Islet primary nonfunction (PNF) is defined as the loss of islet function after transplantation for reasons other than graft rejection. It is a major obstacle to successful and efficient islet transplantation. DcR3/TR6 is a soluble death decoy receptor belonging to the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor family, and it can block apoptosis mediated by several TNF receptor family members such as Fas and LTβR. In this study, we used TR6 to protect islets from PNF after transplantation. Untreated isogeneic or allogeneic islet transplantation had PNF incidence of 25 and 26.5%, respectively. Administration of TR6 totally prevented PNF in allogeneic islet transplantation. In vitro experiments showed an increased apoptosis among islets that were treated with FasL and γ-interferon (IFN-γ) in combination. TR6 significantly reduced such apoptosis. Functional study showed that insulin release was compromised after FasL and IFN-γ treatment, and the compromise could be prevented with TR6-Fc. This indicates that TR6 indeed protected β-cells from damage caused by FasL and IFN-γ. Further in vivo experiments showed that syngeneic islet transplantation between lpr/lpr and gld/gld mice was significantly more efficacious than that conducted between wild-type mice. These results suggest that Fas-mediated apoptosis plays an important role in PNF, and use of TR6 may be a novel strategy to prevent PNF in clinical islet transplantation.
PEGylation (the covalent binding of one or more polyethylene glycol molecules to another molecule) is a technology frequently used to improve the half-life and other pharmaceutical or pharmacological properties of proteins, peptides, and aptamers. To date, 11 PEGylated biopharmaceuticals have been approved and there is indication that many more are in nonclinical or clinical development. Adverse effects seen with those in toxicology studies are mostly related to the active part of the drug molecule and not to polyethylene glycol (PEG). In 5 of the 11 approved and 10 of the 17 PEGylated biopharmaceuticals in a 2013 industry survey presented here, cellular vacuolation is histologically observed in toxicology studies in certain organs and tissues. No other effects attributed to PEG alone have been reported. Importantly, vacuolation, which occurs mainly in phagocytes, has not been linked with changes in organ function in these toxicology studies. This article was authored through collaborative efforts of industry toxicologists/nonclinical scientists to address the nonclinical safety of large PEG molecules (>10 kilo Dalton) in PEGylated biopharmaceuticals. The impact of the PEG molecule on overall nonclinical safety assessments of PEGylated biopharmaceuticals is discussed, and toxicological information from a 2013 industry survey on PEGylated biopharmaceuticals under development is summarized. Results will contribute to the database of toxicological information publicly available for PEG and PEGylated biopharmaceuticals.
The transmembrane receptor for immunoglobulin G immune complexes on natural killer (NK) cells and macrophages, Fc gamma RIIIA (CD16), mediates cellular activation through a tyrosine kinase-dependent pathway. We show that Fc gamma RIII crosslinking results in activation of the src-related kinase p56lck in NK cells and demonstrate a physical association of p56lck with Fc gamma RIIIA in immunoprecipitates from NK cells obtained using anti-Fc gamma RIII antibodies or immune complexes. Our studies show that the zeta chain, the signal transducing subunit of Fc gamma RIIIA and of T cell receptor, associates with p56lck and, in NK cells, is a substrate for this kinase. Such direct association of p56lck with the zeta subunit as confirmed by demonstrating the interaction in heterologous cells transfected with cDNA expressing p56lck and zeta. Our findings demonstrate both functional and physical association of p56lck with Fc gamma RIIIA, through direct interaction of the kinase with the zeta and/or the gamma signal transducer subunits of the receptor. These data suggest a possible mechanism by which activation via Fc gamma RIIIA occurs.
<div>Abstract<p>Checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) have revolutionized the treatment paradigm for advanced solid tumors; however, there remains an opportunity to improve response rates and outcomes. In preclinical models, 4-1BB costimulation synergizes with CPIs targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) axis by activating cytotoxic T-cell–mediated antitumor immunity. DuoBody-PD-L1×4-1BB (GEN1046) is an investigational, first-in-class bispecific immunotherapy agent designed to act on both pathways by combining simultaneous and complementary PD-L1 blockade and conditional 4-1BB stimulation in one molecule. GEN1046 induced T-cell proliferation, cytokine production, and antigen-specific T-cell–mediated cytotoxicity superior to clinically approved PD-(L)1 antibodies in human T-cell cultures and exerted potent antitumor activity in transplantable mouse tumor models. In dose escalation of the ongoing first-in-human study in heavily pretreated patients with advanced refractory solid tumors (NCT03917381), GEN1046 demonstrated pharmacodynamic immune effects in peripheral blood consistent with its mechanism of action, manageable safety, and early clinical activity [disease control rate: 65.6% (40/61)], including patients resistant to prior PD-(L)1 immunotherapy.</p>Significance:<p>DuoBody-PD-L1×4-1BB (GEN1046) is a first-in-class bispecific immunotherapy with a manageable safety profile and encouraging preclinical and early clinical activity. With its ability to confer clinical benefit in tumors typically less sensitive to CPIs, GEN1046 may fill a clinical gap in CPI-relapsed or refractory disease or as a combination therapy with CPIs.</p><p><i>See related commentary by Li et al., p. 1184.</i></p><p><i>This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1171</i></p></div>
Abstract The human β chemokine known as LEC (also called NCC-4, HCC-4, or LMC) displays chemotactic activity for monocytes and dendritic cells. The possibility that its local presence increases tumor immunogenicity is addressed in this paper. TSA parental cells (TSA-pc) are poorly immunogenic adenocarcinoma cells that grow progressively, kill both nu/nu and syngeneic BALB/c mice, and give rise to lung metastases. TSA cells engineered to release LEC (TSA-LEC) are still able to grow in nu/nu mice, but are promptly rejected and display a marginal metastatic phenotype in BALB/c mice. Rejection is associated with a marked T lymphocyte and granulocyte infiltration, along with extensive macrophage and dendritic cell recruitment. NK cells and CD4+ T lymphocytes are uninfluential in TSA-LEC cell rejection, whereas both CD8+ lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes play a major role. An antitumor immune memory is established very quickly after rejection, since 6 days later 75% of BALB/c mice were already resistant to a TSA-pc challenge. Spleen cells from rejecting mice display specific cytotoxic activity against TSA-pc and secrete IFN-γ and IL-2 when restimulated by TSA-pc. The ability of LEC to markedly improve recognition of poorly immunogenic cells by promoting APC-T cell cross-talk suggests that it could be an effective component of antitumor vaccines.
Binding of ligand to the alpha subunit of Fc gamma RIIIA(CD16), expressed at the natural killer (NK) cell membrane in association with homo or heterodimers of proteins of the zeta family, results in phosphorylation of several proteins on tyrosine residues. We have analyzed the role of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in the regulation of molecular events induced upon stimulation of Fc gamma RIIIA in NK cells and in T cells expressing the Fc gamma RIII alpha chain in association with endogenous zeta 2 homodimers and devoid of other (CD3, CD2) transducing molecules. Our data indicate that treatment of these cells with protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors prevents not only Fc gamma RIIIA-induced protein tyrosine phosphorylation but also phosphatidylinositol 4,5 diphosphate hydrolysis and increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration, indicating a primary role of tyrosine kinase(s) in the induction of these early activation events. Occupancy of Fc gamma RIIIA by ligand results in phospholipase C (PLC)-gamma 1 tyrosine phosphorylation in NK cells and in Fc gamma RIIIA-transfected CD3-/CD2- T cells, and induces functional activation of p56lck in Fc gamma RIIIA alpha/zeta 2-transfected T cells, suggesting the possibility that the receptor-induced PLC-gamma 1 activation occurs upon phosphorylation of its tyrosine residues mediated by this kinase and is, at least in part, responsible for the signal transduction mediated via CD16 upon ligand binding.
BMS-645737, an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-2 and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor-1, has anti-angiogenic activity and was evaluated in nonclinical studies as a treatment for cancer. This article characterizes the BMS-645737-induced clinical, gross, and histologic lesions of incisor teeth in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Rats received 0 800 mg/kg BMS-645737 in a single-dose study or consecutive daily doses of 0 20 mg/kg/day in a 1-month study. The reversibility of these effects was assessed in the 1-month study. White discoloration and fracture of incisors were observed clinically and grossly in the 1-month study. In both studies, dose-dependent histopathologic lesions of incisors were degeneration and/or necrosis of odontoblasts and ameloblasts; decreased mineralization of dentin; inflammation and necrosis of the dental pulp; and edema, congestion, and hemorrhage in the pulp and periodontal tissue adjacent to the enamel organ. Partial recovery was observed at lower doses after a two-week dose-free period in the one-month study. Drug-induced incisor lesions were considered to be related to the pharmacologic inhibitory effects on VEGF and FGF signaling, that is, inhibition of growth and maintenance of small-diameter vessels that support the formation of dentin and enamel in growing teeth and/or to perturbances of function of odontoblasts and ameloblasts or their precursors.
Abstract Neutrophils release elastase, which is known secondarily to cause tissue damage. However, it is rapidly inactivated by the endogenous α1-proteinase inhibitor (α1Pi). Nevertheless, under pathological conditions, α1Pi is inactivated by oxidants released from neutrophils, resulting in an excess of elastase at the site of inflammation. This elastase/α1Pi imbalance has been implicated as a pathogenic factor in cystic fibrosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and emphysema. Elastase inhibitors, which do not interfere with the microbicidal activity of neutrophils and are resistant to neutrophil-released oxidants, would undoubtedly represent an important advance in the management of neutrophil-mediated tissue injury. We report that a new family of elastase inhibitors ICI200355 and ZD0892 was found to be resistant toward superoxide, hypochlorous acid, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical, and peroxynitrite mediated degradation as well as having no effect on the formation of these oxidants by activated neutrophils. More importantly, we found that these inhibitors did not interfere with the ability of human neutrophils to phagocytose and to kill Staphylococcus aureus. In conclusion, a new potent class of elastase inhibitors, while blocking the effects of neutrophil elastase, was found not to impede various physiological functions of human neutrophils, in particular the ability of these phagocytic cells to phagocytose and kill bacteria. J. Leukoc. Biol. 64: 322–330; 1998.
Supplementary Figure from Preclinical Characterization and Phase I Trial Results of a Bispecific Antibody Targeting PD-L1 and 4-1BB (GEN1046) in Patients with Advanced Refractory Solid Tumors
