP. FIG. 7. ELISA analyses for the interaction
of biotinylated ABP-hu4D5Fabv8 cys variants with HER2, streptavidin
(SA). HER2/Fab, SA/Fab and SA/SA indicate that their interactions
were monitored by anti-Fab-HRP, SA-HRP, respectively. SA/Fab
monitors the presence of single biotin per Fab and more than one
biotin per Fab is monitored by SA/SA analysis. Binding of HER2 with
double cys mutants is similar to that of single Cys variants (FIG.
7). However the extent of biotinylation on double Cys mutants was
higher compared to single Cys variants due to more than one free
thiol group per Fab molecule (FIG. 7).
Engineering of Thio IgG Variants of Trastuzumab
[0258] Cysteine was introduced into the full-length monoclonal
antibody, trastuzumab (HERCEPTIN.RTM., Genentech Inc.) at certain
residues. The single cys mutants H-A88C, H-A121C and L-V110C of
trastuzumab, and double cys mutants V110C-A121C and V110C-A121C of
trastuzumab were expressed in CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cells by
transient fermentation in media containing 1 mM cysteine. The A88C
mutant heavy chain sequence (450 aa) is SEQ ID NO:6. The A121C
mutant heavy chain sequence (450 aa) is SEQ ID NO:7. The V110C
mutant light chain sequence (214 aa) is SEQ ID NO:8.
TABLE-US-00007 SEQ ID NO: 6
EVQLVESGGGLVQPGGSLRLSCAASGFNIKDTYIHWVRQAPGKGLEWVAR
IYPTNGYTRYADSVKGRFTISADTSKNTAYLQMNSLRCEDTAVYYCSRWG
GDGFYAMDYWGQGTLVTVSSASTKGPSVFPLAPSSKSTSGGTAALGCLVK
DYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSSLGTQT
YICNVNHKPSNTKVDKKVEPKSCDKTHTCPPCPAPELLGGPSVFLFPPKP
KDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVKFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQYN
STYRVVSVLTVLHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKALPAPIEKTISKAKGQPREPQ
VYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPV
LDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGK SEQ ID NO: 7
EVQLVESGGGLVQPGGSLRLSCAASGFNIKDTYIHWVRQAPGKGLEWVAR
IYPTNGYTRYADSVKGRFTISADTSKNTAYLQMNSLRAEDTAVYYCSRWG
GDGFYAMDYWGQGTLVTVSSCSTKGPSVFPLAPSSKSTSGGTAALGCLVK
DYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSSLGTQT
YICNVNHKPSNTKVDKKVEPKSCDKTHTCPPCPAPELLGGPSVFLFPPKP
KDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVKFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQYN
STYRVVSVLTVLHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKALPAPIEKTISKAKGQPREPQ
VYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPV
LDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGK SEQ ID NO: 8
DIQMTQSPSSLSASVGDRVTITCRASQDVNTAVAWYQQKPGKAPKLLIYS
ASFLYSGVPSRFSGSRSGTDFTLTISSLQPEDFATYYCQQHYTTPPTFGQ
GTKVEIKRTCAAPSVFIFPPSDEQLKSGTASVVCLLNNFYPREAKVQWKV
DNALQSGNSQESVTEQDSKDSTYSLSSTLTLSKADYEKHKVYACEVTHQG
LSSPVTKSFNRGEC
[0259] According to one embodiment, the cysteine engineered
thio-trastuzumab antibodies comprise one or more of the following
variable region heavy chain sequences with a free cysteine amino
acid (SEQ ID NOS: 9-16).
TABLE-US-00008 Mutant Sequence SEQ ID NO: A40C WVRQCPGKGL SEQ ID
NO: 9 A88C NSLRCEDTAV SEQ ID NO: 10 S119C LVTVCSASTKGPS SEQ ID NO:
11 5120C LVTVSCASTKGPS SEQ ID NO: 12 A121C LVTVSSCSTKGPS SEQ ID NO:
13 S122C LVTVSSACTKGPS SEQ ID NO: 14 A175C HTFPCVLQSSGLYS SEQ ID
NO: 15 S179C HTFPAVLQCSGLYS SEQ ID NO: 16
[0260] According to another embodiment, the cysteine engineered
thio-trastuzumab antibodies comprise one or more of the following
variable region light chain sequences with a free cysteine amino
acid (SEQ ID NOS: 17-27).
TABLE-US-00009 Mutant Sequence SEQ ID NO: V15C SLSASCGDRVT SEQ ID
NO: 17 A43C QKPGKCPKLLI SEQ ID NO: 18 V110C EIKRTCAAPSV SEQ ID NO:
19 S114C TCAAPCVFIFPP SEQ ID NO: 20 S121C FIFPPCDEQLK SEQ ID NO: 21
S127C DEQLKCGTASV SEQ ID NO: 22 A144C FYPRECKVQWK SEQ ID NO: 23
A153C WKVDNCLQSGN SEQ ID NO: 24 N158C ALQSGCSQESV SEQ ID NO: 25
S168C VTEQDCKDSTY SEQ ID NO: 26 V205C GLSSPCTKSFN SEQ ID NO: 27
[0261] The resulting full-length, thio-trastuzumab IgG variants
were assayed for thiol reactivity and HER2 binding activity. FIG.
13A shows a cartoon depiction of biotinylated antibody binding to
immobilized HER2 and HRP labeled secondary antibody for absorbance
detection. FIG. 13B shows binding measurements to immobilized HER2
with detection of absorbance at 450 nm of (left to right):
non-biotinylated wild type trastuzumab (Wt), biotin-maleimide
conjugated thio-trastuzumab variants V110C (single cys), A121C
(single cys), and V110C-A121C (double cys). Each thio IgG variant
and trastuzumab was tested at 1, 10, and 100 ng. The measurements
show that biotinylated anti-HER2ThioMabs retain HER2 binding
activity.
[0262] FIG. 14A shows a cartoon depiction of a biotinylated
antibody binding to immobilized HER2 with binding of biotin to
anti-IgG-HRP for absorbance detection. FIG. 14B shows binding
measurements with detection of absorbance at 450 nm of
biotin-maleimide conjugated thio-trastuzumab variants and
non-biotinylated wild type trastuzumab in binding to streptavidin.
From left to right: V110C (single cys), A121C (single cys),
V110C/A121C (double cys), and trastuzumab. Each thio IgG
trastuzumab variant and parent trastuzumab was tested at 1, 10, and
100 ng. The measurements show that the HER2 ThioMabs have high
thiol reactivity.
[0263] Cysteine was introduced into the full-length 2H9 anti-EphB2R
antibody at certain residues. The single cys mutant H-A121C of 2H9
was expressed in CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cells by transient
fermentation in media containing 1 mM cysteine. The A121C.sub.2H9
mutant heavy chain sequence (450 aa) is SEQ ID NO:28.
TABLE-US-00010 SEQ ID NO: 28
EVQLVESGGGLVQPGGSLRLSCAASGYTFTSYWMHWVRQAPGKGLEWVGF
INPSTGYTDYNQKFKDRFTISADTSKNTAYLQMNSLRAEDTAVYYCTRRP
KIPRHANVFWGQGTLVTVSSCSTKGPSVFPLAPSSKSTSGGTAALGCLVK
DYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSSLGTQT
YICNVNHKPSNTKVDKKVEPKSCDKTHTCPPCPAPELLGGPSVFLFPPKP
KDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVKFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQYN
STYRVVSVLTVLHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKALPAPIEKTISKAKGQPREPQ
VYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPV
LDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGK
[0264] Cysteine engineered thio-2H9 antibodies comprise the
following Fc constant region heavy chain sequences with a free
cysteine amino acid (SEQ ID NOS: 29-38).
TABLE-US-00011 Mutant Sequence SEQ ID NO: V273C
HEDPECKFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPR SEQ ID NO: 29 V279C
HEDPEVKFNWYCDGVEVHNAKTKPR SEQ ID NO: 30 V282C
HEDPEVKFNWYVDGCEVHNAKTKPR SEQ ID NO: 31 V284C
HEDPEVKFNWYVDGVECHNAKTKPR SEQ ID NO: 32 A287C
HEDPEVKFNWYVDGVEVHNCKTKPR SEQ ID NO: 33 S324C YKCKVCNKALP SEQ ID
NO: 34 S337C IEKTICKAKGQPR SEQ ID NO: 35 A339C IEKTISKCKGQPR SEQ ID
NO: 36 S375C KGFYPCDIAVE SEQ ID NO: 37 S400C PPVLDCDGSFF SEQ ID NO:
38
[0265] FIG. 16 shows non-reducing (top) and reducing (bottom)
denaturing SDS-PAGE (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) analysis
of 2H9 ThioMab Fc variants (left to right, lanes 1-9): A339C;
S337C; S324C; A287C; V284C; V282C; V279C; and V273C, with 2H9 wild
type, after purification on immobilized Protein A. The lane on the
right is a size marker ladder, indicating the intact proteins are
about 150 kDa, heavy chain fragments about 50 kDa, and light chain
fragments about 25 kDa. FIG. 17A shows non-reducing (left) and
reducing (right) denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
analysis of 2H9 ThioMab variants (left to right, lanes 1-4):
L-V15C; S179C; S375C; S400C, after purification on immobilized
Protein A. FIG. 17B shows non-reducing (left) and reducing (+DTT)
(right) denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of
additional 2H9 and 3A5 ThioMab variants after purification on
immobilized Protein A. The 2H9 ThioMab variants (in the Fab as well
as Fc region) were expressed and purified as described. As seen in
FIGS. 16, 17A and 17B, all the proteins are homogenous on SDS-PAGE
followed by the reduction and oxidation procedure of Example 11 to
prepare reactive ThioMabs for conjugation (Example 12).
[0266] Cysteine was introduced into the full-length 3A5 anti-MUC16
antibody at certain residues. The single cys mutant H-A121C of 3A5
was expressed in CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cells by transient
fermentation in media containing 1 mM cysteine. The A121C 3A5
mutant heavy chain sequence (446 aa) comprises SEQ ID NO:39.
TABLE-US-00012 SEQ ID NO: 39
DVQLQESGPGLVNPSQSLSLTCTVTGYSITNDYAWNWIRQFPGNKLEWMG
YINYSGYTTYNPSLKSRISITRDTSKNQFFLHLNSVTTEDTATYYCARWD
GGLTYWGQGTLVTVSACSTKGPSVFPLAPSSKSTSGGTAALGCLVKDYFP
EPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSSLGTQTYICN
VNHKPSNTKVDKKVEPKSCDKTHTCPPCPAPELLGGPSVFLFPPKPKDTL
MISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVKFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQYNSTYR
VVSVLTVLHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKALPAPIEKTISKAKGQPREPQVYTL
PPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPVLDSD
GSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGK
[0267] Cysteine engineered thio-3A5 anti-MUC16 antibodies comprise
the following variable region heavy chain sequences with a free
cysteine amino acid (SEQ ID NOS: 40-44).
TABLE-US-00013 Mutant Sequence SEQ ID NO: F45C NWIRQCPGNK SEQ ID
NO: 40 A90C LNSCTTEDTAT SEQ ID NO: 41 A121C GQGTLVTVSACSTKGPSVFPL
SEQ ID NO: 42 A175C HTFPCVLQSSGLYS SEQ ID NO: 43 V176C
HTFPACLQSSGLYS SEQ ID NO: 44
[0268] Cysteine engineered thio-3A5 anti-MUC16 antibodies comprise
the following variable region light chain sequences with a free
cysteine amino acid (SEQ ID NOS: 45-49).
TABLE-US-00014 Mutant Sequence SEQ ID NO: L15C FLSVSCGGRVT SEQ ID
NO: 45 A43C QKPGNCPRLLI SEQ ID NO: 46 V110C EIKRTCAAPSV SEQ ID NO:
47 A144C FYPRECKVQWK SEQ ID NO: 48 S168C VTEQDCKDSTY SEQ ID NO:
49
Thiol Reactivity of ThioMabs
[0269] The thiol reactivity of full length, IgG cysteine engineered
antibodies (ThioMabs) was measured by biotinylation and
streptavidin binding. A western blot assay was set up to screen the
ThioMab that is specifically conjugated with biotin-maleimide. In
this assay, the antibodies are analyzed on reducing SDS-PAGE and
the presence of Biotin is specifically probed by incubating with
streptavidin-HRP. As seen from FIG. 18, the streptavidin-HRP
interaction is either observed in heavy chain or light chain
depending on which engineered cys variant is being used and no
interaction is seen with wild type, indicating that ThioMab
variants specifically conjugated the biotin at engineered Cys
residue. FIG. 18 shows denaturing gel analysis of reduced,
biotinylated Thio-IgG variants after capture on immobilized
anti-IgG-HRP (top gel) and streptavidin-HRP (bottom gel). Lane 1:
3A5H-A121C. Lane 2: 3A5 L-V1110C. Lane 3: 2H9H-A121C. Lane 4: 2H9
L-V110C. Lane 5: anti-EphB2R 2H9 parent, wild type. Each mutant
(lanes 1-4) was captured by anti-IgG with HRP detection (top)
indicating that selectivity and affinity were retained. Capture by
immobilized streptavidin with HRP detection (bottom) confirmed the
location of biotin on heavy and light chains. The location of
cysteine mutation on the cysteine engineered antibodies in lanes 1
and 3 is the heavy chain. The location of cysteine mutation on the
cysteine engineered antibodies in lanes 2 and 4 is the light chain.
The cysteine mutation site undergoes conjugation with the
biotin-maleimide reagent.
[0270] Analysis of the ThioMab cysteine engineered antibodies of
FIG. 18 and a 2H9 V15C variant by LC/MS gave quantitative
indication of thiol reactivity (Table 5).
TABLE-US-00015 TABLE 5 LC/MS quantitation of biotinylation of
ThioMabs - Thiol reactivity ThioMab variant number of biotin per
ThioMab 2H9 wt 0.0 2H9 L-V15C 0.6 2H9 L-V110C 0.5 2H9 H-A121C 2.0
3A5 L-V110C 1.0 3A5 H-A121C 2.0
[0271] Cysteine engineering was conducted in the constant domain,
i.e. Fc region, of IgG antibodies. A variety of amino acid sites
were converted to cysteine sites and the expressed mutants, i.e.
cysteine engineered antibodies, were assessed for their thiol
reactivity. Biotinylated 2H9 ThioMab Fc variants were assessed for
thiol reactivity by HRP quantitation by capture on immobilized
streptavidin in an ELISA assay (FIG. 19). An ELISA assay was
established to rapidly screen the Cys residues with reactive Thiol
groups. As depicted in FIG. 19 schematic diagram, the
streptavidin-biotin interaction is monitored by probing with
anti-IgG-HRP followed by measuring absorbance at 450 nm. These
results confirmed 2H9-ThioFc variants V282C, A287C, A339C, S375C
and S400C had moderate to highest Thiol reactivity. The extent of
biotin conjugation of 2H9 ThioMab Fc variants was quantitated by
LS/MS analysis as reported in Table 6. The LS/MS analysis confirmed
that the A282C, S375C and S400C variants had 100% biotin
conjugation and V284C and A339C had 50% conjugation, indicating the
presence of a reactive cysteine thiol group. The other ThioFc
variants, and the parent, wild type 2H9, had either very little
biotinylation or none.
TABLE-US-00016 TABLE 6 LC/MS quantitation of biotinylation of 2H9
Fc ThioMabs 2H9 ThioMab Fc variant % biotinylation V273C 0 V279C 31
V282C 100 V284C 50 A287C 0 S324C 71 S337C 0 A339C 54 S375C 100
S400C 100 (wild type 2H9) 0
Thiol Reactivity of Thio-4D5 Fab Light Chain Variants
[0272] Screening of a variety of cysteine engineered light chain
variant Fabs of the antiErbB2 antibody 4D5 gave a number of
variants with a thiol reactivity value of 0.6 and higher (Table 7),
as measured by the PHESELECTOR assay of FIG. 8. The thiol
reactivity values of Table 7 are normalized to the heavy chain 4D5
ThioFab variant (HC-A121C) which is set at 100%, assuming complete
biotinylation of HC-A121C variant, and represented as percent
values.
TABLE-US-00017 TABLE 7 Thiol reactivity percent values of 4D5
ThioFab light chain variants 4D5 ThioFab variant Thiol reactivity
value (%) V15C 100 V110C 95 S114C 78 S121C 75 S127C 75 A153C 82
N158C 77 V205C 78 (HC-A121C) 100 (4D5 wild type) 25
Antibody-drug Conjugates
[0273] The cysteine engineered antibodies of the invention may be
conjugated with any therapeutic agent, i.e. drug moiety, which can
be covalently attached to the antibody through a reactive cysteine
thiol group.
[0274] An exemplary embodiment of an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)
compound comprises a cysteine engineered antibody (Ab), and a drug
moiety (D) wherein the antibody has one or more free cysteine amino
acids having a thiol reactivity value in the range of 0.6 to 1.0,
and the antibody is attached through the one or more free cysteine
amino acids by a linker moiety (L) to D; the composition having
Formula I:
Ab-(L-D).sub.p I
[0275] where p is 1, 2, 3, or 4. The number of drug moieties which
may be conjugated via a thiol reactive linker moiety to an antibody
molecule is limited by the number of cysteine residues which are
introduced by the methods described herein. Exemplary ADC of
Formula I therefore comprise antibodies which have 1, 2, 3, or 4
engineered cysteine amino acids.
[0276] Another exemplary embodiment of an antibody-drug conjugate
compound (ADC) comprises a cysteine engineered antibody (Ab), an
albumin-binding peptide (ABP) and a drug moiety (D) wherein the
antibody is attached to the drug moiety by a linker moiety (L) and
the antibody is attached to the albumin-binding peptide by an amide
bond or a second linker moiety; the composition having Formula
Ia:
ABP-Ab-(L-D).sub.p Ia
[0277] where p is 1, 2, 3, or 4.
[0278] The ADC compounds of the invention include those with
utility for anticancer activity. In particular, the compounds
include a cysteine-engineered antibody conjugated, i.e. covalently
attached by a linker, to a drug moiety, i.e. toxin. When the drug
is not conjugated to an antibody, the drug has a cytotoxic or
cytostatic effect. The biological activity of the drug moiety is
thus modulated by conjugation to an antibody. The antibody-drug
conjugates (ADC) of the invention selectively deliver an effective
dose of a cytotoxic agent to tumor tissue whereby greater
selectivity, i.e. a lower efficacious dose, may be achieved.
[0279] In one embodiment, the bioavailability of the ADC of the
invention, or an intracellular metabolite of the ADC, is improved
in a mammal when compared to a drug compound comprising the drug
moiety of the ADC. Also, the bioavailability of the ADC, or an
intracellular metabolite of the ADC is improved in a mammal when
compared to the analog of the ADC not having the drug moiety.
Drug Moieties
[0280] The drug moiety (D) of the antibody-drug conjugates (ADC)
includes any compound, moiety or group which has a cytotoxic or
cytostatic effect. Drug moieties include: (i) chemotherapeutic
agents, which may function as microtubulin inhibitors, mitosis
inhibitors, topoisomerase inhibitors, or DNA intercalators; (ii)
protein toxins, which may function enzymatically; and (iii)
radioisotopes.
[0281] Exemplary drug moieties include, but are not limited to, a
maytansinoid, an auristatin, a dolastatin, a trichothecene, CC1065,
a calicheamicin and other enediyne antibiotics, a taxane, an
anthracycline, and stereoisomers, isosteres, analogs or derivatives
thereof.
[0282] Maytansine compounds suitable for use as maytansinoid drug
moieties are well known in the art, and can be isolated from
natural sources according to known methods, produced using genetic
engineering techniques (see Yu et al (2002) PROC. NAT. ACAD. SCI.
(USA) 99:7968-7973), or maytansinol and maytansinol analogues
prepared synthetically according to known methods.
[0283] Exemplary maytansinoid drug moieties include those having a
modified aromatic ring, such as: C-19-dechloro (U.S. Pat. No.
4,256,746) (prepared by lithium aluminum hydride reduction of
ansamytocin P2); C-20-hydroxy (or C-20-demethyl)+/-C-19-dechloro
(U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,361,650 and 4,307,016) (prepared by demethylation
using Streptomyces or Actinomyces or dechlorination using LAH); and
C-20-demethoxy, C-20-acyloxy (--OCOR), +/-dechloro (U.S. Pat. No.
4,294,757) (prepared by acylation using acyl chlorides). and those
having modifications at other positions
[0284] Exemplary maytansinoid drug moieties also include those
having modifications such as: C-9-SH (U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,219)
(prepared by the reaction of maytansinol with H.sub.2S or
P.sub.2S.sub.5); C-14-alkoxymethyl(demethoxy/CH.sub.20R)(U.S. Pat.
No. 4,331,598); C-14-hydroxymethyl or acyloxymethyl (CH.sub.2OH or
CH.sub.2OAc) (U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,254) (prepared from Nocardia);
C-15-hydroxy/acyloxy (U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,866) (prepared by the
conversion of maytansinol by Streptomyces); C-15-methoxy (U.S. Pat.
Nos. 4,313,946 and 4,315,929) (isolated from Trewia nudlflora);
C-18-N-demethyl (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,362,663 and 4,322,348) (prepared
by the demethylation of maytansinol by Streptomyces); and 4,5-deoxy
(U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,533) (prepared by the titanium trichloride/LAH
reduction of maytansinol). Many positions on maytansine compounds
are known to be useful as the linkage position, depending upon the
type of link. For example, for forming an ester linkage, the C-3
position having a hydroxyl group, the C-14 position modified with
hydroxymethyl, the C-15 position modified with a hydroxyl group and
the C-20 position having a hydroxyl group are all suitable.
[0285] The drug moiety (D) of the antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) of
Formula I include maytansinoids having the structure:
##STR00001##
where the wavy line indicates the covalent attachment of the sulfur
atom of D to a linker (L) of an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). R
may independently be H or a C.sub.1-C.sub.6 alkyl selected from
methyl, ethyl, 1-propyl, 2-propyl, 1-butyl, 2-methyl-1-propyl,
2-butyl, 2-methyl-2-propyl, 1-pentyl, 2-pentyl, 3-pentyl,
2-methyl-2-butyl, 3-methyl-2-butyl, 3-methyl-1-butyl,
2-methyl-1-butyl, 1-hexyl, 2-hexyl, 3-hexyl, 2-methyl-2-pentyl,
3-methyl-2-pentyl, 4-methyl-2-pentyl, 3-methyl-3-pentyl,
2-methyl-3-pentyl, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butyl, and 3,3-dimethyl-2-butyl.
The alkylene chain attaching the amide group to the sulfur atom may
be methanyl, ethanyl, or propyl, i.e. m is 1, 2, or 3.
[0286] Maytansine compounds inhibit cell proliferation by
inhibiting the formation of microtubules during mitosis through
inhibition of polymerization of the microtubulin protein, tubulin
(Remillard et al (1975) Science 189:1002-1005). Maytansine and
maytansinoids are highly cytotoxic but their clinical use in cancer
therapy has been greatly limited by their severe systemic
side-effects primarily attributed to their poor selectivity for
tumors. Clinical trials with maytansine had been discontinued due
to serious adverse effects on the central nervous system and
gastrointestinal system (Issel et al (1978) Can. Treatment. Rev.
5:199-207).
[0287] Maytansinoid drug moieties are attractive drug moieties in
antibody-drug conjugates because they are: (i) relatively
accessible to prepare by fermentation or chemical modification,
derivatization of fermentation products, (ii) amenable to
derivatization with functional groups suitable for conjugation
through the non-disulfide linkers to antibodies, (iii) stable in
plasma, and (iv) effective against a variety of tumor cell lines
(US 2005/0169933; WO 2005/037992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,020).
[0288] As with other drug moieties, all stereoisomers of the
maytansinoid drug moiety are contemplated for the compounds of the
invention, i.e. any combination of R and S configurations at the
chiral carbons of D. In one embodiment, the maytansinoid drug
moiety (D) will have the following stereochemistry:
##STR00002##
[0289] Exemplary embodiments of maytansinoid drug moieties include:
DM1, (CR.sub.2).sub.m.dbd.CH.sub.2CH.sub.2; DM3,
(CR.sub.2).sub.m.dbd.CH.sub.2CH.sub.2CH(CH.sub.3); and DM4,
(CR.sub.2).sub.m.dbd.CH.sub.2CH.sub.2C(CH.sub.3).sub.2, having the
structures:
##STR00003##
[0290] The linker may be attached to the maytansinoid molecule at
various positions, depending on the type of the link. For example,
an ester linkage may be formed by reaction with a hydroxyl group
using conventional coupling techniques. The reaction may occur at
the C-3 position having a hydroxyl group, the C-14 position
modified with hydroxymethyl, the C-15 position modified with a
hydroxyl group, and the C-20 position having a hydroxyl group. In a
preferred embodiment, the linkage is formed at the C-3 position of
maytansinol or a maytansinol analogue.
[0291] The drug moiety (D) of the antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) of
Formula I also include dolastatins and their peptidic analogs and
derivatives, the auristatins (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,635,483; 5,780,588).
Dolastatins and auristatins have been shown to interfere with
microtubule dynamics, GTP hydrolysis, and nuclear and cellular
division (Woyke et al (2001) Antimicrob. Agents and Chemother.
45(12):3580-3584) and have anticancer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,149) and
antifungal activity (Pettit et al (1998) Antimicrob. Agents
Chemother. 42:2961-2965). Various forms of a dolastatin or
auristatin drug moiety may be covalently attached to an antibody
through the N (amino) terminus or the C (carboxyl) terminus of the
peptidic drug moiety (WO 02/088172; Doronina et al (2003) Nature
Biotechnology 21(7):778-784; Francisco et al (2003) Blood
102(4):1458-1465).
[0292] Drug moieties include dolastatins, auristatins (U.S. Pat.
No. 5,635,483; U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,588; U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,237;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,431), and analogs and derivatives thereof.
Dolastatins and auristatins have been shown to interfere with
microtubule dynamics, GTP hydrolysis, and nuclear and cellular
division (Woyke et al (2001) Antimicrob. Agents and Chemother.
45(12):3580-3584) and have anticancer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,149) and
antifungal activity (Pettit et al (1998) Antimicrob. Agents
Chemother. 42:2961-2965). The dolastatin or auristatin drug moiety
may be attached to the antibody through the N (amino) terminus or
the C (carboxyl) terminus of the peptidic drug moiety (WO
02/088172).
[0293] Exemplary auristatin embodiments include the N-terminus
linked monomethylauristatin drug moieties DE and DF, disclosed in:
WO 2005/081711; Senter et al, Proceedings of the American
Association for Cancer Research, Volume 45, Abstract Number 623,
presented Mar. 28, 2004, the disclosure of each which are expressly
incorporated by reference in their entirety.
[0294] The drug moiety (D) of the antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) of
Formula I include the monomethylauristatin drug moieties MMAE and
MMAF linked through the N-terminus to the antibody, and having the
structures:
##STR00004##
[0295] Typically, peptide-based drug moieties can be prepared by
forming a peptide bond between two or more amino acids and/or
peptide fragments. Such peptide bonds can be prepared, for example,
according to the liquid phase synthesis method (see E. Schroder and
K. Lubke, "The Peptides", volume 1, pp 76-136, 1965, Academic
Press) that is well known in the field of peptide chemistry.
[0296] The drug moiety includes calicheamicin, and analogs and
derivatives thereof. The calicheamicin family of antibiotics are
capable of producing double-stranded DNA breaks at sub-picomolar
concentrations. For the preparation of conjugates of the
calicheamicin family, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,374; U.S. Pat. No.
5,714,586; U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,116; U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,285; U.S.
Pat. No. 5,770,701, U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,710; U.S. Pat. No.
5,773,001; U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,296. Structural analogues of
calicheamicin which may be used include, but are not limited to,
.gamma..sub.1.sup.I, .alpha..sub.2.sup.I, .alpha..sub.3.sup.I,
N-acetyl-.gamma..sub.1.sup.I, PSAG and .theta..sub.1.sup.I (Hinman
et al Cancer Research 53:3336-3342 (1993), Lode et al Cancer
Research 58:2925-2928 (1998).
[0297] Protein toxins include: diphtheria A chain, nonbinding
active fragments of diphtheria toxin, exotoxin A chain (from
Pseudomonas aeruginosa), ricin A chain (Vitetta et al (1987)
Science, 238:1098), abrin A chain, modeccin A chain, alpha-sarcin,
Aleurites fordii proteins, dianthin proteins, Phytolaca americana
proteins (PAPI, PAPII, and PAP-S), momordica charantia inhibitor,
curcin, crotin, sapaonaria officinalis inhibitor, gelonin,
mitogellin, restrictocin, phenomycin, enomycin, and the
tricothecenes (WO 93/21232).
[0298] Therapeutic radioisotopes include: .sup.32P, .sup.33P,
.sup.90Y, .sup.125I, .sup.131I, .sup.131In, .sup.153Sm, .sup.186Re,
.sup.188Re, .sup.211At, .sup.212Bi, .sup.212Pb, and radioactive
isotopes of Lu.
[0299] The radioisotope or other labels may be incorporated in the
conjugate in known ways (Fraker et al (1978) Biochem. Biophys. Res.
Commun. 80: 49-57; "Monoclonal ntibodies in Immunoscintigraphy"
Chatal, CRC Press 1989). Carbon-14-labeled
1-isothiocyanatobenzyl-3-methyldiethylene triaminepentaacetic acid
(MX-DTPA) is an exemplary chelating agent for conjugation of a
radionuclide to the antibody (WO 94/11026).
Linkers
[0300] A "Linker" (L) is a bifunctional or multifunctional moiety
which can be used to link one or more Drug moieties (D) and an
antibody unit (Ab) to form antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) of
Formula I. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) can be conveniently
prepared using a Linker having reactive functionality for binding
to the Drug and to the Antibody. A cysteine thiol of a cysteine
engineered antibody (Ab) can form a bond with a functional group of
a linker reagent, a drug moiety or drug-linker intermediate.
[0301] In one aspect, a Linker has a reactive site which has an
electrophilic group that is reactive to a nucleophilic cysteine
present on an antibody. The cysteine thiol of the antibody is
reactive with an electrophilic group on a Linker and forms a
covalent bond to a Linker. Useful electrophilic groups include, but
are not limited to, maleimide and haloacetamide groups.
[0302] Cysteine engineered antibodies react with linker reagents or
drug-linker intermediates, with electrophilic functional groups
such as maleimide or .alpha.-halo carbonyl, according to the
conjugation method at page 766 of Klussman, et al (2004),
Bioconjugate Chemistry 15(4):765-773, and according to the protocol
of Example 4.
[0303] In one embodiment, linker L of an ADC has the formula:
A.sub.a-W.sub.w-Y.sub.y-
wherein:
[0304] -A- is a Stretcher unit covalently attached to a cysteine
thiol of the antibody (Ab);
[0305] a is 0 or 1;
[0306] each --W-- is independently an Amino Acid unit;
[0307] w is independently an integer ranging from 0 to 12;
[0308] --Y-- is a Spacer unit covalently attached to the drug
moiety; and
[0309] y is 0, 1 or 2.
Stretcher Unit
[0310] The Stretcher unit (-A-), when present, is capable of
linking an antibody unit to an amino acid unit (--W--). In this
regard an antibody (Ab) has a free cysteine thiol group that can
form a bond with an electrophilic functional group of a Stretcher
Unit. Representative Stretcher units of this embodiment are
depicted within the square brackets of Formulas IIIa and IIIb,
wherein Ab-, --W--, --Y--, -D, w and y are as defined above, and
R.sup.17 is a divalent radical selected from (CH.sub.2).sub.r,
C.sub.3-C.sub.8 carbocyclyl, O--(CH.sub.2).sub.r, arylene,
(CH.sub.2).sub.r-arylene, -arylene-(CH.sub.2).sub.r--,
(CH.sub.2).sub.r--(C.sub.3-C.sub.8 carbocyclyl), (C.sub.3-C.sub.8
carbocyclyl)-(CH.sub.2).sub.r, C.sub.3-C.sub.8 heterocyclyl,
(CH.sub.2).sub.r--(C.sub.3-C.sub.8 heterocyclyl),
--(C.sub.3-C.sub.8 heterocyclyl)-(CH.sub.2).sub.r--,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.rC(O)NR.sup.b(CH.sub.2).sub.r--,
--(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--,
--(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--CH.sub.2--,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.rC(O)NR.sup.b(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.rC(O)NR.sup.b(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--CH.sub.2--,
--(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.rC(O)NR.sup.b(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--,
--(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.rC(O)NR.sup.b(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--CH.sub.-
2--, and --(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.rC(O)NR.sup.b(CH.sub.2).sub.r--;
where R.sup.b is H, C.sub.1-C.sub.6 alkyl, phenyl, or benzyl; and r
is independently an integer ranging from 1-10.
[0311] Arylene includes divalent aromatic hydrocarbon radicals of
6-20 carbon atoms derived by the removal of two hydrogen atoms from
a parent aromatic ring system. Typical arylene groups include, but
are not limited to, radicals derived from benzene, substituted
benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, biphenyl, and the like.
[0312] Heterocyclyl groups include a ring system in which one or
more ring atoms is a heteroatom, e.g. nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur.
The heterocycle radical comprises 1 to 20 carbon atoms and 1 to 3
heteroatoms selected from N, O, P, and S. A heterocycle may be a
monocycle having 3 to 7 ring members (2 to 6 carbon atoms and 1 to
3 heteroatoms selected from N, O, P, and S) or a bicycle having 7
to 10 ring members (4 to 9 carbon atoms and 1 to 3 heteroatoms
selected from N, O, P, and S), for example: a bicyclo [4,5], [5,5],
[5,6], or [6,6] system. Heterocycles are described in Paquette, Leo
A.; "Principles of Modern Heterocyclic Chemistry" (W. A. Benjamin,
New York, 1968), particularly Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9; "The
Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds, A series of Monographs" (John
Wiley & Sons, New York, 1950 to present), in particular Volumes
13, 14, 16, 19, and 28; and J. Am. Chem. Soc. (1960) 82:5566.
[0313] Examples of heterocycles include by way of example and not
limitation pyridyl, dihydroypyridyl, tetrahydropyridyl (piperidyl),
thiazolyl, tetrahydrothiophenyl, sulfur oxidized
tetrahydrothiophenyl, pyrimidinyl, furanyl, thienyl, pyrrolyl,
pyrazolyl, imidazolyl, tetrazolyl, benzofuranyl, thianaphthalenyl,
indolyl, indolenyl, quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl, benzimidazolyl,
piperidinyl, 4-piperidonyl, pyrrolidinyl, 2-pyrrolidonyl,
pyrrolinyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, bis-tetrahydrofuranyl,
tetrahydropyranyl, bis-tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydroquinolinyl,
tetrahydroisoquinolinyl, decahydroquinolinyl,
octahydroisoquinolinyl, azocinyl, triazinyl, 6H-1,2,5-thiadiazinyl,
2H,6H-1,5,2-dithiazinyl, thienyl, thianthrenyl, pyranyl,
isobenzofuranyl, chromenyl, xanthenyl, phenoxathinyl, 2H-pyrrolyl,
isothiazolyl, isoxazolyl, pyrazinyl, pyridazinyl, indolizinyl,
isoindolyl, 3H-indolyl, 1H-indazolyl, purinyl, 4H-quinolizinyl,
phthalazinyl, naphthyridinyl, quinoxalinyl, quinazolinyl,
cinnolinyl, pteridinyl, 4Ah-carbazolyl, carbazolyl,
.beta.-carbolinyl, phenanthridinyl, acridinyl, pyrimidinyl,
phenanthrolinyl, phenazinyl, phenothiazinyl, furazanyl,
phenoxazinyl, isochromanyl, chromanyl, imidazolidinyl,
imidazolinyl, pyrazolidinyl, pyrazolinyl, piperazinyl, indolinyl,
isoindolinyl, quinuclidinyl, morpholinyl, oxazolidinyl,
benzotriazolyl, benzisoxazolyl, oxindolyl, benzoxazolinyl, and
isatinoyl.
[0314] Carbocyclyl groups include a saturated or unsaturated ring
having 3 to 7 carbon atoms as a monocycle or 7 to 12 carbon atoms
as a bicycle. Monocyclic carbocycles have 3 to 6 ring atoms, still
more typically 5 or 6 ring atoms. Bicyclic carbocycles have 7 to 12
ring atoms, e.g. arranged as a bicyclo [4,5], [5,5], [5,6] or [6,6]
system, or 9 or 10 ring atoms arranged as a bicyclo [5,6] or [6,6]
system. Examples of monocyclic carbocycles include cyclopropyl,
cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, 1-cyclopent-1-enyl, 1-cyclopent-2-enyl,
1-cyclopent-3-enyl, cyclohexyl, 1-cyclohex-1-enyl,
1-cyclohex-2-enyl, 1-cyclohex-3-enyl, cycloheptyl, and
cyclooctyl.
[0315] It is to be understood from all the exemplary embodiments of
Formula I ADC such as III-VI, that even where not denoted
expressly, from 1 to 4 drug moieties are linked to an antibody
(p=1-4), depending on the number of engineered cysteine
residues.
##STR00005##
[0316] An illustrative Stretcher unit is that of Formula IIIa, and
is derived from maleimido-caproyl (MC) wherein R.sup.17 is
--(CH.sub.2).sub.5--:
##STR00006##
[0317] An illustrative Stretcher unit is that of Formula IIIa, and
is derived from maleimido-propanoyl (MP) wherein R.sup.17 is
--(CH.sub.2).sub.2--:
##STR00007##
[0318] Another illustrative Stretcher unit is that of Formula IIIa
wherein R.sup.17 is --(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--CH.sub.2-- and r
is 2:
##STR00008##
[0319] Another illustrative Stretcher unit is that of Formula IIIa
wherein R.sup.17 is
--(CH.sub.2).sub.rC(O)NR.sup.b(CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O).sub.r--CH.sub.2--
where R is H and each r is 2:
##STR00009##
[0320] Another illustrative Stretcher unit is that of Formula IIIb
wherein R.sup.17 is --(CH.sub.2).sub.5--:
##STR00010##
[0321] In another embodiment, the Stretcher unit is linked to the
Antibody unit via a disulfide bond between a sulfur atom of the
Antibody unit and a sulfur atom of the Stretcher unit. A
representative Stretcher unit of this embodiment is depicted within
the square brackets of Formula IV, wherein R.sup.17, Ab-, --W--,
--Y--, -D, w and y are as defined above.
Ab-S--(--R.sup.17--C(O)--W.sub.w--Y.sub.y-D).sub.p IV
[0322] In yet another embodiment, the reactive group of the
Stretcher contains a thiol-reactive functional group that can form
a bond with a free cysteine thiol of an antibody. Examples of
thiol-reaction functional groups include, but are not limited to,
maleimide, .alpha.-haloacetyl, activated esters such as succinimide
esters, 4-nitrophenyl esters, pentafluorophenyl esters,
tetrafluorophenyl esters, anhydrides, acid chlorides, sulfonyl
chlorides, isocyanates and isothiocyanates. Representative
Stretcher units of this embodiment are depicted within the square
brackets of Formulas Va and Vb, wherein --R.sup.17--, Ab-, --W--,
--Y--, -D, w and y are as defined above;
Ab-(-S--C(O)NH--R.sup.17--C(O)--W.sub.w--Y.sub.y-D).sub.p Va
Ab-(-S--C(O)NH--R.sup.17--C(O)--W.sub.w--Y.sub.y-D).sub.p Vb
[0323] In another embodiment, the linker may be a dendritic type
linker for covalent attachment of more than one drug moiety through
a branching, multifunctional linker moiety to an antibody (Sun et
al (2002) Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters
12:2213-2215; Sun et al (2003) Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
11:1761-1768; King (2002) Tetrahedron Letters 43:1987-1990).
Dendritic linkers can increase the molar ratio of drug to antibody,
i.e. loading, which is related to the potency of the ADC. Thus,
where a cysteine engineered antibody bears only one reactive
cysteine thiol group, a multitude of drug moieties may be attached
through a dendritic linker.
Amino Acid Unit
[0324] The linker may comprise amino acid residues. The Amino Acid
unit (--W.sub.w--), when present, links the antibody (Ab) to the
drug moiety (D) of the cysteine engineered antibody-drug conjugate
(ADC) of the invention.
[0325] --W.sub.w-- is a dipeptide, tripeptide, tetrapeptide,
pentapeptide, hexapeptide, heptapeptide, octapeptide, nonapeptide,
decapeptide, undecapeptide or dodecapeptide unit. Amino acid
residues which comprise the Amino Acid unit include those occurring
naturally, as well as minor amino acids and non-naturally occurring
amino acid analogs, such as citrulline. Each --W-- unit
independently has the formula denoted below in the square brackets,
and w is an integer ranging from 0 to 12:
##STR00011##
[0326] wherein R.sup.19 is hydrogen, methyl, isopropyl, isobutyl,
sec-butyl, benzyl, p-hydroxybenzyl, --CH.sub.2OH, --CH(OH)CH.sub.3,
--CH.sub.2CH.sub.2SCH.sub.3, --CH.sub.2CONH.sub.2, --CH.sub.2COOH,
--CH.sub.2CH.sub.2CONH.sub.2, --CH.sub.2CH.sub.2COOH,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.3NHC(.dbd.NH)NH.sub.2, --(CH.sub.2).sub.3NH.sub.2,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.3NHCOCH.sub.3, --(CH.sub.2).sub.3NHCHO,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.4NHC(.dbd.NH)NH.sub.2, --(CH.sub.2).sub.4NH.sub.2,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.4NHCOCH.sub.3, --(CH.sub.2).sub.4NHCHO,
--(CH.sub.2).sub.3NHCONH.sub.2, --(CH.sub.2).sub.4NHCONH.sub.2,
--CH.sub.2CH.sub.2CH(OH)CH.sub.2NH.sub.2, 2-pyridylmethyl-,
3-pyridylmethyl-, 4-pyridylmethyl-, phenyl, cyclohexyl,
##STR00012##
[0327] The Amino Acid unit can be enzymatically cleaved by one or
more enzymes, including a tumor-associated protease, to liberate
the Drug moiety (-D), which in one embodiment is protonated in vivo
upon release to provide a Drug (D).
[0328] Useful --W.sub.w-- units can be designed and optimized in
their selectivity for enzymatic cleavage by a particular enzymes,
for example, a tumor-associated protease. In one embodiment, a
--W.sub.w-- unit is that whose cleavage is catalyzed by cathepsin
B, C and D, or a plasmin protease.
[0329] Exemplary --W.sub.w-- Amino Acid units include a dipeptide,
a tripeptide, a tetrapeptide or a pentapeptide. Exemplary
dipeptides include: valine-citrulline (vc or val-cit),
alanine-phenylalanine (af or ala-phe). Exemplary tripeptides
include: glycine-valine-citrulline (gly-val-cit) and
glycine-glycine-glycine (gly-gly-gly).
[0330] When R.sup.19 is other than hydrogen, the carbon atom to
which R.sup.19 is attached is chiral. Each carbon atom to which
R.sup.19 is attached is independently in the (S) or (R)
configuration, or a racemic mixture. Amino acid units may thus be
enantiomerically pure, racemic, or diastereomeric.
Spacer Unit
[0331] The Spacer unit (--Y--), when present (y=1 or 2), links an
Amino Acid unit (--W.sub.w--) to the drug moiety (D) when an Amino
Acid unit is present (w=1-12). Alternately, the Spacer unit links
the Stretcher unit to the Drug moiety when the Amino Acid unit is
absent. The Spacer unit also links the drug moiety to the antibody
unit when both the Amino Acid unit and Stretcher unit are absent
(w, y=0). Spacer units are of two general types: self-immolative
and non self-immolative. A non self-immolative Spacer unit is one
in which part or all of the Spacer unit remains bound to the Drug
moiety after cleavage, particularly enzymatic, of an Amino Acid
unit from the antibody-drug conjugate or the Drug moiety-linker.
When an ADC containing a glycine-glycine Spacer unit or a glycine
Spacer unit undergoes enzymatic cleavage via a tumor-cell
associated-protease, a cancer-cell-associated protease or a
lymphocyte-associated protease, a glycine-glycine-Drug moiety or a
glycine-Drug moiety is cleaved from Ab-A.sub.a-W.sub.w--. In one
embodiment, an independent hydrolysis reaction takes place within
the target cell, cleaving the glycine-Drug moiety bond and
liberating the Drug.
[0332] In another embodiment, --Y.sub.y-- is a
p-aminobenzylcarbamoyl (PAB) unit (see Schemes 2 and 3) whose
phenylene portion is substituted with Q.sub.m wherein Q is
--C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl, --O--(C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl), -halogen,
-nitro or -cyano; and m is an integer ranging from 0-4.
[0333] Exemplary embodiments of a non self-immolative Spacer unit
(--Y--) are: -Gly-Gly-; -Gly-; -Ala-Phe-; -Val-Cit-.
[0334] In one embodiment, a Drug moiety-linker or an ADC is
provided in which the Spacer unit is absent (y=0), or a
pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.
[0335] Alternatively, an ADC containing a self-immolative Spacer
unit can release -D. In one embodiment, --Y-- is a PAB group that
is linked to --W.sub.w-- via the amino nitrogen atom of the PAB
group, and connected directly to -D via a carbonate, carbamate or
ether group, where the ADC has the exemplary structure:
##STR00013##
wherein Q is --C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl, --O--(C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl),
-halogen, -nitro or -cyano; m is an integer ranging from 0-4; and p
ranges from 1 to 4.
[0336] Other examples of self-immolative spacers include, but are
not limited to, aromatic compounds that are electronically similar
to the PAB group such as 2-aminoimidazol-5-methanol derivatives
(Hay et al. (1999) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 9:2237) and ortho or
para-aminobenzylacetals. Spacers can be used that undergo
cyclization upon amide bond hydrolysis, such as substituted and
unsubstituted 4-aminobutyric acid amides (Rodrigues et al (1995)
Chemistry Biology 2:223), appropriately substituted bicyclo[2.2.1]
and bicyclo[2.2.2] ring systems (Storm et al (1972) J. Amer. Chem.
Soc. 94:5815) and 2-aminophenylpropionic acid amides (Amsberry, et
al (1990) J. Org. Chem. 55:5867). Elimination of amine-containing
drugs that are substituted at glycine (Kingsbury et al (1984) J.
Med. Chem. 27:1447) are also examples of self-immolative spacer
useful in ADCs.
[0337] In one embodiment, the Spacer unit is a branched
bis(hydroxymethyl)styrene (BHMS), which can be used to incorporate
and release multiple drugs, having the structure:
##STR00014##
comprising a 2-(4-aminobenzylidene)propane-1,3-diol dendrimer unit
(WO 2004/043493; de Groot et al (2003) Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.
42:4490-4494), wherein Q is --C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl,
--O--(C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl), -halogen, -nitro or -cyano; m is an
integer ranging from 0-4; n is 0 or 1; and p ranges ranging from 1
to 4.
Dendritic Linkers
[0338] In another embodiment, linker L may be a dendritic type
linker for covalent attachment of more than one drug moiety through
a branching, multifunctional linker moiety to an antibody (Sun et
al (2002) Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters
12:2213-2215; Sun et al (2003) Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
11: 1761-1768). Dendritic linkers can increase the molar ratio of
drug to antibody, i.e. loading, which is related to the potency of
the ADC. Thus, where a cysteine engineered antibody bears only one
reactive cysteine thiol group, a multitude of drug moieties may be
attached through a dendritic linker.
[0339] The following exemplary embodiments of dendritic linker
reagents allow up to nine nucleophilic drug moiety reagents to be
conjugated by reaction with the chloroethyl nitrogen mustard
functional groups:
##STR00015##
[0340] In another embodiment of a Spacer unit, branched, dendritic
linkers with self-immolative 2,6-bis(hydroxymethyl)-p-cresol and
2,4,6-tris(hydroxymethyl)-phenol dendrimer units (WO 2004/01993;
Szalai et al (2003) J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 125:15688-15689; Shamis et
al (2004) J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 126:1726-1731; Amir et al (2003)
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 42:4494-4499) may be employed as linkers in
the compounds of the invention.
[0341] In another embodiment, the D moieties are the same.
[0342] In yet another embodiment, the D moieties are different.
[0343] In one aspect, Spacer units (--Y.sub.y--) are represented by
Formulas (X)-(XII):
##STR00016##
wherein Q is --C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl, --O--(C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl),
-halogen, -nitro or -cyano; and m is an integer ranging from
0-4;
##STR00017##
[0344] Embodiments of the Formula I antibody-drug conjugate
compounds include XIIIa (val-cit), XIIIb (MC-val-cit), XIIIc
(MC-val-cit-PAB):
##STR00018##
[0345] Other exemplary embodiments of the Formula Ia antibody-drug
conjugate compounds include XIVa-e:
##STR00019##
where X is:
##STR00020##
Y is:
##STR00021##
[0346] and R is independently H or C.sub.1-C.sub.6 alkyl; and n is
1 to 12.
[0347] In another embodiment, a Linker has a reactive functional
group which has a nucleophilic group that is reactive to an
electrophilic group present on an antibody. Useful electrophilic
groups on an antibody include, but are not limited to, aldehyde and
ketone carbonyl groups. The heteroatom of a nucleophilic group of a
Linker can react with an electrophilic group on an antibody and
form a covalent bond to an antibody unit. Useful nucleophilic
groups on a Linker include, but are not limited to, hydrazide,
oxime, amino, hydrazine, thiosemicarbazone, hydrazine carboxylate,
and arylhydrazide. The electrophilic group on an antibody provides
a convenient site for attachment to a Linker.
[0348] Typically, peptide-type Linkers can be prepared by forming a
peptide bond between two or more amino acids and/or peptide
fragments. Such peptide bonds can be prepared, for example,
according to the liquid phase synthesis method (E. Schroder and K.
Lubke (1965) "The Peptides", volume 1, pp 76-136, Academic Press)
which is well known in the field of peptide chemistry.
[0349] Linker intermediates may be assembled with any combination
or sequence of reactions including Spacer, Stretcher, and Amino
Acid units. The Spacer, Stretcher, and Amino Acid units may employ
reactive functional groups which are electrophilic, nucleophilic,
or free radical in nature. Reactive functional groups include, but
are not limited to:
##STR00022##
where X is a leaving group, e.g. O-mesyl, O-tosyl, --Cl, --Br, --I;
or maleimide.
[0350] In another embodiment, the Linker may be substituted with
groups which modulated solubility or reactivity. For example, a
charged substituent such as sulfonate (--SO.sub.3.sup.-) or
ammonium, may increase water solubility of the reagent and
facilitate the coupling reaction of the linker reagent with the
antibody or the drug moiety, or facilitate the coupling reaction of
Ab-L (antibody-linker intermediate) with D, or D-L (drug-linker
intermediate) with Ab, depending on the synthetic route employed to
prepare the ADC.
[0351] The compounds of the invention expressly contemplate, but
are not limited to, ADC prepared with linker reagents: BMPEO, BMPS,
EMCS, GMBS, HBVS, LC-SMCC, MBS, MPBH, SBAP, SIA, SIAB, SMCC, SMPB,
SMPH, sulfo-EMCS, sulfo-GMBS, sulfo-KMUS, sulfo-MBS, sulfo-SIAB,
sulfo-SMCC, and sulfo-SMPB, and SVSB
(succinimidyl-(4-vinylsulfone)benzoate), and including
bis-maleimide reagents: DTME, BMB, BMDB, BMH, BMOE, BM(PEO).sub.3,
and BM(PEO)4, which are commercially available from Pierce
Biotechnology, Inc., Customer Service Department, P.O. Box 117,
Rockford, Ill. 61105 U.S.A, U.S.A 1-800-874-3723, International
+815-968-0747. See pages 467-498, 2003-2004 Applications Handbook
and Catalog. Bis-maleimide reagents allow the attachment of the
thiol group of a cysteine engineered antibody to a thiol-containing
drug moiety, label, or linker intermediate, in a sequential or
concurrent fashion. Other functional groups besides maleimide,
which are reactive with a thiol group of a cysteine engineered
antibody, drug moiety, label, or linker intermediate include
iodoacetamide, bromoacetamide, vinyl pyridine, disulfide, pyridyl
disulfide, isocyanate, and isothiocyanate.
##STR00023##
[0352] Useful linker reagents can also be obtained via other
commercial sources, such as Molecular Biosciences Inc. (Boulder,
Colo.), or synthesized in accordance with procedures described in
Toki et al (2002) J. Org. Chem. 67:1866-1872; Walker, M. A. (1995)
J. Org. Chem. 60:5352-5355; Frisch et al (1996) Bioconjugate Chem.
7:180-186; U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,345; WO 02/088172; US 2003130189;
US2003096743; WO 03/026577; WO 03/043583; and WO 04/032828.
[0353] Stretchers of formula (IIIa) can be introduced into a Linker
by reacting the following linker reagents with the N-terminus of an
Amino Acid unit:
##STR00024##
where n is an integer ranging from 1-10 and T is --H or
--SO.sub.3Na;
##STR00025##
where n is an integer ranging from 0-3;
##STR00026##
[0354] Stretcher units of can be introduced into a Linker by
reacting the following bifunctional reagents with the N-terminus of
an Amino Acid unit:
##STR00027##
where X is Br or I. Stretcher units of formula can also be
introduced into a Linker by reacting the following bifunctional
reagents with the N-terminus of an Amino Acid unit:
##STR00028##
[0355] Stretcher units of formula (Va) can be introduced into a
Linker by reacting the following intermediates with the N-terminus
of an Amino Acid unit:
##STR00029##
[0356] Isothiocyanate Stretchers of the formula shown below may be
prepared from isothiocyanatocarboxylic acid chlorides as described
in Angew. Chem., (1975) 87(14), 517.
##STR00030##
[0357] wherein --R.sup.17-- is as described herein.
[0358] An exemplary valine-citrulline (val-cit or vc) dipeptide
linker reagent having a maleimide Stretcher and a
para-aminobenzylcarbamoyl (PAB) self-immolative Spacer has the
structure:
##STR00031##
where Q is --C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl, --O--(C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl),
-halogen, -nitro or -cyano; and m is an integer ranging from
0-4.
[0359] An exemplary phe-lys(Mtr) dipeptide linker reagent having a
maleimide Stretcher unit and a p-aminobenzyl self-immolative Spacer
unit can be prepared according to Dubowchik, et al. (1997)
Tetrahedron Letters, 38:5257-60, and has the structure:
##STR00032##
where Mtr is mono-4-methoxytrityl, Q is --C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl,
--O--(C.sub.1-C.sub.8 alkyl), -halogen, -nitro or -cyano; and m is
an integer ranging from 0-4.
[0360] Exemplary antibody-drug conjugate compounds of the invention
include:
##STR00033##
[0361] where Val is valine; Cit is citrulline; p is 1, 2, 3, or 4;
and Ab is a cysteine engineered antibody. Other exemplary antibody
drug conjugates where maytansinoid drug moiety DM1 is linked
through a BMPEO linker to a thiol group of trastuzumab have the
structure:
##STR00034##
[0362] where Ab is a cysteine engineered antibody; n is 0, 1, or 2;
and p is 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Preparation of Antibody-drug Conjugates
[0363] The ADC of Formula I may be prepared by several routes,
employing organic chemistry reactions, conditions, and reagents
known to those skilled in the art, including: (1) reaction of a
cysteine group of a cysteine engineered antibody with a linker
reagent, to form antibody-linker intermediate Ab-L, via a covalent
bond, followed by reaction with an activated drug moiety D; and (2)
reaction of a nucleophilic group of a drug moiety with a linker
reagent, to form drug-linker intermediate D-L, via a covalent bond,
followed by reaction with a cysteine group of a cysteine engineered
antibody. Conjugation methods (1) and (2) may be employed with a
variety of cysteine engineered antibodies, drug moieties, and
linkers to prepare the antibody-drug conjugates of Formula I.
[0364] Antibody cysteine thiol groups are nucleophilic and capable
of reacting to form covalent bonds with electrophilic groups on
linker reagents and drug-linker intermediates including: (i) active
esters such as NHS esters, HOBt esters, haloformates, and acid
halides; (ii) alkyl and benzyl halides, such as haloacetamides;
(iii) aldehydes, ketones, carboxyl, and maleimide groups; and (iv)
disulfides, including pyridyl disulfides, via sulfide exchange.
Nucleophilic groups on a drug moiety include, but are not limited
to: amine, thiol, hydroxyl, hydrazide, oxime, hydrazine,
thiosemicarbazone, hydrazine carboxylate, and arylhydrazide groups
capable of reacting to form covalent bonds with electrophilic
groups on linker moieties and linker reagents.
[0365] Maytansine may, for example, be converted to May-SSCH.sub.3,
which can be reduced to the free thiol, May-SH, and reacted with a
modified antibody (Chari et al (1992) Cancer Research 52:127-131)
to generate a maytansinoid-antibody immunoconjugate with a
disulfide linker. Antibody-maytansinoid conjugates with disulfide
linkers have been reported (WO 04/016801; U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,874;
US 2004/039176 A1; WO 03/068144; US 2004/001838 A1; U.S. Pat. Nos.
6,441,163, 5,208,020, 5,416,064; WO 01/024763). The disulfide
linker SPP is constructed with linker reagent N-succinimidyl
4-(2-pyridylthio) pentanoate.
[0366] Under certain conditions, the cysteine engineered antibodies
may be made reactive for conjugation with linker reagents by
treatment with a reducing agent such as DTT (Cleland's reagent,
dithiothreitol) or TCEP (tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine
hydrochloride; Getz et al (1999) Anal. Biochem. Vol 273:73-80;
Soltec Ventures, Beverly, Mass.). Full length, cysteine engineered
monoclonal antibodies (ThioMabs) expressed in CHO cells were
reduced with about a 50 fold excess of TCEP for 3 hrs at 37.degree.
C. to reduce disulfide bonds which may form between the newly
introduced cysteine residues and the cysteine present in the
culture media. The reduced ThioMab was diluted and loaded onto
HiTrap S column in 10 mM sodium acetate, pH 5, and eluted with PBS
containing 0.3M sodium chloride. Disulfide bonds were reestablished
between cysteine residues present in the parent Mab with dilute
(200 nM) aqueous copper sulfate (CuSO.sub.4) at room temperature,
overnight. Other oxidants, i.e. oxidizing agents, and oxidizing
conditions, which are known in the art may be used. Ambient air
oxidation is also effective. This mild, partial reoxidation step
forms intrachain disulfides efficiently with high fidelity. An
approximate 10 fold excess of drug-linker intermediate, e.g.
BM(PEO)4-DM1 was added, mixed, and let stand for about an hour at
room temperature to effect conjugation and form the ThioMab
antibody-drug conjugate. The conjugation mixture was gel filtered
and loaded and eluted through a HiTrap S column to remove excess
drug-linker intermediate and other impurities.
[0367] FIG. 15 shows the general process to prepare a cysteine
engineered antibody expressed from cell culture for conjugation.
Cysteine adducts, presumably along with various interchain
disulfide bonds, are reductively cleaved to give a reduced form of
the antibody. The interchain disulfide bonds between paired
cysteine residues are reformed under partial oxidation conditions,
such as exposure to ambient oxygen. The newly introduced,
engineered, and unpaired cysteine residues remain available for
reaction with linker reagents or drug-linker intermediates to form
the antibody conjugates of the invention. The ThioMabs expressed in
mammalian cell lines result in externally conjugated Cys adduct to
an engineered Cys through --S--S-- bond formation. Hence the
purified ThioMabs have to be treated with reduction and oxidation
procedures as described in Example 11 to produce reactive ThioMabs.
These ThioMabs are used to conjugate with maleimide containing
cytotoxic drugs, fluorophores, and other labels.
[0368] A variety of ThioFab and ThioMab antibody-drug conjugates
were prepared (Examples 4-8). Cysteine mutant hu4D5Fabv8 (V110C)
was conjugated with the maytansinoid drug moiety DM1 with a
bis-maleimido linker reagent BMPEO to form hu4D5Fabv8
(V110C)-BMPEO-DM1 (Example 8).
In Vitro Cell Proliferation Assays
[0369] Generally, the cytotoxic or cytostatic activity of an
antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) is measured by: exposing mammalian
cells having receptor proteins, e.g. HER2, to the antibody of the
ADC in a cell culture medium; culturing the cells for a period from
about 6 hours to about 5 days; and measuring cell viability.
Cell-based in vitro assays were used to measure viability
(proliferation), cytotoxicity, and induction of apoptosis (caspase
activation) of the ADC of the invention.
[0370] The in vitro potency of antibody-drug conjugates was
measured by a cell proliferation assay (FIGS. 10 and 11, Example
9). The CellTiter-Glo Luminescent Cell Viability Assay is a
commercially available (Promega Corp., Madison, Wis.), homogeneous
assay method based on the recombinant expression of Coleoptera
luciferase (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,583,024; 5,674,713 and 5,700,670).
This cell proliferation assay determines the number of viable cells
in culture based on quantitation of the ATP present, an indicator
of metabolically active cells (Crouch et al (1993) J. Immunol.
Meth. 160:81-88; U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,677). The CellTiter-Glo Assay
was conducted in 96 well format, making it amenable to automated
high-throughput screening (HTS) (Cree et al (1995) AntiCancer Drugs
6:398-404). The homogeneous assay procedure involves adding the
single reagent (CellTiter-Glo Reagent) directly to cells cultured
in serum-supplemented medium. Cell washing, removal of medium and
multiple pipetting steps are not required. The system detects as
few as 15 cells/well in a 384-well format in 10 minutes after
adding reagent and mixing. The cells may be treated continuously
with ADC, or they may be treated and separated from ADC. Generally,
cells treated briefly, i.e. 3 hours, showed the same potency
effects as continuously treated cells.
[0371] The homogeneous "add-mix-measure" format results in cell
lysis and generation of a luminescent signal proportional to the
amount of ATP present. The amount of ATP is directly proportional
to the number of cells present in culture. The CellTiter-Glo.RTM.
Assay generates a "glow-type" luminescent signal, produced by the
luciferase reaction, which has a half-life generally greater than
five hours, depending on cell type and medium used. Viable cells
are reflected in relative luminescence units (RLU). The substrate,
Beetle Luciferin, is oxidatively decarboxylated by recombinant
firefly luciferase with concomitant conversion of ATP to AMP and
generation of photons. The extended half-life eliminates the need
to use reagent injectors and provides flexibility for continuous or
batch mode processing of multiple plates. This cell proliferation
assay can be used with various multiwell formats, e.g. 96 or 384
well format. Data can be recorded by luminometer or CCD camera
imaging device. The luminescence output is presented as relative
light units (RLU), measured over time. Alternatively, photons from
luminescence can be counted in a scintillation counter in the
presence of a scintillant. The light units can be represented then
as CPS--counts per second.
##STR00035##
[0372] The anti-proliferative effects of antibody-drug conjugates
were measured by the cell proliferation, in vitro cell killing
assay above against the SK-BR-3 breast tumor cell line (FIGS. 10
and 11). IC.sub.50 values of the ADC were established against
SK-BR-3 cells, which are known to overexpress HER2 receptor
protein.
[0373] FIG. 10 shows that trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1
(IC.sub.50=0.008-0.015 .mu.g/ml) was more potent than the heavy
chain cysteine mutant conjugate hu4D5Fabv8-(A121C)-BMPEO-DM1
(IC.sub.50=0.04 .mu.g/ml). Both conjugates were significantly more
potent in cell killing than naked trastuzumab (IC.sub.50=0.1
.mu.g/ml). Drug loading for trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 was 2.8 DM1/Ab and
for hu4D5Fabv8 (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 was 0.6 DM1/Ab.
[0374] FIG. 11 shows that trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1
(IC.sub.50=0.008-0.015 .mu.g/ml) was more potent than the light
chain cysteine mutant hu4D5Fabv8 (V110C)-BMPEO-DM1 (IC.sub.50=0.07
.mu.g/ml). Both conjugates were more potent in cell killing than
naked trastuzumab (IC.sub.50=0.1 .mu.g/ml). Drug loading for
trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 was 2.8 DM1/Ab and for hu4D5Fabv8
(V110C)-BMPEO-DM1 was 0.9 DM1/Ab.
[0375] Full-length IgG ThioMab conjugates were tested for in vitro,
cell proliferation efficacy and compared with parent antibodies.
FIG. 20 shows the results of an assay of SK-BR-3 cells treated
with: parent antibody trastuzumab (HERCEPTIN.RTM., Genentech,
Inc.); trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 with a drug loading of about 3.4
DM1/Ab; and thio-trastuzumab (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 with a drug loading
of about 1.6 DM1/Ab. The trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 conjugate is linked
to the antibody via the amino reactive, NHS ester SMCC linker
reagent, whereas the thio-trastuzumab (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 conjugates
is linked via the thiol reactive, maleimide BMPEO linker reagent.
Both conjugates were potent against SK-BR-3 cells and showed
comparable activity, whereas trastuzumab did not exert a cytotoxic
effect. FIG. 21A shows the results of an assay of HT 1080EphB2
cells treated with: parent 2H9 anti-EphB2RX; and thio 2H9 (A121C)
BMPEO-DM1 conjugate. FIG. 21B shows the results of an assay of BT
474 cells treated with: parent 2H9 anti-EphB2RX; and thio 2H9
(A121C) BMPEO-DM1 conjugate. Against both HT 1080EphB2 and BT 474
cells, the 2H9 ThioMab conjugate was more potent than the parent
2H9 antibody conjugate. The conjugate Thio-2H9-BMPEO-DM1 showed
functional cell killing activity in EphB2 specific cell line
(HT1080EphB2) compared to a non EphB2 cell line, BT474 in which
only marginal activity is observed.
[0376] Antibody drug conjugates were compared where the antibody is
a parent antibody and where the antibody is a cysteine engineered
antibody. FIG. 22 shows the results of an assay of PC3/neo cells
treated with: 3A5 anti MUC16-SMCC-DM1; and thio 3A5 (A121C)
BMPEO-DM1. FIG. 23 shows the results of an assay of PC3/MUC16 cells
treated with: 3A5 anti MUC16-SMCC-DM 1; and thio 3A5 (A121C)
BMPEO-DM1. FIG. 24 shows the results of an assay of OVCAR-3 cells
treated with: 3A5 anti MUC16-SMCC-DM1; and thio 3A5 (A121C)
BMPEO-DM1. Thio-3A5-BMPEO-DM1 did not show any significant cell
killing activity in the control PC3/neo cell line, whereas it
showed comparable activity to 3A5-SMCC-DM1 in the PC3/MUC16 cell
line. Thio-3A5-DM1 conjugate also showed activity in the OVCAR-3
that expresses endogenous MUC16 antigen.
In Vivo Efficacy
[0377] The in vivo efficacy of two albumin binding peptide-DM1
(maytansinoid)-antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) of the invention was
measured by a high expressing HER2 transgenic explant mouse model
(FIG. 12, Example 10). An allograft was propagated from the Fo5
mmtv transgenic mouse which does not respond to, or responds poorly
to, HERCEPTIN.RTM. therapy. Subjects were treated once with
ABP-rhuFab4D5-cys(light chain)-DM1; ABP-rhuFab4D5-cys(heavy
chain)-DM1; and placebo PBS buffer control (Vehicle) and monitored
over 3 weeks to measure the time to tumor doubling, log cell kill,
and tumor shrinkage.
TABLE-US-00018 Sample Dose Ti PR CR TDV (days) Vehicle (PBS buffer)
7/7 0/7 0/7 3 ABP-rhuFab4D5- 25 mg per kg 7/7 1/7 0/7 14 V110C
(light chain)- (1012 .mu.g/m.sup.2 of DM1 (0.9 DM1/Ab) DM1)
ABP-rhuFab4D5- 37.5 mg per kg 7/7 4/7 0/7 16 A121C(heavy chain)-
(1012 .mu.g/m.sup.2 of DM1 (0.6 DM1/Ab) DM1)
[0378] The term Ti is the number of animals in the study group with
tumor at T.dbd.O-- total animals in group. The term PR is the
number of animals attaining partial remission of tumor--animals
with tumor at T=0/in the group. The term CR is the number of
animals attaining complete remission of tumor/animals with tumor at
T=0 in the group. The term TDV is the tumor doubling time, i.e.
time in days for the control tumor volume to double.
[0379] The seven mice treated with 25 mg per kg (1012 ug/m.sup.2 of
DM1) of ABP-rhuFab4D5-cys(light chain)-DM 1 were all tumor-positive
and gave one animal with partial remission after 20 days. The seven
mice treated with 37.5 mg per kg (1012 ug/m.sup.2 of DM1) of
ABP-rhuFab4D5-cys(heavy chain)-DM1 were all tumor-positive and gave
four animals with partial remission after 20 days.
[0380] The full length IgG ThioMab antibody variant with the A121C
cysteine mutation and conjugated to the BMPEO linker and DM1 drug
moiety was tested against the parent trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 conjugate
in MMTV-HER2 Fo5 tumor-bearing mice. Tumor size at day 0 of
injection was about 100-200 mm in size. FIG. 25 shows the mean
tumor volume change over 21 days in athymic nude mice with
MMTV-HER2 Fo5 mammary tumor allografts, after a single dose on Day
0 with: Vehicle (Buffer); trastuzumab-SMCC-DM110 mg/kg; thio
trastuzumab (A121C)-SMCC-DM121 mg/kg and thio trastuzumab
(A121C)-SMCC-DM1 10 mg/kg.
TABLE-US-00019 Sample Dose Ti PR CR Vehicle (PBS buffer) -- 10/10
0/10 0/10 trastuzumab-SMCC- 10 mg Ab per kg mouse 10/10 7/10 0/10
DM1 3.4 DM1/Ab (490 .mu.g/m.sup.2 of DM1) thio-trastuzumab 21 mg Ab
per kg mouse 8/10 6/10 4/10 (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 (496 .mu.g/m.sup.2 of
DM1) 1.6 DM1/Ab thio-trastuzumab 10 mg Ab per kg mouse 10/10 0/10
0/10 (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 (236 .mu.g/m.sup.2 of DM1) 1.6 DM1/Ab
[0381] It can be seen from FIG. 25 that each conjugate exerts a
significant effect of retarding tumor growth relative to placebo
(Vehicle). Each of the ten mice in the four groups above received a
single injection at day 1. The parent trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1
conjugate was loaded with more than twice (3.4 DM1/Ab) the number
of drug moieties than the cysteine engineered thio-trastuzumab
(A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 conjugate (1.6 DM1/Ab). The effective amount of
DM1 was thus approximately equal between parent
trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 and the higher dose (21 mg Ab)
thio-trastuzumab (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1. These two sample showed the
most potency. After 14 days post-injection, most of the animals
receiving these conjugates were in partial or complete remission.
The lower efficacy of the lower dose thio-trastuzumab
(A121C)-BMPEO-DM1 sample confirmed a DM1 dose-related response.
Thio-Trastuzumab-DM1 either dosed in equivalent antibody (10 mg/kg)
or DM1 drug (21 mg/kg) quantity to that of control
trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 conjugate. As seen from the FIG. 25,
Thio-BMPEO-DM1 (21 mg/kg) showed slightly better response than that
of trastuzumab-SMCC-DM1 group as some of the animals showed
complete response with Thiomab-DM 1 whereas there was only partial
response with trastuzumab-SMCC-DM 1.
Administration of Antibody-Drug Conjugates
[0382] The antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) of the invention may be
administered by any route appropriate to the condition to be
treated. The ADC will typically be administered parenterally, i.e.
infusion, subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, intradermal,
intrathecal and epidural.
Pharmaceutical Formulations
[0383] Pharmaceutical formulations of therapeutic antibody-drug
conjugates (ADC) of the invention are typically prepared for
parenteral administration, i.e. bolus, intravenous, intratumor
injection with a pharmaceutically acceptable parenteral vehicle and
in a unit dosage injectable form. An antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)
having the desired degree of purity is optionally mixed with
pharmaceutically acceptable diluents, carriers, excipients or
stabilizers (Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences (1980) 16th
edition, Osol, A. Ed.), in the form of a lyophilized formulation or
an aqueous solution.
[0384] Acceptable diluents, carriers, excipients, and stabilizers
are nontoxic to recipients at the dosages and concentrations
employed, and include buffers such as phosphate, citrate, and other
organic acids; antioxidants including ascorbic acid and methionine;
preservatives (such as octadecyldimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride;
hexamethonium chloride; benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium
chloride; phenol, butyl or benzyl alcohol; alkyl parabens such as
methyl or propyl paraben; catechol; resorcinol; cyclohexanol;
3-pentanol; and m-cresol); low molecular weight (less than about 10
residues) polypeptides; proteins, such as serum albumin, gelatin,
or immunoglobulins; hydrophilic polymers such as
polyvinylpyrrolidone; amino acids such as glycine, glutamine,
asparagine, histidine, arginine, or lysine; monosaccharides,
disaccharides, and other carbohydrates including glucose, mannose,
or dextrins; chelating agents such as EDTA; sugars such as sucrose,
mannitol, trehalose or sorbitol; salt-forming counter-ions such as
sodium; metal complexes (e.g. Zn-protein complexes); and/or
non-ionic surfactants such as TWEEN.TM., PLURONICS.TM. or
polyethylene glycol (PEG). For example, lyophilized anti-ErbB2
antibody formulations are described in WO 97/04801, expressly
incorporated herein by reference.
[0385] The active pharmaceutical ingredients may also be entrapped
in microcapsules prepared, for example, by coacervation techniques
or by interfacial polymerization, for example,
hydroxymethylcellulose or gelatin-microcapsules and
poly-(methylmethacylate) microcapsules, respectively, in colloidal
drug delivery systems (for example, liposomes, albumin
microspheres, microemulsions, nano-particles and nanocapsules) or
in macroemulsions. Such techniques are disclosed in Remington's
Pharmaceutical Sciences 16th edition, Osol, A. Ed. (1980).
[0386] Sustained-release preparations may be prepared. Suitable
examples of sustained-release preparations include semi permeable
matrices of solid hydrophobic polymers containing the ADC, which
matrices are in the form of shaped articles, e.g. films, or
microcapsules. Examples of sustained-release matrices include
polyesters, hydrogels (for example,
poly(2-hydroxyethyl-methacrylate), or poly(vinyl alcohol)),
polylactides (U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,919), copolymers of L-glutamic
acid and gamma-ethyl-L-glutamate, non-degradable ethylene-vinyl
acetate, degradable lactic acid-glycolic acid copolymers such as
the LUPRON DEPOT.TM. (injectable microspheres composed of lactic
acid-glycolic acid copolymer and leuprolide acetate), and
poly-D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyric acid.
[0387] The formulations to be used for in vivo administration must
be sterile, which is readily accomplished by filtration through
sterile filtration membranes.
[0388] The formulations include those suitable for the foregoing
administration routes. The formulations may conveniently be
presented in unit dosage form and may be prepared by any of the
methods well known in the art of pharmacy. Techniques and
formulations generally are found in Remington's Pharmaceutical
Sciences (Mack Publishing Co., Easton, Pa.). Such methods include
the step of bringing into association the active ingredient with
the carrier which constitutes one or more accessory ingredients. In
general the formulations are prepared by uniformly and intimately
bringing into association the active ingredient with liquid
carriers or finely divided solid carriers or both, and then, if
necessary, shaping the product.
[0389] Aqueous suspensions of the invention contain the active
materials in admixture with excipients suitable for the manufacture
of aqueous suspensions. Such excipients include a suspending agent,
such as sodium carboxymethylcellulose, croscarmellose, povidone,
methylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcelluose, sodium alginate,
polyvinylpyrrolidone, gum tragacanth and gum acacia, and dispersing
or wetting agents such as a naturally occurring phosphatide (e.g.,
lecithin), a condensation product of an alkylene oxide with a fatty
acid (e.g., polyoxyethylene stearate), a condensation product of
ethylene oxide with a long chain aliphatic alcohol (e.g.,
heptadecaethyleneoxycetanol), a condensation product of ethylene
oxide with a partial ester derived from a fatty acid and a hexitol
anhydride (e.g., polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate). The aqueous
suspension may also contain one or more preservatives such as ethyl
or n-propyl p-hydroxy-benzoate, one or more coloring agents, one or
more flavoring agents and one or more sweetening agents, such as
sucrose or saccharin.
[0390] The pharmaceutical compositions of ADC may be in the form of
a sterile injectable preparation, such as a sterile injectable
aqueous or oleaginous suspension. This suspension may be formulated
according to the known art using those suitable dispersing or
wetting agents and suspending agents which have been mentioned
above. The sterile injectable preparation may also be a sterile
injectable solution or suspension in a non-toxic parenterally
acceptable diluent or solvent, such as a solution in
1,3-butane-diol or prepared as a lyophilized powder. Among the
acceptable vehicles and solvents that may be employed are water,
Ringer's solution and isotonic sodium chloride solution. In
addition, sterile fixed oils may conventionally be employed as a
solvent or suspending medium. For this purpose any bland fixed oil
may be employed including synthetic mono- or diglycerides. In
addition, fatty acids such as oleic acid may likewise be used in
the preparation of injectables.
[0391] The amount of active ingredient that may be combined with
the carrier material to produce a single dosage form will vary
depending upon the host treated and the particular mode of
administration. For example, an aqueous solution intended for
intravenous infusion may contain from about 3 to 500 .mu.g of the
active ingredient per milliliter of solution in order that infusion
of a suitable volume at a rate of about 30 mL/hr can occur.
[0392] Formulations suitable for parenteral administration include
aqueous and non-aqueous sterile injection solutions which may
contain anti-oxidants, buffers, bacteriostats and solutes which
render the formulation isotonic with the blood of the intended
recipient; and aqueous and non-aqueous sterile suspensions which
may include suspending agents and thickening agents.
[0393] Although oral administration of protein therapeutics are
disfavored due to hydrolysis or denaturation in the gut,
formulations of ADC suitable for oral administration may be
prepared as discrete units such as capsules, cachets or tablets
each containing a predetermined amount of the ADC.
[0394] The formulations may be packaged in unit-dose or multi-dose
containers, for example sealed ampoules and vials, and may be
stored in a freeze-dried (lyophilized) condition requiring only the
addition of the sterile liquid carrier, for example water, for
injection immediately prior to use. Extemporaneous injection
solutions and suspensions are prepared from sterile powders,
granules and tablets of the kind previously described. Preferred
unit dosage formulations are those containing a daily dose or unit
daily sub-dose, as herein above recited, or an appropriate fraction
thereof, of the active ingredient.
[0395] The invention further provides veterinary compositions
comprising at least one active ingredient as above defined together
with a veterinary carrier therefore. Veterinary carriers are
materials useful for the purpose of administering the composition
and may be solid, liquid or gaseous materials which are otherwise
inert or acceptable in the veterinary art and are compatible with
the active ingredient. These veterinary compositions may be
administered parenterally, orally or by any other desired
route.
Antibody-drug Conjugate Treatments
[0396] It is contemplated that the antibody-drug conjugates (ADC)
of the present invention may be used to treat various diseases or
disorders, e.g. characterized by the overexpression of a tumor
antigen. Exemplary conditions or hyperproliferative disorders
include benign or malignant tumors; leukemia and lymphoid
malignancies. Others include neuronal, glial, astrocytal,
hypothalamic, glandular, macrophagal, epithelial, stromal,
blastocoelic, inflammatory, angiogenic and immunologic, including
autoimmune, disorders.
[0397] The ADC compounds which are identified in the animal models
and cell-based assays can be further tested in tumor-bearing higher
primates and human clinical trials. Human clinical trials can be
designed similar to the clinical trials testing the efficacy of the
anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody HERCEPTINO.RTM. in patients with HER2
overexpressing metastatic breast cancers that had received
extensive prior anti-cancer therapy as reported by Baselga et al.
(1996) J. Clin. Oncol. 14:737-744. The clinical trial may be
designed to evaluate the efficacy of an ADC in combinations with
known therapeutic regimens, such as radiation and/or chemotherapy
involving known chemotherapeutic and/or cytotoxic agents.
[0398] Generally, the disease or disorder to be treated is a
hyperproliferative disease such as cancer. Examples of cancer to be
treated herein include, but are not limited to, carcinoma,
lymphoma, blastoma, sarcoma, and leukemia or lymphoid malignancies.
More particular examples of such cancers include squamous cell
cancer (e.g. epithelial squamous cell cancer), lung cancer
including small-cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer,
adenocarcinoma of the lung and squamous carcinoma of the lung,
cancer of the peritoneum, hepatocellular cancer, gastric or stomach
cancer including gastrointestinal cancer, pancreatic cancer,
glioblastoma, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer,
bladder cancer, hepatoma, breast cancer, colon cancer, rectal
cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial or uterine carcinoma,
salivary gland carcinoma, kidney or renal cancer, prostate cancer,
vulval cancer, thyroid cancer, hepatic carcinoma, anal carcinoma,
penile carcinoma, as well as head and neck cancer.
[0399] The cancer may comprise HER2-expressing cells, such that the
ADC of the present invention are able to bind to the cancer cells.
To determine ErbB2 expression in the cancer, various
diagnostic/prognostic assays are available. In one embodiment,
ErbB2 overexpression may be analyzed by IHC, e.g. using the
HERCEPTEST (Dako). Parrafin embedded tissue sections from a tumor
biopsy may be subjected to the IHC assay and accorded a ErbB2
protein staining intensity criteria as follows: Score 0, no
staining is observed or membrane staining is observed in less than
10% of tumor cells; Score 1+, a faint/barely perceptible membrane
staining is detected in more than 10% of the tumor cells, the cells
are only stained in part of their membrane; Score 2+, a weak to
moderate complete membrane staining is observed in more than 10% of
the tumor cells; Score 3+, a moderate to strong complete membrane
staining is observed in more than 10% of the tumor cells. Those
tumors with 0 or 1+scores for ErbB2 overexpression assessment may
be characterized as not overexpressing ErbB2, whereas those tumors
with 2+ or 3+ scores may be characterized as overexpressing
ErbB2.
[0400] Alternatively, or additionally, FISH assays such as the
INFORM.TM. (Ventana Co., Ariz.) or PATHVISION.TM. (Vysis, Ill.) may
be carried out on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue to
determine the extent (if any) of ErbB2 overexpression in the
tumor.
[0401] Autoimmune diseases for which the ADC compounds may be used
in treatment include rheumatologic disorders (such as, for example,
rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma, lupus such
as SLE and lupus nephritis, polymyositis/dermatomyositis,
cryoglobulinemia, anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome, and
psoriatic arthritis), osteoarthritis, autoimmune gastrointestinal
and liver disorders (such as, for example, inflammatory bowel
diseases (e.g., ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease), autoimmune
gastritis and pernicious anemia, autoimmune hepatitis, primary
biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and celiac
disease), vasculitis (such as, for example, ANCA-associated
vasculitis, including Churg-Strauss vasculitis, Wegener's
granulomatosis, and polyarteriitis), autoimmune neurological
disorders (such as, for example, multiple sclerosis, opsoclonus
myoclonus syndrome, myasthenia gravis, neuromyelitis optica,
Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and autoimmune
polyneuropathies), renal disorders (such as, for example,
glomerulonephritis, Goodpasture's syndrome, and Berger's disease),
autoimmune dermatologic disorders (such as, for example, psoriasis,
urticaria, hives, pemphigus vulgaris, bullous pemphigoid, and
cutaneous lupus erythematosus), hematologic disorders (such as, for
example, thrombocytopenic purpura, thrombotic thrombocytopenic
purpura, post-transfusion purpura, and autoimmune hemolytic
anemia), atherosclerosis, uveitis, autoimmune hearing diseases
(such as, for example, inner ear disease and hearing loss),
Behcet's disease, Raynaud's syndrome, organ transplant, and
autoimmune endocrine disorders (such as, for example,
diabetic-related autoimmune diseases such as insulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus (IDDM), Addison's disease, and autoimmune thyroid
disease (e.g., Graves' disease and thyroiditis)). More preferred
such diseases include, for example, rheumatoid arthritis,
ulcerative colitis, ANCA-associated vasculitis, lupus, multiple
sclerosis, Sjogren's syndrome, Graves' disease, IDDM, pernicious
anemia, thyroiditis, and glomerulonephritis.
[0402] For the prevention or treatment of disease, the appropriate
dosage of an ADC will depend on the type of disease to be treated,
as defined above, the severity and course of the disease, whether
the molecule is administered for preventive or therapeutic
purposes, previous therapy, the patient's clinical history and
response to the antibody, and the discretion of the attending
physician. The molecule is suitably administered to the patient at
one time or over a series of treatments. Depending on the type and
severity of the disease, about 1 .mu.g/kg to 15 mg/kg (e.g. 0.1-20
mg/kg) of molecule is an initial candidate dosage for
administration to the patient, whether, for example, by one or more
separate administrations, or by continuous infusion. A typical
daily dosage might range from about 1 .mu.g/kg to 100 mg/kg or
more, depending on the factors mentioned above. An exemplary dosage
of ADC to be administered to a patient is in the range of about 0.1
to about 10 mg/kg of patient weight.
[0403] For repeated administrations over several days or longer,
depending on the condition, the treatment is sustained until a
desired suppression of disease symptoms occurs. An exemplary dosing
regimen comprises administering an initial loading dose of about 4
mg/kg, followed by a weekly maintenance dose of about 2 mg/kg of an
anti-ErbB2 antibody. Other dosage regimens may be useful. The
progress of this therapy is easily monitored by conventional
techniques and assays.
Combination Therapy
[0404] An antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) of the invention may be
combined in a pharmaceutical combination formulation, or dosing
regimen as combination therapy, with a second compound having
anti-cancer properties. The second compound of the pharmaceutical
combination formulation or dosing regimen preferably has
complementary activities to the ADC of the combination such that
they do not adversely affect each other.
[0405] The second compound may be a chemotherapeutic agent,
cytotoxic agent, cytokine, growth inhibitory agent, anti-hormonal
agent, and/or cardioprotectant. Such molecules are suitably present
in combination in amounts that are effective for the purpose
intended. A pharmaceutical composition containing an ADC of the
invention may also have a therapeutically effective amount of a
chemotherapeutic agent such as a tubulin-forming inhibitor, a
topoisomerase inhibitor, or a DNA binder.
[0406] Other therapeutic regimens may be combined with the
administration of an anticancer agent identified in accordance with
this invention. The combination therapy may be administered as a
simultaneous or sequential regimen. When administered sequentially,
the combination may be administered in two or more administrations.
The combined administration includes coadministration, using
separate formulations or a single pharmaceutical formulation, and
consecutive administration in either order, wherein preferably
there is a time period while both (or all) active agents
simultaneously exert their biological activities.
[0407] In one embodiment, treatment with an ADC involves the
combined administration of an anticancer agent identified herein,
and one or more chemotherapeutic agents or growth inhibitory
agents, including coadministration of cocktails of different
chemotherapeutic agents. Chemotherapeutic agents include taxanes
(such as paclitaxel and docetaxel) and/or anthracycline
antibiotics. Preparation and dosing schedules for such
chemotherapeutic agents may be used according to manufacturer's
instructions or as determined empirically by the skilled
practitioner. Preparation and dosing schedules for such
chemotherapy are also described in "Chemotherapy Service", (1992)
Ed., M. C. Perry, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, Md.
[0408] The ADC may be combined with an anti-hormonal compound;
e.g., an anti-estrogen compound such as tamoxifen; an
anti-progesterone such as onapristone (EP 616812); or an
anti-androgen such as flutamide, in dosages known for such
molecules. Where the cancer to be treated is hormone independent
cancer, the patient may previously have been subjected to
anti-hormonal therapy and, after the cancer becomes hormone
independent, the ADC (and optionally other agents as described
herein) may be administered to the patient. It may be beneficial to
also coadminister a cardioprotectant (to prevent or reduce
myocardial dysfunction associated with the therapy) or one or more
cytokines to the patient. In addition to the above therapeutic
regimes, the patient may be subjected to surgical removal of cancer
cells and/or radiation therapy.
[0409] Suitable dosages for any of the above coadministered agents
are those presently used and may be lowered due to the combined
action (synergy) of the newly identified agent and other
chemotherapeutic agents or treatments.
[0410] The combination therapy may provide "synergy" and prove
"synergistic", i.e. the effect achieved when the active ingredients
used together is greater than the sum of the effects that results
from using the compounds separately. A synergistic effect may be
attained when the active ingredients are: (1) co-formulated and
administered or delivered simultaneously in a combined, unit dosage
formulation; (2) delivered by alternation or in parallel as
separate formulations; or (3) by some other regimen. When delivered
in alternation therapy, a synergistic effect may be attained when
the compounds are administered or delivered sequentially, e.g. by
different injections in separate syringes. In general, during
alternation therapy, an effective dosage of each active ingredient
is administered sequentially, i.e. serially, whereas in combination
therapy, effective dosages of two or more active ingredients are
administered together.
Metabolites of the Antibody-Drug Conjugates
[0411] Also falling within the scope of this invention are the in
vivo metabolic products of the ADC compounds described herein, to
the extent such products are novel and unobvious over the prior
art. Such products may result for example from the oxidation,
reduction, hydrolysis, amidation, esterification, enzymatic
cleavage, and the like, of the administered compound. Accordingly,
the invention includes novel and unobvious compounds produced by a
process comprising contacting a compound of this invention with a
mammal for a period of time sufficient to yield a metabolic product
thereof.
[0412] Metabolite products typically are identified by preparing a
radiolabelled (e.g. .sup.14C or .sup.3H) ADC, administering it
parenterally in a detectable dose (e.g. greater than about 0.5
mg/kg) to an animal such as rat, mouse, guinea pig, monkey, or to
man, allowing sufficient time for metabolism to occur (typically
about 30 seconds to 30 hours) and isolating its conversion products
from the urine, blood or other biological samples. These products
are easily isolated since they are labeled (others are isolated by
the use of antibodies capable of binding epitopes surviving in the
metabolite). The metabolite structures are determined in
conventional fashion, e.g. by MS, LC/MS or NMR analysis. In
general, analysis of metabolites is done in the same way as
conventional drug metabolism studies well-known to those skilled in
the art. The conversion products, so long as they are not otherwise
found in vivo, are useful in diagnostic assays for therapeutic
dosing of the ADC compounds of the invention.
Labelled Antibody Imaging Methods
[0413] In another embodiment of the invention, cysteine engineered
antibodies may be labelled through the cysteine thiol with
radionuclides, fluorescent dyes, bioluminescence-triggering
substrate moieties, chemiluminescence-triggering substrate
moieties, enzymes, and other detection labels for imaging
experiments with diagnostic, pharmacodynamic, and therapeutic
applications. Generally, the labelled cysteine engineered antibody,
i.e. "biomarker" or "probe", is administered by injection,
perfusion, or oral ingestion to a living organism, e.g. human,
rodent, or other small animal, a perfused organ, or tissue sample.
The distribution of the probe is detected over a time course and
represented by an image.
Articles of Manufacture
[0414] In another embodiment of the invention, an article of
manufacture, or "kit", containing materials useful for the
treatment of the disorders described above is provided. The article
of manufacture comprises a container and a label or package insert
on or associated with the container. Suitable containers include,
for example, bottles, vials, syringes, blister pack, etc. The
containers may be formed from a variety of materials such as glass
or plastic. The container holds an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)
composition which is effective for treating the condition and may
have a sterile access port (for example the container may be an
intravenous solution bag or a vial having a stopper pierceable by a
hypodermic injection needle). At least one active agent in the
composition is an ADC. The label or package insert indicates that
the composition is used for treating the condition of choice, such
as cancer. Alternatively, or additionally, the article of
manufacture may further comprise a second (or third) container
comprising a pharmaceutically-acceptable buffer, such as
bacteriostatic water for injection (BWFI), phosphate-buffered
saline, Ringer's solution and dextrose solution. It may further
include other materials desirable from a commercial and user
standpoint, including other buffers, diluents, filters, needles,
and syringes.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
Preparation of Biotinylated Thiofab Phage
[0415] ThioFab-phage (5.times.10.sup.12 phage particles) were
reacted with 150 fold excess of biotin-PEO-maleimide
((+)-biotinyl-3-maleimidopropionamidyl-3,6-dioxaoctainediamine, Oda
et al (2001) Nature Biotechnology 19:379-382, Pierce Biotechnology,
Inc.) for 3 hours at room temperature. Excess biotin-PEO-maleimide
was removed from biotin-conjugated phage by repeated PEG
precipitations (3-4 times). Other commercially available
biotinylation reagents with electrophilic groups which are reactive
with cysteine thiol groups may be used, including Biotin-BMCC,
PEO-Iodoacetyl Biotin, Iodoacetyl-LC-Biotin, and Biotin-HPDP
(Pierce Biotechnology, Inc.), and
N.sup..alpha.-(3-maleimidylpropionyl)biocytin (MPB, Molecular
Probes, Eugene, Oreg.). Other commercial sources for biotinylation,
bifunctional and multifunctional linker reagents include Molecular
Probes, Eugene, Oreg., and Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.
##STR00036##
Example 2
PHESELECTOR Assay
[0416] Bovine serum albumin (BSA), erbB2 extracellular domain
(HER2) and streptavidin (100 .mu.l of 2 .mu.g/ml) were separately
coated on Maxisorp 96 well plates. After blocking with 0.5%
Tween-20 (in PBS), biotinylated and non-biotinylated
hu4D5Fabv8-ThioFab-Phage (2.times.10.sup.10 phage particles) were
incubated for 1 hour at room temperature followed by incubation
with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeled secondary antibody
(anti-M13 phage coat protein, pVIII protein antibody). FIG. 8
illustrates the PHESELECTOR Assay by a schematic representation
depicting the binding of Fab or ThioFab to HER2 (top) and
biotinylated ThioFab to streptavidin (bottom).
[0417] Standard HRP reaction was carried out and the absorbance was
measured at 450 nm. Thiol reactivity was measured by calculating
the ratio between OD.sub.450 for streptavidin/OD.sub.450 for HER2.
A thiol reactivity value of 1 indicates complete biotinylation of
the cysteine thiol. In the case of Fab protein binding
measurements, hu4D5Fabv8 (2-20 ng) was used followed by incubation
with HRP labeled goat polyclonal anti-Fab antibodies.
Example 3a
Expression and Purification of ThioFabs
[0418] ThioFabs were expressed upon induction in 34B8, a
non-suppressor E. coli strain (Baca et al (1997) Journal Biological
Chemistry 272(16):10678-84). The harvested cell pellet was
resuspended in PBS (phosphate buffered saline), total cell lysis
was performed by passing through a microfluidizer and the ThioFabs
were purified by affinity chromatography with protein G
SEPHAROSE.TM. (Amersham).
[0419] ThioFabs L-V15C, L-V110C, H-A88C, and H-A121C were expressed
and purified by Protein-G SEPHAROSE.TM. column chromatography.
Oligomeric-Fab was present in fractions 26 to 30, and most of the
monomeric form was in fractions 31-34. Fractions consisting of the
monomeric form were pooled and analyzed by SDS-PAGE along with wild
type hu4D5Fabv8 and analyzed on SDS-PAGE gel in reducing (with DTT
or BME) and non-reducing (without DTT or BME) conditions. Gel
filtration fractions of A121C-ThioFab were analyzed on non-reducing
SDS-PAGE.
[0420] ThioFabs were conjugated with biotin-PEO-maleimide as
described above and the biotinylated-ThioFabs were further purified
by Superdex-200.TM. (Amersham) gel filtration chromatography, which
eliminated the free biotin-PEO-maleimide and the oligomeric
fraction of ThioFabs. Wild type hu4D5Fabv8 and hu4D5Fabv8
A121C-ThioFab (0.5 mg in quantity) were each and separately
incubated with 100 fold molar excess of biotin-PEO-maleimide for 3
hours at room temperature and loaded onto a Superdex-200 gel
filtration column to separate free biotin as well as oligomeric
Fabs from the monomeric form.
Example 3b
Analysis of ThioFabs
[0421] Enzymatic digest fragments of biotinylated hu4D5Fabv8
(A121C) ThioFab and wild type hu4D5Fabv8 were analyzed by liquid
chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy
(LS-ESI-MS) The difference between the 48294.5 primary mass of
biotinylated hu4D5Fabv8 (A121C) and the 47737.0 primary mass of
wild type hu4D5Fabv8 was 557.5 mass units. This fragment indicates
the presence of a single biotin-PEO-maleimide moiety
(C.sub.23H.sub.36N.sub.5O.sub.7S.sub.2). Table 4 shows assignment
of the fragmentation values which confirms the sequence.
TABLE-US-00020 TABLE 4 LC-ESI-Mass spec analysis of biotinylated
hu4D5Fabv8 ThioFab A121C after tryptic digestion Amino acid b
Fragment y Fragment A (Alanine) 72 M (Methionine) 203 2505 D
(Aspartic acid) 318 2374 Y (Tyrosine) 481 2259 W (Tryptophan) 667
2096 G (Glycine) 724 1910 Q (glutamine) 852 1853 G (Glycine) 909
1725 T (Threonine) 1010 1668 L (Leucine) 1123 1567 V (Valine) 1222
1454 T (Threonine) 1323 1355 V (Valine) 1422 1254 S (Serine) 1509
1155 S (Serine) 1596 1068 C (Cysteine) + biotin 2242 981 S (Serine)
2329 335 T (Threonine) 2430 248 K (Lysine) 175
[0422] Before and after Superdex-200 gel filtration, SDS-PAGE gel
analyses, with and without reduction by DTT or BME, of biotinylated
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-A121C, biotinylated ABP-- hu4D5Fabv8-V110C,
biotinylated double Cys ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C-A88C), and
biotinylated double Cys ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C-A121C) were
conducted.
[0423] Mass spectroscopy analysis (MS/MS) of
hu4D5Fabv8-(V110)-BMPEO-DM1 (after Superdex-200 gel filtration
purification): Fab+1 51607.5, Fab 50515.5. This data shows 91.2%
conjugation. MS/MS analysis of hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C)-BMPEO-DM1
(reduced): LC 23447.2, LC+1 24537.3, HC (Fab) 27072.5. This data
shows that all DM1 conjugation is on the light chain of the
Fab.
Example 4
Preparation of ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C)-MC-MMAE by Conjugation of
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) and MC-MMAE
[0424] The drug linker reagent, maleimidocaproyl-monomethyl
auristatin E (MMAE), i.e. MC-MMAE, dissolved in DMSO, is diluted in
acetonitrile and water at known concentration, and added to chilled
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) ThioFab in phosphate buffered saline (PBS).
After about one hour, an excess of maleimide is added to quench the
reaction and cap any unreacted antibody thiol groups. The reaction
mixture is concentrated by centrifugal ultrafiltration and
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C)-MC-MMAE is purified and desalted by elution
through G25 resin in PBS, filtered through 0.2 .mu.m filters under
sterile conditions, and frozen for storage.
Example 5
Preparation of ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C)-MC-MMAF by conjugation of
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) and MC-MMAF
[0425] ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C)-MC-MMAF is prepared by conjugation of
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) ThioFab and MC-MMAF following the procedure
of Example 4.
Example 6
Preparation of ABP-A121C-ThioFab-MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAF by conjugation
of ABP-A121C-ThioFab and MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAE
[0426] ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(A121C)-MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAE is prepared by
conjugation of ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(A121C) and MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAE
following the procedure of Example 4.
Example 7
Preparation of ABP-A121C-ThioFab-MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAF by conjugation
of ABP-A121C-ThioFab and MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAF
ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(A121C)-MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAF is prepared by
conjugation of ABP-hu4D5Fabv8-(A121C) and MC-val-cit-PAB-MMAF
following the procedure of Example 4.
##STR00037##
[0427] Example 8
Preparation of hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) ThioFab-BMPEO-DM1
[0428] The free cysteine on hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) ThioFab was modified
by the bis-maleimido reagent BM(PEO)4 (Pierce Chemical), leaving an
unreacted maleimido group on the surface of the antibody. This was
accomplished by dissolving BM(PEO)4 in a 50% ethanol/water mixture
to a concentration of 10 mM and adding a tenfold molar excess of
BM(PEO)4 to a solution containing hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) ThioFab in
phosphate buffered saline at a concentration of approximately 1.6
mg/ml (10 micromolar) and allowing it to react for 1 hour. Excess
BM(PEO)4 was removed by gel filtration (HiTrap column, Pharmacia)
in 30 mM citrate, pH 6 with 150 mM NaCl buffer. An approximate 10
fold molar excess DM1 dissolved in dimethyl acetamide (DMA) was
added to the hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C) ThioFab-BMPEO intermediate.
Dimethylformamide (DMF) may also be employed to dissolve the drug
moiety reagent. The reaction mixture was allowed to react overnight
before gel filtration or dialysis into PBS to remove unreacted
drug. Gel filtration on S200 columns in PBS was used to remove high
molecular weight aggregates and furnish purified hu4D5Fabv8-(V110C)
ThioFab-BMPEO-DM1.
[0429] By the same protocol, hu4D5Fabv8 (A121C) ThioFab-BMPEO-DM1
was prepared.
Example 9
In Vitro Cell Proliferation Assay
[0430] Efficacy of ADC were measured by a cell proliferation assay
employing the following protocol (CellTiter Glo Luminiscent Cell
Viability Assay, Promega Corp. Technical Bulletin TB288; Mendoza et
al (2002) Cancer Res. 62:5485-5488):
1. An aliquot of 100 .mu.l of cell culture containing about
10.sup.4 cells (SKBR-3, BT474, MCF7 or MDA-MB-468) in medium was
deposited in each well of a 96-well, opaque-walled plate. 2.
Control wells were prepared containing medium and without cells. 3.
ADC was added to the experimental wells and incubated for 3-5 days.
4. The plates were equilibrated to room temperature for
approximately 30 minutes. 5. A volume of CellTiter-Glo Reagent
equal to the volume of cell culture medium present in each well was
added. 6. The contents were mixed for 2 minutes on an orbital
shaker to induce cell lysis. 7. The plate was incubated at room
temperature for 10 minutes to stabilize the luminescence signal. 8.
Luminescence was recorded and reported in graphs as RLU=relative
luminescence units.
[0431] Certain cells are seeded at 1000-2000/well (PC3 lines) or
2000-3000/well (OVCAR-3) in a 96-well plate, 50 uL/well. After one
(PC3) or two (OVCAR-3) days, ADC are added in 50 .mu.L volumes to
final concentration of 9000, 3000, 1000, 333, 111, 37, 12.4, 4.1,
or 1.4 ng/mL, with "no ADC" control wells receiving medium alone.
Conditions are in duplicate or triplicate After 3 (PC3) or 4-5
(OVCAR-3) days, 100 .mu.L/well Cell TiterGlo II is added
(luciferase-based assay; proliferation measured by ATP levels) and
cell counts are determined using a luminometer. Data are plotted as
the mean of luminescence for each set of replicates, with standard
deviation error bars. The protocol is a modification of the
CellTiter Glo Luminiscent Cell Viability Assay (Promega):
[0432] 1. Plate 1000 cells/well of PC3/Muc16, PC3/neo (in 50
.mu.L/well) of media. Ovcar3 cells should be plated at 2000
cells/well (in 50 .mu.L) of their media. (recipes below) Allow
cells to attach overnight.
[0433] 2. ADC is serially diluted 1:3 in media beginning at working
concentration 18 .mu.g/ml (this results in a final concentration of
9 .mu.g/ml). 50 .mu.L of diluted ADC is added to the 50 .mu.L of
cells and media already in the well.
[0434] 3. Incubate 72-96 hrs (the standard is 72 hours, but watch
the 0 ug/mL concentration to stop assay when the cells are 85-95%
confluent).
[0435] 4. Add 100 .mu.L/well of Promega Cell Titer Glo reagent,
shake 3 min. and read on luminometer
[0436] Media: PC3/neo and PC3/MUC16 grow in 50/50/10%
FBS/glutamine/250 .mu.g/mL G-418 OVCAR-3 grow in RPMI/20%
FBS/glutamine
Example 10
Tumor Growth Inhibition, in Vivo Efficacy in High Expressing HER2
Transgenic Explant Mice
[0437] Animals suitable for transgenic experiments can be obtained
from standard commercial sources such as Taconic (Germantown,
N.Y.). Many strains are suitable, but FVB female mice are preferred
because of their higher susceptibility to tumor formation. FVB
males were used for mating and vasectomized CD.1 studs were used to
stimulate pseudopregnancy. Vasectomized mice can be obtained from
any commercial supplier. Founders were bred with either FVB mice or
with 129/BL6xFVB p53 heterozygous mice. The mice with
heterozygosity at p53 allele were used to potentially increase
tumor formation. However, this has proven unnecessary. Therefore,
some F1 tumors are of mixed strain. Founder tumors are FVB only.
Six founders were obtained with some developing tumors without
having litters.
[0438] Animals having tumors (allograft propagated from Fo5 mmtv
transgenic mice) were treated with a single or multiple dose by IV
injection of ADC. Tumor volume was assessed at various time points
after injection.
[0439] Tumors arise readily in transgenic mice that express a
mutationally activated form of neu, the rat homolog of HER2, but
the HER2 that is overexpressed in human breast cancers is not
mutated and tumor formation is much less robust in transgenic mice
that overexpress nonmutated HER2 (Webster et al (1994) Semin.
Cancer Biol. 5:69-76).
[0440] To improve tumor formation with nonmutated HER2, transgenic
mice were produced using a HER2 cDNA plasmid in which an upstream
ATG was deleted in order to prevent initiation of translation at
such upstream ATG codons, which would otherwise reduce the
frequency of translation initiation from the downstream authentic
initiation codon of HER2 (for example, see Child et al (1999) J.
Biol. Chem. 274: 24335-24341). Additionally, a chimeric intron was
added to the 5' end, which should also enhance the level of
expression as reported earlier (Neuberger and Williams (1988)
Nucleic Acids Res. 16:6713; Buchman and Berg (1988) Mol. Cell.
Biol. 8:4395; Brinster et al (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
85:836). The chimeric intron was derived from a Promega vector,
Pci-neo mammalian expression vector (bp 890-1022). The cDNA 3'-end
is flanked by human growth hormone exons 4 and 5, and
polyadenylation sequences. Moreover, FVB mice were used because
this strain is more susceptible to tumor development. The promoter
from MMTV-LTR was used to ensure tissue-specific HER2 expression in
the mammary gland. Animals were fed the AlN 76A diet in order to
increase susceptibility to tumor formation (Rao et al (1997) Breast
Cancer Res. and Treatment 45:149-158).
Example 11
Reduction/Oxidation of ThioMabs for Conjugation
[0441] Full length, cysteine engineered monoclonal antibodies
(ThioMabs) expressed in CHO cells were reduced with about a 50 fold
excess of TCEP (tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride; Getz
et al (1999) Anal. Biochem. Vol 273:73-80; Soltec Ventures,
Beverly, Mass.) for 3 hrs at 37.degree. C. The reduced ThioMab
(FIG. 15) was diluted and loaded onto a HiTrap S column in 10 mM
sodium acetate, pH 5, and eluted with PBS containing 0.3M sodium
chloride. The eluted reduced ThioMab was treated with 200 nM
aqueous copper sulfate (CuSO.sub.4) at room temperature, overnight.
Ambient air oxidation was also effective.
Example 12
Conjugation of ThioMabs
[0442] The reoxidized ThioMabs from Example 11, including
thio-trastuzumab (A121C), thio-2H9 (A121C), and thio-3A5 (A121C),
were combined with a 10 fold excess of drug-linker intermediate,
BM(PEO)4-DM1, mixed, and let stand for about an hour at room
temperature to effect conjugation and form the ThioMab
antibody-drug conjugates, including thio-trastuzumab
(A121C)-BMPEO-DM1, thio-2H9 (A121C)-BMPEO-DM1, and thio-3A5
(A121C)-BMPEO-DM1. The conjugation mixture was gel filtered, or
loaded and eluted through a HiTrap S column to remove excess
drug-linker intermediate and other impurities.
[0443] The present invention is not to be limited in scope by the
specific embodiments disclosed in the examples which are intended
as illustrations of a few aspects of the invention and any
embodiments that are functionally equivalent are within the scope
of this invention. Indeed, various modifications of the invention
in addition to those shown and described herein will become
apparent to those skilled in the art and are intended to fall
within the scope of the appended claims.
[0444] All patents, patent applications, and references cited
throughout the specification are expressly incorporated by
reference.
Sequence CWU 1
1
49130PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 1Cys Asp Lys Thr
His Thr Gly Gly Gly Ser Gln Arg Leu Met Glu1 5 10 15Asp Ile Cys Leu
Pro Arg Trp Gly Cys Leu Trp Glu Asp Asp Phe 20 25
30220PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 2Gln Arg Leu Met
Glu Asp Ile Cys Leu Pro Arg Trp Gly Cys Leu1 5 10 15Trp Glu Asp Asp
Phe 20320PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 3Gln Arg Leu
Ile Glu Asp Ile Cys Leu Pro Arg Trp Gly Cys Leu1 5 10 15Trp Glu Asp
Asp Phe 20418PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 4Arg Leu
Ile Glu Asp Ile Cys Leu Pro Arg Trp Gly Cys Leu Trp1 5 10 15Glu Asp
Asp511PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 5Asp Ile Cys Leu
Pro Arg Trp Gly Cys Leu Trp 5 106450PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 6Glu Val Gln Leu Val Glu Ser Gly Gly
Gly Leu Val Gln Pro Gly1 5 10 15Gly Ser Leu Arg Leu Ser Cys Ala Ala
Ser Gly Phe Asn Ile Lys 20 25 30Asp Thr Tyr Ile His Trp Val Arg Gln
Ala Pro Gly Lys Gly Leu 35 40 45Glu Trp Val Ala Arg Ile Tyr Pro Thr
Asn Gly Tyr Thr Arg Tyr 50 55 60Ala Asp Ser Val Lys Gly Arg Phe Thr
Ile Ser Ala Asp Thr Ser 65 70 75Lys Asn Thr Ala Tyr Leu Gln Met Asn
Ser Leu Arg Cys Glu Asp 80 85 90Thr Ala Val Tyr Tyr Cys Ser Arg Trp
Gly Gly Asp Gly Phe Tyr 95 100 105Ala Met Asp Tyr Trp Gly Gln Gly
Thr Leu Val Thr Val Ser Ser 110 115 120Ala Ser Thr Lys Gly Pro Ser
Val Phe Pro Leu Ala Pro Ser Ser 125 130 135Lys Ser Thr Ser Gly Gly
Thr Ala Ala Leu Gly Cys Leu Val Lys 140 145 150Asp Tyr Phe Pro Glu
Pro Val Thr Val Ser Trp Asn Ser Gly Ala 155 160 165Leu Thr Ser Gly
Val His Thr Phe Pro Ala Val Leu Gln Ser Ser 170 175 180Gly Leu Tyr
Ser Leu Ser Ser Val Val Thr Val Pro Ser Ser Ser 185 190 195Leu Gly
Thr Gln Thr Tyr Ile Cys Asn Val Asn His Lys Pro Ser 200 205 210Asn
Thr Lys Val Asp Lys Lys Val Glu Pro Lys Ser Cys Asp Lys 215 220
225Thr His Thr Cys Pro Pro Cys Pro Ala Pro Glu Leu Leu Gly Gly 230
235 240Pro Ser Val Phe Leu Phe Pro Pro Lys Pro Lys Asp Thr Leu Met
245 250 255Ile Ser Arg Thr Pro Glu Val Thr Cys Val Val Val Asp Val
Ser 260 265 270His Glu Asp Pro Glu Val Lys Phe Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp
Gly Val 275 280 285Glu Val His Asn Ala Lys Thr Lys Pro Arg Glu Glu
Gln Tyr Asn 290 295 300Ser Thr Tyr Arg Val Val Ser Val Leu Thr Val
Leu His Gln Asp 305 310 315Trp Leu Asn Gly Lys Glu Tyr Lys Cys Lys
Val Ser Asn Lys Ala 320 325 330Leu Pro Ala Pro Ile Glu Lys Thr Ile
Ser Lys Ala Lys Gly Gln 335 340 345Pro Arg Glu Pro Gln Val Tyr Thr
Leu Pro Pro Ser Arg Glu Glu 350 355 360Met Thr Lys Asn Gln Val Ser
Leu Thr Cys Leu Val Lys Gly Phe 365 370 375Tyr Pro Ser Asp Ile Ala
Val Glu Trp Glu Ser Asn Gly Gln Pro 380 385 390Glu Asn Asn Tyr Lys
Thr Thr Pro Pro Val Leu Asp Ser Asp Gly 395 400 405Ser Phe Phe Leu
Tyr Ser Lys Leu Thr Val Asp Lys Ser Arg Trp 410 415 420Gln Gln Gly
Asn Val Phe Ser Cys Ser Val Met His Glu Ala Leu 425 430 435His Asn
His Tyr Thr Gln Lys Ser Leu Ser Leu Ser Pro Gly Lys 440 445
4507450PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 7Glu Val Gln
Leu Val Glu Ser Gly Gly Gly Leu Val Gln Pro Gly1 5 10 15Gly Ser Leu
Arg Leu Ser Cys Ala Ala Ser Gly Phe Asn Ile Lys 20 25 30Asp Thr Tyr
Ile His Trp Val Arg Gln Ala Pro Gly Lys Gly Leu 35 40 45Glu Trp Val
Ala Arg Ile Tyr Pro Thr Asn Gly Tyr Thr Arg Tyr 50 55 60Ala Asp Ser
Val Lys Gly Arg Phe Thr Ile Ser Ala Asp Thr Ser 65 70 75Lys Asn Thr
Ala Tyr Leu Gln Met Asn Ser Leu Arg Ala Glu Asp 80 85 90Thr Ala Val
Tyr Tyr Cys Ser Arg Trp Gly Gly Asp Gly Phe Tyr 95 100 105Ala Met
Asp Tyr Trp Gly Gln Gly Thr Leu Val Thr Val Ser Ser 110 115 120Cys
Ser Thr Lys Gly Pro Ser Val Phe Pro Leu Ala Pro Ser Ser 125 130
135Lys Ser Thr Ser Gly Gly Thr Ala Ala Leu Gly Cys Leu Val Lys 140
145 150Asp Tyr Phe Pro Glu Pro Val Thr Val Ser Trp Asn Ser Gly Ala
155 160 165Leu Thr Ser Gly Val His Thr Phe Pro Ala Val Leu Gln Ser
Ser 170 175 180Gly Leu Tyr Ser Leu Ser Ser Val Val Thr Val Pro Ser
Ser Ser 185 190 195Leu Gly Thr Gln Thr Tyr Ile Cys Asn Val Asn His
Lys Pro Ser 200 205 210Asn Thr Lys Val Asp Lys Lys Val Glu Pro Lys
Ser Cys Asp Lys 215 220 225Thr His Thr Cys Pro Pro Cys Pro Ala Pro
Glu Leu Leu Gly Gly 230 235 240Pro Ser Val Phe Leu Phe Pro Pro Lys
Pro Lys Asp Thr Leu Met 245 250 255Ile Ser Arg Thr Pro Glu Val Thr
Cys Val Val Val Asp Val Ser 260 265 270His Glu Asp Pro Glu Val Lys
Phe Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp Gly Val 275 280 285Glu Val His Asn Ala Lys
Thr Lys Pro Arg Glu Glu Gln Tyr Asn 290 295 300Ser Thr Tyr Arg Val
Val Ser Val Leu Thr Val Leu His Gln Asp 305 310 315Trp Leu Asn Gly
Lys Glu Tyr Lys Cys Lys Val Ser Asn Lys Ala 320 325 330Leu Pro Ala
Pro Ile Glu Lys Thr Ile Ser Lys Ala Lys Gly Gln 335 340 345Pro Arg
Glu Pro Gln Val Tyr Thr Leu Pro Pro Ser Arg Glu Glu 350 355 360Met
Thr Lys Asn Gln Val Ser Leu Thr Cys Leu Val Lys Gly Phe 365 370
375Tyr Pro Ser Asp Ile Ala Val Glu Trp Glu Ser Asn Gly Gln Pro 380
385 390Glu Asn Asn Tyr Lys Thr Thr Pro Pro Val Leu Asp Ser Asp Gly
395 400 405Ser Phe Phe Leu Tyr Ser Lys Leu Thr Val Asp Lys Ser Arg
Trp 410 415 420Gln Gln Gly Asn Val Phe Ser Cys Ser Val Met His Glu
Ala Leu 425 430 435His Asn His Tyr Thr Gln Lys Ser Leu Ser Leu Ser
Pro Gly Lys 440 445 4508214PRTArtificial sequencechemically
synthesized 8Asp Ile Gln Met Thr Gln Ser Pro Ser Ser Leu Ser Ala
Ser Val1 5 10 15Gly Asp Arg Val Thr Ile Thr Cys Arg Ala Ser Gln Asp
Val Asn 20 25 30Thr Ala Val Ala Trp Tyr Gln Gln Lys Pro Gly Lys Ala
Pro Lys 35 40 45Leu Leu Ile Tyr Ser Ala Ser Phe Leu Tyr Ser Gly Val
Pro Ser 50 55 60Arg Phe Ser Gly Ser Arg Ser Gly Thr Asp Phe Thr Leu
Thr Ile 65 70 75Ser Ser Leu Gln Pro Glu Asp Phe Ala Thr Tyr Tyr Cys
Gln Gln 80 85 90His Tyr Thr Thr Pro Pro Thr Phe Gly Gln Gly Thr Lys
Val Glu 95 100 105Ile Lys Arg Thr Cys Ala Ala Pro Ser Val Phe Ile
Phe Pro Pro 110 115 120Ser Asp Glu Gln Leu Lys Ser Gly Thr Ala Ser
Val Val Cys Leu 125 130 135Leu Asn Asn Phe Tyr Pro Arg Glu Ala Lys
Val Gln Trp Lys Val 140 145 150Asp Asn Ala Leu Gln Ser Gly Asn Ser
Gln Glu Ser Val Thr Glu 155 160 165Gln Asp Ser Lys Asp Ser Thr Tyr
Ser Leu Ser Ser Thr Leu Thr 170 175 180Leu Ser Lys Ala Asp Tyr Glu
Lys His Lys Val Tyr Ala Cys Glu 185 190 195Val Thr His Gln Gly Leu
Ser Ser Pro Val Thr Lys Ser Phe Asn 200 205 210Arg Gly Glu
Cys910PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 9Trp Val Arg Gln
Cys Pro Gly Lys Gly Leu 5 101010PRTArtificial sequencechemically
synthesized 10Asn Ser Leu Arg Cys Glu Asp Thr Ala Val 5
101113PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 11Leu Val Thr
Val Cys Ser Ala Ser Thr Lys Gly Pro Ser 5 101213PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 12Leu Val Thr Val Ser Cys Ala Ser
Thr Lys Gly Pro Ser 5 101313PRTArtificial sequencechemically
synthesized 13Leu Val Thr Val Ser Ser Cys Ser Thr Lys Gly Pro Ser 5
101413PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 14Leu Val Thr
Val Ser Ser Ala Cys Thr Lys Gly Pro Ser 5 101514PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 15His Thr Phe Pro Cys Val Leu Gln
Ser Ser Gly Leu Tyr Ser 5 101614PRTArtificial sequencechemically
synthesized 16His Thr Phe Pro Ala Val Leu Gln Cys Ser Gly Leu Tyr
Ser 5 101711PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 17Ser Leu
Ser Ala Ser Cys Gly Asp Arg Val Thr 5 101811PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 18Gln Lys Pro Gly Lys Cys Pro Lys
Leu Leu Ile 5 101911PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized
19Glu Ile Lys Arg Thr Cys Ala Ala Pro Ser Val 5 102012PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 20Thr Cys Ala Ala Pro Cys Val Phe
Ile Phe Pro Pro 5 102111PRTArtificial sequencechemically
synthesized 21Phe Ile Phe Pro Pro Cys Asp Glu Gln Leu Lys 5
102211PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 22Asp Glu Gln
Leu Lys Cys Gly Thr Ala Ser Val 5 102311PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 23Phe Tyr Pro Arg Glu Cys Lys Val
Gln Trp Lys 5 102411PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized
24Trp Lys Val Asp Asn Cys Leu Gln Ser Gly Asn 5 102511PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 25Ala Leu Gln Ser Gly Cys Ser Gln
Glu Ser Val 5 102611PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized
26Val Thr Glu Gln Asp Cys Lys Asp Ser Thr Tyr 5 102711PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 27Gly Leu Ser Ser Pro Cys Thr Lys
Ser Phe Asn 5 1028450PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized
28Glu Val Gln Leu Val Glu Ser Gly Gly Gly Leu Val Gln Pro Gly1 5 10
15Gly Ser Leu Arg Leu Ser Cys Ala Ala Ser Gly Tyr Thr Phe Thr 20 25
30Ser Tyr Trp Met His Trp Val Arg Gln Ala Pro Gly Lys Gly Leu 35 40
45Glu Trp Val Gly Phe Ile Asn Pro Ser Thr Gly Tyr Thr Asp Tyr 50 55
60Asn Gln Lys Phe Lys Asp Arg Phe Thr Ile Ser Ala Asp Thr Ser 65 70
75Lys Asn Thr Ala Tyr Leu Gln Met Asn Ser Leu Arg Ala Glu Asp 80 85
90Thr Ala Val Tyr Tyr Cys Thr Arg Arg Pro Lys Ile Pro Arg His 95
100 105Ala Asn Val Phe Trp Gly Gln Gly Thr Leu Val Thr Val Ser Ser
110 115 120Cys Ser Thr Lys Gly Pro Ser Val Phe Pro Leu Ala Pro Ser
Ser 125 130 135Lys Ser Thr Ser Gly Gly Thr Ala Ala Leu Gly Cys Leu
Val Lys 140 145 150Asp Tyr Phe Pro Glu Pro Val Thr Val Ser Trp Asn
Ser Gly Ala 155 160 165Leu Thr Ser Gly Val His Thr Phe Pro Ala Val
Leu Gln Ser Ser 170 175 180Gly Leu Tyr Ser Leu Ser Ser Val Val Thr
Val Pro Ser Ser Ser 185 190 195Leu Gly Thr Gln Thr Tyr Ile Cys Asn
Val Asn His Lys Pro Ser 200 205 210Asn Thr Lys Val Asp Lys Lys Val
Glu Pro Lys Ser Cys Asp Lys 215 220 225Thr His Thr Cys Pro Pro Cys
Pro Ala Pro Glu Leu Leu Gly Gly 230 235 240Pro Ser Val Phe Leu Phe
Pro Pro Lys Pro Lys Asp Thr Leu Met 245 250 255Ile Ser Arg Thr Pro
Glu Val Thr Cys Val Val Val Asp Val Ser 260 265 270His Glu Asp Pro
Glu Val Lys Phe Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp Gly Val 275 280 285Glu Val His
Asn Ala Lys Thr Lys Pro Arg Glu Glu Gln Tyr Asn 290 295 300Ser Thr
Tyr Arg Val Val Ser Val Leu Thr Val Leu His Gln Asp 305 310 315Trp
Leu Asn Gly Lys Glu Tyr Lys Cys Lys Val Ser Asn Lys Ala 320 325
330Leu Pro Ala Pro Ile Glu Lys Thr Ile Ser Lys Ala Lys Gly Gln 335
340 345Pro Arg Glu Pro Gln Val Tyr Thr Leu Pro Pro Ser Arg Glu Glu
350 355 360Met Thr Lys Asn Gln Val Ser Leu Thr Cys Leu Val Lys Gly
Phe 365 370 375Tyr Pro Ser Asp Ile Ala Val Glu Trp Glu Ser Asn Gly
Gln Pro 380 385 390Glu Asn Asn Tyr Lys Thr Thr Pro Pro Val Leu Asp
Ser Asp Gly 395 400 405Ser Phe Phe Leu Tyr Ser Lys Leu Thr Val Asp
Lys Ser Arg Trp 410 415 420Gln Gln Gly Asn Val Phe Ser Cys Ser Val
Met His Glu Ala Leu 425 430 435His Asn His Tyr Thr Gln Lys Ser Leu
Ser Leu Ser Pro Gly Lys 440 445 4502925PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 29His Glu Asp Pro Glu Cys Lys Phe
Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp Gly Val1 5 10 15Glu Val His Asn Ala Lys Thr Lys
Pro Arg 20 253025PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 30His
Glu Asp Pro Glu Val Lys Phe Asn Trp Tyr Cys Asp Gly Val1 5 10 15Glu
Val His Asn Ala Lys Thr Lys Pro Arg 20 253125PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 31His Glu Asp Pro Glu Val Lys Phe
Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp Gly Cys1 5 10 15Glu Val His Asn Ala Lys Thr Lys
Pro Arg 20 253225PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 32His
Glu Asp Pro Glu Val Lys Phe Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp Gly Val1 5 10 15Glu
Cys His Asn Ala Lys Thr Lys Pro Arg 20 253325PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 33His Glu Asp Pro Glu Val Lys Phe
Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp Gly Val1 5 10 15Glu Val His Asn Cys Lys Thr Lys
Pro Arg 20 253411PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 34Tyr
Lys Cys Lys Val Cys Asn Lys Ala Leu Pro 5 103513PRTArtificial
sequenceartificial protein 35Ile Glu Lys Thr Ile Cys Lys Ala Lys
Gly Gln Pro Arg 5 103613PRTArtificial sequencechemically
synthesized 36Ile Glu Lys Thr Ile Ser Lys Cys Lys Gly Gln Pro Arg 5
103711PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 37Lys Gly Phe
Tyr Pro Cys Asp Ile Ala Val Glu 5 103811PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 38Pro Pro Val Leu Asp Cys Asp Gly
Ser Phe Phe 5 1039446PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized
39Asp Val Gln Leu Gln
Glu Ser Gly Pro Gly Leu Val Asn Pro Ser1 5 10 15Gln Ser Leu Ser Leu
Thr Cys Thr Val Thr Gly Tyr Ser Ile Thr 20 25 30Asn Asp Tyr Ala Trp
Asn Trp Ile Arg Gln Phe Pro Gly Asn Lys 35 40 45Leu Glu Trp Met Gly
Tyr Ile Asn Tyr Ser Gly Tyr Thr Thr Tyr 50 55 60Asn Pro Ser Leu Lys
Ser Arg Ile Ser Ile Thr Arg Asp Thr Ser 65 70 75Lys Asn Gln Phe Phe
Leu His Leu Asn Ser Val Thr Thr Glu Asp 80 85 90Thr Ala Thr Tyr Tyr
Cys Ala Arg Trp Asp Gly Gly Leu Thr Tyr 95 100 105Trp Gly Gln Gly
Thr Leu Val Thr Val Ser Ala Cys Ser Thr Lys 110 115 120Gly Pro Ser
Val Phe Pro Leu Ala Pro Ser Ser Lys Ser Thr Ser 125 130 135Gly Gly
Thr Ala Ala Leu Gly Cys Leu Val Lys Asp Tyr Phe Pro 140 145 150Glu
Pro Val Thr Val Ser Trp Asn Ser Gly Ala Leu Thr Ser Gly 155 160
165Val His Thr Phe Pro Ala Val Leu Gln Ser Ser Gly Leu Tyr Ser 170
175 180Leu Ser Ser Val Val Thr Val Pro Ser Ser Ser Leu Gly Thr Gln
185 190 195Thr Tyr Ile Cys Asn Val Asn His Lys Pro Ser Asn Thr Lys
Val 200 205 210Asp Lys Lys Val Glu Pro Lys Ser Cys Asp Lys Thr His
Thr Cys 215 220 225Pro Pro Cys Pro Ala Pro Glu Leu Leu Gly Gly Pro
Ser Val Phe 230 235 240Leu Phe Pro Pro Lys Pro Lys Asp Thr Leu Met
Ile Ser Arg Thr 245 250 255Pro Glu Val Thr Cys Val Val Val Asp Val
Ser His Glu Asp Pro 260 265 270Glu Val Lys Phe Asn Trp Tyr Val Asp
Gly Val Glu Val His Asn 275 280 285Ala Lys Thr Lys Pro Arg Glu Glu
Gln Tyr Asn Ser Thr Tyr Arg 290 295 300Val Val Ser Val Leu Thr Val
Leu His Gln Asp Trp Leu Asn Gly 305 310 315Lys Glu Tyr Lys Cys Lys
Val Ser Asn Lys Ala Leu Pro Ala Pro 320 325 330Ile Glu Lys Thr Ile
Ser Lys Ala Lys Gly Gln Pro Arg Glu Pro 335 340 345Gln Val Tyr Thr
Leu Pro Pro Ser Arg Glu Glu Met Thr Lys Asn 350 355 360Gln Val Ser
Leu Thr Cys Leu Val Lys Gly Phe Tyr Pro Ser Asp 365 370 375Ile Ala
Val Glu Trp Glu Ser Asn Gly Gln Pro Glu Asn Asn Tyr 380 385 390Lys
Thr Thr Pro Pro Val Leu Asp Ser Asp Gly Ser Phe Phe Leu 395 400
405Tyr Ser Lys Leu Thr Val Asp Lys Ser Arg Trp Gln Gln Gly Asn 410
415 420Val Phe Ser Cys Ser Val Met His Glu Ala Leu His Asn His Tyr
425 430 435Thr Gln Lys Ser Leu Ser Leu Ser Pro Gly Lys 440
4454010PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 40Asn Trp Ile
Arg Gln Cys Pro Gly Asn Lys 5 104111PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 41Leu Asn Ser Cys Thr Thr Glu Asp
Thr Ala Thr 5 104221PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized
42Gly Gln Gly Thr Leu Val Thr Val Ser Ala Cys Ser Thr Lys Gly1 5 10
15Pro Ser Val Phe Pro Leu 204314PRTArtificial sequencechemically
synthesized 43His Thr Phe Pro Cys Val Leu Gln Ser Ser Gly Leu Tyr
Ser 5 104414PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 44His Thr
Phe Pro Ala Cys Leu Gln Ser Ser Gly Leu Tyr Ser 5
104511PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 45Phe Leu Ser
Val Ser Cys Gly Gly Arg Val Thr 5 104611PRTArtificial
sequencechemically synthesized 46Gln Lys Pro Gly Asn Cys Pro Arg
Leu Leu Ile 5 104711PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized
47Glu Ile Lys Arg Thr Cys Ala Ala Pro Ser Val 5 104811PRTArtificial
sequenceartificial protein 48Phe Tyr Pro Arg Glu Cys Lys Val Gln
Trp Lys 5 104911PRTArtificial sequencechemically synthesized 49Val
Thr Glu Gln Asp Cys Lys Asp Ser Thr Tyr 5 10
* * * * *
References