Melbourne Medical School Collected Works - Research Publications

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    CD83 is a new potential biomarker and therapeutic target for Hodgkin lymphoma
    Li, Z ; Ju, X ; Lee, K ; Clarke, C ; Hsu, JL ; Abadir, E ; Bryant, CE ; Pears, S ; Sunderland, N ; Heffernan, S ; Hennessy, A ; Lo, T-H ; Pietersz, GA ; Kupresanin, F ; Fromm, PD ; Silveira, PA ; Tsonis, C ; Cooper, WA ; Cunningham, I ; Brown, C ; Clark, GJ ; Hart, DNJ (FERRATA STORTI FOUNDATION, 2018-03-23)
    Chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are effective treatments for most Hodgkin lymphoma patients, however there remains a need for better tumor-specific target therapy in Hodgkin lymphoma patients with refractory or relapsed disease. Herein, we demonstrate that membrane CD83 is a diagnostic and therapeutic target, highly expressed in Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines and Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells in 29/35 (82.9%) Hodgkin lymphoma patient lymph node biopsies. CD83 from Hodgkin lymphoma tumor cells was able to trogocytose to surrounding T cells and, interestingly, the trogocytosing CD83+T cells expressed significantly more programmed death-1 compared to CD83-T cells. Hodgkin lymphoma tumor cells secreted soluble CD83 that inhibited T-cell proliferation, and anti-CD83 antibody partially reversed the inhibitory effect. High levels of soluble CD83 were detected in Hodgkin lymphoma patient sera, which returned to normal in patients who had good clinical responses to chemotherapy confirmed by positron emission tomography scans. We generated a human anti-human CD83 antibody, 3C12C, and its toxin monomethyl auristatin E conjugate, that killed CD83 positive Hodgkin lymphoma cells but not CD83 negative cells. The 3C12C antibody was tested in dose escalation studies in non-human primates. No toxicity was observed, but there was evidence of CD83 positive target cell depletion. These data establish CD83 as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in Hodgkin lymphoma.
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    Immunogenicity of a Tripartite Cell Penetrating Peptide Containing a MUC1 Variable Number of Tandem Repeat (VNTR) and A T Helper Epitope
    Brooks, N ; Hsu, J ; Esparon, S ; Pouniotis, D ; Pietersz, GA (MDPI, 2018-09)
    Peptide-based vaccines for cancer have many advantages however, for optimization these immunogens should incorporate peptide epitopes that induce CD8, as well as CD4 responses, antibody and long term immunity. Cell penetrating peptides (CPP) with a capacity of cytosolic delivery have been used to deliver antigenic peptides and proteins to antigen presenting cells to induce cytotoxic T cell, helper T cell and humoral responses in mice. For this study, a tripartite CPP including a mucin 1 (MUC1) variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) containing multiple T cell epitopes and tetanus toxoid universal T helper epitope peptide (tetCD4) was synthesised (AntpMAPMUC1tet) and immune responses investigated in mice. Mice vaccinated with AntpMAPMUC1tet + CpG show enhanced antigen-specific interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and IL-4 T cell responses compared with AntpMAPMUC1tet vaccination alone and induced a Th1 response, characterised by a higher ratio of IgG2a antibody/IgG1 antibodies. Furthermore, vaccination generated long term MUC1-specific antibody and T cell responses and delayed growth of MUC1+ve tumours in mice. This data demonstrates the efficient delivery of branched multiple antigen peptides incorporating CPP and that the addition of CpG augments immune responses.
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    Activated platelets in the tumor microenvironment for targeting of antibody-drug conjugates to tumors and metastases
    Yap, ML ; McFadyen, JD ; Wang, X ; Ziegler, M ; Chen, Y-C ; Willcox, A ; Nowell, CJ ; Scott, AM ; Sloan, EK ; Hogarth, PM ; Pietersz, GA ; Peter, K (IVYSPRING INT PUBL, 2019)
    Rationale: Platelets are increasingly recognized as mediators of tumor growth and metastasis. Hypothesizing that activated platelets in the tumor microenvironment provide a targeting epitope for tumor-directed chemotherapy, we developed an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), comprised of a single-chain antibody (scFv) against the platelet integrin GPIIb/IIIa (scFvGPIIb/IIIa) linked to the potent chemotherapeutic microtubule inhibitor, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE). Methods: We developed an ADC comprised of three components: 1) A scFv which specifically binds to the high affinity, activated integrin GPIIb/IIIa on activated platelets. 2) A highly potent microtubule inhibitor, monomethyl auristatin E. 3) A drug activation/release mechanism using a linker cleavable by cathepsin B, which we demonstrate to be abundant in the tumor microenvironment. The scFvGPIIb/IIIa-MMAE was first conjugated with Cyanine7 for in vivo imaging. The therapeutic efficacy of the scFvGPIIb/IIIa-MMAE was then tested in a mouse metastasis model of triple negative breast cancer. Results: In vitro studies confirmed that this ADC specifically binds to activated GPIIb/IIIa, and cathepsin B-mediated drug release/activation resulted in tumor cytotoxicity. In vivo fluorescence imaging demonstrated that the newly generated ADC localized to primary tumors and metastases in a mouse xenograft model of triple negative breast cancer, a difficult to treat tumor for which a selective tumor-targeting therapy remains to be clinically established. Importantly, we demonstrated that the scFvGPIIb/IIIa-MMAE displays marked efficacy as an anti-cancer agent, reducing tumor growth and preventing metastatic disease, without any discernible toxic effects. Conclusion: Here, we demonstrate the utility of a novel ADC that targets a potent cytotoxic drug to activated platelets and specifically releases the cytotoxic agent within the confines of the tumor. This unique targeting mechanism, specific to the tumor microenvironment, holds promise as a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of a broad range of primary tumors and metastatic disease, particularly for tumors that lack specific molecular epitopes for drug targeting.