Humanization of a recombinant monoclonal antibody to produce a therapeutic HER dimerization inhibitor, pertuzumab
CANCER IMMUNOLOGY IMMUNOTHERAPY
Authors: Adams, CW; Allison, DE; Flagella, K; Presta, L; Clarke, J; Dybdal, N; McKeever, K; Sliwkowski, MX
Abstract
Dimerization is essential for activity of human epidermal growth factor receptors (HER1/EGFR, HER2/ErbB2, HER3/ErbB3, and ErbB4) and mediates intracellular signaling events leading to cancer cell proliferation, survival, and resistance to therapy. HER2 is the preferred dimerization partner. Activation of HER signaling pathways may be blocked by inhibition of dimer formation using a monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against the dimerization domain of HER2. The murine MAb 2C4 that specifically binds the HER2 dimerization domain was cloned as a chimeric antibody, humanized using a computer-generated model to guide framework substitutions, and variants were tested as Fabs. Pharmacokinetics and toxicology were evaluated in rodents and cynomolgus monkeys. Cloning the variable domains of MAb 2C4 into a vector containing human kappa and CH1 domains allowed construction of a mouse-human chimeric Fab. DNA sequencing of the chimeric clone permitted identification of CDR residues. The full-length IgG1 of variant F-10 was equivalent in binding to chimeric IgG1 and was designated pertuzumab (rhuMAb 2C4; Omnitarg). Pertuzumab pharmacokinetics was best described by a two-compartment model with a distribution phase of < 1 day, terminal half-life of similar to 10 days, and volume of distribution of similar to 40 mL/kg that approximates serum volume. With the exception of diarrhea, pertuzumab was generally well tolerated in cynomolgus monkeys. Pertuzumab, a recombinant humanized IgG1 MAb, is the first of a new class of agents known as HER dimerization inhibitors. Inhibition of HER dimerization may be an effective anticancer strategy in tumors with either normal or elevated expression of HER2.
Prohibitins and the Cytoplasmic Domain of CD86 Cooperate To Mediate CD86 Signaling in B Lymphocytes
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Authors: Lucas, Christopher R.; Cordero-Nieves, Hector M.; Erbe, Robert S.; McAlees, Jaclyn W.; Bhatia, Sumeena; Hodes, Richard J.; Campbell, Kerry S.; Sanders, Virginia M.
Abstract
CD86 engagement on a CD40L/IL-4-primed murine B cell activates signaling intermediates that promote NF-kappa B activation to increase Oct-2 and mature IgG1 mRNA and protein expression, as well as the rate of IgG1 transcription, without affecting class switch recombination. One of the most proximal signaling intermediates identified is phospholipase C gamma 2, a protein reported to bind tyrosine residues, which are absent in the cytoplasmic domain of CD86. Using a proteomics-based identification approach, we show that the tyrosine-containing transmembrane adaptor proteins prohibitin (Phb)1 and Phb2 bind to CD86. The basal expression of Phb1/2 and association with CD86 was low in resting B cells, whereas the level of expression and association increased primarily after priming with CD40. The CD86-induced increase in Oct-2 and IgG1 was less when either Phb1/2 expression was reduced by short hairpin RNA or the cytoplasmic domain of CD86 was truncated or mutated at serine/threonine protein kinase C phosphorylation sites, which did not affect Phb1/2 binding to CD86. Using this approach, we also show that Phb1/2 and the CD86 cytoplasmic domain are required for the CD86-induced phosphorylation of I kappa B alpha, which we previously reported leads to NF-kappa B p50/p65 activation, whereas only Phb1/2 was required for the CD86-induced phosphorylation of phospholipase C gamma 2 and protein kinase C alpha/beta(II), which we have previously reported leads to NF-kappa B (p65) phosphorylation and subsequent nuclear translocation. Taken together, these findings suggest that Phb1/2 and the CD86 cytoplasmic domain cooperate to mediate CD86 signaling in a B cell through differential phosphorylation of distal signaling intermediates required to increase IgG1. The Journal of Immunology, 2013, 190: 723-736.