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Experimental Therapeutics |
MRC Centre for Protein Engineering, Cambridge CB2 2QH, United Kingdom [P. H., R. H., G. W.]; Department I of Internal Medicine [O. M., M. S., J. W., V. D., H. B.] and Institute of Neurophysiology [B. F., L. Q.], University of Cologne, 50924 Cologne, Germany; and Institut Curie, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France [O. C.]
| ABSTRACT |
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We demonstrate that displaying engagement sites for the T-cell antigens CD3 and CD28 on the surface of colon carcinoma cells is a suitable way to activate and retarget T cells in a highly tumor-specific manner. For clinical purposes, B7xanti-tumor-associated antigen (TAA) fusion proteins, which are equally effective but more specific compared with anti-CD28 monoclonal anti-bodies, thus may improve the tumor specificity of anti-CD3xanti-TAA bispecific antibodies. Furthermore, B7-negative tumors can be converted into B7-positive tumors by B7xanti-TAA fusion proteins without the need for B7 gene transfer to the malignant cells.
| INTRODUCTION |
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Cellular immunotherapy of malignant diseases intends to redirect autologous effector cells toward the tumor. The recruitment of T lymphocytes is of particular interest due to their key role in antigen-specific cellular immune responses and their capacity to develop immunological memory. Although T-cell infiltrates appear to be present in many tumors (2 , 3) , they usually fail to attack the malignant cells, and the reasons for the lack of immunesurveillance of malignant diseases still remain to be clarified. There are several scenarios of the possible interaction between malignant cells and the immune system that may lead to the manifestation of a tumor. Active immune escape mechanisms of the tumor cells (4) , ongoing but inappropiate antitumoral immune responses (5) , as well as immune "ignorance" of the malignant cells (6) have been reported. However, there is strong evidence, that antitumoral activity can be induced or restored by the activation of tumor-specific T cells (2 , 6) .
The use of anti-CD3xanti-tumor bispecific antibodies is an attractive and highly specific approach in antitumoral immunotherapy. These antibodies can be used not only to redirect preactivated cytotoxic T cells toward the tumor (7, 8, 9) , but, moreover, are able to stimulate resting or even anergic T cells if sufficient costimulatory signaling (for example, via the CD28-B7 pathway) is provided (10 , 11) . Artificial signaling via the CD3 antigen mimicks the physiological antigen-specific activation of T lymphocytes by MHC-bound antigen. On the other hand, CD28-costimulation by monoclonal antibodies with signal transduction activity can replace B7 as the physiological ligand for CD28. The simultaneous use of CD3 and CD28 monoclonal antibodies may, thus, substitute for the T-cell stimulatory capacity of professional antigen-presenting cells (12) . However, to avoid a systemic T-cell activation that may result in undesirable clinical side effects, the CD3/CD28 signaling has to be localized strictly to the tumor site.
To specifically target colon carcinoma cells via the TAA CEA, we engineered a bispecific diabody recognizing the
-chain of the CD3-TCR complex, as well as CEA. To provide tumor-specific CD28 costimulation, a second, bivalent CEA-specific diabody was produced and fused with two extracellular domains of the human B7.1 protein. The diabody format was chosen, as for clinical purposes genetically engineered antibody fragments are considered to be advantageous over murine immunoglobulins due to their rapid penetration into tumor tissue, fast clearance of unbound diabody from the circulation, and minimal immunogenicity (13
, 14) . Diabodies consist of four antibody V-domains and are formed by two cross-paired scFvs. They are produced by bacterial fermentation and have been proved to be effective in retargeting preactivated CTLs to tumor cells (15)
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We show that anti-CD3xanti-CEA bispecific diabodies, together with B7xanti-CEA bispecific fusion proteins, can be used to provide CEA-expressing tumor cells with binding specificities for both CD3 and CD28 antigens. This resulted in the activation of T cells and the redirection of cytotoxicity toward CEA-expressing tumor cells. Furthermore, autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in primary patient tumor specimens could be activated by anti-CD3xanti-CEA bispecific diabodies together with CD28 costimulation, pointing toward a potential clinical application of these immunotherapeutic agents.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Colon carcinoma xenografting in nude mice and tumor imaging with Cy7 (Amersham)-labeled diabodies was performed, as described (19) .
Cytotoxicity Assay.
PBMCs of healthy donors were isolated by Ficoll density centrifugation (Pharmacia Biotech, Freiburg, Germany) and subsequently stimulated with trispecific anti-CD3xanti-CD2xanti-CD28 (20 ng/ml) antibodies (M. Glennie, Tenovus Laboratory, General Hospital, Southhampton, United Kingdom). After 5 days, the cells were harvested and positively enriched (CD8) by magnetic-activated cell sorting [(MACS), Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany]. The labeling of target cells with lanthanides and measurement of specific cytolysis in time-resolved fluorometry has been described elsewhere (20)
. Specific lysis was determined after 4 h in a time-resolved fluorometer (Delfia, Wallac, Turku, Finland).
Calcium Imaging Analysis.
CEA-positive tumor cells (L1576) were grown as a confluent layer on glass coverslips. Jurkat T cells (1 x 106/ml) were loaded with the cell permeant dye fura-2AM (0.5 µM; Molecular Probes, Leiden, the Netherlands) for 10 min at 37°C in RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies, Inc., Eggenstein, Germany). The cells were washed and incubated with the bispecific diabody MO5 (5 µg/ml in RPMI 1640). The glass coverslips were superfused for 10 min with Ringer solution [140 mM NaCl, 4.5 mM KCl, 2 mM MgCl2, 2 mM CaCl2, 10 mM HEPES, and 5.5 mM glucose (pH 7.35)] in a temperature-controlled chamber (room temperature or 35°C), then the fura-2AM-loaded Jurkat T cells were dropped into the recording chamber. T cells in contact with tumor cells and unbound T cells were selected for monitoring the intracellular calcium concentration.
Monochromic excitation light (340 nm, 380 nm) was coupled to an inverted microscope (135 M; Zeiss, Jena, Germany) through a quarz light guide. The fluorescence images of the Jurkat cells were acquired (exposure time of 50100 ms at 0.6 Hz) through a 470-nm interference filter using an intensified charge-coupled device camera (Thetha, München, Germany) connected to the microscope. Paired images (340/380 nm) were background subtracted, and the ratio images were displayed. The concentration of intracellular-free calcium [Ca2+]i was calculated within cursor-defined areas using the equation of Grynkiewicz et al. (21) . Rmax was obtained in the presence of ionomycin and 10 mM Ca2+ and Rmin with excess EGTA (Rmax 5.0, Rmin 0.4, F380max/F380min 11.0).
Autologous T-Cell Stimulation in Primary Colon Carcinoma Specimens.
Specimens of tumor tissue from the large intestine were obtained during surgery and immediately placed into 20 ml of complete medium [RPMI 1640 with 2 mM Glutamax-I, 5% FCS, 25 µg/ml gentamicin (Life Technologies, Inc.), and 10 µg/ml ciprofloxacin (Bayer, Leverkusen, Germany)]. The carcinoma tissue was minced with a scalpel, turned into a single cell suspension using a homogenizator, and aggregates were removed with a 400-µm cell strainer (Becton Dickinson). The expression of CEA on the tumor cells was determined by staining with 50 µl of anti-CEA antibody A5B7 (10 µg/ml; Ref. 22
) and indirect immunofluorescence staining with 50 µl of FITC-coupled goat antimouse IgG [20 µg/ml (SBA)], followed by analysis on a flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson). PBMCs were obtained from 20 ml of the patients venous blood by Ficoll (Pharmacia) density centrifugation and were resuspended in complete medium.
PBMCs (2.5 x 106) were then coincubated with the autologous colon carcinoma cells (5 x 105) in 2000 µl of complete medium containing the indicated diabodies, control diabodies, and anti-CD28 antibodies at a final concentration of 1 µg/ml. The stimulation assays were performed for 5 days in 24-well plates (Greiner, Frickenhausen, Germany) at 37°C and 7% CO2 in a humidified atmosphere. After the incubation period, cell culture supernatants were harvested and stored at -20°C for further IFN-
analysis by ELISA (Laboserv, Giessen, Germany). The cells were resuspended in PBS, stained with fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies [anti-CD45, anti-CD14, anti-CD3, anti-CD19, anti-CD16, anti-CD4, anti-CD8, anti-CD25, anti-HLA-DR (Becton Dickinson), and anti-HLA-ABC (DAKO, Glostrup, Denmark)] or anti-CEA antibody A5B7 and FITC-conjugated goat antimouse IgG (SBA), and analyzed by flow cytometry.
Costimulation of T Lymphocytes with B7xAnti-CEA Fusion Proteins.
CD4-positive T-helper lymphocytes from healthy donors were isolated from the PBMC fraction by depletion of cells that express CD8, CD19, CD16, and CD14, using magnetic-activated cell sorting (Miltenyi). The remaining CD4-positive T cells were incubated for 10 days with 20 ng/ml anti-CD2xanti-CD3xanti-CD28 trispecific antibodies in complete medium, followed by an additional 5-day incubation without stimulation. After depletion of dead cells by Ficoll density centrifugation, 1 x 105 T cells were coincubated with 2.5 x 104 cells of the CEA-positive carcinoma cell line L1576 or the CEA-negative B cell line LAZ509 (each of them fixed in 0.05% glutaraldehyde) in 150 µl of complete medium in a 96-well flat-bottomed plate (Greiner). Antibodies and diabodies were added either directly to the stimulation cultures, or the tumor cells were preincubated with the antibodies and then washed before the T cells were added. The concentration of IFN-
in the culture supernatant was assessed by ELISA (Laboserv).
| RESULTS |
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T-cell activation induced by the anti-CD3xanti-CEA diabody was analyzed at the single-cell level in Jurkat T cells by monitoring the concentration of free cytosolic calcium (Fig. 2A)
. Only T cells in contact with CEA-expressing tumor cells showed an increased intracellular calcium concentration after treatment with the diabody. If incubated with monospecific anti-CD3 diabodies, or with control diabodies (anti-CD3xanti-nitrophenyl), or without preincubation with diabodies, T cells did not show any changes in [Ca2+]i on contact with tumor cells (data not shown). The cytosolic calcium concentration showed regular rhythmic oscillations within the first minute after contact with CEA-positive tumor cells (Fig. 2B)
, which lasted from several seconds up to 15 min. The oscillations and the sustained rise of [Ca2+]i depended on a transmembrane Ca2+ influx. Cd2+ (1 mM) and isomolar replacement of extracellular Na+ by K+ blocked the oscillations (Fig. 2C)
and resulted in a decrease in [Ca2+]i.
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(data not shown). These effects were not detectable in the CEA-negative tumor specimen, indicating the CEA specificity of the T-cell activation induced by the anti-CD3xanti-CEA bispecific diabody in combination with costimulation via the CD28-molecule.
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In the presence of L1576 colon carcinoma cells and anti-CD3xanti-CEA bispecific diabodies, CD4-positive T cells from healthy donors secreted comparable amounts of IFN-
after costimulation by both anti-CD28 antibodies and B7xanti-CEA fusion proteins (Fig. 5A)
. However, if the colon carcinoma cells were preincubated with the diabodies and fusion proteins and then washed before the addition of the T cells, the costimulatory capacity of anti-CD28 antibodies was diminished. Furthermore, decreased IFN-
production of the T cells was observed if CEA-negative target cells (Fig. 5B)
were preincubated with either bivalent anti-CD28 antibodies or B7xanti-CEA fusion proteins. These findings demonstrate that the costimulatory signaling provided by B7xanti-CEA fusion proteins depended on the expression of CEA on the target cell surface, whereas anti-CD28 antibodies were removed from the stimulation cultures by washing of the tumor cells.
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| DISCUSSION |
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The clinical value of a humoral immunotherapeutic targeting of colon carcinoma micrometastasis by monoclonal antibodies was recently demonstrated (26)
. A different immunotherapeutic approach toward tumors is the redirection of cellular effector systems such as T cells, natural killer cells, or FcR
-positive cells (granulocytes, macrophages) by bispecific antibodies, a treatment modality that has been examined in preclinical and clinical studies (10
, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
. However, the progress of these immunotherapeutic agents into clinical applications has been slow, mainly due to the low yields of clinical grade bispecific agents, as well as the development of human immune responses because bispecific antibodies usually were produced by modifications of complete murine immunoglobulins.
Among the different formats of recombinant bispecific molecules, diabodies resemble antibody fragments consisting of four antibody V-domains and are formed by two cross-paired scFvs, resulting in a molecular weight of
Mr 55,000 (16)
. Because diabodies lack the Fc fragment, human immune responses against the diabodies should be neglectable, which is advantageous over hybrid-hybridoma-derived bispecific antibodies with regard to clinical applications, if repeated administrations are required. Diabodies are secreted in functional form from E. coli bacteria, with yields of up to 1 mg/liter, and can be isolated by a single purification step. Their small size facilitates penetration into tumor tissues (13)
, and the lack of the Fc portion avoids the Fc receptor-mediated bystander killing (27)
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We describe the functional properties of an anti-CD3xanti-CEA diabody that was constructed to redirect autologous T cells toward CEA-expressing tumor cells. As shown by imaging of intracellular calcium concentration in T cells, the bispecific diabody was able to activate T cells through engagement of the CD3-TCR protein complex. The increases in calcium were only observed if T cells were cross-linked to CEA-positive tumor cells and, consequently, the bispecific anti-CD3xanti-CEA diabody was effective in redirecting human T cells to specifically lyse CEA-positive colon carcinoma cells in vitro.
As T-cell-based antitumoral immunotherapies have to consider the sufficient activation of the effector cells, systemic interleukin-2 administration (9) , or infusion of ex vivo generated lymphokine-activated killer cells should be performed (7 , 8) . However, the systemic preactivation of T cells has to take unwanted clinical effects into account that can be induced by the unspecifically activated effector cells. On the contrary, costimulation via the CD28/B7 pathway (32) has the potential to avoid these obstacles if the costimulatory signaling can be restricted to tumor-specific T cells or to T cells in the tumor cell environment.
Stimulation assays with primary colon carcinoma isolates revealed that the activation of autologous T lymphocytes induced by bispecific anti-CD3xanti-CEA diabodies is dependent on the expression of CEA on the colon carcinoma cells. In these assays, the costimulatory signal required for the optimal activation of resting T cells was provided by monospecific bivalent anti-CD28 antibodies. To restrict not only the CD3-activating moiety, but also the costimulatory signaling to the CEA-positive tumor cells, we produced a second bispecific molecule (a B7xanti-CEA fusion protein) to display engagement sites for the T-cell antigen CD28 on the surface of colon carcinoma cells. Our data clearly demonstrate that the signaling of the B7xanti-CEA fusion proteins required the presence of CEA-positive target cells. In contrast, neither the presence of CEA-negative cells nor the use of bivalent anti-CD28 antibodies did induce a sufficient T-cell activation. This experimental setting reflects the in vivo situation in which bispecific molecules with a TAA-binding moiety enrich at the tumor cell surface, whereas unbound antibodies are removed from the circulation. Therefore, this strategy for activation and retargeting of resting T cells is highly tumor-specific because the optimal T-cell stimulation will only be induced in the presence of cells expressing the TAA. Thus, we conclude that the tumor specificity of anti-CD3xanti-TAA bispecific antibodies can be improved by the use of B7xanti-TAA fusion proteins as costimulatory agents, being equally effective but more specific compared with anti-CD28 monoclonal antibodies. Additionally, in contrast to the use of anti-CD28 antibodies (33) , B7xanti-TAA fusion proteins can interact with both CD28 and CTLA4, thus providing a more physiological coactivation.
Although our strategy was designed to both activate and to target T cells, the display of B7 on the tumor cell surface may also amplify weak antitumor responses without the need for application of anti-CD3xanti-TAA bispecific antibodies as "artificial" T-cell activators. In animal models, it has been shown that the immunogenicity of B7-negative tumors can be enhanced by ex vivo transfection of B7 into the malignant cells (34) . However, because the tumors have to be explanted for genetic modifications, this approach not only inevitably destroys the tumor architecture but also results in the removal of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, which are considered to be partially tumor-specific. In this regard, the use B7xanti-TAA fusion proteins may be a more "physiological" way of B7-transfer to the malignant cells that depends only on the availability of antibodies against a suitable TAA (35) .
We have shown that anti-CD3xanti-CEA bispecific diabodies and B7xanti-CEA bispecific fusion proteins can be used for the redirection of T cells toward CEA-expressing tumors. The simultaneous display of ligands for both of the T-cell antigens CD3 and CD28 on the tumor cell surface induces activation of anergic T cells, and the cytotoxic activity of which can then be redirected toward the malignant cells. Importantly, this approach is highly dependent on the expression of CEA as the TAA on the malignant cells. In this study, CEA served as a model antigen as one of the well-characterized TAAs expressed on solid tumors. However, "universal" anti-CD3xanti-hapten bispecific diabodies5 and B7xanti-hapten fusion proteins can be used in combination with haptenized tumor-ligands such as antibodies, antibody fragments, hormones, or cytokines for high-specific targeting of a wide variety of human malignancies. Compared with bispecific antibodies generated by the "classical" technologies, these recombinant bispecific molecules may have a greater ability to assert themselves as immunotherapeutic agents. However, clinical testing is necessary to judge on the clinical value of this bispecific antibody approach.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Supported by grants from the Dr. Mildred Scheel-Stiftung/Deutsche Krebshilfe, the Frauke Weiskam-Stiftung, the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (ZMMK), the Doerenkamp-Stiftung, and the Sonderforschungsbereich 502 (SFB502). ![]()
2 These authors contributed equally to this work. ![]()
3 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Universitätsklinik Köln, Klinik I für Innere Medizin, Immunologisches Labor (Haus 16), D-50924 Köln, Germany. Phone: 49-221-478-4489; Fax: 49-221-478-5912; E-mail: ail04{at}rrz.uni-koeln.de ![]()
4 The abbreviations used are: TAA, tumor-associated antigen; CEA, carcinoembryogenic antigen; scFv, single-chain variable fragment; IMAC, immobilized metal chelate affinity chromatography; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell. ![]()
5 Manzke, O., Fitzgerald, K. J., Holliger, P., Klock, J., Span, M., Fleischmann, B., Heschler, J., Qinghua, L., Johnson, K. S., Diehl, V., Hoogenboom, H. R., and Bohlen, H. CD3xanti-nitrophenyl bispecific diabodies: universal immunotherapeutic tools for retargeting T-cells to tumors, Int. J. Cancer, in press. ![]()
Received 1/12/99. Accepted 4/19/99.
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