Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology
Volume 2010 (2010), Article ID 187621, 11 pages
doi:10.1155/2010/187621
Research Article

A Human Recombinant Autoantibody-Based Immunotoxin Specific for the Fetal Acetylcholine Receptor Inhibits Rhabdomyosarcoma Growth In Vitro and in a Murine Transplantation Model

1Institute of Pathology, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
2Department of Pharmaceutical Product Development, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Forckenbeckstraße 6, 52074 Aachen, Germany
3Neurosciences Group, Department of Clinical Neurology, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, OX3 9DU Oxford, UK
4Hellenic Pasteur Institute, 127, Vas. Sofias Avenue 11521, Athens, Greece
5Department of Pediatric Oncology, Olga Hospital, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany
6Department of Experimental Medicine and Immunotherapy, Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074 Aachen, Germany
7Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer Ufer 1-3, 68135 Mannheim, Greece

Received 14 August 2009; Accepted 18 November 2009

Academic Editor: Rene Anand

Copyright © 2010 S. Gattenlöhner et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Linked References

  1. D. M. Parham and D. A. Ellison, “Rhabdomyosarcomas in adults and children: an update,” Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, vol. 130, no. 10, pp. 1454–1465, 2006. View at Scopus
  2. E. Koscielniak, M. Morgan, and J. Treuner, “Soft tissue sarcoma in children: prognosis and management,” Pediatric Drugs, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 21–28, 2002. View at Scopus
  3. R. B. Raney, J. R. Anderson, F. G. Barr, et al., “Rhabdomyosarcoma and undifferentiated sarcoma in the first two decades of life: a selective review of intergroup rhabdomyosarcoma study group experience and rationale for intergroup rhabdomyosarcoma study V,” Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 215–220, 2001. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at Scopus
  4. L. M. Smith, J. R. Anderson, and C. M. Coffin, “Cytodifferentiation and clinical outcome after chemotherapy and radiation therapy for rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS),” Medical and Pediatric Oncology, vol. 38, pp. 398–404, 2002.
  5. M. Carli, R. Colombatti, O. Oberlin, et al., “European intergroup studies (MMT4-89 and MMT4-91) on childhood metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma: final results and analysis of prognostic factors,” Journal of Clinical Oncology, vol. 22, no. 23, pp. 4735–4742, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed · View at Scopus
  6. S. Gattenloehner, A. Vincent, I. Leuschner, et al., “The fetal form of the acetylcholine receptor distinguishes rhabdomyosarcomas from other childhood tumors,” American Journal of Pathology, vol. 152, no. 2, pp. 437–444, 1998. View at Scopus
  7. S. Gattenlöhner, B. Dockhorn-Dworniczak, I. Leuschner, et al., “A comparison of MyoD1 and fetal acetylcholine receptor expression in childhood tumors and normal tissues: implications for the molecular diagnosis of minimal disease in rhabdomyosarcomas,” Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 23–31, 1999. View at Scopus
  8. S. Gattenlöhner, H. K. Muller-Hermelink, and A. Marx, “Polymerase chain reaction-based diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcomas: comparison of fetal type acetylcholine receptor subunits and myogenin,” Diagnostic Molecular Pathology, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 129–134, 1998. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at Scopus
  9. S. Gattenlöhner, A. Marx, B. Markfort, et al., “Rhabdomyosarcoma lysis by T cells expressing a human autoantibody-based chimeric receptor targeting the fetal acetylcholine receptor,” Cancer Research, vol. 66, no. 1, pp. 24–28, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  10. D. L. Siegel, “Recombinant monoclonal antibody technology,” Transfusion Clinique et Biologique, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 15–22, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  11. K. Oda, “Differences in acetylcholine receptor-antibody interactions between extraocular and extremity muscle fibers,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 681, pp. 238–255, 1993.
  12. S. Khanna, C. R. Richmonds, H. J. Kaminski, and J. D. Porter, “Molecular organization of the extraocular muscle neuromuscular junction: partial conservation of and divergence from the skeletal muscle prototype,” Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 1918–1926, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  13. H. J. Kaminski and R. L. Ruff, “Ocular muscle involvement by myasthenia gravis,” Annals of Neurology, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 419–420, 1997. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  14. M. Schluep, N. Willcox, A. Vincent, G. K. Dhoot, and J. Newsom-Davis, “Acetylcholine receptors in human thymic myoid cells in situ: an immunohistological study,” Annals of Neurology, vol. 22, pp. 212–222, 1987.
  15. T. Kirchner, S. Tzartos, F. Hoppe, et al., “Pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis: acetylcholine receptor-related antigenic determinants in tumor-free thymuses and thymic epithelial tumors,” American Journal of Pathology, vol. 130, no. 2, pp. 268–280, 1988.
  16. K. I. Geuder, A. Marx, V. Witzemann, et al., “Pathogenetic significance of fetal-type acetylcholine receptors on thymic myoid cells in myasthenia gravis,” Developmental Immunology, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 69–75, 1992.
  17. H. R. Brenner, V. Witzemann, and B. Sakmann, “Imprinting of acetylcholine receptor messenger RNA accumulation in mammalian neuromuscular synapses,” Nature, vol. 344, no. 6266, pp. 544–546, 1990. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  18. S. Gattenlöhner, C. Schneider, C. Thamer, et al., “Expression of foetal type acetylcholine receptor is restricted to type 1 muscle fibres in human neuromuscular disorders,” Brain, vol. 125, no. 6, pp. 1309–1319, 2002.
  19. A. Vincent, J. McConville, M. E. Farrugia, et al., “Antibodies in myasthenia gravis and related disorders,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 998, pp. 324–335, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  20. C. B. Weinberg and Z. W. Hall, “Junctional form of acetylcholinesterase restored at nerve-free endplates,” Developmental Biology, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 631–635, 1979.
  21. I. Matthews, G. Sims, S. Ledwidge, et al., “Antibodies to acetylcholine receptor in parous women with myasthenia: evidence for immunization by fetal antigen,” Laboratory Investigation, vol. 82, no. 10, pp. 1407–1417, 2002.
  22. P. Tsantili, S. J. Tzartos, and A. Mamalaki, “High affinity single-chain Fv antibody fragments protecting the human nicotinic acetylcholine receptor,” Journal of Neuroimmunology, vol. 94, no. 1-2, pp. 15–27, 1999. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  23. S. Tzartos, L. Langeberg, S. Hochschwender, and J. Lindstrom, “Demonstration of a main immunogenic region on acetylcholine receptors from human muscle using monoclonal antibodies to human receptor,” FEBS Letters, vol. 158, no. 1, pp. 116–118, 1983. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  24. L. Daniel, P. Durbec, E. Gautherot, et al., “A nude mice model of human rhabdomyosarcoma lung metastases for evaluating the role of polysialic acids in the metastatic process,” Oncogene, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 997–1004, 2001. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  25. C. A. Hudis, “Trastuzumab—mechanism of action and use in clinical practice,” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 357, pp. 39–51, 2007.
  26. A. Engert, C. Gottstein, U. Winkler, et al., “Experimental treatment of human Hodgkin's disease with ricin A-chain immunotoxins,” Leukemia and Lymphoma, vol. 13, no. 5-6, pp. 441–448, 1994.
  27. A. Engert, C. Gottstein, U. Winkler, et al., “New perspectives in oncology: is selective destruction of tumor cells with immunotoxins in Hodgkin's disease an additional therapeutic alternative?” Medizinische Klinik, vol. 87, no. 10, pp. 503–509, 1992.
  28. M. Huhn, S. Sasse, M. K. Tur, et al., “Human angiogenin fused to human CD30 ligand (Ang-CD30L) exhibits specific cytotoxicity against CD30-positive lymphoma,” Cancer Research, vol. 61, no. 24, pp. 8737–8742, 2001.
  29. M. K. Tur, I. Neef, E. Jost, et al., “Targeted restoration of down-regulated DAPK2 tumor suppressor activity induces apoptosis in hodgkin lymphoma cells,” Journal of Immunotherapy, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 431–441, 2009.
  30. M. K. Tur, I. Neef, G. Jäger, et al., “Immunokinases, a novel class of immunotherapeutics for targeted cancer therapy,” Current Pharmaceutical Design, vol. 15, no. 23, pp. 2693–2699, 2009. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  31. M. K. Tur, M. Huhn, T. Thepen, et al., “Recombinant CD64-specific single chain Immunotoxin exhibits specific cytotoxicity against acute myeloid leukemia cells,” Cancer Research, vol. 63, no. 23, pp. 8414–8419, 2003.
  32. B. Stahnke, T. Thepen, M. Stöcker, et al., “Granzyme BH22(scFv), a human immunotoxin targeting CD64 in acute myeloid leukaemia of monocyte subtypes,” Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, vol. 7, no. 9, pp. 2924–2932, 2008.
  33. C. Hetzel, C. Bachran, R. Fischer, H. Fuchs, S. Barth, and M. Stöcker, “Small cleavable adapters enhance the specific cytotoxicity of a humanized immunotoxin against CD64-positive acute myeloid leukemia cells,” Journal of Immunotherapy, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 370–376, 2008.
  34. C. Di Paolo, J. Willuda, S. Kubetzko, et al., “A recombinant immunotoxin derived from a humanized epithelial cell adhesion molecule-specific single-chain antibody fragment has potent and selective antitumor activity,” Clinical Cancer Research, vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 2837–2848, 2003.
  35. P. J. O'Dwyer and A. B. Benson, “3rd epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted therapy in colorectal cancer,” Seminars in Oncology, vol. 29, pp. 10–17, 2002.
  36. D. Fan, S. Yano, H. Shinohara, et al., “Targeted therapy against human lung cancer in nude mice by high-affinity recombinant antimesothelin single-chain Fv immunotoxin,” Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, vol. 1, no. 8, pp. 595–600, 2002.
  37. V. A. Pollack, E. Alvarez, K. F. Tse, et al., “Treatment parameters modulating regression of human melanoma xenografts by an antibody-drug conjugate (CR011-vcMMAE) targeting GPNMB,” Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 423–435, 2007. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  38. M. K. Tur, S. Sasse, M. Stöcker, et al., “An anti-GD2 single chain Fv selected by phage display and fused to Pseudomonas exotoxin A develops specific cytotoxic activity against neuroblastoma derived cell lines,” International Journal of Molecular Medicine, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 579–584, 2001.
  39. O. Manzke, O. Russello, C. Leenen, et al., “Immunotherapeutic strategies in neuroblastoma: antitumoral activity of deglycosylated Ricin A conjugated anti-GD2 antibodies and anti-CD3xanti-GD2 bispecific antibodies,” Medical and Pediatric Oncology, vol. 36, pp. 185–189, 2001.
  40. C. Gottstein, G. Schon, S. Tawadros, et al., “Antidisialoganglioside ricin A-chain immunotoxins show potent antitumor effects in vitro and in a disseminated human neuroblastoma severe combined immunodeficiency mouse model,” Cancer Research, vol. 54, no. 23, pp. 6186–6193, 1994.
  41. C. Rossig, S. Pscherer, S. Landmeier, et al., “Adoptive cellular immunotherapy with CD19-specific T cells,” Klinische Padiatrie, vol. 217, no. 6, pp. 351–356, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  42. Y. F. Graus, M. H. De Baets, P. W. H. I. Parren, et al., “Human anti-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor recombinant Fab fragments isolated from thymus-derived phage display libraries from myasthenia gravis patients reflect predominant specificities in serum and block the action of pathogenic serum antibodies,” Journal of Immunology, vol. 158, no. 4, pp. 1919–1929, 1997.
  43. J. Farrar, S. Portolano, N. Willcox, et al., “Diverse Fab specific for acetylcholine receptor epitopes from a myasthenia gravis thymus combinatorial library,” International Immunology, vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 1311–1318, 1997. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  44. H. N. Lode, T. Moehler, R. Xiang, et al., “Synergy between an antiangiogenic integrin αv antagonist and an antibody-cytokine fusion protein eradicates spontaneous tumor metastases,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 1591–1596, 1999.
  45. S. J. Tzartos, T. Barkas, M. T. Cung, et al., “Anatomy of the antigenic structure of a large membrane autoantigen, the muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptor,” Immunological Reviews, vol. 163, pp. 89–120, 1998. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  46. C. A. Pennell and H. A. Erickson, “Designing immunotoxins for cancer therapy,” Immunologic Research, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 177–191, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  47. T. K. Bera, J. Williams-Gould, R. Beers, P. Chowdhury, and I. Pastan, “Bivalent disulfide-stabilized fragment variable immunotoxin directed against mesotheliomas and ovarian cancer,” Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 79–84, 2001.
  48. J. Thompson, S. Stavrou, M. Weetall, et al., “Improved binding of a bivalent single-chain immunotoxin results in increased efficacy for in vivo T-cell depletion,” Protein Engineering, vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 1035–1041, 2001.
  49. T. Decker, S. Hipp, R. J. Kreitman, et al., “Sensitization of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells to recombinant immunotoxin by immunostimulatory phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides,” Blood, vol. 99, no. 4, pp. 1320–1326, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  50. H. Matsui, A. Takeshita, K. Naito, et al., “Reduced effect of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (CMA-676) on P-glycoprotein and/or CD34-positive leukemia cells and its restoration by multidrug resistance modifiers,” Leukemia, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 813–819, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  51. T. A. Jarvinen and E. T. Liu, “Topoisomerase IIα gene (TOP2A) amplification and deletion in cancer—more common than anticipated,” Cytopathology, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 309–313, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  52. T. A. H. Järvinen and E. T. Liu, “HER-2/neu and topoisomerase IIα—simultaneous drug targets in cancer,” Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 455–470, 2003.
  53. T. A. Jarvinen and E. T. Liu, “HER-2/neu and topoisomerase IIα in breast cancer,” Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 299–311, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  54. J. R. Fitzgerald, S. D. Reid, E. Ruotsalainen, et al., “Genome diversification in Staphylococcus aureus: molecular evolution of a highly variable chromosomal region encoding the staphylococcal exotoxin-like family of proteins,” Infection and Immunity, vol. 71, no. 5, pp. 2827–2838, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  55. M. S. McGrath, M. G. Rosenblum, M. R. Philips, and D. A. Scheinberg, “Immunotoxin resistance in multidrug resistant cells,” Cancer Research, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 72–79, 2003.
  56. R. B. Walter, B. W. Raden, T. C. Hong, et al., “Multidrug resistance protein attenuates gemtuzumab ozogamicin-induced cytotoxicity in acute myeloid leukemia cells,” Blood, vol. 102, no. 4, pp. 1466–1473, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  57. J. M. Ruehlmann, R. Xiang, A. G. Niethammer, et al., “MIG (CXCL9) chemokine gene therapy combines with antibody-cytokine fusion protein to suppress growth and dissemination of murine colon carcinoma,” Cancer Research, vol. 61, pp. 8498–8503, 2001.
  58. R. Niv, Y. G. Assaraf, D. Segal, E. Pirak, and Y. Reiter, “Targeting multidrug resistant tumor cells with a recombinant single-chain FV fragment directed to P-glycoprotein,” International Journal of Cancer, vol. 94, pp. 864–872, 2001.
  59. M. G. Rosenblum, L. Cheung, S. K. Kim, et al., “Cellular resistance to the antimelanoma immunotoxin ZME-gelonin and strategies to target resistant cells,” Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 115–121, 1996. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
  60. T. Kirchner, K. I. Geuder, A. Marx, and H. K. Muller-Hermelink, “Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in tumors with rhabdomyomatous differentiation. Immunohistochemical amd molecular genetic demonstration,” Verhandlungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Pathologie, vol. 74, pp. 409–414, 1990.
  61. S. Gattenlöhner, E. B. Brocker, and H. K. Muller-Hermelink, “Malignant melanoma with metastatic rhabdomyosarcomatoid transdifferentiation,” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 358, no. 6, pp. 649–650, 2008. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
  62. S. Barth, M. Huhn, B. Matthey, A. Klimka, E. A. Galinski, and A. Engert, “Compatible solute-supported periplasmic expression of functional recombinant proteins under stress conditions,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 66, no. 4, pp. 1572–1579, 2000.
  63. S. Barth, M. Huhn, W. Wels, V. Diehl, and A. Engert, “Construction and in vitro evaluation of RFT5(scFv)-ETA', a new recombinant single-chain immunotoxin with specific cytotoxicity toward CD25+ Hodgkinderived cell lines,” International Journal of Molecular Medicine, vol. 1, pp. 249–256, 1998.
  64. D. R. Galloway, R. C. Hedstrom, and O. R. Pavlovskis, “Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies to exotoxin A from Pseudomonas aeruginosa,” Infection and Immunity, vol. 44, pp. 262–267, 1984.