This application relates generally to a non-natural ectodomain of a non-natural NKG2D receptor attached to a mammalian cell wherein the receptor does not directly activate or directly signal the mammalian cell when bound by a non-natural NKG2D ligand modified to specifically bind the non-natural NKG2D receptor and to which heterologous molecules are attached to the modified α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligand.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/674,705, filed Nov. 5, 2019, which claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/755,776, filed Nov. 5, 2018, each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
A Sequence Listing, which is a part of the present disclosure, is submitted concurrently with the specification in electronic format. The name of the file containing the Sequence Listing is “50004A_SeqListing.xml.” The Sequence Listing was created on Mar. 14, 2024, and is 387,589 bytes in size. The subject matter of the Sequence Listing is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
NKG2D is an activating receptor expressed as a type II homodimeric integral protein on the surface of Natural Killer (NK) cells and certain T cells and macrophages. When bound to one of its eight natural ligands expressed primarily on the surfaces of distressed cells, the NKG2D activates the NK cell to kill the stressed cell, or when on T cells, the ligand-occupied NKG2D co-stimulates an activated T-cell to carry out its effector function. The three-dimensional structures have been solved for the ectodomain of human natural NKG2D, several of its soluble natural ligands and, in some cases, the bound complex of soluble ligand and receptor ectodomain. The monomeric α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands bind specifically to the two ectodomains of the natural NKG2D homodimer.
The present disclosure relates to non-natural NKG2D receptors attached to mammalian cell surfaces wherein the non-natural receptors do not directly signal or directly activate the cell when the receptor is bound by cognate non-natural α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands modified to specifically bind the non-natural NKG2D receptors. The non-natural α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands may be attached to heterologous atoms or molecules including polypeptides, in some embodiments cytokines or modified cytokines, antibodies or fragments of antibodies. Direct activation of or direct signaling to the cell is not mediated by the attached non-natural NKG2D receptor and does not occur even when immunologic synapses have occurred.
Natural killer (NK) cells and certain (CD8+ αβ and γδ) T cells of the immune system have important roles in humans and other mammals as first-line, innate defense against neoplastic and infected cells (Cerwenka, A., and L. L. Lanier. 2001. NK cells, viruses and cancer. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 1:41-49). NK cells and certain T cells exhibit on their surfaces NKG2D, a prominent, homodimeric, surface immunoreceptor responsible for recognizing a target cell and activating the innate defense against the pathologic cell (Lanier, L L, 1998. NK cell receptors. Ann. Rev. Immunol. 16: 359-393; Houchins J P et al. 1991. DNA sequence analysis of NKG2, a family of related cDNA clones encoding type II integral membrane proteins on human NK cells. J. Exp. Med. 173: 1017-1020; Bauer, S et al., 1999. Activation of NK cells and T cells by NKG2D, a receptor for stress-inducible MICA. Science 285: 727-730). The human NKG2D molecule possesses a C-type lectin-like extracellular (ecto-)domain that binds to its eight distinct cognate ligands, the most studied ligands being the 84% sequence identical or homologous, monomeric MICA and MICB, polymorphic analogs of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class I chain-related glycoproteins (MIC) (Weis et al. 1998. The C-type lectin superfamily of the immune system. Immunol. Rev. 163: 19-34; Bahram et al. 1994. A second lineage of mammalian MHC class I genes. PNAS 91:6259-6263; Bahram et al. 1996a. Nucleotide sequence of the human MHC class I MICA gene. Immunogenetics 44: 80-81; Bahram and Spies T A. 1996. Nucleotide sequence of human MHC class I MICB cDNA. Immunogenetics 43: 230-233). Non-pathologic expression of MICA and MICB is restricted to some intestinal epithelium, keratinocytes, endothelial cells and monocytes, but aberrant surface expression of these MIC proteins occurs in response to many types of cellular stress such as proliferation, oxidation and heat shock and marks the cell as pathologic (Groh et al. 1996. Cell stress-regulated human MHC class I gene expressed in GI epithelium. PNAS 93: 12445-12450; Groh et al. 1998. Recognition of stress-induced MHC molecules by intestinal γδ T cells. Science 279: 1737-1740; Zwirner et al. 1999. Differential expression of MICA by endothelial cells, fibroblasts, keratinocytes and monocytes. Human Immunol. 60: 323-330). Pathologic expression of MIC proteins also seems involved in some autoimmune diseases (Ravetch, JV and Lanier L L. 2000. Immune Inhibitory Receptors. Science 290: 84-89; Burgess, S J. 2008. Immunol. Res. 40: 18-34). The differential regulation of NKG2D ligands, such as the polymorphic MICA and MICB, is important to provide the immunity system with a means to identify and respond to a broad range of emergency cues while still protecting healthy cells from unwanted attack (Stephens H A, (2001) MICA and MICB genes: can the enigma of their polymorphism be resolved? Trends Immunol. 22: 378-85; Spies, T. 2008. Regulation of NKG2D ligands: a purposeful but delicate affair. Nature Immunol. 9: 1013-1015).
Viral infection is a common inducer of MIC protein expression and identifies the viral-infected cell for NK or T cell attack (Groh et al. 1998; Groh et al. 2001. Co-stimulation of CD8+αβT cells by NKG2D via engagement by MIC induced on virus-infected cells. Nat. Immunol. 2: 255-260; Cerwenka, A., and L. L. Lanier. 2001). In fact, to avoid such an attack on its host cell, cytomegalovirus and other viruses have evolved mechanisms that prevent the expression of MIC proteins on the surface of the cell they infect in order to escape targeting by the innate immunity system (Lodoen, M., K. Ogasawara, J. A. Hamerman, H. Arase, J. P. Houchins, E. S. Mocarski, and L. L. Lanier. 2003. NKG2D-mediated NK cell protection against cytomegalovirus is impaired by gp40 modulation of RAE-1 molecules. J. Exp. Med. 197:1245-1253; Stern-Ginossar et al., (2007) Host immune system gene targeting by viral miRNA. Science 317: 376-381; Stern-Ginossar et al., (2008) Human microRNAs regulate stress-induced immune responses mediated by the receptor NKG2D. Nature Immunology 9: 1065-73; Slavuljica, I A Busche, M Babic, M Mitrovic, I Gasparovic, D Cekinovic, E Markova Car, EP Pugel, A Cikovic, VJ Lisnic, WJ Britt, U Koszinowski, M Messerle, A Krmpotic and S Jonjic. 2010. Recombinant mouse cytomegalovirus expressing a ligand for the NKG2D receptor is attenuated and has improved vaccine properties. J. Clin. Invest. 120: 4532-4545).
In spite of their stress, many malignant cells, such as those of lung cancer and glioblastoma brain cancer, also avoid the expression of MIC proteins and as a result may be particularly aggressive as they too escape the innate immune system (Busche, A et al. 2006, NK cell mediated rejection of experimental human lung cancer by genetic over expression of MHC class I chain-related gene A. Human Gene Therapy 17: 135-146; Doubrovina, E S, MM Doubrovin, E Vider, RB Sisson, RJ O'Reilly, B Dupont, and YM Vyas, 2003. Evasion from NK Cell Immunity by MHC Class I Chain-Related Molecules Expressing Colon Adenocarcinoma (2003) J. Immunology 6891-99; Friese, M. et al. 2003. MICA/NKG2D-mediated immunogene therapy of experimental gliomas. Cancer Research 63: 8996-9006; Fuertes, MB, MV Girart, LL Molinero, Cl Domaica, LE Rossi, MM Barrio, J Mordoh, GA Rabinovich and NW Zwirner. (2008) Intracellular Retention of the NKG2D Ligand MHC Class I Chain-Related Gene A in Human Melanomas Confers Immune Privilege and Prevents NK Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity. J. Immunology, 180: 4606-4614).
The high resolution structure of human MICA bound to NKG2D has been solved and demonstrates that the α3 domain of MICA has no direct interaction with the NKG2D (Li et al. 2001. Complex structure of the activating immunoreceptor NKG2D and its MHC class I-like ligand MICA. Nature Immunol. 2: 443-451; Protein Data Bank accession code 1HYR). The α3 domain of MICA, like that of MICB, is connected to the α1-α2 platform domain by a short, flexible linker peptide, and itself is positioned naturally as “spacer” between the platform and the surface of the MIC expressing cell. The three-dimensional structures of the human MICA and MICB α3 domains are nearly identical (root-mean square distance <1 Å on 94 C-αα's) and functionally interchangeable (Holmes et al. 2001. Structural Studies of Allelic Diversity of the MHC Class I Homolog MICB, a Stress-Inducible Ligand for the Activating Immunoreceptor NKG2D. J Immunol. 169: 1395-1400).
T cells, NK-cells, and macrophages can be modified using gene transfer technologies to directly and stably express on their surface binding domains of an antibody that confer novel antigen specificities (Saar Gill & Carl H. June. Going viral: Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for hematological malignancies. Immunological Reviews 2015. Vol. 263: 68-89; Wolfgang Glienke, Ruth Esser, Christoph Priesner, Julia D. Suerth, Axel Schambach, Winfried S. Wels, Manuel Grez, Stephan Kloess, Lubomir Arseniev and Ulrike Koehl. 2015. Advantages and applications of CAR-expressing natural killer cells. Front. Pharmacol. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2015.00021). CAR-T cells are applications of this approach that combines an antigen recognition domain of a specific antibody along with a fused intracellular domain of the CD3-zeta chain. The CD3-zeta chain is the primary transmitter of signals from the ectodomain of endogenous T cell Receptors (TCRs) to the intracellular space. CARs constructed with the CD3-zeta chain and co-stimulatory molecules such as CD27, CD28, ICOS, 4-1BB, or OX40 trigger CAR-T cell activation upon binding the targeted antigen in a manner similar to an endogenous T cell receptor but independent of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC).
Certain non-natural α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands modified to bind the natural human NKG2D receptor with higher affinities than do natural α1-α2 domains have been described (Candice S. E. Lengyel, Lindsey J. Willis, Patrick Mann, David Baker, Tanja Kortemme, Roland K. Strong and Benjamin J. McFarland. Mutations Designed to Destabilize the Receptor-Bound Conformation Increase MICA-NKG2D Association Rate and Affinity. Journal of Biological Chemistry Vol. 282, no. 42, pp. 30658-30666, 2007; Samuel H. Henager, Melissa A. Hale, Nicholas J. Maurice, Erin C. Dunnington, Carter J. Swanson, Megan J. Peterson, Joseph J. Ban, David J. Culpepper, Luke D. Davies, Lisa K. Sanders, and Benjamin J. McFarland. Combining different design strategies for rational affinity maturation of the MICA-NKG2D interface. Protein Science 2012 VOL 21:1396-1402. Herein we describe the attachment of non-natural NKG2D receptors to the surface of mammalian cells in a format that retains the specific binding of modified non-natural NKG2D ligands with attached heterologous molecules, but the non-natural receptors avoid the direct or cis activation of or intracellular signaling to the mammalian cell even when the cell forms an immunologic synapse with a cell or other surface targeted by the heterologous molecule. The non-natural NKG2D receptors themselves have been mutated at one or two specific sites, each of which results in compromised or loss of binding to all natural α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands (David J. Culpepper, Michael K. Maddox, Andrew B. Caldwell, and Benjamin J. McFarland. Systematic mutation and thermodynamic analysis of central tyrosine pairs in polyspecific NKG2D receptor interactions. Mol Immunol. 2011 January; 48(4): 516-523; USPTO application 14/562,534; USPTO provisional application 62/088,456)). The instant invention creates CARs that when attached to a mammalian cell surface provide a silenced receptor that can serve as a surrogate high affinity receptor for the attachment to the cell surface of heterologous atoms or molecules Accordingly, via attached non-natural ligands specific for the non-natural modified NKG2D receptor, heterologous molecules comprising a defective cytokine, for example, can be delivered specifically to the silent receptor on the surface of the mammalian cell but not to cells lacking the cognate silent receptor. Once bound to the cell bearing the silent receptor, the defective heterologous molecule may bind to its respective receptor subunits on the cell surface to which binding has been retained and thereby directly signal the cell as if it were stimulated by the wildtype ligand.
Of course, a CAR comprised of an inert non-natural NKG2D, CD3-zeta and costimulatory domain such as CD28, 4-1BB, ICOS, or OX40 on a mammalian cell is capable of directly stimulating and activating the CAR-cell upon forming an immunologic synapse. The activation of such a second or third generation CAR-T cell is dependent upon the function of its CD3-zeta domain and that of at least one costimulatory domain, e.g. 4-1BB or CD28. However, such a CAR can, as a silent CAR, serve as a surrogate high affinity receptor for the binding of cognate non-natural ligand-attached heterologous molecules that have defective binding to their respective natural receptor or receptor subunit(s). This high affinity binding enables the heterologous molecule attached to the non-natural ligand to transmit signals to the cell via their respective other receptor subunits for which binding has been retained.
Importantly, when the CD3-zeta domain of such a direct activation-competent CAR is selectively inactivated, it can still act as a silent CAR and enable the cognate non-natural ligand-attached heterologous molecules that have defective binding to their respective natural receptor or receptor subunit(s) to transmit signals to the cell via their respective other receptor subunits. When the CAR costimulatory domain such as 4-1BB is inactivated and an active CD3− zeta domain is retained, the CAR cannot serve as a silent receptor. That is, although CD3-zeta is not required, a functional costimulatory domain is required to enable a heterologous molecule such as a defective cytokine attached to a cognate non-natural ligand bound to the receptor to mediate its respective signal to the CAR cell.
The instant invention revealed the unexpected need for a costimulatory domain but not CD3-zeta to enable the heterologous defective cytokine attached to a cognate non-natural ligand to mediate its respective signal to the CAR cell. Furthermore, the invention discloses that the costimulatory domain can act in cis or trans to the silent receptor to which is attached the cognate ligand fused to the defective heterologous defective molecule.
When a heterologous molecule such as an antibody or antibody fragment that targets a specific molecule is attached to a cognate non-natural NKG2D ligand which in turn attaches to the silent receptor, the silent receptor-bearing mammalian cell will home to the surface to which the targeting heterologous molecule directs it. Even when a “synapse” is effected between the silent receptor-bearing cell and the targeted cell surface, the former will not be activated by the silent receptor.
Because there are many copies of the non-natural NKG2D-based silent receptors of the instant invention on the cell surface, the homing and/or the selective activation by heterologous molecules can be multiplexed or changed sequentially during manufacturing processes or treatment protocols.
A cell bearing a silent receptor CAR may also express another receptor(s) or CAR orthogonal to the silent CAR and act independently of the silent CAR to specifically and directly activate or otherwise signal that same cell when appropriately stimulated. The other or “second” orthogonal CAR may be a traditional single chain-Fv (scFv)-CAR or a second orthogonal, non-natural modified NKG2D-based CAR with its own cognate non-natural α1-α2 ligand(s). (AF provisional reference). The ability to create effector cells of the immunity system with more than one orthogonal non-natural CAR, silent or active, and multiple cognate non-natural ligands with attached heterologous molecules or atoms, greatly expands the utility, flexibility, and control of Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT).
In the process of characterizing the silent CAR on a cell and its dependency on a cis or trans acting costimulatory domain, such as 4-1BB, it was observed that compared to an unmodified human T-cell, a human T-cell expressing a silent CAR with a costimulatory domain exhibited a significantly enhanced response to natural IL-2 or to a cognate non-natural ligand fused to either a natural or to a mutant IL-2 with low affinity to its receptor α-subunit. This observation has important utility in the ex vivo or in vivo preferential expansion of cells expressing a CAR comprised of a costimulatory domain with or without a CD3-zeta domain.
As used herein, a “soluble MIC protein”, “soluble MICA” and “soluble MICB” refer to a MIC protein containing the α1-α2 domains with or without α3 domain of the MIC protein but without the transmembrane or intracellular domains. The NKG2D ligands, ULBP1-6, do not naturally possess an α3 domain (Cerwenka A, Lanier L L. 2004. NKG2D ligands: unconventional MHC class I-like molecules exploited by viruses and cancer. Tissue Antigens 61 (5): 335-43. doi:10.1034/j.1399-0039.2003.00070.x. PMID: 12753652). An “α1-α2 domain” of an NKG2D ligand refers to the protein domain of the ligand that binds an NKG2D receptor.
In some embodiments, the α1-α2 domains of the non-natural NKG2D ligand proteins of the invention are at least 80% identical or homologous to the native or natural α1-α2 domain of an NKG2D ligand(SEQ ID NOs: 1-9 for MICA, MICB, ULBP1, ULBP2, ULBP3, ULBP4, ULBP5, ULBP6, and OMCP, respectively). In other embodiments, the modified α1-α2 domain is 85% identical to a native or natural α1-α2 domain of an NKG2D ligand. In yet other embodiments, the modified α1-α2 domain is 90% identical to a native or natural α1-α2 domain of a natural NKG2D ligand protein and binds non-natural NKG2D.
Preferably the modified or non-natural α1-α2 domains of the non-natural MIC proteins of the invention are at least 80% identical or homologous to a native or natural α1-α2 domain of one of the 8 human NKG2D ligand proteins (SEQ ID NOs: 1-8) and bind the non-natural NKG2D ectodomain. In some embodiments, the non-natural α1-α2 domain is 85% identical to a native or natural α1-α2 domain of an NKG2D ligand protein and binds the non-natural NKG2D. In other embodiments, the non-natural α1-α2 platform domain is 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identical to a native or natural α1-α2 platform of a human natural α1-α2 domain protein and binds the non-natural NKG2D.
In some embodiments, a heterologous molecular tag may be fused to the N-terminus or C-terminus of a non-natural α1-α2 domain of a soluble MIC protein or to that of an attached heterologous peptide or protein to aid in the purification of the soluble ligand. Tag sequences include peptides such as a poly-histidine, myc-peptide, a FLAG tag, streptavidin-like tag, or a small molecule such as biotin. Such tags may be removed after isolation of the MIC molecule by methods known to one skilled in the art.
Specific mutations in α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands can be made to create non-natural α1-α2 domains that bind non-natural NKG2D receptors, themselves engineered so as to have reduced affinity for natural NKG2D ligands. This can be done, for example, through genetic engineering. A non-natural NKG2D receptor so modified can be used to create on the surface of NK-cells, T cells, macrophages or other cells of the immune system an NKG2D-based CAR that can bind to molecules comprised of the non-natural α1-α2 domains. These non-natural NKG2D receptors and their cognate non-natural NKG2D ligands will provide important safety, efficacy, and manufacturing advantages for treating cancer and viral infections as compared to the current CAR-T cells and CAR-NK cells, as described below. When the intracellular signaling of non-natural NKG2D receptors on the surface of mammalian cells has been silenced as in the instant invention, these invented CARs can act as surrogate high affinity receptors for otherwise defective heterologous molecules such as cytokines, chemokines, lymphokines, cytotoxins, and atoms fused or conjugated to the orthogonal NKG2D ligands. This provides delivery of the heterologous molecules directly and specifically to the silent receptor-bearing cell without the silent-receptor per se directly activating its host cell. Furthermore, heterologous molecules that bind specific targets and thereby cells or other surfaces bearing such targets can provide specific homing functions to the silent receptor-bearing cell without its unintended activation or stimulation.
CAR-T or CAR-NK cells comprised of ectodomains of non-natural NKG2D receptors that do not or only poorly bind natural NKG2D ligands will not be subject to activation by any natural ligands and thus will not be toxigenic as are cells expressing a CAR based on a natural NKG2D receptor. Furthermore, ectodomains of non-natural NKG2D receptors on cells will not be subject to down-regulation by natural NKG2D ligands in a soluble format or on Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC) (Deng W, Gowen B G, Zhang L, Wang L, Lau S, lannello A, Xu J, Rovis T L, Xiong N, Raulet D H, 2015. Antitumor immunity. A shed NKG2D ligand that promotes natural killer cell activation and tumor rejection. Science. 2015 Apr. 3; 348(6230):136-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1258867. Epub 2015 Mar. 5). However, when such CAR cells bearing ectodomains of non-natural NKG2D receptors are engaged by bispecific molecules with the cognate non-natural α1-α2 domains of the instant invention and its heterologous targeting motif which has found and bound its intended target, the CAR will be activated and the CAR-cell's effector functions expressed.
Because the CAR-T or CAR-NK cells comprised of non-natural NKG2D receptor ectodomains are not activated except in the presence of an engaged bispecific molecule comprised of a cognate non-natural α1-α2 domain, their activation can be controlled by the administered bispecific molecules, which as biopharmaceuticals will exhibit pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics well known in the field. In the event that an adverse event develops, the physician can simply modify the dosing regimen of the administered bispecific molecule rather than having to deploy an induced suicide mechanism to destroy the infused CAR cells as currently done (Monica Casucci and Attilio Bondanza. Suicide Gene Therapy to Increase the Safety of Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Redirected T Lymphocytes. J Cancer. 2011; 2: 378-382). Furthermore, such bispecific molecules with different specific targeting motifs can be administered simultaneously or sequentially to help address tumor resistance and escape as a results of target antigen loss without having to create, expand and infuse multiple different autologous CAR cells (Gill & June, 2015). Since all CAR constructions can be identical for all CAR cells and the targeting specificity determined simply by the targeting motif of the administered bispecific molecule of the instant invention, manufacturing processes will be simplified and less expensive.
Examples of parent or recipient proteins or polypeptides that are candidates for attachment to non-natural α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands include but are not limited to antibodies, proteins comprised of Ig folds or Ig domains, including modified Fc domains that recruit natural molecules or fail to recruit or bind natural molecules, globulins, albumens, fibronectins and fibronectin domains, integrins, fluorescent proteins, enzymes, outer membrane proteins, receptor proteins, T cell receptors, chimeric antigen receptors, viral antigens, virus capsids, viral ligands for cell receptors, hormones, cytokines and modified cytokines such as interleukins, knottins, cyclic peptides or polypeptides, major histocompatibility (MHC) family proteins, MIC proteins, lectins, and ligands for lectins. It is also possible to attach non-protein molecules such a polysaccharides, dendrimers, polyglycols, peptidoglycans, antibiotics, and polyketides to the modified α1-α2 domains of NKG2D ligands.
Thus, the instant invention expands the diversity and practicality of this remarkable, very promising immunologic approach to managing cancer with CAR-T cells, CAR-NK cells, and CAR-macrophage-like cells while overcoming many of these current, recognized difficulties.
As used herein “peptide”, “polypeptide”, and “protein” are used interchangeably; and a “heterologous molecule”, “heterologous peptide”, “heterologous sequence” or “heterologous atom” is a molecule, peptide, nucleic acid or amino acid sequence, or atom, respectively, that is not naturally or normally found in physical conjunction with the subject molecule. As used herein, “non-natural” and “modified” are used interchangeably. As used herein, “natural”, “native”, and “wild-type” are used interchangeably and “NKG2D” and “NKG2D receptor” are used interchangeably. The term “antibody” herein is used in the broadest sense and specifically covers monoclonal antibodies, multispecific antibodies (e.g. bispecific antibodies), and antibody fragments, so long as they exhibit the desired biological activity. “Antibody fragments” comprise a portion of an antibody, preferably comprising the antigen binding region thereof. Examples of antibody fragments include Fab, Fab′, F(ab′)2, Fv fragments and insertible Fv's; diabodies; linear antibodies; single-chain antibody molecules; and multi-specific antibodies formed from antibody fragment(s).
The term “comprising,” which is used interchangeably with “including,” “containing,” or characterized by,” is inclusive or open-ended language and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. The phrase “consisting of” excludes any element, step, or ingredient not specified in the claim. The phrase “consisting essentially of” limits the scope of a claim to the specified materials or steps and those that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed invention. The present disclosure contemplates embodiments of the invention compositions and methods corresponding to the scope of each of these phrases. Thus, a composition or method comprising recited elements or steps contemplates particular embodiments in which the composition or method consists essentially of or consists of those elements or steps.
All references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties, whether previously specifically incorporated or not. As used herein, the terms “a”, “an”, and “any” are each intended to include both the singular and plural forms.
Having now fully described the invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the same can be performed within a wide range of equivalent parameters, concentrations, and conditions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without undue experimentation. While this invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth.
It had been demonstrated by others that mutations at tyrosine 152 or at tyrosine 199 in human NKG2D, the equivalent of positions 73 and 120 of the NKG2D ectodomain (
Natural NKG2D (wild-type) ectodomain (NKG2D.wt, SEQ ID NO: 17) and candidate non-natural NKG2D variant ectodomains (SEQ ID NOs: 18-35)—also termed “engineered NKG2D” or “eNKG2D” were cloned as fusions to the C-terminus of human IgG1 Fc (without Fab domains), via a short factor Xa recognizable Ile-Glu-Gly-Arg linker (SEQ ID NO: 38) and are interchangeably referred to as Fc-NKG2D.wt or NKG2D.wt and Fc-eNKG2D or eNKG2D (SEQ ID NOs: 40-58). gBlocks' DNA Fragments (Integrated DNA Technologies, San Diego, CA), corresponding to the MHCI signal sequence (SEQ ID NOs: 36 and 37), human IgG1 Fc with linker (SEQ ID NO: 39), and NKG2D ectodomain variants (SEQ ID NOs: 59-77) were synthesized and inserted into pD2610-V12 (ATUM, Newark, CA). DNA constructs exploring substitutions at Y152, Y199, or a combination of Y152/Y199 mutations (
SEC characterization of purified NKG2D.Y199A-Fc fusion revealed a composition of predominantly aggregated material (
To generate non-natural MicA variants fused to human IgG1, the DNA polynucleotides encoding the α1-α2 domains of, for example, MICwed (SEQ ID NO: 79) and MIC25 (SEQ ID NO: 81), were PCR amplified using primers that also introduced the polynucleotide encoding either an APTSSSGGGGS linker for fusion to C-terminal kappa light chain (SEQ ID NO: 84) or for a GGGS linker for fusion to C-terminal heavy chain of human IgG1 (SEQ ID NO: 82). Furthermore, two mutations were introduced into the CH2 domain of the heavy chain—D265A/N297A (Kabat numbering;
The binding affinities of α1-α2 variants to the extracellular domains of natural (wild-type) NKG2D and non-natural eNKG2D proteins were analyzed using a plate-based ELISA method. Each of the SEC fractionated natural Fc-NKG2D and non-natural Fc-eNKG2D fusions were coated overnight at 4° C. onto separate wells of Nunc Maxisorp 96 well plates (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) using a coating concentration of 1 pg/mL in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The plates were washed three times in PBS/0.05% Tween-20 (PBS-T) at 20-22° C., and blocked with 0.5% bovine serum albumin in PBS (PBS-B) for 2 hours at 20-22° C. MicAbodies were titrated against the plate-bound natural or non-natural Fc-NKG2D fusions for 60 minutes at 20-22° C. in PBS/0.5% bovine serum albumin (BSA)/0.05% Tween-20 (PBS-BT), washed 3 times with PBS-T at 20-22° C., and the bound bispecific proteins detected using an HRP-conjugated anti-human kappa in PBS-BT (Abcam, Cambridge MA) and developed with 1-Step™ Ultra TMB ELISA Substrate Solution (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA). The binding of the ULBP2.wt rituximab-MicAbody (SEQ ID NOs: 98 and 106) discriminated between wild-type NKG2D and eNKG2D variants with reduced binding to the latter, and ligand variants—MICwed (SEQ ID NOs: 96 and 102) and MIC25 (SEQ ID NOs: 96 and 104)—were more stringent at identifying eNKG2D variants with abolished ligand binding. The binding behaviors for each eNKG2D variant against all three bispecific ligands revealed the combinations of NKG2D modifications that led to the greatest reduction in binding of wild-type and variant ligands and enabled the selection of lead inert NKG2D variants.
Additional biophysical analysis of eNKG2D variant binding to ligands was also performed with Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) using the ForteBio Octet system (all ForteBio LLC, Fremont, CA). For these experiments human NKG2D ligands MICA-Fc, MICB-Fc, ULBP1-Fc, ULBP2-Fc, ULBP3-Fc, and ULBP4-Fc were purchased from R&D Systems, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN). Ligands in the MicAbody format were captured on anti-human IgG Fc capture (AHC) biosensor tips. After a baselines were established, tips were exposed to a titration series of Fc-eNKG2D fusion proteins ranging from 300 nM to 0.41 nM and association/dissociation kinetics monitored with all steps performed in PBS-BT. Subsequently, Fc-eNKG2D fusion proteins were captured onto AHC tips and MicAbodies were titrated to characterize binding kinetics.
To determine the maximum response as defined by binding of natural NKG2D to either MlCwed or MIC25, natural Fc-NKG2D fusions were captured onto AHC biosensors and 20 nM trastuzumab-MlCwed or 20 nM trastuzumab-MIC25 MicAbodies were incubated for two minutes and then dissociation kinetics observed for 30 seconds. Binding analysis under the same conditions was then performed with Fc-eNKG2D fusion receptors as the capture agent, and the level of binding for each eNKG2D ranked as a percentage of the maximal binding response established by Fc-NKG2D.wt (
ELISA assays with Fc-eNKG2D fusions as capture agents were performed with ULBP2.wt, MlCwed, MIC25 MicAbodies titrated starting at 300 nM (
eNKG2D variants eNKG2D5 (Y152A/Y199F), eNKG2D7 (Y152S/Y199F), eNKG2D8 (Y152T/Y199F), and eNKG2D9 (Y152V/Y199F) had reduced or abolished binding to ULBP2, MlCwed, and MIC25-based MicAbodies by both Octet analysis and ELISA (
We employed phage display to engineer orthogonal non-natural α1-α2 domains that exhibit selective binding to the NKG2D.AF (SEQ ID NO: 48) receptor. As a starting point, the non-natural ULBP2.R80W α1-α2 domain (
After four rounds of selection, phage clones were individually arrayed in 96-well format, spot ELISAs were performed to verify preferred differential binding to plate-bound non-natural NKG2D.AF versus NKG2D.wt. Bound phages were detected with biotinylated M13 phage coat protein monoclonal antibody E1 (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA), streptavidin-HRP detection (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN), and 1-Step Ultra TMB ELISA development (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA). The spot ELISA signal for each clone was expressed as a ratio of phage binding NKG2D.AF to phage binding NKG2D.wt. Those phages with a ratio greater than or equal to 14 were sequenced to identify the specific mutations within the NNK mutagenized regions.
Thirty of the variants identified in ELISAs were expanded in individual monocultures to generate high titer microbatches of phage. Purified phage concentrations were normalized to an OD268=0.5 then subject to 1:3 dilution series against plate-bound Fc-NKG2D.AF or Fc-NKG2D.wt with phage detection and ELISA development performed as described above. All thirty variants assayed in this manner consistently demonstrated selective binding to NKG2D.AF with little to no binding to NKG2D.wt (
To confirm that the NKG2D.AF-selective α1-α2 domain variants retained specific binding properties in the context of antibody fusions, 21 variants (
Phage display to engineer orthogonal non-natural α1-α2 domains with selective binding to NKG2D.Y152A (henceforth referred to as NKG2D.YA, receptor was performed with non-natural ULBP2.R80W α1-α2 domain (SEQ ID NO: 108) as the starting point as described above. The α1-α2 phage display libraries were panned for high binding affinity to the non-natural Fc-NKG2D.YA receptor by selectively capturing phage clones bound to biotinylated Fc-NKG2D.YA (SEQ ID NO: 41) protein in the presence of non-biotinylated natural Fc-NKG2D.wt (SEQ ID NO: 40) competitor protein. Additional phage clone validation work resulted in the identification of variants with preferential binding to Fc-NKG2D.YA versus Fc-NKG2D.wt (
In order to determine whether a non-natural α1-α2 domain with selective binding to NKG2D.YA (ULBP2. S3, SEQ ID NO: 127) and the non-natural α1-α2 domains with selective binding to NKG2D.AF could discriminate between these two non-natural receptor variants, titration ELISAs were performed. All 21 of the selected α1-α2 variants that bound NKG2D.AF were directly compared for binding to NKG2D.AF versus NKG2D.YA. Of these, four demonstrated the properties of inability to bind NKG2D.wt, strong affinity for NKG2D.AF, and greatly reduced (15-20 fold) or eliminated binding to NKG2D.YA relative to NKG2D.AF (
Means to selectively control CAR-T cell therapies are highly sought after to mitigate toxicity and improve efficacy against tumors (Gill and June, op cit). Previous attempts have been made to develop CARs using the ectodomain of CD16 which can then be engaged through the Fc domain of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, allowing for antibody-based control of CAR-T targeting (Chang et al., op cit). However, CD16-based CAR-T cells can recognize nearly all endogenous antibody molecules in blood and tissues, and the therapeutic antibodies used to control these cells will encounter competition from endogenous CD16 receptors on NK cells, PMN's, monocytes and macrophages. Both of these features contribute problems of off-tumor toxicity and poor pharmacokinetics, respectively.
Natural NKG2D ligands are present on certain healthy tissues and many stressed tissues, creating an extreme risk for toxicity using current NKG2D CAR approaches (VanSeggelen et al. 2015). The Y152A non-natural NKG2D receptor specifically bound to non-natural α1-α2 domain NKG2D ligands constituting an example of a means by which the activity of a non-natural NKG2D CAR could be selectively controlled using bispecific proteins comprised of the invented non-natural α1-α2 domain of NKG2D ligands.
We engineered CAR-T cells with a Receptor comprised of a modified Y152A/Y199F (“AF”) ectodomain of NKG2D which lacks binding to all natural NKG2D ligands or previously described non-natural α1-α2 domains orthogonal and cognate to Y152A modified NKG2D (NKG2D.YA). The invented cognate non-natural α1-α2 domains bound with high affinity to the non-natural NKG2D.AF ectodomain and avoided binding to natural NKG2D ectodomains and to the NKG2D.YA ectodomain. Thus, engineered α1-α2 domains that exhibited strong selectivity for non-natural NKG2D.AF ectodomain over natural NKG2D and non-natural NKG2D.YA represent an ideal system for selective control of non-natural NKG2D CAR receptors, or any receptor or protein fused to non-natural NKG2D ectodomains that can be selectively engaged by the non-natural α1-α2 domains of the instant invention. The instant invention further enables single cells expressing two distinct CARs—one comprised of NKG2D.YA and the other of NKG2D.AF—each signaling with distinctly different intracellular domains. These distinct CARs would possess independent, dual controls of the cell's activities by extracellular exposure to the respective, cognate orthogonal MicAbody or another non-antibody fusion polypeptide.
To demonstrate selective control of CAR-T cells constructed with a chimeric receptor deploying the non-natural NKG2D.AF ectodomain, we constructed CARs with either the natural NKG2D.wt (SEQ ID NO: 135), non-natural NKG2D.YA (SEQ ID NO: 137), or the non-natural NKG2D.AF (SEQ ID NO: 139) ectodomains based on previous work using 4-1BB/CD3-zeta CAR constructs (Campana U.S. Pat. No. 8,399,645) fusing the respective NKG2D ectodomains to the CD8 hinge region of CARs (SEQ ID NOs: 151, 153, 155). These constructs (SEQ ID NOs: 152, 154, 156) were cloned into a lentiviral vector and expressed in primary human CD8-positive T cells using lentiviral transduction. HeLa cells have constitutively upregulated levels of MIC ligands on their surface including MICA, MICB, ULBP3, and ULBP2/5/6 (the antibody used to ascertain this cannot distinguish between these three ULBPs; Human ULBP-2/5/6 Antibody, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN). HeLa cells were transfected to over-express either natural ULBP1 or the NKG2D.AF-selected variant ULBP2.R on their surface, and these cells were used as a target for in vitro killing assays. HeLa target cells were pre-loaded with calcein and exposed to NKG2D.wt-CAR, NKG2D.YA-CAR, or NKG2D.AF-CAR CD8 cells at increasing effector to target (E:T) ratios for five hours, after which the amount of calcein released into the supernatant was quantified and normalized to the total calcein released upon detergent treatment (
In order to demonstrate that lysis of either NKG2D.YA- or NKG2D.AF-CAR cells could only be directed by the appropriate, cognate targeting MicAbody, Ramos cells were used as a target for cytolysis in combination with rituximab-based MicAbodies linked to either non-natural ULBP2. S3 or ULBP2.R orthogonal ligands. As demonstrated in
Bispecific MicAbodies (
To determine whether cytokines can be selectively delivered to NKG2D.YA-CAR expressing cells (SEQ ID NO: 153), the cognate orthogonal ligand ULBP2. S3 (U2S3, SEQ ID NO: 127) was expressed fused to the N-terminus of Fc1 which has been altered to at two residues to express negatively charged aspartic acid residues at the interface of Fc homo-dimerization (SEQ ID NO: 189). A mutant form of human IL2 (mutIL2), containing two mutations R38A/F42K that significantly reduced the affinity of the cytokine to IL2R-alpha complex (K. M. Heaton, G. Ju, and E. A. Grimm, Human Interleukin 2 Analogues That Preferentially Bind the Intermediate-Affinity Interleukin 2 Receptor Lead to Reduced Secondary Cytokine Secretion: Implications for the Use of These Interleukin 2 Analogues in Cancer Immunotherapy, 1993 Cancer Res 53:2597, PMID: 8495422; K. Sauvé et al., Localization in Human Interleukin 2 of the Binding Site to the Alpha Chain (P55) of the Interleukin 2 Receptor, 1991 PNAS 88:4636, PMID: 2052547), was fused to the C-terminus of Fc2 which had been altered at two residues to express positively charged lysine residues at the interface of Fc homo-dimerization (SEQ ID NO: 183). Both were cloned independently into the mammalian expression vector pD2610-V12 (ATUM, Newark, CA), co-transfected into Expi293™ cells (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) according to the manufacturer's protocol, and purified using standard protein-A affinity chromatography (cat. no. 20334, Pierce Biotechnology, Rockford, IL). Purified material was fractionated by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) on Akta Pur Superdex columns. The negatively charged residues on Fc1 and the positive charges on Fc2 provided an electrostatic steering effect (Kannan Gunasekaran et al., Enhancing Antibody Fc Heterodimer Formation through Electrostatic Steering Effects: Applications to Bispecific Molecules and Monovalent IgG, 2010 J Biol Chem 285:19637, PMID: 20400508) that promoted heterodimeric assembly of a molecule that was mono-valent for the orthogonal U2S3 ligand and mutIL2 (
CD8 human T cells were transduced to express either the NKG2D.wt-CAR construct (SEQ ID NO: 151) or the NKG2D.YA-CAR construct (SEQ ID NO: 153) and exposed to 30 IUe/mL of control cytokine or various MicAdaptors for three days and the level of cell proliferation quantified with the WST-1 Cell Proliferation Reagent (Millipore Sigma). Control rhIL2 promoted proliferation of both CAR-expressing cell while mutIL2 alone did not as would be expected from reduced ability to engage IL2R-alpha and therefore reduced ability to signal through IL2R-beta/gamma-C(
Upon demonstration that the modified NKG2D.YA domain, in the context of a chimeric antigen receptor construct, did in fact serve as a highly selective docking site for delivery of heterologous cargo attached to an orthogonal ligand, we sought to determine if the NKG2D.YA receptor was not only necessary but also sufficient for targeted delivery of cytokines that could then act on the receiving cell. The NKG2D.YA extracellular domain (NKG2D.YA-ecd) was expressed as a transmembrane domain stripped of all intracellular components with the exception of the retention of an intracellular eGFP tag (
To examine this, a series of CAR constructs were generated where the signaling motifs of the intracellular domains of the CAR were mutated—either the two TRAF2 consensus-binding sites of 4-1BB (SEQ ID NO: 161), the three pairs of ITAM motifs in CD3-zeta (SEQ ID NO: 163), or combined 4-1BB/CD3-zeta mutants (SEQ ID NO: 165). These constructs (
To further explore how the 4-1BB domain contributes to cytokine and cytokine-MicAdaptor responsiveness, a construct was generated where a CD19scFv-CAR (based on FMC63 Fv's), containing the full complement of functional 4-1BB and CD3-zeta domains (SEQ ID NO: 173). The CD19scFv-CAR was co-expressed with the NKG2D.YA-ecd (
Number | Date | Country | |
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62755776 | Nov 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16674705 | Nov 2019 | US |
Child | 18606822 | US |