This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary Data Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Du, X. Articles by Pastan, I. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Du, X. Articles by Pastan, I.

Differential Cellular Internalization of Anti-CD19 and -CD22 Immunotoxins Results in Different Cytotoxic Activity

Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland

Requests for reprints: Ira Pastan, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, 37 Convent Drive, Room 5106, Bethesda, MD 20892-4264. Phone: 301-496-4797; Fax: 301-402-1344; E-mail: pastani{at}mail.nih.gov.

Key Words: intracellular CD22 • hematologic malignancies • antibody scFv • Pseudomonas exotoxin • cytotoxicity

B-cell malignancies routinely express surface antigens CD19 and CD22. Immunotoxins against both antigens have been evaluated, and the immunotoxins targeting CD22 are more active. To understand this disparity in cytotoxicity and guide the screening of therapeutic targets, we compared two immunotoxins, FMC63(Fv)-PE38–targeting CD19 and RFB4(Fv)-PE38 (BL22)–targeting CD22. Six lymphoma cell lines have 4- to 9-fold more binding sites per cell for CD19 than for CD22, but BL22 is 4- to 140-fold more active than FMC63(Fv)-PE38, although they have a similar cell binding affinity (Kd, 7 nmol/L). In 1 hour, large amounts of BL22 are internalized (2- to 3-fold more than the number of CD22 molecules on the cell surface), whereas only 5.2% to 16.6% of surface-bound FMC63(Fv)-PE38 is internalized. The intracellular reservoir of CD22 decreases greatly after immunotoxin internalization, indicating that it contributes to the uptake of BL22. Treatment of cells with cycloheximide does not reduce the internalization of BL22. Both internalized immunotoxins are located in the same vesicles. Our results show that the rapid internalization of large amounts of BL22 bound to CD22 makes CD22 a better therapeutic target than CD19 for immunotoxins and probably for other immunoconjugates that act inside cells. [Cancer Res 2008;68(15):6300–5]