Engineering aglycosylated antibody variants with immune effector functions

Monoclonal antibodies have emerged as a promising class of therapeutics for the treatment of human disease, and in particular human cancer. While multiple mechanisms contribute to antibody efficacy, the engagement and activation of immune effector cells - mediated by the interaction of the conserved Fc regions of the antibody with the Fc gamma receptors (Fc[gamma]Rs) on immune cells - is critical to the efficacy of several. This thesis describes the engineering of antibody Fc domain interactions with Fc[gamma]Rs, using the' yeast S. cerevisiae. In an initial step, a microbial system for the production of full-length antibodies in S. cerevisiae in milligram per liter titers has been developed, which serves as a platform for the engineering of antibody Fc domains with defined properties. The presence of a single N-linked glycan on each chain of the antibody Fc, as well as the specific composition of the glycoforms comprising it, are critical to the binding of the Fc to Fc[gamma]Rs, and have largely limited the production of therapeutic antibodies to mammalian expression systems. Using a display system that tethers full-length antibodies on the surface of yeast, we identify and characterize aglycosylated antibody variants that bind a subset of the human low-affinity Fc[gamma]Rs, Fc[gamma]RIIA and Fc'yRIIB, with approximately wildtype binding affinity and activate immune effector functions in vivo. In a separate approach, we identify aglycosylated variants that weakly bind a third low-affinity receptor, Fc[gamma]RIIIA, and through subsequent engineering generate variants that bind all of the low-affinity Fc[gamma]Rs with approximately wild-type binding affinity. By decoupling the function of the antibody from its post-translational processing, these variants have the potential to open up therapeutic antibody production to a far wider array of expression systems than currently available. Finally, in parallel work, we use a similar system to screen for glycosylated Fc variants with improved affinity and specificity for the activating receptor Fc[gamma]RIIIA compared to the inhibitory receptor Fc[gamma]RIIB, properties which have been hypothesized to lead to more potent antibody therapeutics.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biological Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Sazinsky, Stephen L. (Stephen Lael)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• K. Dane Wittrup.

• Biological Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61232

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/61232