Chiu, Mark

Bispecific antibody generation is actively pursued for therapeutic and research antibody development. Although there are multiple strategies for generating bispecific antibodies (bsAbs); the common challenge is to develop a scalable method to prepare bsAbs with high purity and yield. The controlled Fab-arm exchange (cFAE) method combines two parental monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), each with a matched point mutation, F405L and K409R in the respective CH3 domains. The conventional process employs… Show more

Bispecific antibody generation is actively pursued for therapeutic and research antibody development. Although there are multiple strategies for generating bispecific antibodies (bsAbs); the common challenge is to develop a scalable method to prepare bsAbs with high purity and yield. The controlled Fab-arm exchange (cFAE) method combines two parental monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), each with a matched point mutation, F405L and K409R in the respective CH3 domains. The conventional process employs two steps: the purification of two parental mAbs from culture supernatants followed by cFAE. Following a reduction/oxidation reaction, the bispecific mAb is formed with greater than 95% heterodimerization efficiency. In this study, cFAE was initiated in culture supernatants expressing the two parental mAbs, thereby eliminating the need to first purify the parental mAbs. The bsAbs formed in culture supernatant was then purified using a Protein A affinity chromatography. The BsAbs generated in this manner had efficiency comparable to the conventional method using purified parental mAbs. BsAbs prepared by two different routes showed indistinguishable characteristics by SDS capillary electrophoresis, analytical size exclusion, and cation exchange chromatography. This alternative method significantly shortened timelines and reduced resources required for bsAb generation, providing an improved process with potential benefits in large-scale bsAb preparation, as well as for HTP small-scale bsAb matrix selection. Show less

Multispecific proteins, such as bispecific antibodies (BsAbs), that bind to two different ligands are becoming increasingly important therapeutic agents. Such BsAbs can exhibit markedly increased target binding and target residence time when both pharmacophores bind simultaneously to their targets. The cross-arm binding efficiency (χ) describes an increase in apparent affinity when a BsAb binds to the second target or receptor (R2) following its binding to the first target or receptor (R1) on… Show more

Multispecific proteins, such as bispecific antibodies (BsAbs), that bind to two different ligands are becoming increasingly important therapeutic agents. Such BsAbs can exhibit markedly increased target binding and target residence time when both pharmacophores bind simultaneously to their targets. The cross-arm binding efficiency (χ) describes an increase in apparent affinity when a BsAb binds to the second target or receptor (R2) following its binding to the first target or receptor (R1) on the same cell. χ is an intrinsic characteristic of a BsAb mostly related to the binding epitopes on R1 and R2. χ can have significant impacts on the binding to R2 for BsAbs targeting two receptors on the same cell. JNJ-61186372, a BsAb that targets epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and c-Met, was used as the model compound for establishing a method to characterize χ. The χ for JNJ-61186372 was successfully determined via fitting of in vitro cell binding data to a ligand binding model that incorporated χ. The model-derived χ value was used to predict the binding of JNJ-61186372 to individual EGFR and c-Met receptors on tumor cell lines, and the results agreed well with the observed IC50 for EGFR and c-Met phosphorylation inhibition by JNJ-61186372. Consistent with the model, JNJ-61186372 was shown to be more effective than the combination therapy of anti-EGFR and anti-c-Met monovalent antibodies at the same dose level in a mouse xenograft model. Our results showed that χ is an important characteristic of BsAbs, and should be considered for rationale design of BsAbs targeting two membrane bound targets on the same cell. Show less

The efficacy of engaging multiple drug targets using bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) is affected by the relative cell-surface protein levels of the respective targets. In this work, the receptor density values were correlated to the in vitro activity of a BsAb (JNJ-61186372) targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and hepatocyte growth factor receptor (c-MET). Simultaneous binding of the BsAb to both receptors was confirmed in vitro. By using controlled Fab-arm exchange, a set of BsAbs… Show more

The efficacy of engaging multiple drug targets using bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) is affected by the relative cell-surface protein levels of the respective targets. In this work, the receptor density values were correlated to the in vitro activity of a BsAb (JNJ-61186372) targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and hepatocyte growth factor receptor (c-MET). Simultaneous binding of the BsAb to both receptors was confirmed in vitro. By using controlled Fab-arm exchange, a set of BsAbs targeting EGFR and c-MET was generated to establish an accurate receptor quantitation of a panel of lung and gastric cancer cell lines expressing heterogeneous levels of EGFR and c-MET. EGFR and c-MET receptor density levels were correlated to the respective gene expression levels as well as to the respective receptor phosphorylation inhibition values. We observed a bias in BsAb binding toward the more highly expressed of the two receptors, EGFR or c-MET, which resulted in the enhanced in vitro potency of JNJ-61186372 against the less highly expressed target. On the basis of these observations, we propose an avidity model of how JNJ-61186372 engages EGFR and c-MET with potentially broad implications for bispecific drug efficacy and design. Show less

Ionic liquids exhibit a variety of properties that make them attractive solvents for biomaterials. Given the potential for productive interaction between ionic liquids and biological macromolecules, we investigated the use of ionic liquids as precipitating agents and additives for protein crystallization for six model proteins (lysozyme, catalase, myoglobin, trypsin, glucose isomerase, and xylanase). The ionic liquids produced changes in crystal morphology and mediated significant increases in… Show more

Ionic liquids exhibit a variety of properties that make them attractive solvents for biomaterials. Given the potential for productive interaction between ionic liquids and biological macromolecules, we investigated the use of ionic liquids as precipitating agents and additives for protein crystallization for six model proteins (lysozyme, catalase, myoglobin, trypsin, glucose isomerase, and xylanase). The ionic liquids produced changes in crystal morphology and mediated significant increases in crystal size in some cases. Crystals grown using ionic liquids as precipitating agents or as additives provided X-ray diffraction resolution similar to or better than that obtained without ionic liquids. Based upon the experiments performed with model proteins, the ionic liquids were used as additives for the crystallization of the poorly diffracting monoclonal antibody 106.3 Fab in complex with the B-type natriuretic peptide (5-13). The ionic liquids improved the crystallization behavior and provided improved diffraction resulting in the determination of the structure. Ionic liquids should be considered as useful additives for the crystallization of other proteins. Show less

Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is solubilized efficiently as a monomer by a novel surfactant, a tripod amphiphile (TPA), which permits the formation of purple hexagonal bR crystals under several conditions. The crystals, although small, diffract to 2.5 A resolution using synchrotron radiation. TPA may be useful for the solubilization, purification, and crystallization of other membrane proteins.