Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor as Target for Perioperative Elimination of Circulating Colorectal Cancer Cells.

Surgical resection of the tumor is the primary treatment of colorectal cancer patients. However, we previously demonstrated that abdominal surgery promotes the adherence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the liver and subsequent liver metastasis development. Importantly, preoperative treatment with specific tumor-targeting monoclonal antibodies (mAb) prevented surgery-induced liver metastasis development in rats. This study investigated whether the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) represents a suitable target for preoperative antibody treatment of colorectal cancer patients undergoing surgery. The majority of patients with resectable colorectal liver metastases were shown to have EGFR + CTCs. Three different anti-EGFR mAbs (cetuximab, zalutumumab, and panitumumab) were equally efficient in the opsonization of tumor cell lines. Additionally, all three mAbs induced antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) of tumor cells by macrophages at low antibody concentrations in vitro, independent of mutations in EGFR signaling pathways. The plasma of cetuximab-treated patients efficiently opsonized tumor cells ex vivo and induced phagocytosis. Furthermore, neither proliferation nor migration of epithelial cells was affected in vitro, supporting that wound healing will not be hampered by treatment with low anti-EGFR mAb concentrations. These data support the use of a low dose of anti-EGFR mAbs prior to resection of the tumor to eliminate CTCs without interfering with the healing of the anastomosis. Ultimately, this may reduce the risk of metastasis development, consequently improving long-term patient outcome significantly.

Potent preclinical activity of HexaBody-DR5/DR5 in relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

Apoptosis induction by death receptor (DR)-specific agonistic antibodies is a potentially effective antitumor therapy. Nonetheless, to date, all conventional DR-targeting antibodies that induce apoptosis via FcγR-dependent DR clustering failed to show clinical efficacy. HexaBody-DR5/DR5 (GEN1029) has been developed to overcome full FcγR dependence. HexaBody-DR5/DR5 is a mixture of 2 noncompeting DR5-specific immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) antibodies, each with an E430G mutation in the Fc domain. This mutation enhances Fc-Fc interactions, resulting in antibody hexamerization, followed by FcγR-independent clustering of DR5 molecules. This unique combination of dual epitope targeting and increased IgG hexamerization resulted in potent preclinical antitumor activity in various solid cancers. In this study, we explored the preclinical activity of HexaBody-DR5/DR5 in multiple myeloma (MM), because MM cells are known to express DR5. In bone marrow samples from 48 MM patients, HexaBody-DR5/DR5 induced potent cytotoxicity of primary MM cells. Importantly, HexaBody-DR5/DR5 mediated the highest cytotoxic activity in samples from relapsed/refractory MM patients, including those who are refractory to daratumumab. This improved cytotoxic activity was observed only in patients who received their last anti-MM treatment <1 month ago, suggesting that anti-MM drugs sensitized MM cells to HexaBody-DR5/DR5. Supporting this, bortezomib combined with HexaBody-DR5/DR5 synergistically increased cytotoxicity in MM cells in 7 of 11 newly diagnosed patients. Lenalidomide also synergized with HexaBody-DR5/DR5, but only via its immunomodulatory effects, presumably by enhancing the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity of HexaBody-DR5/DR5. Daratumumab showed additive effects when combined with HexaBody-DR5/DR5. In conclusion, the results of this preclinical study indicate a therapeutic potential for HexaBody-DR5/DR5, especially in recently treated relapsed/refractory MM patients.

Dual Epitope Targeting and Enhanced Hexamerization by DR5 Antibodies as a Novel Approach to Induce Potent Antitumor Activity Through DR5 Agonism.

Higher-order death receptor 5 (DR5) clustering can induce tumor cell death; however, therapeutic compounds targeting DR5 have achieved limited clinical efficacy. We describe HexaBody-DR5/DR5, an equimolar mixture of two DR5-specific IgG1 antibodies with an Fc-domain mutation that augments antibody hexamerization after cell surface target binding. The two antibodies do not compete for binding to DR5 as demonstrated using binding competition studies, and binding to distinct epitopes in the DR5 extracellular domain was confirmed by crystallography. The unique combination of dual epitope targeting and increased IgG hexamerization resulted in potent DR5 agonist activity by inducing efficient DR5 outside-in signaling and caspase-mediated cell death. Preclinical studies in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that maximal DR5 agonist activity could be achieved independent of Fc gamma receptor-mediated antibody crosslinking. Most optimal agonism was observed in the presence of complement complex C1, although without inducing complement-dependent cytotoxicity. It is hypothesized that C1 may stabilize IgG hexamers that are formed after binding of HexaBody-DR5/DR5 to DR5 on the plasma membrane, thereby strengthening DR5 clustering and subsequent outside-in signaling. We observed potent antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo in large panels of patient-derived xenograft models representing various solid cancers. The results of our preclinical studies provided the basis for an ongoing clinical trial exploring the activity of HexaBody-DR5/DR5 (GEN1029) in patients with malignant solid tumors.

DuoHexaBody-CD37®, a novel biparatopic CD37 antibody with enhanced Fc-mediated hexamerization as a potential therapy for B-cell malignancies.

Tetraspanin CD37 has recently received renewed interest as a therapeutic target for B-cell malignancies. Although complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) is a powerful Fc-mediated effector function for killing hematological cancer cells, CD37-specific antibodies are generally poor inducers of CDC. To enhance CDC, the E430G mutation was introduced into humanized CD37 monoclonal IgG1 antibodies to drive more efficient IgG hexamer formation through intermolecular Fc-Fc interactions after cell surface antigen binding. DuoHexaBody-CD37, a bispecific CD37 antibody with the E430G hexamerization-enhancing mutation targeting two non-overlapping epitopes on CD37 (biparatopic), demonstrated potent and superior CDC activity compared to other CD37 antibody variants evaluated, in particular ex vivo in patient-derived chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. The superior CDC potency was attributed to enhanced IgG hexamerization mediated by the E430G mutation in combination with dual epitope targeting. The mechanism of action of DuoHexaBody-CD37 was shown to be multifaceted, as it was additionally capable of inducing efficient antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis in vitro. Finally, potent anti-tumor activity in vivo was observed in cell line- and patient-derived xenograft models from different B-cell malignancy subtypes. These encouraging preclinical results suggest that DuoHexaBody-CD37 (GEN3009) may serve as a potential therapeutic antibody for the treatment of human B-cell malignancies.

The Therapeutic CD38 Monoclonal Antibody Daratumumab Induces Programmed Cell Death via Fcγ Receptor-Mediated Cross-Linking.

Emerging evidence suggests that FcγR-mediated cross-linking of tumor-bound mAbs may induce signaling in tumor cells that contributes to their therapeutic activity. In this study, we show that daratumumab (DARA), a therapeutic human CD38 mAb with a broad-spectrum killing activity, is able to induce programmed cell death (PCD) of CD38(+) multiple myeloma tumor cell lines when cross-linked in vitro by secondary Abs or via an FcγR. By comparing DARA efficacy in a syngeneic in vivo tumor model using FcRγ-chain knockout or NOTAM mice carrying a signaling-inactive FcRγ-chain, we found that the inhibitory FcγRIIb as well as activating FcγRs induce DARA cross-linking-mediated PCD. In conclusion, our in vitro and in vivo data show that FcγR-mediated cross-linking of DARA induces PCD of CD38-expressing multiple myeloma tumor cells, which potentially contributes to the depth of response observed in DARA-treated patients and the drug's multifaceted mechanisms of action.

Antibody-mediated phagocytosis contributes to the anti-tumor activity of the therapeutic antibody daratumumab in lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Daratumumab (DARA) is a human CD38-specific IgG1 antibody that is in clinical development for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). The potential for IgG1 antibodies to induce macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, in combination with the known presence of macrophages in the tumor microenvironment in MM and other hematological tumors, led us to investigate the contribution of antibody-dependent, macrophage-mediated phagocytosis to DARA's mechanism of action. Live cell imaging revealed that DARA efficiently induced macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, in which individual macrophages rapidly and sequentially engulfed multiple tumor cells. DARA-dependent phagocytosis by mouse and human macrophages was also observed in an in vitro flow cytometry assay, using a range of MM and Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines. Phagocytosis contributed to DARA's anti-tumor activity in vivo, in both a subcutaneous and an intravenous leukemic xenograft mouse model. Finally, DARA was shown to induce macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of MM cells isolated from 11 of 12 MM patients that showed variable levels of CD38 expression. In summary, we demonstrate that phagocytosis is a fast, potent and clinically relevant mechanism of action that may contribute to the therapeutic activity of DARA in multiple myeloma and potentially other hematological tumors.

Crosstalk between human IgG isotypes and murine effector cells.

Development of human therapeutic Abs has led to reduced immunogenicity and optimal interactions with the human immune system in patients. Humanization had as a consequence that efficacy studies performed in mouse models, which represent a crucial step in preclinical development, are more difficult to interpret because of gaps in our knowledge of the activation of murine effector cells by human IgG (hIgG) remain. We therefore developed full sets of human and mouse isotype variants of human Abs targeting epidermal growth factor receptor and CD20 to explore the crosstalk with mouse FcγRs (mFcγRs) and murine effector cells. Analysis of mFcγR binding demonstrated that hIgG1 and hIgG3 bound to all four mFcγRs, with hIgG3 having the highest affinity. hIgG1 nevertheless was more potent than hIgG3 in inducing Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and Ab-dependent cellular phagocytosis with mouse NK cells, mouse polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and mouse macrophages. hIgG4 bound to all mFcγRs except mFcγRIV and showed comparable interactions with murine effector cells to hIgG3. hIgG4 is thus active in the murine immune system, in contrast with its inert phenotype in the human system. hIgG2 bound to mFcγRIIb and mFcγRIII, and induced potent ADCC with mouse NK cells and mouse polymorphonuclear leukocytes. hIgG2 induced weak ADCC and, remarkably, was unable to induce Ab-dependent cellular phagocytosis with mouse macrophages. Finally, the isotypes were studied in s.c. and i.v. tumor xenograft models, which confirmed hIgG1 to be the most potent human isotype in mouse models. These data enhance our understanding of the crosstalk between hIgGs and murine effector cells, permitting a better interpretation of human Ab efficacy studies in mouse models.

Oncogenic KRAS impairs EGFR antibodies' efficiency by C/EBPß-dependent suppression of EGFR expression.

Oncogenic KRAS mutations in colorectal cancer (CRC) are associated with lack of benefit from epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-directed antibody (Ab) therapy. However, the mechanisms by which constitutively activated KRAS (KRAS(G12V)) impairs effector mechanisms of EGFR-Abs are incompletely understood. Here, we established isogenic cell line models to systematically investigate the impact of KRAS(G12V) on tumor growth in mouse A431 xenograft models as well as on various modes of action triggered by EGFR-Abs in vitro. KRAS(G12V) impaired EGFR-Ab-mediated growth inhibition by stimulating receptor-independent downstream signaling. KRAS(G12V) also rendered tumor cells less responsive to Fc-mediated effector mechanisms of EGFR-Abs-such as complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and Ab-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Impaired CDC and ADCC activities could be linked to reduced EGFR expression in KRAS-mutated versus wild-type (wt) cells, which was restored by small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of KRAS4b. Immunohistochemistry experiments also revealed lower EGFR expression in KRAS-mutated versus KRAS-wt harboring CRC samples. Analyses of potential mechanisms by which KRAS(G12V) downregulated EGFR expression demonstrated significantly decreased activity of six distinct transcription factors. Additional experiments suggested the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) family to be implicated in the regulation of EGFR promoter activity in KRAS-mutated tumor cells by suppressing EGFR transcription through up-regulation of the inhibitory family member C/EBPß-LIP. Thus, siRNA-mediated knockdown of C/EBPß led to enhanced EGFR expression and Ab-mediated cytotoxicity against KRAS-mutated cells. Together, these results demonstrate that KRAS(G12V) signaling induced C/EBPß-dependent suppression of EGFR expression, thereby impairing Fc-mediated effector mechanisms of EGFR-Abs and rendering KRAS-mutated tumor cells less sensitive to these therapeutic agents.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody-induced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity plays a prominent role in inhibiting tumorigenesis, even of tumor cells insensitive to EGFR signaling inhibition.

Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) is recognized as a prominent cytotoxic mechanism for therapeutic mAbs in vitro. However, the contribution of ADCC to in vivo efficacy, particularly for treatment of solid tumors, is still poorly understood. For zalutumumab, a therapeutic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-specific mAb currently in clinical development, previous studies have indicated signaling inhibition and ADCC induction as important therapeutic mechanisms of action. To investigate the in vivo role of ADCC, a panel of EGFR-specific mAbs lacking specific functionalities was generated. By comparing zalutumumab with mAb 018, an EGFR-specific mAb that induced ADCC with similar potency, but did not inhibit signaling, we observed that ADCC alone was insufficient for efficacy against established A431 xenografts. Interestingly, however, both zalutumumab and mAb 018 prevented tumor formation upon early treatment in this model. Zalutumumab and mAb 018 also completely prevented outgrowth of lung metastases, in A431 and MDA-MB-231-luc-D3H2LN experimental metastasis models, already when given at nonsaturating doses. Finally, tumor growth of mutant KRAS-expressing A431 tumor cells, which were resistant to EGFR signaling inhibition, was completely prevented by early treatment with zalutumumab and mAb 018, whereas ADCC-crippled N297Q-mutated variants of both mAbs did not show any inhibitory effects. In conclusion, ADCC induction by EGFR-specific mAbs represents an important mechanism of action in preventing tumor outgrowth or metastasis in vivo, even of cancers insensitive to EGFR signaling inhibition.

N-cadherin-mediated interaction with multiple myeloma cells inhibits osteoblast differentiation.

BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma is a hematologic malignancy characterized by a clonal expansion of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow, which is accompanied by the development of osteolytic lesions and/or diffuse osteopenia. The intricate bi-directional interaction with the bone marrow microenvironment plays a critical role in sustaining the growth and survival of myeloma cells during tumor progression. Identification and functional analysis of the (adhesion) molecules involved in this interaction will provide important insights into the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma. DESIGN AND METHODS: Multiple myeloma cell lines and patients' samples were analyzed for expression of the adhesion molecule N-cadherin by immunoblotting, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence microscopy, immunohistochemistry and expression microarray. In addition, by means of blocking antibodies and inducible RNA interference we studied the functional consequence of N-cadherin expression for the myeloma cells, by analysis of adhesion, migration and growth, and for the bone marrow microenvironment, by analysis of osteogenic differentiation. RESULTS: The malignant plasma cells in approximately half of the multiple myeloma patients, belonging to specific genetic subgroups, aberrantly expressed the homophilic adhesion molecule N-cad-herin. N-cadherin-mediated cell-substrate or homotypic cell-cell adhesion did not contribute to myeloma cell growth in vitro. However, N-cadherin directly mediated the bone marrow localization/retention of myeloma cells in vivo, and facilitated a close interaction between myeloma cells and N-cadherin-positive osteoblasts. Furthermore, this N-cadherin-mediated interaction contributed to the ability of myeloma cells to inhibit osteoblastogenesis. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our data show that myeloma cells frequently display aberrant expression of N-cadherin and that N-cadherin mediates the interaction of myeloma cells with the bone marrow microenvironment, in particular the osteoblasts. This N-cadherin-mediated interaction inhibits osteoblast differentiation and may play an important role in the pathogenesis of myeloma bone disease.

Illegitimate WNT pathway activation by beta-catenin mutation or autocrine stimulation in T-cell malignancies.

Recent studies in mice have shown a role for the canonical WNT pathway in lymphocyte development. Because cancers often arise as a result of aberrant activation of signaling cascades that normally promote the self-renewal and expansion of their progenitor cells, we hypothesized that activation of the WNT pathway might contribute to the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative disease. Therefore, we screened a large panel (n = 162) of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), including all major WHO categories, for nuclear expression of beta-catenin, a hallmark of "active" WNT signaling. In 16 lymphomas, mostly of T-lineage origin, nuclear localization of beta-catenin was detected. Interestingly, some of these tumors contained established gain-of-function mutations in the gene encoding beta-catenin (CTNNB1); however, in the majority, mutations in either CTNNB1 or APC were not detected. Functional analysis of WNT signaling in precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphomas/leukemias, the NHL subset in which beta-catenin accumulation was most prevalent (33% positive), revealed a constitutively activated, but still responsive, WNT pathway, which controlled T-cell factor-mediated gene transcription and cell growth. Our data indicate that activation of the WNT pathway, either by CTNNB1 mutation or autocrine stimulation, plays a role in the pathogenesis of a subset of NHLs, in particular, those of T-cell origin.

Cytokine gene expression profiles of bovine dendritic cells after interaction with Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (M.a.p.), Escherichia coli (E. coli) or recombinant M.a.p. heat shock protein 70.

Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (M.a.p.) resides and replicates in macrophages. Many of the of immune mechanisms aiding M.a.p. survival in the host's cells are known. However, little is known about interactions of M.a.p. with dendritic cells (DC). As DC are important for the induction of protective immunity against infectious diseases, we investigated the interaction of M.a.p. with these cells. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was used to analyse differential expression of cytokine genes after 6 h and 24 h of incubation by immature DC that phagocytosed either M.a.p. or Escherichia coli (E. coli). We hypothesized that phagocytosis of E. coli would induce pro-inflammatory cytokines due to abundant presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and that the cytokine expression profile induced by phagocytosis of live M.a.p. would differ. In addition we hypothesized that incubation of immature DC with rHsp70, an immunodominant antigen of M.a.p., would induce a similar profile of cytokine gene expression as phagocytosis of intact M.a.p. However, phagocytosis of both E. coli and M.a.p. resulted in a cytokine gene expression pattern representative of a (pro-)inflammatory reaction, dominated by strong induction of IL-12 gene expression, that was higher after 24 h than after 6 h of incubation, although the response to M.a.p. was less vigorous than to E. coli. Incubation with rHsp70 resulted in a more inhibitory type of cytokine gene expression, with delayed IL-12 gene expression and downregulation of the genes for IL-1beta and IL-6 after 24 h of incubation. We conclude that bovine DC produce an immuno-stimulatory, anti-mycobacterial response to infection with M.a.p., while Hsp70 potentially contributes to pathogen virulence by allowing the bacteria to invade the host cell.