Monoclonal anti-idiotype antibody 6G6.C4 fused to GM-CSF is capable of breaking tolerance to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in CEA-transgenic mice.

Internal image anti-idiotypic antibodies are capable of mimicking tumor-associated antigens and thus may serve as surrogate for vaccination strategies in cancer patients. The monoclonal antibody (mAb) 6G6.C4 mimics an epitope specific for the human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and generates a CEA-specific response (Ab3) in various experimental animals. In humans, however, 6G6.C4 only yields a very limited humoral anti-CEA reaction presumably due to tolerance against the CEA autoantigen. In this study, we investigated the CEA-specific Ab3 response in mice transgenic for the human CEA and tested whether the antigen tolerance could be overcome by fusing a recombinant single-chain variable fragment of 6G6.C4 (scFv6G6.C4) to the murine granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Like mAb 6G6.C4, the fusion protein (scFv6G6.C4/GM-CSF) retained binding to the CEA-specific idiotype mAb T84.66. Also, scFv6G6.C4/GM-CSF was biologically active as measured by proliferation of the GM-CSF-dependent murine FDC-P1 cells in vitro. After immunization with the scFv6G6.C4/GM-CSF fusion protein, CEA-transgenic animals showed significantly enhanced Ab3 antibody responses to scFv6G6.C4 (P=0.005) and to CEA (P=0.012) compared with the scFV6G6.C4 alone. Sera from mice immunized with the fusion protein specifically recognized CEA in Western blot analyses with no cross-reaction to CEA-related antigens. Finally, the Ab3 antisera detected single CEA-expressing tumor cells in suspension as shown by flow cytometry. Taken together, these data show in a model antigenically related to the human system that vaccination with scFv6G6.C4/GM-CSF improves vaccination against an endogenous tumor-associated antigen resulting in a highly specific humoral Ab3 response in vivo that is capable of bind single circulating CEA-positive tumor cells.

Beneficial and adverse renal and vascular effects of the vasopeptidase inhibitor omapatrilat in renovascular hypertensive rats.

BACKGROUND: Vasopeptidase inhibitors are a new class of compounds that inhibit both angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and neutral endopeptidase. This study determined whether treatment with the vasopeptidase inhibitor omapatrilat (OMA) produced different effects on renal and cardiovascular structure compared with inhibition of ACE by enalapril (ENP) in rats with two-kidney, one clip hypertension (2K1C). METHODS: Hypertensive 2K1C rats were randomized into four groups and studied for another 8 weeks: no treatment, OMA, ENP or ENP combined with the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (ENP + HCTZ). Albuminuria, vascular and renal histology as well as glomerular expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) were determined at the end of the experiment. RESULTS: OMA decreased blood pressure slightly better than ENP. However, combination of ENP with a diuretic lowered blood pressure equally effective as OMA. OMA was numerically more efficient in reducing cardiovascular and renal hypertensive changes compared with ENP. In contrast, the combination of ENP + HCTZ was as efficient as OMA. However, OMA lowered overexpression of TGF-beta in the non-clipped kidney better than ENP or ENP +HCTZ. Antihypertensive therapy surprisingly decreased renal function as shown by increased plasma creatinine and urea and decreased creatinine clearance. CONCLUSION: OMA is marginally more potent compared with ENP alone in lowering blood pressure and preventing cardiovascular and renal injury. This effect may be due to slightly better blood pressure reduction because addition of HCTZ enhances the cardio- and nephroprotective capacity of ENP. In contrast, OMA reduces TGF-beta overexpression in the non-clipped kidney better than ENP or ENP + HCTZ. Therefore, vasopeptidase inhibition is not superior to ACE inhibition in the prevention of cardiovascular and renal damage Goldblatt hypertension.