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ABSTRACTCD40 agonism by systemic administration of CD40 monoclonal antibodies has been explored in clinical trials for immunotherapy of cancer, uncovering enormous potential, but also dosing challenges in terms of systemic toxicity. CD40-dependent activation of antigen presenting cells is dependent on crosslinking of the CD40 receptor. Here we exploited this requisite by coupling crosslinking to cancer-receptor density by dual-targeting of CD40 and platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRB), which is highly expressed in the stroma of various types of tumors. A novel PDGFRBxCD40 Fc-silenced bispecific AffiMab was developed to this end to test whether it is possible to activate CD40 in a PDGFRB-targeted manner. A PDGFRB-binding Affibody molecule was fused to each heavy chain of an Fc-silenced CD40 agonistic monoclonal antibody to obtain a bispecific “AffiMab”. Binding of the AffiMab to both PDGFRB and CD40 was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance, bio-layer interferometry and flow cytometry, through analysis of cells expressing respective target. In a reporter assay, the AffiMab displayed increased CD40 potency in the presence of PDGFRB-conjugated beads, in a manner dependent on PDGFRB amount/bead. To test the concept in immunologically relevant systems with physiological levels of CD40 expression, the AffiMab was tested in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) and B cells. Expression of activation markers was increased in moDCs specifically in the presence of PDGFRB-conjugated beads upon AffiMab treatment, while the Fc-silenced CD40 mAb did not stimulate CD40 activation. As expected, the AffiMab did not activate moDCs in the presence of unconjugated beads. Finally, in a co-culture experiment, the AffiMab activated moDCs and B cells in the presence of PDGFRB-expressing cells, but not in co-cultures with PDGFRB-negative cells. Collectively, these results suggest the possibility to activate CD40 in a PDGFRB-targeted manner in vitro. This encourages further investigation and the development of such an approach for the treatment of solid cancers.

Abstract Background Affibody molecules are synthetic peptides with a variety of therapeutic and diagnostic applications. To date, Affibody molecules have mainly been produced by the bacterial production host Escherichia coli. There is an interest in exploring alternative production hosts to identify potential improvements in terms of yield, ease of production and purification advantages. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a production chassis for this group of proteins. Results We examined the production of three different Affibody molecules in S. cerevisiae and found that these Affibody molecules were partially degraded. An albumin-binding domain, which may be attached to the Affibody molecules to increase their half-life, was identified to be a substrate for several S. cerevisiae proteases. We tested the removal of three vacuolar proteases, proteinase A, proteinase B and carboxypeptidase Y. Removal of one of these, proteinase A, resulted in intact secretion of one of the targeted Affibody molecules. Removal of either or both of the two additional proteases, carboxypeptidase Y and proteinase B, resulted in intact secretion of the two remaining Affibody molecules. The produced Affibody molecules were verified to bind their target, human HER3, as potently as the corresponding molecules produced in E. coli in an in vitro surface-plasmon resonance binding assay. Finally, we performed a fed-batch fermentation with one of the engineered protease-deficient S. cerevisiae strains and achieved a protein titer of 530 mg Affibody molecule/L. Conclusion This study shows that engineered S. cerevisiae has a great potential as a production host for recombinant Affibody molecules, reaching a high titer, and for proteins where endotoxin removal could be challenging, the use of S. cerevisiae obviates the need for endotoxin removal from protein produced in E. coli.

Summary: We show the successful application of ancestral sequence reconstruction to enhance the activity of iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS), thereby increasing its therapeutic potential for the treatment of Hunter syndrome—a lysosomal storage disease caused by impaired function of IDS. Current treatment, enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant human IDS, does not alleviate all symptoms, and an unmet medical need remains. We reconstructed putative ancestral sequences of mammalian IDS and compared them with extant IDS. Some ancestral variants displayed up to 2-fold higher activity than human IDS in in vitro assays and cleared more substrate in ex vivo experiments in patient fibroblasts. This could potentially allow for lower dosage or enhanced therapeutic effect in enzyme replacement therapy, thereby improving treatment outcomes and cost efficiency, as well as reducing treatment burden. In summary, we showed that ancestral sequence reconstruction can be applied to lysosomal enzymes that function in concert with modern enzymes and receptors in cells.