Rajeeva Singh

Tumor Delivery and In Vivo Processing of Disulfide-Linked and Thioether-Linked Antibody−Maytansinoid Conjugates

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are designed to eradicate cancer cells that express the target antigen on their cell surface. A key component of an ADC is the linker that covalently connects the cytotoxic agent to the antibody. Several antibody-maytansinoid conjugates prepared with disulfide-based linkers such as those targeting the CanAg antigen have been shown to display more activity in preclinical mouse xenograft models than corresponding conjugates prepared with uncleavable thioether-based linkers. To investigate how the linker influences delivery and activation of antibody-maytansinoid conjugates, we isolated and characterized the [(3)H]maytansinoids from CanAg-positive tumor tissues following a single intravenous administration of 300 microg/kg (based on maytansinoid dose) of anti-CanAg antibody (huC242)-(3)H-maytansinoid conjugates prepared with cleavable disulfide linkers and an uncleavable thioether linker. We identified three target-dependent tumor metabolites of the disulfide-linked huC242-SPDB-DM4, namely, lysine-N(epsilon)-SPDB-DM4, DM4, and S-methyl-DM4. We found similar metabolites for the less hindered disulfide-linked huC242-SPP-DM1 conjugate with the exception that no S-methyl-DM1 was detected. The sole metabolite of the uncleavable thioether-linked huC242-SMCC-DM1 was lysine-N(epsilon)-SMCC-DM1. The AUC for the metabolites of huC242-SMCC-DM1 at the tumor over 7 d was about 2-fold greater than the corresponding AUC for the metabolites of the disulfide-linked conjugates. The lipophilic metabolites of the disulfide-linked conjugates were found to be nearly 1000 times more cytotoxic than the more hydrophilic lysine-N(epsilon)-linker-maytansinoids in cell-based viability assays when added extracellularly. The cell killing properties associated with the lipophilic metabolites of the disulfide-linked conjugates (DM4 and S-methyl-DM4, and DM1) provide an explanation for the superior in vivo efficacy that is often observed with antibody-maytansinoid conjugates prepared with disulfide-based linkers in xenograft mouse models.

Antibody-Maytansinoid Conjugates Designed to Bypass Multidrug Resistance

Conjugation of cytotoxic compounds to antibodies that bind to cancer-specific antigens makes these drugs selective in killing cancer cells. However, many of the compounds used in such antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) are substrates for the multidrug transporter MDR1. To evade the MDR1-mediated resistance, we conjugated the highly cytotoxic maytansinoid DM1 to antibodies via the maleimidyl-based hydrophilic linker PEG(4)Mal. Following uptake into target cells, conjugates made with the PEG(4)Mal linker were processed to a cytotoxic metabolite that was retained by MDR1-expressing cells better than a metabolite of similar conjugates prepared with the nonpolar linker N-succinimidyl-4-(maleimidomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylate (SMCC). In accord, PEG(4)Mal-linked conjugates were more potent in killing MDR1-expressing cells in culture. In addition, PEG(4)Mal-linked conjugates were markedly more effective in eradicating MDR1-expressing human xenograft tumors than SMCC-linked conjugates while being tolerated similarly, thus showing an improved therapeutic index. This study points the way to the development of ADCs that bypass multidrug resistance.

Disulfide-Linked Antibody−Maytansinoid Conjugates: Optimization of In Vivo Activity by Varying the Steric Hindrance at Carbon Atoms Adjacent to the Disulfide Linkage

In this report, we describe the synthesis of a panel of disulfide-linked huC242 (anti-CanAg) antibody maytansinoid conjugates (AMCs), which have varying levels of steric hindrance around the disulfide bond, in order to investigate the relationship between stability to reduction of the disulfide linker and antitumor activity of the conjugate in vivo. The conjugates were first tested for stability to reduction by dithiothreitol in vitro and for plasma stability in CD1 mice. It was found that the conjugates having the more sterically hindered disulfide linkages were more stable to reductive cleavage of the maytansinoid in both settings. When the panel of conjugates was tested for in vivo efficacy in two human colon cancer xenograft models in SCID mice, it was found that the conjugate with intermediate disulfide bond stability having two methyl groups on the maytansinoid side of the disulfide bond and no methyl groups on the linker side of the disulfide bond (huC242-SPDB-DM4) displayed the best efficacy. The ranking of in vivo efficacies of the conjugates was not predicted by their in vitro potencies, since all conjugates were highly active in vitro, including a huC242-SMCC-DM1 conjugate with a noncleavable linkage which showed only marginal activity in vivo. These data suggest that factors in addition to intrinsic conjugate potency and conjugate half-life in plasma influence the magnitude of antitumor activity observed for an AMC in vivo. We provide evidence that bystander killing of neighboring nontargeted tumor cells by diffusible cytotoxic metabolites produced from target cell processing of disulfide-linked antibody-maytansinoid conjugates may be one additional factor contributing to the activity of these conjugates in vivo.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Hydrophilic Linkers for Antibody–Maytansinoid Conjugates

The synthesis and biological evaluation of hydrophilic heterobifunctional cross-linkers for conjugation of antibodies with highly cytotoxic agents are described. These linkers contain either a negatively charged sulfonate group or a hydrophilic, noncharged PEG group in addition to an amine-reactive N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester and sulfhydryl reactive termini. These hydrophilic linkers enable conjugation of hydrophobic organic molecule drugs, such as a maytansinoid, at a higher drug/antibody ratio (DAR) than hydrophobic SPDB and SMCC linkers used earlier without triggering aggregation or loss of affinity of the resulting conjugate. Antibody-maytansinoid conjugates (AMCs) bearing these sulfonate- or PEG-containing hydrophilic linkers were, depending on the nature of the targeted cells, equally to more cytotoxic to antigen-positive cells and equally to less cytotoxic to antigen-negative cells than conjugates made with SPDB or SMCC linkers and thus typically displayed a wider selectivity window, particularly against multidrug resistant (MDR) cancer cell lines in vitro and tumor xenograft models in vivo.

Down-regulation of Insulin Receptor by Antibodies against the Type I Insulin-Like Growth Factor Receptor: Implications for Anti–Insulin-Like Growth Factor Therapy in Breast Cancer

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-II, and insulin have all been implicated in regulating several aspects of the malignant phenotype via the type I IGF receptor (IGF1R) and insulin receptor (IR). We have previously shown that a chimeric single-chain antibody against IGF1R (scFv-Fc) and a murine antibody EM164 down-regulate IGF1R, making breast cancer cells unresponsive to IGF-I. To determine if IR signaling is affected, we examined regulation of IR in MCF-7 cells after exposure to these antibodies. Surprisingly, both scFv-Fc and EM164 resulted in decreased levels of IR in vitro and in vivo despite their lack of reactivity against IR. Twenty-four-hour pretreatment with EM164 also inhibited insulin-mediated phosphorylation of IR and insulin-stimulated proliferation of MCF-7 cells. Neither scFv-Fc nor EM164 caused down-regulation of IR in cells that express very low levels of IGF1R or no IGF1R. Expression of IGF1R was required for IR down-regulation, which was specific as neither antibody caused down-regulation of beta1 integrin or epidermal growth factor receptor. Reagents that disrupt lipid rafts inhibited IR down-regulation by the antibodies, suggesting that IR in close physical proximity to IGF1R in lipid rafts was being endocytosed. Our data show that down-regulation of IR by monoclonal antibodies against IGF1R requires the coexpression of IGF1R and may be due to endocytosis of hybrid IR/IGF1R or holo-IR. Thus, antibodies against IGF1R provide inhibition of both IGF and insulin signaling in cancer cells.

Design of Antibody−Maytansinoid Conjugates Allows for Efficient Detoxification via Liver Metabolism

Antibody-maytansinoid conjugates (AMCs) are targeted chemotherapeutic agents consisting of a potent microtubule-depolymerizing maytansinoid (DM1 or DM4) attached to lysine residues of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) using an uncleavable thioether linker or a stable disulfide linker. Most of the administered dose of an antibody-based therapeutic is slowly catabolized by the liver and other tissues of the reticuloendothelial system. Maytansinoids released from an AMC during this catabolic process could potentially be a source of toxicity. To investigate this, we isolated and identified liver metabolites in mice for three different [(3)H]AMCs with structures similar to those currently undergoing evaluation in the clinic. We then synthesized each metabolite to confirm the identification and assessed their cytotoxic potencies when added extracellularly. We found that the uncleavable mAb-SMCC-[(3)H]DM1 conjugate was degraded to a single major maytansinoid metabolite, lysine-SMCC-[(3)H]DM1, that was nearly 50-fold less cytotoxic than maytansine. The two disulfide-linked conjugates, mAb-SPP-[(3)H]DM1 and mAb-SPDB-[(3)H]DM4, were also found to be catabolized to the analogous lysine-linked maytansinoid metabolites. However, subsequent reduction, S-methylation, and NADPH-dependent oxidation steps in the liver yielded the corresponding S-methyl sulfoxide and S-methyl sulfone derivatives. The cytotoxic potencies of the oxidized maytansinoids toward several human carcinoma cell lines were found to be 5- to 50-fold less potent than maytansine. Our results suggest that liver plays an important role in the detoxification of both cleavable and uncleavable AMCs.

Antibody–Cytotoxic Agent Conjugates: Preparation and Characterization

Conjugates of antibodies with cytotoxic agents offer a targeted therapeutic strategy against cancer cells expressing target antigens. Several antibodies against various cancer cell-surface antigens have been conjugated with different cytotoxic agents that inhibit essential cellular targets such as microtubules or DNA. Antibody-cytotoxic agent conjugates (ACCs) against several types of cancer are currently in advanced stages of clinical trials and one, gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg), is approved for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. The linker group connecting the antibody to the cytotoxic agent is an important feature of the ACC, modulating the release of the active cytotoxic agent in the targeted cell. Several linker strategies employed for ACCs in current clinical trials include cleavable linkers with disulfide, hydrazone, lysosomal protease-substrate groups, and non-cleavable linkers. This chapter describes the methods of preparation of conjugates of antibodies with small-molecule cytotoxic agents (maytansinoids, calicheamicin, and auristatins) bearing different linkers. Methods to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo anti-tumor efficacy of ACC are described in brief. Analytical methods are described to evaluate the mechanism of cellular processing of the ACCs with different linkers and the generation of the active metabolites.

IMGN853, a Folate Receptor-α (FRα)–Targeting Antibody–Drug Conjugate, Exhibits Potent Targeted Antitumor Activity against FRα-Expressing Tumors

A majority of ovarian and non–small cell lung adenocarcinoma cancers overexpress folate receptor α (FRα). Here, we report the development of an anti-FRα antibody–drug conjugate (ADC), consisting of a FRα-binding antibody attached to a highly potent maytansinoid that induces cell-cycle arrest and cell death by targeting microtubules. From screening a large panel of anti-FRα monoclonal antibodies, we selected the humanized antibody M9346A as the best antibody for targeted delivery of a maytansinoid payload into FRα-positive cells. We compared M9346A conjugates with various linker/maytansinoid combinations, and found that a conjugate, now denoted as IMGN853, with the N-succinimidyl 4-(2-pyridyldithio)-2-sulfobutanoate (sulfo-SPDB) linker and N2′-deacetyl-N2′-(4-mercapto-4-methyl-1-oxopentyl)-maytansine (DM4) exhibited the most potent antitumor activity in several FRα-expressing xenograft tumor models. The level of expression of FRα on the surface of cells was a major determinant in the sensitivity of tumor cells to the cytotoxic effect of the conjugate. Efficacy studies of IMGN853 in xenografts of ovarian cancer and non–small cell lung cancer cell lines and of a patient tumor-derived xenograft model demonstrated that the ADC was highly active against tumors that expressed FRα at levels similar to those found on a large fraction of ovarian and non-small cell lung cancer patient tumors, as assessed by immunohistochemistry. IMGN853 displayed cytotoxic activity against FRα-negative cells situated near FRα-positive cells (bystander cytotoxic activity), indicating its ability to eradicate tumors with heterogeneous expression of FRα. Together, these findings support the clinical development of IMGN853 as a novel targeted therapy for patients with FRα-expressing tumors. Mol Cancer Ther; 14(7); 1605–13. ©2015 AACR.

Measurement of thiol-disulfide interchange reactions and thiol pKa values

Publisher Summary Thiol-disulfide interchange (SH/S 2 interchange) reactions involving proteins are important in a number of biochemical processes including formation and cleavage of structural cystines, control of enzyme activities by reversible redox reactions of enzyme thiols and disulfides, and redox processes requiring thiols. The reaction is mechanistically simple: it involves initial ionization of thiol to thiolate anion, followed by nucleophilic attack of thiolate anion on the sulfur-sulfur bond of the disulfide. There are three types of parameters that must be determined to characterize fully a SH/S 2 interchange reaction: (1) the rates at which the displacement steps occur, (2) the values of p K a of the participating thiols, and (3) the positions of the equilibria between the thiol (thiolate) and disulfide species. The chapter discusses the characteristics of each of these parameters and describes methods of determining them. The methods are useful for biologically relevant thiols and cysteine groups in proteins.

A novel pathway for maytansinoid release from thioether linked antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) under oxidative conditions

A novel pathway for ex vivo maytansinoid release from thioether linked antibody maytansinoid conjugates (AMCs) upon incubation in human plasma has been identified. A thioether succinimide-linked AMC can undergo chemical oxidation followed by sulfoxide elimination under mild aqueous conditions (pH 5.5-7.5, 37 °C). Oxidized thioether-linked AMCs exhibit high, target-specific cytotoxicity toward cancer cells.