A potent anti-CD70 antibody-drug conjugate combining a dimeric pyrrolobenzodiazepine drug with site-specific conjugation technology

Bioconjug Chem. 2013 Jul 17;24(7):1256-63. doi: 10.1021/bc400217g. Epub 2013 Jun 28.

Abstract

A highly cytotoxic DNA cross-linking pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) dimer with a valine-alanine dipeptide linker was conjugated to the anti-CD70 h1F6 mAb either through endogenous interchain cysteines or, site-specifically, through engineered cysteines at position 239 of the heavy chains. The h1F6239C-PBD conjugation strategy proved to be superior to interchain cysteine conjugation, affording an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) with high uniformity in drug-loading and low levels of aggregation. In vitro cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated that the h1F6239C-PBD was potent and immunologically specific on CD70-positive renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cell lines. The conjugate was resistant to drug loss in plasma and in circulation, and had a pharmacokinetic profile closely matching that of the parental h1F6239C antibody capped with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM). Evaluation in CD70-positive RCC and NHL mouse xenograft models showed pronounced antitumor activities at single or weekly doses as low as 0.1 mg/kg of ADC. The ADC was tolerated at 2.5 mg/kg. These results demonstrate that PBDs can be effectively used for antibody-targeted therapy.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Benzodiazepines / chemistry*
  • CD27 Ligand / chemistry*
  • Dimerization
  • Drug Design
  • Female
  • Half-Life
  • Immunoconjugates / chemistry
  • Immunoconjugates / pharmacology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C

Substances

  • CD27 Ligand
  • CD70 protein, human
  • Immunoconjugates
  • Benzodiazepines