| Abstract: | Using an expanded genetic code, antibodies with site-specifically incorporated nonnative amino acids were produced in stable cell lines derived from a CHO cell line with titers over 1 g/L. Using anti-5T4 and anti-Her2 antibodies as model systems, site-specific antibody drug conjugates (NDCs) were produced, via oxime bond formation between ketones on the side chain of the incorporated nonnative amino acid and hydroxylamine functionalized monomethyl auristatin D with either protease-cleavable or noncleavable linkers. When noncleavable linkers were used, these conjugates were highly stable and displayed improved in vitro efficacy as well as in vivo efficacy and pharmacokinetic stability in rodent models relative to conventional antibody drug conjugates conjugated through either engineered surface-exposed or reduced interchain disulfide bond cysteine residues. The advantages of the oxime-bonded, site-specific NDCs were even more apparent when low–antigen-expressing (2+) target cell lines were used in the comparative studies. NDCs generated with protease-cleavable linkers demonstrated that the site of conjugation had a significant impact on the stability of these rationally designed prodrug linkers. In a single-dose rat toxicology study, a site-specific anti-Her2 NDC was well tolerated at dose levels up to 90 mg/kg. These experiments support the notion that chemically defined antibody conjugates can be synthesized in commercially relevant yields and can lead to antibody drug conjugates with improved properties relative to the heterogeneous conjugates formed by nonspecific chemical modification.Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are emerging as a new class of anticancer therapeutics that combine the efficacy of small-molecule therapeutics with the targeting ability of an antibody (Ab) (1, 2). By combining these two components into a single molecular entity, highly cytotoxic small-molecule drugs (SMDs) can be delivered to cancerous target tissues, thereby enhancing efficacy while reducing the potential systemic toxic side effects of the SMD. Conventional ADCs are typically produced by conjugating the SMD to the Ab through the side chains of either surface-exposed lysines or free cysteines generated through reduction of interchain disulfide bonds (3, 4). Because antibodies contain many lysine and cysteine residues, conventional conjugation typically produces heterogeneous mixtures that present challenges with respect to analytical characterization and manufacturing. Furthermore, the individual constituents of these mixtures exhibit different pharmacology with respect to their pharmacokinetic, efficacy, and safety profiles, hindering a rational approach to optimizing this modality (5).Recently, it was reported that the pharmacological profile of ADCs may be improved by applying site-specific conjugation technologies that make use of surface-exposed cysteine residues engineered into antibodies (THIOMABS) that are then conjugated to the SMD, resulting in site-specifically conjugated ADCs (TDCs) with defined Ab–drug ratios. Relative to the heterogeneous mixtures created using conventional conjugation methodologies, site-specifically conjugated TDCs demonstrated equivalent in vivo potency, improved PK, and an expanded therapeutic window (6, 7). Although this approach may be useful for generating site-specifically conjugated ADCs, THIOMABS produced using this process are not directly amenable to conjugation, but instead, require a multistep process that includes decapping of the engineered cysteine residues, which inevitably results in the partial breaking and reformation of structurally important internal disulfide bonds. Site-specific ADCs generated by enzymatic modification also have demonstrated improved stability and pharmacokinetics; however, a surface-exposed transglutamase tag (LLQG) needs to be engineered into antibodies at a permissive site (8).To provide a more facile and generally applicable approach for synthesizing site-specifically conjugated ADCs, we developed a recombinant DNA-based eukaryotic protein expression system using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to biosynthetically incorporate nonnative amino acids into a given Ab scaffold (9). Nonnative amino acids, such as para-acetylphenylalanine (pAF) and para-azidophenylalanine (pAZ), can provide orthogonal conjugation chemistries that otherwise are not available from functional groups present in the 20 canonical amino acids. Nonnative amino acid incorporation technology using Escherichia coli expression systems can provide large quantities (>5 g/L) of proteins for clinical use (10). However, E. coli expression is limited to relatively simple, nonglycosylated proteins. The production of more complex glycosylated proteins, such as full-length antibodies, requires a eukaryotic expression system such as CHO cells. Previous attempts to incorporate nonnative amino acids in eukaryotic organisms have met with limited success as the product titers achieved were not high enough for product development and commercialization (11, 12).We report here, the development of a stable expression system using CHO cells (EuCODE) that produces antibodies incorporating nonnative amino acids with titers over 1 g/L. We have applied this technology to the generation of site-specific Ab drug conjugates (NDCs) synthesized by site-specific coupling of the potent tubulin inhibitor, monomethyl auristatin D (MMAD) (13), to genetically encoded pAF residues in anti-5T4 (A1) and anti-Her2 (Her) antibodies. 5T4, also known as trophoblast glycoprotein, is a cell surface antigen that internalizes rapidly, and is highly expressed on colorectal and gastric cancers (14). Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2) is the target of the therapeutic agents Trastuzumab and Trastuzumab-mcc-DM1 (T-DM1), and is highly expressed in breast cancers (15). The resulting NDCs were compared in rodent efficacy studies to both conventional ADCs (generated from reduced interchain cysteines) and engineered cysteine TDCs. The NDCs demonstrated superior efficacy and pharmacokinetic properties, and in a single-dose rat toxicology study, the anti-Her2 NDC was well tolerated at dose up to 90 mg/kg. Finally, in vitro plasma stability studies showed that the site of conjugation had a significant impact on the stability of rationally designed cleavable linkers. |
