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Showing papers by "Ira Pastan published in 2011"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Moxetumomab pasudotox is an improved, more active form of a predecessor recombinant immunotoxin, BL22, which produced complete remission in relapsed/refractory hairy cell leukemia (HCL), but it had a <20% response rate in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), diseases in which the leukemic cells contain much lower numbers of CD22 target sites.
Abstract: Recombinant immunotoxins are fusion proteins that contain the cytotoxic portion of a protein toxin fused to the Fv portion of an antibody. The Fv binds to an antigen on a target cell and brings the toxin into the cell interior, where it arrests protein synthesis and initiates the apoptotic cascade. Moxetumomab pasudotox, previously called HA22 or CAT-8015, is a recombinant immunotoxin composed of the Fv fragment of an anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody fused to a 38-kDa fragment of Pseudomonas exotoxin A, called PE38. Moxetumomab pasudotox is an improved, more active form of a predecessor recombinant immunotoxin, BL22 (also called CAT-3888), which produced complete remission in relapsed/refractory hairy cell leukemia (HCL), but it had a <20% response rate in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), diseases in which the leukemic cells contain much lower numbers of CD22 target sites. Compared with BL22, moxetumomab pasudotox is up to 50-fold more active on lymphoma cell lines and leukemic cells from patients with CLL and HCL. A phase I trial was recently completed in HCL patients, who achieved response rates similar to those obtained with BL22 but without dose-limiting toxicity. In addition to further testing in HCL, moxetumomab pasudotox is being evaluated in phase I trials in patients with CLL, B-cell lymphomas, and childhood ALL. Moreover, protein engineering is being used to increase its activity, decrease nonspecific side effects, and remove B-cell epitopes.

225 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: To enable antibodies to function as cytotoxic anticancer agents, they are modified either via attachment to protein toxins or highly potent, low-molecular-weight drugs, which represent a second revolution in antibody-mediated cancer therapy.
Abstract: To enable antibodies to function as cytotoxic anticancer agents, they are modified either via attachment to protein toxins or highly potent, low-molecular-weight drugs. Such molecules, termed immunotoxins and antibody-drug conjugates, respectively, represent a second revolution in antibody-mediated cancer therapy. Thus, highly toxic compounds are delivered to the interior of cancer cells based on antibody specificity for cell-surface target antigens.

114 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The location and amino acid composition of all of the B-cell epitopes in the remaining 25-kDa portion of Pseudomonas exotoxin are shown, to produce an immunotoxin (HA22-LR-8M) that is fully cytotoxic against malignant B- cell lines, has high cytot toxic activity against cells directly isolated from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and has excellent antitumor activity in mice.
Abstract: Many nonhuman proteins have useful pharmacological activities, but are infrequently effective in humans because of their high immunogenicity. A recombinant immunotoxin (HA22, CAT8015, moxetumomab pasudotox) composed of an anti-CD22 antibody variable fragment fused to PE38, a 38-kDa portion of Pseudomonas exotoxin A, has produced many complete remissions in drug-resistant hairy-cell leukemia when several cycles of the agent can be given, but has much less activity when antibodies develop. We have pursued a strategy to deimmunize recombinant immunotoxins by identifying and removing B-cell epitopes. We previously reported that we could eliminate most B-cell epitopes using a combination of point mutations and deletions. Here we show the location and amino acid composition of all of the B-cell epitopes in the remaining 25-kDa portion of Pseudomonas exotoxin. Using this information, we eliminated these epitopes to produce an immunotoxin (HA22-LR-8M) that is fully cytotoxic against malignant B-cell lines, has high cytotoxic activity against cells directly isolated from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and has excellent antitumor activity in mice. HA22-LR-8M does not induce antibody formation in mice when given repeatedly by intravenous injection and does not induce a secondary antibody response when given to mice previously exposed to HA22. HA22-LR-8M also has greatly reduced antigenicity when exposed to sera from patients who have produced antibodies to HA22. The properties of HA22-LR-8M make it an excellent candidate for further clinical development.

106 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: P podocyte damage can propagate injury by triggering secondary damage of "remnant" intact podocytes, even when the primary insult is short-lived, supporting the concept of an amplified cascade of podocyte injury.
Abstract: Loss of podocytes promotes glomerulosclerosis, but whether this results from a continued primary insult or a secondary mechanism triggered by the initial loss of podocytes is unknown. We generated chimeric mice in which only a subpopulation of podocytes expressed hCD25, which is the receptor for the immunotoxin LMB2. In addition, genetic labeling of hCD25-negative cells with human placental alkaline phosphatase allowed the study of these two distinct podocyte populations. Administration of LMB2 did not cause podocyte injury in hCD25-negative control mice. In contrast, LMB2 severely damaged or sloughed off the subpopulation of hCD25-positive podocytes within the chimeric glomeruli. Moreover, hCD25-negative podocytes, which were immune to the initial toxin injury, developed injury as early as 4 d after LMB2 injection, evidenced by foot process effacement, upregulation of desmin, and downregulation of nephrin, podocin, and podocalyxin. Furthermore, the magnitude of secondary injury correlated with the magnitude of primary injury, supporting the concept of an amplified cascade of podocyte injury. In conclusion, podocyte damage can propagate injury by triggering secondary damage of “remnant” intact podocytes, even when the primary insult is short-lived. This transmission of podocyte injury may form a vicious cycle leading to accelerated podocyte deterioration and glomerulosclerosis.

104 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: HN1 binds to cell surface‐associated mesothelin on human mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer cells and can functionally block the interaction of Mesothelin and CA125 on cancer cells.
Abstract: Mesothelin is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein that is highly expressed on the cell surface of mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and other malignant tumors. The interaction between mesothelin and CA125 (also called MUC16) may facilitate the implantation and metastasis of tumors in the peritoneal cavity. A desirable therapeutic agent involves finding a fully human monoclonal antibody (mAb) that binds to mesothelin or CA125 and inhibits their interaction. Here, we report the identification of a novel human mAb to mesothelin. HN1, a human single-chain Fv specific for mesothelin, was isolated from a naive human single-chain variable fragment (scFv) phage display library. To investigate HN1 as a potential therapeutic, we generated a fully human IgG with the γ 1 heavy chain and the κ light chain and an immuntoxin by fusing the HN1 scFv to a truncated Pseudomonas exotoxin A. The HN1 IgG kills cancer cells with very strong antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. HN1 binds a conformation-sensitive epitope in human mesothelin with high affinity (K(D) = 3 nM). The HN1 epitope is different from that of SS1, a mouse Fv used to develop therapeutic antibodies that are currently in clinical trials. HN1 binds to cell surface-associated mesothelin on human mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer cells. In addition, HN1 can functionally block the interaction of mesothelin and CA125 on cancer cells. Most importantly, because the HN1 immuntoxin kills mesothelin-expressing cancer cells with high cytotoxic activity, we believe that it has significant potential for mesothelin-expressing cancer treatment and diagnosis.

69 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Glycoprotein NMB‐specific scFv antibodies and immunotoxins hold promise as reagents in targeted therapy for HGGs and other GPNMB‐expressing malignancies.
Abstract: Glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB), a transmembrane glycoprotein highly expressed in high-grade gliomas (HGGs), is an attractive target in cancer immunotherapy. We isolated a GPNMB-specific scFv clone, G49, from a human synthetic phage-display library. To obtain mutant single-chain variable-fragment antibodies (scFvs) with improved affinity and immunotoxins with increased activity, we subjected G49 to in vitro affinity maturation by a complementarity-determining-region (CDR) random-mutagenesis technique. Using light-chain CDR3 mutagenesis, cell-based panning by phage display, subsequent heavy-chain CDR1 mutagenesis, and flow-cytometric selection by yeast-surface display, we generated the mutant scFv clone 902V, with an overall 11-fold increase in affinity for GPNMB. Clone 902V was further randomized throughout the whole scFv by error-prone PCR, and one mutant, F6V, was selected by yeast-surface display. F6V scFv, differing from 902V by one amino-acid change in the light-chain CDR2, exhibited an affinity for GPNMB of 0.30 nM. The F6V mutant scFv clone was fused with a truncated form of Pseudomonas exotoxin A to form the immunotoxin F6V-PE38. F6V-PE38 demonstrated significant protein-synthesis-inhibition activity on GPNMB-expressing glioma and malignant melanoma cells (IC(50) = 0.5 ng/ml [8 pM]), a 60-fold improvement over G49 activity, but no cytotoxicity on GPNMB-negative cells. Furthermore, F6V-PE38 exhibited significant antitumor activity against subcutaneous malignant glioma xenografts in two nude-mouse models and a melanoma neoplastic meningitis model in athymic rats. These GPNMB-specific scFv antibodies and immunotoxins hold promise as reagents in targeted therapy for HGGs and other GPNMB-expressing malignancies.

61 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
18 Nov 2011-Blood
TL;DR: A multicenter, open-label, Phase I, dose-escalation study to determine the maximum tolerated dose and to assess the safety profile, activity, and immunogenicity of moxetumomab pasudotox in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory hematologic malignancies.

54 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that Ankrd26−/− MEFs have a higher rate of spontaneous adipogenesis than normal MEFs and that adipocyte formation is greatly increased when the cells are induced with trog litazone alone or with a mixture of troglitazone, insulin, dexamethasone, and methylisobutylxanthine.

49 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Induction and maintenance PC chemotherapy safely prevented anti-immunotoxin antibody formation with uniform efficacy and suggest that immunotoxin therapy might be used in combination with pentostatin plus cyclophosphamide chemotherapy to improve the targeted therapy of cancer.
Abstract: Purpose: The success of immunotoxin therapy of cancer is limited by host production of neutralizing antibodies, which are directed toward the Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE) component. In this proof-of-principle study using a well-established murine model, we hypothesized that a newly developed immune depletion regimen consisting of pentostatin plus cyclophosphamide would abrogate anti-immunotoxin reactivity. Experimental Design: BALB/c hosts were injected weekly with recombinant immunotoxin (RIT) SS1P, which is an antimesothelin Fv antibody fragment genetically fused to a 38 kDa portion of PE, and has been evaluated in clinical trials. Experimental cohorts received induction chemotherapy consisting of pentostatin (P) plus cyclophosphamide (C) prior to initial RIT exposure; some cohorts received further maintenance PC therapy of varying intensity just prior to each weekly RIT challenge. Cohorts were monitored for T, B, myeloid cell depletion, and for total anti-SS1P antibody (Ab) formation. Results: Controls uniformly developed anti-SS1P Ab after the third RIT exposure. Induction PC therapy reduced the frequency of hosts with anti-SS1P Ab. Abrogation of antibody generation was improved by maintenance PC therapy: nearly 100% of recipients of intensive PC maintenance were free of anti-SS1P Ab after 9 weekly RIT doses. The most effective PC regimen yielded the greatest degree of host B-cell depletion, moderate T-cell depletion, and minimal myeloid cell depletion. Conclusions: Induction and maintenance PC chemotherapy safely prevented anti-immunotoxin antibody formation with uniform efficacy. These data suggest that immunotoxin therapy might be used in combination with pentostatin plus cyclophosphamide chemotherapy to improve the targeted therapy of cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 17(11); 3697–705. ©2011 AACR .

46 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that reducing shedding significantly improved the in vitro cytotoxicity of immunotoxin SS1P, which targets mesothelin and is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with mesothelioma and lung cancer.
Abstract: Mesothelin is a cell-surface tumor-associated antigen expressed in several human cancers. The limited expression of mesothelin on normal tissues and its high expression in many cancers make it an attractive candidate for targeted therapies using monoclonal antibodies, immunoconjugates, and immunotoxins. Mesothelin is actively shed from the cell surface and is present in the serum of patients with malignant mesothelioma, which could negatively affect the response to these therapies. We have found that mesothelin sheddase activity is mediated by a TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE), a member of the matrix metalloproteinase/a disintegrin and metalloprotease family. We showed that EGF and TIMP-3 act through TACE as endogenous regulators of mesothelin shedding. We also found that reducing shedding significantly improved the in vitro cytotoxicity of immunotoxin SS1P, which targets mesothelin and is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with mesothelioma and lung cancer. Our findings provide a mechanistic understanding of mesothelin shedding and could help improve mesothelin-based targeted therapies.

33 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the number of chelate conjugation and the injected dose are two important parameters to achieve high tumor and low non-target organ uptake of (111)In-labeled MORAb-009 and suggested that the injected doses of mAb could be individualized based on the tumor size or the blood level of shed antigen in a patient to achieve the ideal tumor-to-organ radioactivity ratios.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The resulting molecule, HA22-LR, retained cytotoxicity toward CD22+ cell lines, killed primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells more potently than moxetumomab pasudotox, was much less toxic to mice, and had significantly improved antitumor activity toward murine xenografts.
Abstract: Recombinant immunotoxins, containing an Fv fragment and a bacterial toxin, frequently elicit neutralizing antibodies, nearly always against the toxin. Moxetumomab pasudotox (previously called CAT-8015 or HA22) contains an anti-CD22 Fv fused to PE38, a truncated form of Pseudomonas exotoxin, containing amino acids 253–364 and 381–613. One avenue to reducing immunogenicity is to identify B- and T-cell epitopes and remove them while retaining toxin activity. To determine B-cell epitopes on PE38, 60 monoclonal antibodies against PE38 were tested in a pairwise manner, and seven major epitope groups with 13 subgroups were identified. The locations of many of these epitopes were identified by mutating large surface-exposed residues to alanine. A mutant of moxetumomab pasudotox containing eight epitope-eliminating mutations (HA22-8X) was prepared, and greatly reduced immunogenicity in mice. In parallel, two large sections of PE38 containing lysosomal protease cleavage sites were removed, leaving only amino acids ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The data show that low Bak can cause cancer cells to be resistant to Immunotoxin treatment and that combining immunotoxin with TRAIL or a TRAIL agonist antibody can overcome resistance.
Abstract: Purpose: Many solid tumors express cell surface mesothelin making them attractive targets for antibody-based therapies of cancer. SS1P [antimesothelin(Fv)PE38] is a recombinant immunotoxin (RIT) that has potent cytotoxic activity on several cancer cell lines and clinical activity in mesothelioma patients. Pancreatic cancers express mesothelin and are known to be resistant to most chemotherapeutic agents. The goal of this study is to treat pancreatic cancer with RIT by targeting mesothelin. Experimental Design: We measured the cytotoxic activity of an antimesothelin immunotoxin on pancreatic cancer cells. We also measured the levels of several pro- and antiapoptotic proteins, as well as the ability of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) or the anti-TRAIL receptor 2 agonist antibody (HGS-ETR2) to kill pancreatic cells, and the cytotoxic activity of the two agents together in cell culture and against tumors in mice. Results: In two pancreatic cancer cell lines, immunotoxin treatment inhibited protein synthesis but did not produce significant cell death. The resistant lines had low levels of the proapoptotic protein Bak. Increasing Bak expression enhanced the sensitivity to immunotoxins, whereas Bak knockdown diminished it. We also found that combining immunotoxin with TRAIL or HGS-ETR2 caused synergistic cell death, and together triggered caspase-8 recruitment and activation, Bid cleavage and Bax activation. Combining SS1P with HGS-ETR2 also acted synergistically to decrease tumor burden in a mouse model. Conclusion: Our data show that low Bak can cause cancer cells to be resistant to immunotoxin treatment and that combining immunotoxin with TRAIL or a TRAIL agonist antibody can overcome resistance. Clin Cancer Res; 17(18); 5926–34. ©2011 AACR .

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results indicate that local OB areas have a mechanism to coordinate the loss and incorporation of GC subsets by compensatory incorporation of new GC subset, which involves subset-specific cellular incorporation and subset- specific regulation of spine size.
Abstract: In the olfactory bulb (OB), loss of preexisting granule cells (GCs) and incorporation of adult-born new GCs continues throughout life. GCs consist of distinct subsets. Here, we examined whether the loss and incorporation of GC subsets are coordinated in the OB. We classified GCs into mGluR2-expressing and -negative subsets and selectively ablated mGluR2-expressing GCs in a local area of the OB with immunotoxin-mediated cell ablation method. The density of mGluR2-expressing GCs showed considerable recovery within several weeks after the ablation. During recovery, an mGluR2-expressing new GC subset was preferentially incorporated over an mGluR2-negative new GC subset in the area of ablation, whereas the preferential incorporation was not observed in the intact area. The area-specific preferential incorporation of mGluR2-expressing new GCs occurred for BrdU analog- and retrovirus-labeled adult-born cells as well as for neonate-derived transplanted cells. The mGluR2-expressing new GCs in the ablated area were synaptically incorporated into the local bulbar circuit. The spine size of mGluR2-expressing new GCs in the ablated area was larger than that of those in the intact area. In contrast, mGluR2-negative new GCs did not show ablated area-specific spine enlargement. These results indicate that local OB areas have a mechanism to coordinate the loss and incorporation of GC subsets by compensatory incorporation of new GC subsets, which involves subset-specific cellular incorporation and subset-specific regulation of spine size.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results demonstrate that urine outflow obstruction protects the glomerulus from progressive sclerosis, and reveals that this protection occurs at a very early stage of the pathologic process, namely, damage of podocytes.
Abstract: Urine outflow obstruction activates a variety of profibrotic factors, including the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system. However, the obstruction also nullifies the transmural hydraulic pressure difference across the glomerular capillary wall, an established inducer of glomerulosclerosis. In the present study, we investigated whether, and by what mechanism, urine outflow obstruction affects the process of progressive glomerulosclerosis. For this purpose, we tested the effect of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) of 7 days duration in two distinct mouse models of glomerulosclerosis. In the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) nephropathy model, where HIV-1 genes are selectively expressed in podocytes and develop progressive podocyte damage and glomerulosclerosis, UUO protected against sclerosis with preservation of podocytes morphologically and immunohistochemically. In contrast, the nonobstructed contralateral kidneys of these mice, as well as sham-operated HIV-1 mouse kidneys, developed severe podocyte injury and glomerulosclerosis. The protection against glomerulosclerosis imparted by ureteral obstruction was also documented in the NEP25 model of podocyte injury, in which a single injection of immunotoxin, LMB2, triggers selective podocyte injury followed by glomerulosclerosis, both of which were protected by UUO. Notably, intervention with an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist provided only a partial protective effect in each of the models. These results demonstrate that urine outflow obstruction protects the glomerulus from progressive sclerosis. The results further reveal that this protection occurs at a very early stage of the pathologic process, namely, damage of podocytes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Standard treatment for hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is markedly effective, but the constant decrease in disease-free survival, together with the presence of minimal residual disease (MRD), suggests that few if any are cured.
Abstract: Standard treatment for hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is markedly effective, but the constant decrease in disease-free survival, together with the presence of minimal residual disease (MRD), suggests that few if any are cured. HCL cells in MRD are always strongly CD20 + and CD22 + , and also CD25 + unless the patient has the poor-prognosis variant HCLv. To target relapsed/refractory HCL, immunotherapy has been developed using anti-CD25 and anti-CD22 recombinant immunotoxins, or the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) rituximab alone or combined with purine analogs. The recombinant immunotoxins contain an Fv fragment of a mAb fused to a truncated form of Pseudomonas exotoxin called PE38. BL22 targeting CD22, in phase I and II testing of relapsed/refractory HCL, achieved 47–61% complete remissions (CRs), several of them ongoing after 9–10 years. A completely reversible form of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) was observed in 12% of patients, several of whom could later achieve a partial remission (PR) or CR with ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings show that the ANKRD26 protein has at least two functions in mice: one is to control the response of white adipose tissue to insulin; the other is toControl appetite, which when Ankrd26 is mutated, leads to hyperphagia and diabetes in an obesity-dependent manner.
Abstract: Aims/hypothesis ANKRD26 is a newly described gene located at 10p12 in humans, a locus that has been identified with some forms of hereditary obesity. Previous studies have shown that partial inactivation of Ankrd26 in mice causes hyperphagia, obesity and gigantism. Hypothesising that Ankrd26 mutant (MT) mice could develop diabetes, we sought to establish whether the observed phenotype could be (1) solely related to the development of obesity or (2) caused by a direct action of ankyrin repeat domain 26 (ANKRD26) in peripheral tissues.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Combined therapy with the BH3-only mimetic, ABT-737, and immunotoxin–ABT combinations often exhibit greater killing activity than either compound alone and in some instances overcome resistance.
Abstract: Immunotoxins are antibody-toxin fusion proteins directed to kill cancer cells displaying specific target antigens on their surface. Remarkably, immunotoxins directed to CD22 on hairy cell leukemia have produced complete remissions in approximately 60% of patients enrolled in phase I/II trials. For reasons that are not yet clear, 40% of patients responded less well. In addition, patients with other CD22-positive malignancies have not yet achieved complete remissions. In trying to understand 'resistance' to immunotoxin therapy, a number of challenging issues have been raised. These include insufficient dosing, the production of neutralizing anti-immunotoxin antibodies, poor access to malignant cells, and resistance to toxin killing. In designing immunotoxins, we employ truncated Pseudomonas exotoxin, which enzymatically inactivates protein synthesis and produces cell death in sensitive cells. To begin to address toxin resistance we have explored combination therapy with the BH3-only mimetic, ABT-737. Our results indicate that immunotoxin-ABT combinations often exhibit greater killing activity than either compound alone and in some instances overcome resistance. Expression of high levels of prosurvival Bcl-2 proteins may contribute to toxin resistance.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Sep 2011-mAbs
TL;DR: The N34A mutant of scdsFv-HA22-LR, a recombinant immunotoxin for the treatment of B-cell malignancies that contains the Fv portion of an anti-CD22 antibody fused to a functional portion of Pseudomonas exotoxin A, could have important consequences in a clinical setting.
Abstract: HA22-LR is a recombinant immunotoxin for the treatment of B-cell malignancies that contains the Fv portion of an anti-CD22 antibody fused to a functional portion of Pseudomonas exotoxin A. In the present study, we attempted to improve this molecule. First, we produced a single-chain version of HA22-LR (scdsFv-HA22-LR) in which a peptide linker was introduced between the disulfide-linked light and heavy chains to enable production via single fermentation. No difference in cytotoxic activity was observed between scdsFv-HA22-LR and prototype HA22-LR. Next, we attempted to increase the affinity of scdsFv-HA22-LR by using alanine scanning mutagenesis of complementarity determining regions (CDRs) to assess the specific contribution of each CDR residue to the antigen binding. We found that mutation of asparagine 34 in VLCDR1, which is located at the VL/VH interface, to alanine (N34A) caused a substantial increase in affinity and activity. Estimated KD values measured by fluorescence-activated cell sorting were l...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: BL22 induced complete remissions in the majority of patients with chemoresistant hairy cell leukemia (HCL) during phase 1 and 2 studies, and showed promising antitumor activity in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and moxetumomab pasudotox is currently undergoing phase 1 testing in refractory HCL.
Abstract: Immunotoxins composed of monoclonal antibodies linked to bacterial or plant protein toxins have been studied during the past 30 years as a potential targeted therapy for cancer. A series of refinements in the design of immunotoxins containing the bacterial toxin Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE) led to the development of the current smaller, more selective, and more stable recombinant immunotoxins that are composed of a truncated form of PE fused to the variable domain of a monoclonal antibody. Immunotoxins targeting CD22, an antigen commonly expressed on B-cell malignancies, including BL22 (also known as CAT-3888) and its improved, higher affinity derivative, moxetumomab pasudotox (also known as HA22 or CAT-8015) are being evaluated in patients with hematologic malignancies. BL22 induced complete remissions in the majority of patients with chemoresistant hairy cell leukemia (HCL) during phase 1 and 2 studies, and showed promising antitumor activity in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Moxetumomab pasudotox is currently undergoing phase 1 testing in refractory HCL, as well as in CLL, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Thus far, clinical activity has been observed in approximately 80% of adult patients with HCL and complete remissions have been reported in 25% of children with ALL. No dose-limiting toxicities have been reported in the adult study in patients with HCL or in patients in the pediatric study who also received dexamethasone.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: SS1P with pemetrexed and cisplatin is well tolerated and results in significant anti-tumor activity with 5 PRs, and 1 SD among the 7 patients treated at MTD.
Abstract: 7026 Background: SS1P is an immunotoxin targeting mesothelin, a tumor antigen highly expressed in malignant mesothelioma (MM). Preclinical studies showed marked synergy between SS1P and chemotherap...

Journal ArticleDOI
18 Nov 2011-Blood
TL;DR: LMB-2 is effective in ATL when preceded by FC, and can achieve major responses including CR, and additional patients will be needed to determine if FC can delay immunogenicity significantly, and allow enough cycles to result in long-term remission from this disease.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that a large non-naïve, non-immune human scFv library is relatively depleted of sequences capable of recognizing human antigens as compared with orthologs antIGens.
Abstract: Non-immune human antibody fragment libraries have generated antigen-binding proteins useful as prospective research, imaging, diagnostic and therapeutic agents. However, because the generation of such libraries relies on cloning antibody sequences from the circulating immune repertoire rather than truly naive, germline sequences, their composition may reflect the deletion of autoreactive sequences, making them less suited for isolating binding clones to human antigens, but perhaps useful in applications where an in vitro handle on representative circulating antibody diversity is desired. Here we demonstrate that a large non-immune human scFv library is relatively depleted of sequences capable of recognizing human antigens as compared with orthologs antigens. Additionally, because this non-naive, non-immune library may capture a representative section of antibody diversity, we explore its possible utility in conducting early pre-screens to predict the antigenicity of prospective therapeutics and find a correlation between the clinical immunogenicity of a small panel of protein therapeutics with their propensity for interacting with the library.