Development of a bispecific immune engager using a recombinant malaria protein.

Abstract

As an immune evasion and survival strategy, the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite has evolved a protein named VAR2CSA. This protein mediates sequestration of infected red blood cells in the placenta through the interaction with a unique carbohydrate abundantly and exclusively present in the placenta. Cancer cells were found to share the same expression of this distinct carbohydrate, termed oncofetal chondroitin sulfate on their surface. In this study we have used a protein conjugation system to produce a bispecific immune engager, V-aCD3, based on recombinant VAR2CSA as the cancer targeting moiety and an anti-CD3 single-chain variable fragment linked to a single-chain Fc as the immune engager. Conjugation of these two proteins resulted in a single functional moiety that induced immune mediated killing of a broad range of cancer cells in vitro and facilitated tumor arrest in an orthotopic bladder cancer xenograft model.

• Authors: Mie A Nordmaj, Morgan E Roberts, Emilie S Sachse, Robert Dagil, Anne Poder Andersen, Nanna Skeltved, Kaare V Grunddal, Sayit Mahmut Erdoğan, Swati Choudhary, Tobias Gustsavsson, Maj Sofie Ørum-Madsen, Igor Moskalev, Weihua Tian, Zhang Yang, Thomas M Clausen, Thor G Theander, Mads Daugaard, Morten A Nielsen, Ali Salanti
• Journal: Cell death & disease (Cell Death Dis) Vol. 12 Issue 4 Pg. 353 (04 06 2021) ISSN: 2041-4889 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 33824272 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Protozoan Proteins
• Recombinant Proteins
• Chondroitin Sulfates

Topics

• Chondroitin Sulfates (immunology, metabolism)
• Erythrocytes (metabolism)
• Female
• Humans
• Malaria (immunology, metabolism)
• Malaria, Falciparum (immunology, metabolism)
• Placenta (metabolism)
• Plasmodium falciparum (metabolism)
• Pregnancy
• Protozoan Proteins (immunology, metabolism)
• Recombinant Proteins (metabolism)