Anat Oren

Peptides modulating conformational changes in secreted chaperones: From in silico design to preclinical proof of concept

Blocking conformational changes in biologically active proteins holds therapeutic promise. Inspired by the susceptibility of viral entry to inhibition by synthetic peptides that block the formation of helix–helix interactions in viral envelope proteins, we developed a computational approach for predicting interacting helices. Using this approach, which combines correlated mutations analysis and Fourier transform, we designed peptides that target gp96 and clusterin, 2 secreted chaperones known to shift between inactive and active conformations. In human blood mononuclear cells, the gp96-derived peptide inhibited the production of TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 induced by endotoxin by >80%. When injected into mice, the peptide reduced circulating levels of endotoxin-induced TNFα, IL-6, and IFNγ by >50%. The clusterin-derived peptide arrested proliferation of several neoplastic cell lines, and significantly enhanced the cytostatic activity of taxol in vitro and in a xenograft model of lung cancer. Also, the predicted mode of action of the active peptides was experimentally verified. Both peptides bound to their parent proteins, and their biological activity was abolished in the presence of the peptides corresponding to the counterpart helices. These data demonstrate a previously uncharacterized method for rational design of protein antagonists.

ILDR2 Is a Novel B7-like Protein That Negatively Regulates T Cell Responses

The B7-like protein family members play critical immunomodulatory roles and constitute attractive targets for the development of novel therapies for human diseases. We identified Ig-like domain–containing receptor (ILDR)2 as a novel B7-like protein with robust T cell inhibitory activity, expressed in immune cells and in immune-privileged and inflamed tissues. A fusion protein, consisting of ILDR2 extracellular domain with an Fc fragment, that binds to a putative counterpart on activated T cells showed a beneficial effect in the collagen-induced arthritis model and abrogated the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in autologous synovial-like cocultures of macrophages and cytokine-stimulated T cells. Collectively, these findings point to ILDR2 as a novel negative regulator for T cells, with potential roles in the development of immune-related diseases, including autoimmunity and cancer.

Gp96 Peptide Antagonist gp96-II Confers Therapeutic Effects in Murine Intestinal Inflammation

Background The expression of heat shock protein gp96 is strongly correlated with the degree of tissue inflammation in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, thereby leading us to the hypothesis that inhibition of expression via gp96-II peptide prevents intestinal inflammation. Methods We employed daily injections of gp96-II peptide in two murine models of intestinal inflammation, the first resulting from five daily injections of IL-12/IL-18, the second via a single intrarectal application of TNBS (2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid). We also assessed the effectiveness of gp96-II peptide in murine and human primary cell culture. Results In the IL-12/IL-18 model, all gp96-II peptide-treated animals survived until day 5, whereas 80% of placebo-injected animals died. gp96-II peptide reduced IL-12/IL-18-induced plasma IFNγ by 89%, IL-1β by 63%, IL-6 by 43% and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by 70% compared to controls. The clinical assessment Disease Activity Index of intestinal inflammation severity was found to be significantly lower in the gp96-II-treated animals when compared to vehicle-injected mice. gp96-II peptide treatment in the TNBS model limited weight loss to 5% on day 7 compared with prednisolone treatment, whereas placebo-treated animals suffered a 20% weight loss. Histological disease severity was reduced equally by prednisolone (by 40%) and gp96-II peptide (35%). Mice treated with either gp96-II peptide or prednisolone exhibited improved endoscopic scores compared with vehicle-treated control mice: vascularity, fibrin, granularity, and translucency scores were reduced by up to 49% by prednisolone and by up to 30% by gp96-II peptide. In vitro, gp96-II peptide reduced TLR2-, TLR4- and IL-12/IL-18-induced cytokine expression in murine splenocytes, with declines in constitutive IL-6 (54%), lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF (48%), IL-6 (81%) and in Staphylococcus epidermidis-induced TNF (67%) and IL-6 (81%), as well as IL-12/IL-18-induced IFNγ (75%). gp96-II peptide reduced IL–1β, IL-6, TNF and GM-CSF in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells to a similar degree without affecting cell viability, whereas RANTES, IL-25 and MIF were twofold to threefold increased. Conclusion gp96-II peptide protects against murine intestinal inflammation by regulating inflammation in vivo and in vitro, pointing to its promise as a novel treatment for inflammatory bowel disease.

Abstract B291: Identification of novel immune checkpoints and their implementation as mAb targets for cancer immunotherapy.

Immune checkpoints, such as CTLA4 and PD-1, have emerged as promising drug targets for cancer immunotherapy. We hypothesize that additional novel members of the B7/CD28 family play a role in T cell regulation and thus may serve as targets for therapeutic mAbs. However, the discovery of novel family members is challenging since proteins of the immune system, including proteins of the B7 protein In order to identify novel members of the B7/CD28 protein family, Compugen has developed a discovery approach integrating gene and protein information with extensive expression data, and has identified nine novel membrane proteins that possess characteristics of the B7/CD28 protein family members and are therefore predicted to play a role in T cell co-stimulation.nnIn order to validate our predictive discovery findings, we evaluated the effect of our proteins on immune cells, particularly T cells. For that goal, we expressed the proteins on the cell surface upon ectopic expression, and also produced fusion proteins consisting of the extracellular domain of the predicted proteins, fused to an IgG Fc domain. Here we present results obtained for two of our novel proteins, CGEN-15001T and CGEN-15022. Both display robust inhibition of T cell activation. Interestingly, CGEN-15001, one of the Fc-fused proteins, leads to increased levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-4 and IL5, while reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IFN-γ and IL-17. In addition, CGEN-15001 was found to enhance iTregs differentiation. Furthermore, these molecules showed therapeutic efficacy in mouse models of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.nnTo investigate the potential of these membrane proteins as drug targets for treatment of cancer we have performed extensive IHC studies, on a variety of healthy and malignant tissues. Both CGEN-15001T and CGEN-15022 were found to be expressed in numerous types of cancers, each showing a unique pattern of expression. CGEN-15001T, in addition to its expression on tumor cells, was found to be expressed on tumor infiltrating immune cells, especially on Macrophages and Mast cells.nnBased on the immunomodulatory activities and the expression pattern on malignant and immune cells, CGEN15001T and CGEN15022 may serve as mAb targets for cancer immunotherapy.nnCitation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):B291.nnCitation Format: Gady Cojocaru, Ofer Levy, Amir Toporik, Liat Dassa, Iris Hecht, Ilan Vaknin, Sergey Nemzer, Tania Pergan, Amit Novik, Shirley Sameah-Greenwald, Anat Oren, Zohar Tiran, Peter Steinberger, Joseph Podojil, Nora Tarcic, Eyal Neria, Galit Rotman, Zurit Levine. Identification of novel immune checkpoints and their implementation as mAb targets for cancer immunotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B291.