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[Cancer Research 60, 6434-6440, November 15, 2000]
© 2000 American Association for Cancer Research


Immunology

Targeting of Bivalent Anti-ErbB2 Diabody Antibody Fragments to Tumor Cells Is Independent of the Intrinsic Antibody Affinity1

Ulrik B. Nielsen, Gregory P. Adams, Louis M. Weiner and James D. Marks2

Department of Anesthesiology and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, California 94110 [U. B. N., J. D. M.], and Department of Medical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111 [G. P. A., L. M. W.]


    ABSTRACT
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
In immunodeficient mice antitumor single-chain Fv (scFv) molecules penetrate tumors rapidly and have rapid serum clearance, leading to excellent tumor:normal organ ratios. However, the absolute quantity of scFv retained in the tumor is low due to rapid serum clearance and monovalent scFv binding. We previously demonstrated that the presence of an additional binding site prolongs in vitro and in vivo association of scFv-based molecules with tumor cells expressing relevant antigen. The contribution of the intrinsic affinity of each component scFv to the association between a dimeric scFv and its target antigen is largely unknown. Here, we have constructed bivalent diabody molecules from three affinity mutants of the human anti-ErbB2 (HER2/neu) scFv molecule C6.5 by shortening the peptide linker between the heavy (VH) and light (VL) chains variable domains from 15 to 5 amino acids. The shorter linker prevents intramolecular pairing of VH and VL, resulting in intermolecular pairing and creation of a dimeric Mr 50,000 molecule with two antigen-binding sites. The scFv used to create the diabodies span a 133-fold range of affinity for the same epitope of ErbB2 [133 nM (C6G98A), 25 nM (C6.5), and 1 nM (C6ML3–9)] and differ by only one to three amino acids. Diabody binding kinetics were determined by surface plasmon resonance on the immobilized ErbB2 extracellular domain. The association rate constants obtained for each diabody molecule were similar to that of the parental (component) scFv. However, the dissociation rate constants obtained for the bivalent diabodies were up to 15-fold slower. The magnitude of the decrease in the bivalent dissociation rate constant was inversely proportional to the monovalent interaction, ranging from only 3-fold for that of the C6ML3–9 diabody to 15-fold for the C6G98A diabody. This resulted in only a 22-fold difference in bivalent affinity, compared with a 133-fold difference in affinity for the respective scFv. Equilibrium-binding constants obtained by surface plasmon resonance correlated well with the equilibrium-binding constants determined in vitro on ErbB2 overexpressing cells. Biodistribution studies were performed in scid mice bearing established SKOV3 tumors. At 24 h, 3–37-fold more diabody was retained in tumor compared with the parental scFv monomers. This likely results from a higher apparent affinity, because of bivalent binding, and a slower serum clearance. Surprisingly, the differences in affinity between diabodies did not result in differences in quantitative tumor retention or tumor to blood ratios. In fact, the diabody constructed from the lowest affinity scFv exhibited the best tumor-targeting properties. We conclude that, above a threshold affinity, other factors regulate quantitative tumor retention. In addition, straightforward dimerization of a low-affinity scFv leads to significantly greater tumor localization than does exhaustive scFv affinity maturation.


    INTRODUCTION
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Mab3 -based radioimmunotherapy of solid tumors has been hindered by the physical characteristics of IgG molecules. With a molecular weight of ~Mr 155,000, these molecules exhibit both a slow diffusion into tumors and a slow elimination from circulation. The former property leads to heterogeneous delivery into tumors, whereas the latter property results in dose-limiting myelotoxicity. Recent advances in antibody-engineering technology has led to the development of scFv molecules, composed of the variable light (VL) and heavy (VH) domains of an immunoglobulin molecule (1 , 2) . These small scFv molecules currently represent the minimal antibody-based construct capable of specifically interacting with antigen without excessive cross-reactivity. In both mice and patients their size leads to a rapid renal elimination, yielding excellent tumor:normal organ ratios and lower nonspecific background, as compared with intact IgG antibodies (3, 4, 5) . In addition, the scFv penetrates more deeply into poorly vascularized regions of tumors than do the Fab', F(ab')2, and intact IgG (6) . However, the monovalent nature and rapid renal clearance of the scFv results in the specific retention of only small quantities in the tumors in immunodeficient mice with rarely >1%ID localized per gram of tumor at 24 h after injection (5, 6, 7, 8) . We have recently examined the tumor-targeting properties of a series of scFv mutants that vary in affinity for the same epitope of the tumor antigen ErbB2. In this model, the 24-h tumor retention of a scFv with an affinity of 133 nM (C6G98A) was indistinguishable from that achieved with an irrelevant scFv. Increasing the affinity to 25 nM (C6.5) and 1 nM (C6ML3–9) resulted in significantly greater tumor retentions of 0.8%ID/g and 1.4%ID/g, respectively (9) .

We, and others, have investigated the use of larger, multivalent, scFv-based constructs to improve the degree and specificity of in vivo targeting of solid tumors (5 , 10, 11, 12, 13) . In general, increasing the number of antigen binding sites has led to enhanced tumor retention, as compared with that achieved with monovalent scFv molecules. One of the more promising scFv-based molecules is a noncovalent dimer or diabody (14) . Diabodies are constructed by shortening the scFv peptide linker from 15 aa to 5 aa. The shorter linker does not permit pairing of the VH and VL domains on the same polypeptide chain, forcing pairing between complementary domains of two different chains. The resulting molecule has two antigen-binding sites at opposite ends of the molecule, separated by ~65 Å (15) . We have previously reported on the construction of a diabody from the C6.5 scFv, which specifically recognizes ErbB2. In tumor-bearing mice the C6.5 diabody exhibited a >7-fold increase in tumor retention without the loss of targeting specificity (16) . To date, however, the relative impact of increased size, increased valance, and the affinity of the parental scFv molecules on the tumor-targeting properties of scFv dimers has yet to be elucidated.

In this study, we analyze the importance of intrinsic antibody affinity on the in vitro and in vivo targeting of ErbB2 overexpressing tumor cells using a series of diabodies constructed from the three affinity variants of the C6.5 anti-ErbB2 scFv (spanning a 133-fold range of affinity) described above. By applying SPR technology to the analysis of antigen binding, the intrinsic as well as apparent bivalent binding kinetics of the three diabodies were determined. Diabody binding to tumor cells was investigated by fluorescence cytometry using the ErbB2-positive breast cancer cell line SKOV3 to estimate equilibrium constants. Finally, biodistribution studies were performed in scid mice bearing established SKOV3 tumors.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
ScFv and Diabody Production.
The scFv genes used for construction of diabodies were derived from the human scFv C6.5 (17 , 18) . Diabodies were constructed, as described previously, using a 5-aa linker between the VH and VL domains (16) and cloned into pUC119mycHis (17) for expression with COOH-terminal myc and hexahistidine epitope tags. For measurement of antibody fragment affinity on cells, the scFv and diabody genes in pUC119mycHis were amplified by PCR using the primer 5'-GCCATGGCCGACTACAAGGCAAAGCAGGTGCAGCTGGTGCAG-3', which adds the epitope tag DYKAK (19) recognized by the anti-FLAG M1 antibody (Sigma Chemical Co.) onto the NH2 terminus of the scFv or diabody. The scFv and diabodies were expressed in Escherichia coli strain TG1. Briefly, 0.75 liter of media (2x Tryptone yeast with 100 µg/ml ampicillin and 0.1% glucose) was inoculated with an overnight culture of the appropriate plasmid in TG1, grown to an A600 of 0.9 and expression induced by the addition of isopropyl-ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside to a final concentration of 0.5 mM. The culture was grown at 30°C for 4 h (for scFv) or overnight (for diabodies).

Cells were harvested by centrifugation (4000 x g, 20 min), and the pellets were resuspended on ice for 30 min in periplasmic extraction buffer [30 mM Tris, 2 mM EDTA, and 20% sucrose (pH 8.0)] containing 100 µg/ml DNase. Bacteria were pelleted by centrifugation at 5000 x g for 20 min, resuspended in osmotic shock buffer (5 mM MgSO4), and incubated for another 20 min on ice. Bacteria were pelleted (7000 x g, 20 min), and supernatants from the periplasmic extraction buffer and MgSO4 fractions combined and cleared by centrifugation at 10,000 rpm for 30 min at 4°C. The resulting solution was dialyzed in PBS. All molecules were purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (17) , followed by size exclusion chromatography on a BioCAD SPRINT fast protein liquid chromatography system (PerSeptive Biosystems) using either a Superdex 75 (for scFv) or a Superdex 200 column (for diabodies). Protein concentrations were determined spectrophotometrically from the absorbance at A280 using the extinction coefficient {epsilon} = 1.4. The C6.5 scFv-Fc fusion protein was expressed from Pichia pastoris and purified using protein G affinity chromatography, as described elsewhere (20) .

Measurement of Binding by SPR.
Association rate constants (kon) were determined using SPR in a BIAcore1000 (BIAcore Inc.). Approximately 500 RU of the ErbB2 ECD were coupled to a CM5 sensor chip as described previously (17) , and association rate constants were measured under continuous flow of 15 µl/min using scFv and diabody concentrations ranging from 100-1200 nM. Association rate constants were calculated from a plot of [ln(dR/dt)]/t versus concentration of binding sites using the BIAanalysis software (version 2.1). Apparent dissociation rate constants (koff) were determined using the function BIGinjection. Different volumes [600 µl, 330 µl, 100 µl, 50 µl, and 5 µl of diabody or scFv solutions (concentration, 25 µg/ml)] were injected over the CM5 sensor chip (500 RU ECD immobilized) at a flow rate of 5 µl/min. The dissociation rate constants of all molecules were determined at >90% of maximal binding to the chip, with the exception of the C6G98A and C6.5 scFv, which were measured as close to maximal binding as possible (>50%). To determine intrinsic rate constants, diabodies were biotinylated with NHS-LC-biotin (Pierce Chemical Co.) at a biotin:diabody ratio of ~5:1 and as described by the manufacturer. Approximately 5000 RU avidin (Sigma Chemical Co.) was conjugated to a CM5 sensor chip using similar conditions as described for ErbB2 ECD (17) . Biotinylated diabody was injected onto the surface to yield ~500 RU diabody bound to the surface. Saturating concentrations of ErbB2 were then injected, and dissociation rate constants were determined immediately following ErbB2 ECD dissociation. To determine their serum stability, diabodies were incubated in 90% human serum at a final concentration of 50 µg/ml for 3 days at 37°C. After diluting 10-fold in running buffer, the binding concentration was determined by SPR using immobilized ErbB2 ECD as described (18) and compared with that of the diabody stock stored at 4°C.

Cell Surface Binding Measurements.
Human ovarian carcinoma SKOV3 cells (HTB 77; American Type Culture Collection) that overexpress ErbB2 were grown to 80–90% confluence in RPMI media supplemented with 10% FCS and harvested by trypsinization. Each scFv or diabody was incubated in triplicate with 1 x 105 cells in 96-well plates with V-shaped wells for 2 h at the concentrations indicated. Cell binding was performed at room temperature in PBS containing 2% FCS and 0.1% sodium azide in a total volume of 200 µl. Sodium azide was included in the incubation buffer to minimize receptor internalization. After two washes with 200 µl of PBS, bound scFv or diabody was detected by the addition of 100 µl (10 µg/ml) of FITC-labeled anti-FLAG monoclonal antibody clone M1. After incubating 30 min at room temperature, the cells were washed twice and resuspended in PBS containing 4% paraformaldehyde. Fluorescence was measured by flow cytometry in a FACSort (Becton Dickinson), and median fluorescence (F) was calculated using Cellquest software (Becton Dickinson) and the background fluorescence was subtracted. Equilibrium constants were determined as described (21) , except that values were fitted to the equation 1/F = 1/Fmax + (KD/Fmax)(1/[scFv]) using the software program SigmaPlot (SPSS Inc.).

Biodistribution Studies.
Diabody and scFv molecules were radiolabeled with 125I using the chloramine T method (125I: protein ratio, 1:10), as described previously (5) . The quality and immunoreactivity of the radiopharmaceuticals were evaluated by SDS-PAGE and in a live cell-binding assay as described (5) . CB.17 Icr scid mice, 6–8 weeks of age, were obtained from the Fox Chase Cancer Center Laboratory Animal Facility. SKOV3 cells (2.5 x 106) were implanted s.c. on the abdomen of each mouse. When the tumors had achieved a size of 50–200 mg (~8 weeks), Lugol’s solution was placed in their drinking water to block thyroid accumulation of radioiodine, and biodistribution studies were initiated. Twenty micrograms (100 µl) of radioiodinated diabody or scFv were administered by i.v. tail vein injection to each mouse. Cohorts of five mice that received the 125I-diabodies or scFv were sacrificed at 1, 4, 8 (except C6.5db), 24, 48, and 72 h after injection. The mean and SEM of retention of each radiopharmaceutical in tissue (%ID/g) and blood (%ID/ml) were determined from decay-corrected counts, as described (5) . Calculations of the estimated cumulative localization (AUC) of diabody in tumor (% h-1 g-1) and blood (% h-1 ml-1) were determined using the NCOMP program (22) .


    RESULTS
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Construction, Expression, and Characterization of Recombinant scFv and Diabodies.
To determine the impact of intrinsic affinity on the in vitro binding and in vivo tumor targeting of bivalent diabodies, we constructed diabodies from the scFv C6G98A, C6.5, and C6ML3–9. C6G98A and C6ML3–9 were derived from the C6.5 scFv by site-directed mutagenesis and phage display (18) . The three scFv differ from each other by, at most, three amino acids, bind identical epitopes on the ErbB2 ECD and bind with KD ranging from 1.3 x 10-7 M to 1.0 x 10-9 M (133-fold difference in KD). Diabodies were constructed by genetically shortening the linker between the scFv from 15 to 5 aa (16) . Recombinant diabodies were expressed and purified from the E. coli periplasm by immobilized metal affinity chromatography and size exclusion chromatography with yields of 0.5–3 mg/liter of shake flask culture. More than 90% of the purified protein was functional as determined by SPR and size exclusion chromatography in the presence of ErbB2 ECD (results not shown).

In Vitro Binding Kinetics of scFv and Diabodies.
The association and dissociation rate constants of the three scFv were remeasured using SPR, and the KD was calculated as koff/kon. The KD of the three scFv were comparable with values previously reported and spanned a 133-fold range of affinities (Table 1)Citation . Intrinsic diabody association and dissociation rate constants were measured to determine whether construction of diabody molecules affected the antigen binding. The association rate constant was determined by immobilizing the ECD on the sensor chip surface. The intrinsic dissociation rate constants of each diabody were determined by immobilizing biotinylated diabody on an avidin-coated sensor chip. Because the recombinant ErbB2 ECD is monomeric in solution (results not shown), by immobilizing the diabody, bivalent binding is not possible and the dissociation rate constant represents that of the monovalent binding. The diabody association rate constant and the intrinsic dissociation rate constant were determined, and the intrinsic equilibrium-binding constants were calculated. These were slightly lower (2–3-fold) than the values measured for the scFv from which they were constructed, mainly as a result of decreased association rate constants (Table 1)Citation . Dissociation rate constants were similar to those of the scFv, indicating that the diabody homodimer formation does not significantly alter ligand binding to the individual binding site. The dissociation rate constant for the C6.5 scFv determined by the same approach was similar to what was determined by immobilizing ECD (results not shown).


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Table 1 Comparison of intrinsic rate and equilibrium constants of scFv and diabodies

 
To evaluate the contribution of the second binding site on the KD, diabodies were analyzed for binding to immobilized ErbB2 ECD. It was hypothesized that the duration of incubation of diabody with immobilized ErbB2 ECD would affect the dissociation rate because a longer incubation would increase the likelihood of bivalent binding. To determine whether this was true, C6G98A diabody was passed over immobilized ErbB2 ECD for durations of 1–120 min. A flow rate of 5 µl/min was used for these studies because the BIGinject function for the BIAcore1000 instrument is limited by the volume of the injection loop (750 µl) and, thus, does not allow 120-min injections at faster flow rates. Although use of more rapid flow rates (15 µl/min) may minimize rebinding and yield more accurate off rates, the dissociation rate constants obtained for the scFv in this study using the 5-µl/min flow rate are comparable with our previous data using a flow rate of 15 µl/min (Ref. 18 ; koff of C6G98A scFv = 130 x 10-3 s-1 at 15 µl/min versus 55 x 10-3 s-1 at 5 µl/min; koff for C6.5 = 6.3 x 10-3 s-1 at 15 µl/min, versus 10 x 10-3 s-1 at at 5 µl/min; and koff for C6ML3–9 = 0.76 x 10-3 s-1 at both flow rates).

As expected, the rate of dissociation decreased with increasing incubation time (Fig. 1A)Citation . This experiment was repeated for the C6.5 and C6ML3–9 scFv and diabody, and the results were plotted as dissociation rate versus incubation time (Fig. 1, BCitationD). In these experiments, the apparent bivalent equilibrium constants of diabodies decreased with increased association time (Fig. 1)Citation . For C6ML3–9db, the diabody with the highest intrinsic affinity, the change in dissociation rate was only minimal over the 2-h examination period (Fig. 1D)Citation . However, for the C6G98Adb, which has the lowest intrinsic affinity, the dissociation rate dropped dramatically during the first 5 min of association and then stabilized (Fig. 1B)Citation . Similarly, for the C6.5 diabody, the dissociation rate stabilized after about 70 min of association (Fig. 1C)Citation . These results indicate an inverse relationship between the dissociation rate constant of a bivalent molecule and the time required to achieve bivalent binding.



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Fig. 1. Effect of association time on the dissociation rate constant (koff) of scFv and diabodies as determined by SPR. A, C6G98A diabody (25 µg/ml) was injected at 5 µl/min for the times indicated onto ~1000 RU of ErbB2 ECD immobilized on a BIAcore CM10 chip. BD, dissociation rate constants of diabody ({triangleup}) or scFv ({circ}) were determined from sensorgrams such as the one in shown in A and plotted as a function of time. B, C6G98A; C, C6.5; D, C6ML3–9.

 
In these experiments, a diabody concentration of 25 µg/ml was used because this is comparable with the predicted serum concentration in patients following the administration of therapeutic doses of Mab (23) and approximately equal to the calculated diabody dose (20 µg) used in the biodistribution studies described below. Rebinding of the diabody to the antigen matrix on the BIAcore chip will alter the measured dissociation rates. To minimize this effect, diabody dissociation rates were fitted as close to maximum binding as possible. The dissociation rate constants obtained for the C6G98A and C6.5 diabodies after 5 and 70 min of association, respectively, most likely represent the true bivalent equilibrium constants under the conditions studied.

The dissociation rate constants of the diabodies obtained after 2 h of association are reported in Table 2Citation . The diabody apparent equilibrium constants were then calculated as kon/koff (after 2 h of binding; Table 2Citation ). Not surprisingly, the apparent affinity was significantly greater than the intrinsic affinity. The magnitude of the increase in affinity, however, was inversely proportional to the intrinsic affinities of the molecules (Tables 1Citation and 2)Citation . For the lowest affinity diabody, C6G98Adb, the increase in affinity mediated by bivalent binding was 51-fold, from 409 nM to 8 nM. Similarly, for the C6.5 diabody the affinity increased 21-fold from 34 nM to 1.6 nM as a result of bivalent binding. For the diabody with the highest affinity, C6ML3–9, the increase in apparent affinity was only 5.6-fold, from 2.0 nM to 0.36 nM. This relationship was also observed when comparing the increase in apparent affinity of the diabody to the affinity of the parental scFv (17-fold, 16-fold, and 2.8-fold for C6G98A, C6.5, and C6ML3–9, respectively; Table 2Citation ). Differences between the increment in apparent KD seen for scFv versus diabody are due to minor differences in the intrinsic association and dissociation rate constants that resulted from conversion of the scFv to diabody format (Table 1)Citation .


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Table 2 Apparent diabody dissociation rate constants and equilibrium constant

Diabody dissociation rate constants were measured on immobilized ErbB2 ECD after 2 h of association. Equilibrium constants were calculated as KD = koff/kon.

 
Equilibrium Constants for Binding to ErbB2-overexpressing Cancer Cells.
Because the ErbB2 target antigen could be present in many orientations on the BIAcore chip, the KD determined by SPR may not accurately reflect that measured for cell surface binding to ErbB2. Accordingly, to validate the bivalent apparent equilibrium constants determined by SPR, equilibrium constants were also determined for binding to ErbB2 expressed on the surface of SKOV3 tumor cells using fluorescence cytometry (Fig. 2)Citation . Because direct fluorescent labeling of antibody fragments is often associated with decreased affinity, diabodies were genetically tagged with an affinity-matured version of the FLAG tag (DYKAK; Ref. 19 ) and detected with FITC-labeled anti-FLAG M1. We determined that the affinity of the anti-FLAG antibody for the FLAG peptide tag on the diabody constructs was 2 nM (results not shown) and, thus, was similar to what has previously been published for its interaction with the synthetic peptide (19) . This high-affinity interaction ensured that the secondary antibody could be used at saturating concentration. As described by Benedict et al. (21) , these conditions are required for the measured fluorescence to be directly proportional to the amount of antibody fragment bound.



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Fig. 2. Equilibrium-binding curves for scFv, diabodies, and C6.5 scFv-Fc fusion protein as determined by flow cytometry. ScFv ({blacktriangleup}), diabodies ({diamondsuit}), or C6.5-fusions ({diamondsuit}) were incubated with SK-OV-3 cells at room temperature for 2 h, and binding was detected with anti-FLAG-FITC conjugate: A, C6G98A scFv and diabody; B, C6.5 scFv and diabody; C, C6ML3–9 scFv and diabody; D, bivalent C6.5 scFv-Fc fusion. Experiments were done in triplicate; bars represent SDs.

 
The results of these studies demonstrated that the scFv and diabody equilibrium constants on cells, as determined by flow cytometry, correlated well with the values determined by SPR (Table 3Citation and Fig. 2Citation ). The correlation indicates that the diabodies, despite their relatively rigid structure (15) , are able to bind two ligands on the cell surface simultaneously, as observed in the more artificial SPR analysis. As with the case of equilibrium constants measured by SPR, bivalent diabodies had significantly higher apparent affinities than the parental scFv. Similarly, the increment in equilibrium constant for bivalent diabody was greatest for the lowest affinity scFv C6G98A (65-fold) and least for the highest affinity scFv (7.7-fold).


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Table 3 Comparison of equilibrium constants of scFv and diabodies for binding to cells

KD values for binding to cells were determined by fitting the data from Fig. 2Citation to the Lineweaver-Burk equation.

 
To determine whether the magnitude of the decrease in KD for diabody binding to cells was comparable with that observed for other bivalent antibody molecules, the affinity of a C6.5-Fc fusion protein was measured (20) . In this recombinant antibody molecule, the C6.5 scFv was genetically linked to the hinge, CH2, and CH3 domains of human IgG1. The hinge region should allow similar flexibility to the scFv-binding sites as in an IgG antibody. The scFv-Fc fusion retains the intrinsic affinity of the parental scFv (20) . The affinity of the bivalent C6.5-Fc fusion for binding to cells was determined (Fig. 2D)Citation and is similar to that of the C6.5 diabody (3.9 nM versus 3.4 nM, respectively). The results indicate that differences in binding site flexibility and size of the molecules for these two bivalent molecules does not significantly affect the affinity for binding to cell surface antigens. This result also suggests that the relationship observed between monovalent and bivalent equilibrium constants observed for diabodies is likely to hold for other bivalent antibody constructs.

Biodistribution of Diabodies in scid Mice Bearing ErbB2-overexpressing Tumors.
The relevance of the in vitro observations to in vivo tumor targeting was determined by measuring the biodistribution of the three diabodies and the C6.5 scFv in scid mice bearing s.c. SKOV3 tumors overexpressing the ErbB2 antigen. The tumor, blood, and organ retention of radioiodinated scFv and diabody molecules were determined at 1, 4, 24, 48, and 72 h after i.v. administration. As expected, the larger size (50 kDa) of the diabody constructs resulted in a prolonged blood retention as compared with that seen with the smaller (25 kDa) C6.5 scFv molecule (Fig. 3, B, C, and DCitation versus A). This is reflected in the 4–5-fold greater blood AUC values for the diabody molecules as compared with C6.5 scFv (Table 4)Citation . The calculated t1/2 {alpha} for C6.5 scFv and diabody were 0.23 h and 0.67 h; the calculated t1/2 ß were 5.70 and 6.42 h, respectively. Diabodies exhibited significantly greater (2–5-fold) quantitative tumor retention at 24 h than was achieved with the highest affinity scFv studied (Fig. 3Citation and Table 4Citation ). This likely results from a combination of a higher apparent affinity, because of bivalent binding, and a slower serum clearance. Calculations of the cumulative residence of the radioiodinated diabodies and scFv, expressed as AUC, were determined. These were also significantly greater for diabodies compared with scFv (Table 4)Citation . Importantly, the difference in apparent affinity between diabodies did not significantly alter the quantitative tumor retention or tumor:blood ratios. In fact, the tumor AUC, tumor:blood AUC, and the 24-h tumor retention of the two lower-affinity diabodies (C6G98A and C6.5) were ~2-fold better than for the high-affinity C6ML39 diabody.



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Fig. 3. The in vivo tumor targeting of radioiodinated scFv and diabodies. ScFv or diabody biodistribution studies were performed in SK-OV-3 tumor-bearing scid mice. Twenty micrograms of radioiodinated diabody or scFv were administered by i.v. tail vein injection to each mouse. Cohorts of five mice that received the 125I-diabodies or scFv were sacrificed at the indicated time after injection. The plotted values represent the mean tumor (•) and blood ({circ}) obtained from five mice per data point. Bars represent the SE. A, C6.5 scFv; B, C6G98A diabody; C, C6.5 diabody; D, C6ML3–9 diabody.

 

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Table 4 Evaluation of targeting of 125I-labeled diabodies and scFv in tumor-bearing scid mice

AUCs were calculated from the data in Fig. 3Citation .

 
To determine whether the observed differences in AUC resulted from instability of the constructs, the diabodies were incubated in human serum for 3 days at 37°C and binding activities were compared by SPR. This study revealed that the constructs were very stable, with observed binding activities equal to 97% (C6G98A), 94% (C6.5), and 85% (C6ML3–9) of the original activity. This suggests that the observed differences in biodistribution reflect differences in the kinetic properties of the molecules, serum half-life, tumor penetration, and stability at the tumor site rather than proteolytic degradation in the circulation.


    DISCUSSION
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Bivalent and multivalent antibody-based molecules have recently been demonstrated to exhibit superior tumor retention properties as compared with monovalent fragments (5 , 8 , 11 , 16 , 24) . Multiple approaches have been used in the construction of this class of molecules. These approaches range from direct cross-linking via a cysteine engineered onto the COOH-terminal of scFv (5) to the use of amphipathic helices to multimerize the scFv (10) . However, the simplest approach takes advantage of scFv tendency to spontaneously form noncovalent dimers or diabodies. Because diabodies have molecular weights of ~Mr 50,000, they are small enough to be rapidly eliminated from the circulation via first-pass renal clearance. Because diabody size and molecular structure is similar to Fab fragments, it is expected that diabodies will readily penetrate from blood vessels into solid tumors, as reported for Fabs (6) . The divalent nature of the interaction of diabodies with cell surface tumor antigen is widely recognized as being important in maintaining prolonged residence in tumors. What has been less clear is the precise relationship between the intrinsic affinity of the binding site, the increase in apparent affinity due to bivalent binding, and the impact of higher-affinity binding on in vivo tumor targeting.

The studies presented here were designed to examine the effect of affinity of a series of bivalent diabodies on their antigen-binding kinetics and their in vitro and in vivo tumor-targeting properties. Because all of the constructs were the same size and recognized the same epitope of ErbB2, any observed differences likely resulted solely from the differences in binding affinity. The role of valency on the impact of affinity was readily apparent when we compared the scFv and diabody constructs. The C6.5 scFv and its affinity mutants differ from each other by only one to three amino acid residues, yet differ in affinity for the same epitope of ErbB2 by 133-fold (18) . However, when diabodies were constructed from the scFv, the resulting difference in affinity was reduced to only 22-fold. Most importantly, the greatest increment in affinity was observed for the diabody constructed from the lowest affinity scFv. Clearly, the kinetics of interaction is dependent on more than the straightforward additive impact of the individual affinities of the binding sites.

The equilibrium between a bivalent antibody and its antigen has often been depicted as a two-step reaction, involving free antibody and antigen as well as antibody, monovalently or bivalently complexed to its antigen. In this model, the association occurs in two steps. In the first reaction, the antibody monovalently binds to a single antigen before encountering a second antigen, after which the interaction can become bivalent. Whereas the rate of first reaction is determined by the association rate constant of the monovalent antibody arm, the second rate is dependent on external factors such as the density and fluidity of the antigen in the cell membrane (25) and the radius spanned by the antibody. In theoretical models of antibody interactions with cell surface antigen, it is often assumed that the antigen is in excess and the rate of bivalent binding solely depends on antigen diffusion (25 , 26) . In clinical use, however, large doses of antibody are used, potentially resulting in an excess of antibody at the binding site and the possibility of significant quantities of antigen bound monovalently.

To understand the dynamics of the binding kinetics, we studied the time dependence of bivalent binding of diabodies to ErbB2 by SPR under the conditions of high diabody concentration that might be expected in regions of tumor proximal to blood vessel. The results indicated that a large fraction of diabodies initially bind to only one antigen. Under these conditions, the bivalent dissociation rate constant decreased with increased binding time and the decrease in dissociation rate constant was inversely proportional to that of the monovalent interaction. Whereas the dissociation rate of the diabody with the lowest affinity rapidly stabilized at a 15-fold lower rate after 2 h of association, the decrease in the bivalent dissociation rate constant for the C6ML3–9 diabody was only 3-fold. One possible explanation for this result is that diabodies with lower intrinsic equilibrium constant can more rapidly achieve bivalent binding, because those bound monovalently dissociate rapidly freeing up antigen for bivalent binding by neighboring diabodies. Diabodies with higher intrinsic equilibrium constants dissociate more slowly from antigen and, thus, can prevent bivalent binding of neighboring diabodies. This effect has not been previously taken into account in theoretical models of bivalent binding.

The actual dynamics of the interaction between antibody and cell surface antigens in the tumor is, however, much more complex. The ability of IgG to extravasate and penetrate into tumor is severely limited by both the size of the antibody and the high hydrostatic pressure in the tumor resulting from a lack of draining lymphatics (27) . This results in a very uneven distribution of the antibody, ranging from a situation of antibody excess in areas adjacent to the blood vessels to antigen excess in regions distant from the vasculature. Despite their improved tumor penetration properties, similar gradients will probably result from the administration of smaller scFv and diabody molecules (6) .

In our study, the 22-fold difference in affinity (as determined by SPR) between the three diabodies did not result in greater quantitative tumor retention or tumor:blood ratio. In fact, the diabody constructed from the lowest affinity scFv (C6G98A) exhibited comparable tumor targeting to the diabody constructed from the higher-affinity C6.5 scFv and better targeting than the diabody constructed from the highest affinity C6ML3–9 scFv. Interestingly, the C6G98A scFv does not target tumor better than an irrelevant control scFv (9) . We conclude that above a threshold affinity, other factors determine the quantitative tumor delivery of a bivalent antibody fragment. This is consistent with in vivo targeting results observed for the three C6.5-based scFv (9) . This threshold affinity may be partly attributed to tumor physiology rather than simple antigen-binding kinetics. Indeed, barriers other than the antibody fragment size may exist in tumor tissue that restrict their penetration to areas distal from the blood vessels. Fujimori et al. (28) have postulated that high-affinity antibodies will not successfully penetrate deeply into tumors due to a binding site barrier effect, in which interaction with the first antigen encountered at the periphery of the tumor will block further diffusion of the antibody into the tumor. We have investigated the tumor penetration of the monovalent scFv used in this study. Whereas increasing the affinity improves the selective targeting of scFv to solid tumors (9) histochemical staining for scFv in the tumor xenografts supports the theory of Fujimori et al. (28) .4 This may explain why the C6ML3–9 diabody had significantly worse tumor-targeting properties than the other two diabodies.

In tumor-bearing immunodeficient mice, the 24-h tumor retentions of all three diabodies were superior to that of the highest affinity scFv. The differences in biodistributions of the diabodies and the scFv, thus, cannot be solely attributed to their KD. This is apparent when comparing the tumor retention at 24 h of the C6G98A diabody to that of the higher-affinity C6ML3–9 scFv (7.1 versus 1.4%ID/g tumor and KD = 5.6 nM versus 3.8 nM for the C6G98A diabody and C6ML3–9 scFv, respectively, for binding to cells). Clearly, the longer blood retention of the larger diabody molecules may account for some of the increased tumor retention because the diabodies would be expected to have more opportunities to perfuse the tumor and interact with target antigen. In addition, quantitative tumor localization may be affected by differences between kinetic versus equilibrium control of binding. The C6G98A diabody, with each binding site having a rapid dissociation rate constant, may be able to more easily dissociate from antigen and percolate through the tumor compared with a high-affinity scFv where the (single) binding site has a slower dissociation rate constant.

Differential effects of antibody fragment size, binding rates, and equilibrium constant on tumor penetration may explain the differences between our results and those of Viti et al. (29) . In those studies, biodistributions of low-affinity (KD = 41 nM) and high-affinity (KD = 0.054 nM) scFv and their diabody dimers were studied in xenografted mice whose tumors expressed the neovascular antigen fibronectin. In contrast to our results, the higher-affinity scFv exhibited greater tumor retention than the diabody constructed from the lower-affinity scFv (4-fold higher %ID/g tumor at 24 h). In their model, tumor penetration is not an issue because the antigen is in the vasculature, whereas we studied an epithelial antigen where penetration will have a dramatic effect on antibody localization. A strict comparison of results between the two systems is not possible because: (a) Viti et al. (29) did not measure the apparent affinities of the diabodies; and (b) the "diabodies" had normal length linkers and, thus, could reequilibrate to mixtures of monomer and dimer after gel filtration and before injection into mice.

On the basis of our results, it is apparent that the construction of bivalent diabodies, even from low-affinity scFv, can lead to the generation of tumor-targeting agents that are superior to those achieved through the cumbersome processes involved in affinity maturing monovalent scFv molecules. This observation may have a significant impact on the design of future multivalent antibody-based molecules for cancer therapy.


    FOOTNOTES
 
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

1 Supported by National Cancer Institute Grants CA65559 and CA06927; Department of Defense Grants DAMD17-98-1-8189, DAMD17-98-1-8307, and DAMD17-94-J-4433; an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Bernard A. and Rebecca S. Bernard Foundation, the Frank Strick Foundation, and the CaPCURE Foundation. Back

2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of Anesthesiology and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California–San Francisco, Room 3C-38, 1001 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110. E-mail: Marksj{at}anesthesia.ucsf.edu Back

3 The abbreviations used are: Mab, monoclonal antibody; scFv, single-chain Fv; %ID, percentage of the injected dose; SPR, surface plasmon resonance; RU, resonance unit; ECD, extracellular domain; AUC, area under the curve; aa, amino acid. Back

4 G. P. Adams, R. Schier, A. M. McCall, H. Simmons, E. M. Horak, R. K. Alpaugh, J. D. Marks, and L. M. Weiner. High affinity restricts the localization and tumor penetration of single chain Fv antibody molecules, submitted for publication. Back

Received 3/27/00. Accepted 9/13/00.


    REFERENCES
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 

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