A Novel Allogeneic Rituximab-Conjugated Gamma Delta T Cell Therapy for the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Lymphoma.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy has been applied in the treatment of B-cell lymphoma; however, CAR-T manufacturing requires virus- or non-virus-based genetic modification, which causes high manufacturing costs and potential safety concerns. Antibody-cell conjugation (ACC) technology, which originated from bio-orthogonal click chemistry, provides an efficient approach for arming immune cells with cancer-targeting antibodies without genetic modification. Here, we applied ACC technology in Vγ9Vδ2 T (γδ2 T) cells to generate a novel off-the-shelf CD20-targeting cell therapy ACE1831 (rituximab-conjugated γδ2 T cells) against relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma. ACE1831 exhibited superior cytotoxicity against B-cell lymphoma cells and rituximab-resistant cells compared to γδ2 T cells without rituximab conjugation. The in vivo xenograft study demonstrated that ACE1831 treatment strongly suppressed the aggressive proliferation of B-cell lymphoma and prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice with no observed toxicity. Mass spectrometry analysis indicated that cell activation receptors including the TCR complex, integrins and cytokine receptors were conjugated with rituximab. Intriguingly, the antigen recognition of the ACC-linked antibody/receptor complex stimulated NFAT activation and contributed to ACE1831-mediated cytotoxicity against CD20-expressing cancer cells. This study elucidates the role of the ACC-linked antibody/receptor complex in cytotoxicity and supports the potential of ACE1831 as an off-the-shelf γδ2 cell therapy against relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma.

Antibody-based redirection of universal Fabrack-CAR T cells selectively kill antigen bearing tumor cells.

BACKGROUND: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells engineered to recognize and target tumor associated antigens have made a profound impact on the quality of life for many patients with cancer. However, tumor heterogeneity and intratumoral immune suppression reduce the efficacy of this approach, allowing for tumor cells devoid of the target antigen to seed disease recurrence. Here, we address the complexity of tumor heterogeneity by developing a universal CAR. METHOD: We constructed a universal Fabrack-CAR with an extracellular domain composed of the non-tumor targeted, cyclic, twelve residue meditope peptide that binds specifically to an engineered binding pocket within the Fab arm of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). As this site is readily grafted onto therapeutic mAbs, the antigen specificity of these universal Fabrack-CAR T cells is simply conferred by administering mAbs with specificity to the heterogeneous tumor. RESULTS: Using in vitro and in vivo studies with multiple meditope-engineered mAbs, we show the feasibility, specificity, and robustness of this approach. These studies demonstrate antigen- and antibody-specific T cell activation, proliferation, and IFNγ production, selective killing of target cells in a mixed population, and tumor regression in animal models. CONCLUSION: Collectively, these findings support the feasibility of this universal Fabrack-CAR T cell approach and provide the rationale for future clinical use in cancer immunotherapy.

Overcoming resistance to anabolic SARM therapy in experimental cancer cachexia with an HDAC inhibitor.

No approved therapy exists for cancer-associated cachexia. The colon-26 mouse model of cancer cachexia mimics recent late-stage clinical failures of anabolic anti-cachexia therapy and was unresponsive to anabolic doses of diverse androgens, including the selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) GTx-024. The histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) AR-42 exhibited anti-cachectic activity in this model. We explored combined SARM/AR-42 therapy as an improved anti-cachectic treatment paradigm. A reduced dose of AR-42 provided limited anti-cachectic benefits, but, in combination with GTx-024, significantly improved body weight, hindlimb muscle mass, and grip strength versus controls. AR-42 suppressed the IL-6/GP130/STAT3 signaling axis in muscle without impacting circulating cytokines. GTx-024-mediated ß-catenin target gene regulation was apparent in cachectic mice only when combined with AR-42. Our data suggest cachectic signaling in this model involves catabolic signaling insensitive to anabolic GTx-024 therapy and a blockade of GTx-024-mediated anabolic signaling. AR-42 mitigates catabolic gene activation and restores anabolic responsiveness to GTx-024. Combining GTx-024, a clinically established anabolic therapy, with AR-42, a clinically evaluated HDACi, represents a promising approach to improve anabolic response in cachectic patients.

Template-Catalyzed, Disulfide Conjugation of Monoclonal Antibodies Using a Natural Amino Acid Tag.

The high specificity and favorable pharmacological properties of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have prompted significant interest in re-engineering this class of molecules to add novel functionalities for enhanced therapeutic and diagnostic potential. Here, we used the high affinity, meditope-Fab interaction to template and drive the rapid, efficient, and stable site-specific formation of a disulfide bond. We demonstrate that this template-catalyzed strategy provides a consistent and reproducible means to conjugate fluorescent dyes, cytotoxins, or "click" chemistry handles to meditope-enabled mAbs (memAbs) and memFabs. More importantly, we demonstrate this covalent functionalization is achievable using natural amino acids only, opening up the opportunity to genetically encode cysteine meditope "tags" to biologics. As proof of principle, genetically encoded, cysteine meditope tags were added to the N- and/or C-termini of fluorescent proteins, nanobodies, and affibodies, each expressed in bacteria, purified to homogeneity, and efficiently conjugated to different memAbs and meFabs. We further show that multiple T-cell and Her2-targeting bispecific molecules using this strategy potently activate T-cell signaling pathways in vitro. Finally, the resulting products are highly stable as evidenced by serum stability assays (>14 d at 37 °C) and in vivo imaging of tumor xenographs. Collectively, the platform offers the opportunity to build and exchange an array of functional moieties, including protein biologics, among any cysteine memAb or Fab to rapidly create, test, and optimize stable, multifunctional biologics.

The apoptotic mechanisms of MT-6, a mitotic arrest inducer, in human ovarian cancer cells.

Patients with ovarian cancer are typically diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in poor prognosis since there are currently no effective early-detection screening tests for women at average-risk for ovarian cancer. Here, we investigated the effects of MT-6, a derivative of moscatilin, in ovarian cancer cells. Our investigation showed that MT-6 inhibited the proliferation and viability of ovarian cancer cells with submicromolar IC50 values. MT-6-treated SKOV3 cells showed significant cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, followed by an increase in the proportion of cells in a sub-G1 phase. In addition, MT-6 induced a concentration-dependent increase in mitotic markers, mitotic kinases, cell cycle regulators of G2/M transition, and apoptosis-related markers in ovarian cancer cells. MT-6 treatment also induced mitochondrial membrane potential loss, JNK activation, and DR5 expression. Cotreatment of cells with the JNK inhibitor SP600125 considerably attenuated MT-6-induced apoptosis, mitochondria membrane potential loss, DR5 upregulation, and suppression of cell viability. MT-6 also inhibited tumor growth in an SKOV3 xenograft model without significant body weight loss. Together, our findings suggest that MT-6 is a potent anticancer agent with tumor-suppressive activity in vitro and in vivo that could be further investigated for ovarian cancer therapy in the future.

Activation of silenced tumor suppressor genes in prostate cancer cells by a novel energy restriction-mimetic agent.

BACKGROUND: Targeting tumor metabolism by energy restriction-mimetic agents (ERMAs) has emerged as a strategy for cancer therapy/prevention. Evidence suggests a mechanistic link between ERMA-mediated antitumor effects and epigenetic gene regulation. METHODS: Microarray analysis showed that a novel thiazolidinedione-derived ERMA, CG-12, and glucose deprivation could suppress DNA methyltransferase (DNMT)1 expression and reactivate DNA methylation-silenced tumor suppressor genes in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. Thus, we investigated the effects of a potent CG-12 derivative, CG-5, vis-à-vis 2-deoxyglucose, glucose deprivation and/or 5-aza-deoxycytidine, on DNMT isoform expression (Western blotting, RT-PCR), DNMT1 transcriptional activation (luciferase reporter assay), and expression of genes frequently hypermethylated in prostate cancer (quantitative real-time PCR). Promoter methylation was assessed by pyrosequencing analysis. SiRNA-mediated knockdown and ectopic expression of DNMT1 were used to validate DNMT1 as a target of CG-5. RESULTS: CG-5 and glucose deprivation upregulated the expression of DNA methylation-silenced tumor suppressor genes, including GADD45a, GADD45b, IGFBP3, LAMB3, BASP1, GPX3, and GSTP1, but also downregulated methylated tumor/invasion-promoting genes, including CD44, S100A4, and TACSTD2. In contrast, 5-aza-deoxycytidine induced global reactivation of these genes. CG-5 mediated these epigenetic effects by transcriptional repression of DNMT1, which was associated with reduced expression of Sp1 and E2F1. SiRNA-mediated knockdown and ectopic expression of DNMT1 corroborated DNMT1's role in the modulation of gene expression by CG-5. Pyrosequencing revealed differential effects of CG-5 versus 5-aza-deoxycytidine on promoter methylation in these genes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reveal a previously uncharacterized epigenetic effect of ERMAs on DNA methylation-silenced tumor suppressor genes, which may foster novel strategies for prostate cancer therapy.