Recombinant anti-VLA-4 antibody molecules

Details Recombinant anti-VLA-4 antibody molecules Recombinant anti-VLA-4 antibody molecules

1995-05-31

2003-08-05

Gambel, Phillip (Department: 1644)

Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions

Immunoglobulin, antiserum, antibody, or antibody fragment,...

Monoclonal antibody or fragment thereof

C424S130100, C424S133100, C424S144100, C424S143100, C424S153100, C424S173100, C435S069600, C435S252300, C435S320100, C435S328000, C435S343100, C435S343200, C435S346000, C435S440000, C530S387100, C530S387300, C530S388100, C530S388200, C530S388220, C530S388700, C530S388730, C530S388750, C536S023100, C536S023500, C536S023530

Reexamination Certificate

active

06602503

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Immunoglobulins and Monoclonal Antibodies
Natural immunoglobulins have been known for many years, as have the various fragments thereof, such as the Fab, (Fab′)
2
and Fc fragments, which can be derived by enzymatic cleavage. Natural immunoglobulins comprise generally a Y-shaped molecule having an antigen-binding site towards the free end of each upper arm. The remainder of the structure, and particularly the stem of the Y, mediates the effector functions associated with immunoglobulins.
Specifically, immunoglobulin molecules are comprised of two heavy (H) and two light (L) polypeptide chains, held together by disulfide bonds. Each chain of an immunoglobulin chain is divided into regions or domains, each being approximately 110 amino acids. The light chain has two such domains while the heavy chain has four domains. The amino acid sequence of the amino-terminal domain of each polypeptide chain is highly variable (V region), while the sequences of the remaining domains are conserved or constant (C regions). A light chain is therefore composed of one variable (V
L
) and one constant domain (C
L
) while a heavy chain contains one variable (V
H
) and three constant domains (CH
1
, CH
2
and CH
3
). An arm of the Y-shaped molecule consists of a light chain (V+C
L
) and the variable domain (V
H
) and one constant domain (CH
1
) of a heavy chain. The tail of the Y is composed of the remaining heavy chain constant domains (CH
2
+CH
3
). The C-terminal ends of the heavy chains associate to form the Fc portion. Within each variable region are three hypervariable regions. These hypervariable regions are also described as the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) because of their importance in binding of antigen. The four more conserved regions of the variable domains are described as the framework regions (FRs). Each domain of an immunoglobulin consists of two beta-sheets held together by a disulfide bridge, with their hydrophobic faces packed together. The individual beta strands are linked together by loops. The overall appearance can be described as a beta barrel having loops at the ends. The CDRs form the loops at one end of the beta barrel of the variable region.
Natural immunoglobulins have been used in assay, diagnosis and, to a more limited extent, therapy. However, such uses, especially in therapy, have been hindered by the polyclonal nature of natural immunoglobulins. A significant step towards the realization of the potential of immunoglobulins as therapeutic agents was the discovery of techniques for the preparation of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) of defined specificity, Kohler et al., 1975 [1]. However, most MAbs are produced by fusions of rodent (i.e., mouse, rat) spleen cells with rodent myeloma cells. They are therefore essentially rodent proteins.
By 1990, over 100 murine monoclonal antibodies were in clinical trials, particularly in the U.S. and especially for application in the treatment of cancer. However, by this time it was recognized that rejection of murine monoclonal antibodies by the undesirable immune response in humans termed the HAMA (Human Anti-Mouse Antibody) response was a severe limitation, especially for the treatment of chronic disease. Therefore, the use of rodent MAbs as therapeutic agents in humans is inherently limited by the fact that the human subject will mount an immunological response to the MAb and either remove the MAb entirely or at least reduce its effectiveness. In practice MAbs of rodent origin may not be used in a patient for more than one or a few treatments as a HAMA response soon develops rendering the MAb ineffective as well as giving rise to undesirable reactions. In fact, a HAMA response has been observed in the majority of patients following a single injection of mouse antibody, (Schroff et al., 1985 [2]). A solution to the problem of HAMA is to administer immunologically compatible human monoclonal antibodies. However, the technology for development of human monoclonal antibodies has lagged well behind that of murine antibodies (Borrebaeck et al., 1990 [3]) such that very few human antibodies have proved useful for clinical study.
Proposals have therefore been made for making non-human MAbs less antigenic in humans. Such techniques can be generically termed “humanization” techniques. These techniques generally involve the use of recombinant DNA technology to manipulate DNA sequences encoding the polypeptide chains of the antibody molecule. The use of recombinant DNA technology to clone antibody genes has provided an alternative whereby a murine monoclonal antibody can be converted to a predominantly human-form (i.e., humanized) with the same antigen binding properties (Riechmann et al., 1988 [4]). Generally, the goal of the humanizing technology is to develop humanized antibodies with very little or virtually no murine component apart from the CDRs (see, e.g., Tempest et al., 1991 [5]) so as to reduce or eliminate their immunogenicity in humans.
Early methods for humanizing MAbs involved production of chimeric antibodies in which an antigen binding site comprising the complete variable domains of one antibody is linked to constant domains derived from another antibody. Methods for carrying out such chimerization procedures have been described, for example, in EP 120694 [6], EP 125023 [7], and WO 86/01533 [8]. Generally disclosed are processes for preparing antibody molecules having the variable domains from a non-human MAb such as a mouse MAb and the constant domains from a human immunoglobulin. Such chimeric antibodies are not truly humanized because they still contain a significant proportion of non-human amino acid sequence, i.e., the complete non-human variable domains, and thus may still elicit some HAMA response, particularly if administered over a prolonged period, Begent et al., 1990 [9]. In addition, it is believed that these methods in some cases (e.g., EP 120694 [6]; EP 125023 [7] and U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567 [10]) did not lead to the expression of any significant quantities of Ig polypeptide chains, nor the production of Ig activity without in vitro solubilization and chain reconstitution, nor to the secretion and assembly of the chains into the desired chimeric recombinant antibodies. These same problems may be noted for the initial production of non-chimeric recombinant antibodies (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,397 [11]).
B. Humanized Recombinant Antibodies and CDR-Grafting Technology
Following the early methods for the preparation of chimeric antibodies, a new approach was described in EP 0239400 [12] whereby antibodies are altered by substitution of their complementarity determining regions (CDRs) for one species with those from another. This process may be used, for example, to substitute the CDRs from human heavy and light chain Ig variable region domains with alternative CDRs from murine variable region domains. These altered Ig variable regions may subsequently be combined with human Ig constant regions to created antibodies which are totally human in composition except for the substituted murine CDRs. Such murine CDR-substituted antibodies would be predicted to be less likely to elicit a considerably reduced immune response in humans compared to chimeric antibodies because they contain considerably less murine components.
The process for humanizing monoclonal antibodies via CDR grafting has been termed “reshaping”. (Riechmann et al., 1988 [4]; Verhoeyen et al., 1988 [13]). Typically, complementarity determining regions (CDRs) of a murine antibody are transplanted onto the corresponding regions in a human antibody, since it is the CDRs (three in antibody heavy chains, three in light chains) that are the regions of the mouse antibody which bind to a specific antigen. Transplantation of CDRs is achieved by genetic engineering whereby CDR DNA sequences are determined by cloning of murine heavy and light chain

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Recombinant anti-VLA-4 antibody molecules does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Recombinant anti-VLA-4 antibody molecules, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Recombinant anti-VLA-4 antibody molecules will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3098232