A highly selective humanized DDR1 mAb reverses immune exclusion by disrupting collagen fiber alignment in breast cancer

Authors

• Junquan Liu, Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
• Huai-Chin Chiang, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Wei Xiong, Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
• Victor Laurent, Evotec (France) SAS, Campus Curie, 195 route d'Espagne, 31036 Toulouse CEDEX, Toulouse, France.
• Samuel C. Griffiths, Evotec (UK) Ltd, Abingdon, UK.
• Jasmin Dülfer, Evotec SE, Manfred Eigen Campus, Hamburg, Germany.
• Hui Deng, Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
• Xiujie Sun, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
• Y Whitney Yin, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA.
• Wenliang Li, Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
• Laurent P. Audoly, Parthenon Therapeutics Inc, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
• Zhiqiang An, Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA Zhiqiang.An@uth.tmc.edu Thomas.schuerpf@parthenontx.com rli69@gwu.edu Ningyan.Zhang@uth.tmc.edu.
• Thomas Schürpf, Parthenon Therapeutics Inc, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Zhiqiang.An@uth.tmc.edu Thomas.schuerpf@parthenontx.com rli69@gwu.edu Ningyan.Zhang@uth.tmc.edu.
• Rong Li, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA Zhiqiang.An@uth.tmc.edu Thomas.schuerpf@parthenontx.com rli69@gwu.edu Ningyan.Zhang@uth.tmc.edu.
• Ningyan Zhang, Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA Zhiqiang.An@uth.tmc.edu Thomas.schuerpf@parthenontx.com rli69@gwu.edu Ningyan.Zhang@uth.tmc.edu.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

6-1-2023

Journal

Journal for immunotherapy of cancer

Volume

11

Issue

6

DOI

10.1136/jitc-2023-006720

Keywords

antibodies, neoplasm; breast neoplasms; collagen; immune reconstitution

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Immune exclusion (IE) where tumors deter the infiltration of immune cells into the tumor microenvironment has emerged as a key mechanism underlying immunotherapy resistance. We recently reported a novel role of discoidin domain-containing receptor 1 (DDR1) in promoting IE in breast cancer and validated its critical role in IE using neutralizing rabbit monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in multiple mouse tumor models. METHODS: To develop a DDR1-targeting mAb as a potential cancer therapeutic, we humanized mAb9 with a complementarity-determining region grafting strategy. The humanized antibody named PRTH-101 is currently being tested in a Phase 1 clinical trial. We determined the binding epitope of PRTH-101 from the crystal structure of the complex between DDR1 extracellular domain (ECD) and the PRTH-101 Fab fragment with 3.15 Å resolution. We revealed the underlying mechanisms of action of PRTH-101 using both cell culture assays and study in a mouse tumor model. RESULTS: PRTH-101 has subnanomolar affinity to DDR1 and potent antitumor efficacy similar to the parental rabbit mAb after humanization. Structural information illustrated that PRTH-101 interacts with the discoidin (DS)-like domain, but not the collagen-binding DS domain of DDR1. Mechanistically, we showed that PRTH-101 inhibited DDR1 phosphorylation, decreased collagen-mediated cell attachment, and significantly blocked DDR1 shedding from the cell surface. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with PRTH-101 disrupted collagen fiber alignment (a physical barrier) in the tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) and enhanced CD8 T cell infiltration in tumors. CONCLUSIONS: This study not only paves a pathway for the development of PRTH-101 as a cancer therapeutic, but also sheds light on a new therapeutic strategy to modulate collagen alignment in the tumor ECM for enhancing antitumor immunity.

APA Citation

Liu, Junquan; Chiang, Huai-Chin; Xiong, Wei; Laurent, Victor; Griffiths, Samuel C.; Dülfer, Jasmin; Deng, Hui; Sun, Xiujie; Yin, Y Whitney; Li, Wenliang; Audoly, Laurent P.; An, Zhiqiang; Schürpf, Thomas; Li, Rong; and Zhang, Ningyan, "A highly selective humanized DDR1 mAb reverses immune exclusion by disrupting collagen fiber alignment in breast cancer" (2023). GW Authored Works. Paper 2779.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/2779

Department

Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine