Stably tethered structures of defined compositions with multiple functions or binding specificities Number:7,521,056 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent The present invention concerns methods and compositions for stably tethered structures of defined compositions with multiple functionalities and/or binding specificities. Particular embodiments concern stably tethered structures comprising a homodimer of a first monomer, comprising a dimerization and docking domain attached to a first precursor, and a second monomer comprising an anchoring domain attached to a second precursor. The first and second precursors may be virtually any molecule or structure, such as antibodies, antibody fragments, antibody analogs or mimetics, aptamers, binding peptides, fragments of binding proteins, known ligands for proteins or other molecules, enzymes, detectable labels or tags, therapeutic agents, toxins, pharmaceuticals, cytokines, interleukins, interferons, radioisotopes, proteins, peptides, peptide mimetics, polynucleotides, RNAi, oligosaccharides, natural or synthetic polymeric substances, nanoparticles, quantum dots, organic or inorganic compounds, etc. The disclosed methods and compositions provide a simple, easy to purify way to obtain any binary compound attached to any monomeric compound, or any trinary compound.<H specificities, compositions, Stably, tethered, 7521056.html, Patent, pto, 7521056

Title: Stably tethered structures of defined compositions with multiple functions or binding specificities

Abstract: The present invention concerns methods and compositions for stably tethered structures of defined compositions with multiple functionalities and/or binding specificities. Particular embodiments concern stably tethered structures comprising a homodimer of a first monomer, comprising a dimerization and docking domain attached to a first precursor, and a second monomer comprising an anchoring domain attached to a second precursor. The first and second precursors may be virtually any molecule or structure, such as antibodies, antibody fragments, antibody analogs or mimetics, aptamers, binding peptides, fragments of binding proteins, known ligands for proteins or other molecules, enzymes, detectable labels or tags, therapeutic agents, toxins, pharmaceuticals, cytokines, interleukins, interferons, radioisotopes, proteins, peptides, peptide mimetics, polynucleotides, RNAi, oligosaccharides, natural or synthetic polymeric substances, nanoparticles, quantum dots, organic or inorganic compounds, etc. The disclosed methods and compositions provide a simple, easy to purify way to obtain any binary compound attached to any monomeric compound, or any trinary compound.

Patent Number: 7,521,056 Issued on 04/21/2009 to Chang, et al.

Inventors: Chang; Chien Hsing (Downingtown, PA), Goldenberg; David M. (Mendham, NJ), McBride; William J. (Boonton, NJ), Rossi; Edmund A. (Nutley, NJ)
Assignee: IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Morris Plains, NJ)

Appl. No.: 11/391,584

Filed: March 28, 2006

Related U.S. Patent Documents


Application Number	Filing Date	Patent Number	Issue Date
60751196	Dec., 2005
60728292	Oct., 2005
60668603	Apr., 2005

Current U.S. Class: 424/192.1 ; 424/134.1; 424/135.1; 424/144.1; 424/145.1; 424/155.1; 424/185.1; 424/193.1; 424/195.11; 530/351; 530/387.1; 530/387.3; 530/388.22; 530/388.23; 530/388.24; 530/391.3; 530/391.7

Current International Class: A61K 38/01 (20060101); A61K 38/19 (20060101); A61K 38/21 (20060101); A61K 39/395 (20060101); C07K 14/405 (20060101); C07K 14/52 (20060101); C07K 14/535 (20060101); C07K 14/56 (20060101)

References Cited [Referenced By]

U.S. Patent Documents


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4699784	October 1987	Shih et al.
6306393	October 2001	Goldenberg
6524854	February 2003	Monia et al.
2003/0198956	October 2003	Makowski et al.
2003/0219433	November 2003	Hansen et al.
2003/0232420	December 2003	Braun et al.
2004/0018587	January 2004	Makowski et al.
2005/0003403	January 2005	Rossi et al.
2007/0086942	April 2007	Chang et al.
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WO0068248	Nov., 2000	WO
WO2007075270	Jul., 2007	WO

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Primary Examiner: Huynh; Phuong
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Nakashima; Richard A.

Parent Case Text

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) of provisional U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 60/668,603, filed Apr. 6, 2005; 60/728,292, filed Oct. 20, 2005; 60/751,196, filed Dec. 16, 2005; and 60/782,332, entitled "Improved stably tethered structures of defined compositions with multiple functions or binding specificities, by Chang et al., filed Mar. 14, 2006. The text of each of the priority applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Claims

We claim:

1. A fusion protein comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of DDD1 (SEQ ID NO: 1), DDD2 (SEQ ID NO:2), AD1 (SEQ ID NO:3) and AD2 (SEQ ID NO:4) fused to a protein or peptide wherein the protein or peptide is a cytokine, an IgG antibody or an antigen-binding moiety selected from the group consisting of Fab, Fab', scFv, diabody and single-domain antibody (DAB).

2. The fusion protein of claim 1, wherein the protein or peptide is an IgG antibody, a Fab antibody fragment or an scFv antibody fragment.

3. The fusion protein of claim 2, wherein the fusion protein is conjugated to at least one diagnostic agent or therapeutic agent.

4. The fusion protein of claim 2, wherein the fusion protein is conjugated to at least one therapeutic agent.

5. The fusion protein of claim 2, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment binds to an antigen selected from the group consisting of CD20, CD22, CD74, CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen), EGP-1 (epithelial glycoprotein-1), HSG (histamine-succinyl-glycine), HLA-DR, IGF-1R (insulin-like growth factor type I receptor), MUC1, AFP (.alpha.-fetoprotein) and indium-DTPA.

6. The fusion protein of claim 5, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment binds to CD20 or CD22.

7. The fusion protein of claim 5, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment binds to CEA or HSG.

8. The fusion protein of claim 2, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment is an IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment of the anti-CEA (hMN-14), anti-CD20 (hA20), anti-CD70(hLL 1), anti-CD22 (hLL2), anti-HSG (h679), anti-HLA class II (L243), anti-IGF1R (hR1), anti-MUC1 (hPAM4), anti-CEA (hMN 15), anti-InPTPA (h734), or anti-EGP-1 (hRS7) antibody.

9. The fusion protein of claim 8, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment is an IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment of the hA20 or hLL2 antibody.

10. The fusion protein of claim 8, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment is an IgG fragment antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment of the hMN-14 or h679 antibody.

11. A stably tethered structure comprising: a) two copies of a first fusion protein comprising the amino acid sequence selected from DDD1 (SEQ ID NO: 1) and DDD2 (SEQ ID NO: 2) fused to a first protein or peptide; and b) one copy of a second fusion protein comprising the amino acid sequence selected from AD1 (SEQ ID NO: 3) and AD2 (SEQ ID NO: 4) fused to a second protein or peptide; wherein the two DDD sequences bind to the AD sequence to form a stably tethered structure and wherein the first and second proteins or peptides are selected from the group consisting of a cytokine, an antibody, a Fab antibody fragment, a Fab' antibody fragment, an scFv antibody fragment, a diabody and a single domain antibody (DAB).

12. The stably tethered structure of claim 11, wherein the first and second fusion proteins comprise the amino acid sequences DDD1 (SEQ ID NO: 1) and AD1 (SEQ ID NO:3).

13. The stably tethered structure of claim 12, wherein the first and second fusion proteins comprise the amino acid sequences DDD2 (SEQ ID NO:2) and AD2 (SEQ ID NO:4).

14. The stably tethered structure of claim 13, wherein the DDD2 (SEQ ID NO:2) and AD2 (SEQ ID NO:4) sequences are covalently attached by disulfide bonds.

15. The stably tethered structure of claim 11, further comprising at least one diagnostic agent or therapeutic attached to the first or second fusion proteins.

16. The stably tethered structure of claim 11, wherein the first and second proteins or peptides are selected from the group consisting of an IgG antibody, a Fab antibody fragment or an scFv antibody fragment.

17. The stably tethered structure of claim 16, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment bind to antigens selected from the group consisting of CD20, CD22, CD74, CEA, EGP-1, HSG, HLA-DR, IGF-1R, AFP, indium-DTPA and MUC1.

18. The stably tethered structure of claim 16, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment bind to antigens selected from the group consisting of CD20 and CD22.

19. The stably tethered structure of claim 16, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment bind to antigens selected from the group consisting of CEA and HSG.

20. The stably tethered structure of claim 16, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment are an IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment of the hMN-14, hA20,hLL1, hLL2, h679, hL243, hR1, hPAM4, hAFP, h734 or hRS7 antibodies.

21. The stably tethered structure of claim 16, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment are an IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment selected from group consisting of the of the hA20 and hLL2 antibodies.

22. The stably tethered structure of claim 16, wherein the IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment are an IgG antibody, Fab antibody fragment or scFv antibody fragment selected from the group consisting of the hMN-14 and h679 antibodies.

23. A fusion protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of DDD1 (SEQ ID NO:1), DDD2 (SEQ ID NO:2), AD1 (SEQ ID NO:3) and (SEQ ID NO:4) fused to a protein or peptide selected from the group consisting of an IgG antibody, a Fab antibody fragment, an scFv antibody fragment and a cytokine.

24. The fusion protein of claim 23, wherein the protein or peptide is an IgG antibody or a Fab antibody fragment.

25. The fusion protein of claim 23, wherein the protein or peptide is a cytokine selected from the group consisting of G-CSF, interferon-.alpha., interferon-.beta. and erythropoietin.

26. A stably tethered structure comprising: a) two copies of a first fusion protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from DDD1 (SEQ ID NO:1) and DDD2 (SEQ ID NO:2) fused to a first protein or peptide; and b) one copy of a second fusion protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from AD1 (SEQ ID NO:3) and AD2 (SEQ ID NO:4) fused to a second protein or peptide; wherein the two DDD sequences bind to the AD sequence to form a stably tethered structure and wherein the first and second protein or peptide is selected from the group consisting of an IgG antibody, a Fab antibody fragment, an scFv antibody fragment and a cytokine.

27. The stably tethered structure of claim 26, wherein the first and second proteins or peptides are selected from the group consisting of an IgG antibody and a Fab antibody fragment.

28. The stably tethered structure of claim 26, wherein the first and second proteins or peptides are selected from the group consisting of an IgG antibody, a Fab antibody fragment, G-CSF, interferon-.alpha., interferon-.beta. and erythropoietin.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Existing technologies for the production of antibody-based agents having multiple functions or binding specificities suffer a number of limitations. For agents generated by recombinant engineering, such limitations may include high manufacturing cost, low expression yields, instability in serum, instability in solution resulting in formation of aggregates or dissociated subunits, undefined batch composition due to the presence of multiple product forms, contaminating side-products, reduced functional activities or binding affinity/avidity attributed to steric factors or altered conformations, etc. For agents generated by various methods of chemical cross-linking, high manufacturing cost and heterogeneity of the purified product are two major limitations.

In recent years there has been an increased interest in antibodies or other binding moieties that can bind to more than one antigenic determinant (also referred to as epitopes). Generally, naturally occurring antibodies and monoclonal antibodies have two antigen binding sites that recognize the same epitope. In contrast, bifunctional or bispecific antibodies (hereafter, only the term bispecific antibodies will be used throughout) are synthetically or genetically engineered structures that can bind to two distinct epitopes. Thus, the ability to bind to two different antigenic determinants resides in the same molecular construct.

Bispecific antibodies are useful in a number of biomedical applications. For instance, a bispecific antibody with binding sites for a tumor cell surface antigen and for a T-cell surface receptor can direct the lysis of specific tumor cells by T cells. Bispecific antibodies recognizing gliomas and the CD3 epitope on T cells have been successfully used in treating brain tumors in human patients (Nitta, et al. Lancet. 1990; 355:368-371).

Numerous methods to produce bispecific antibodies are known. Methods for construction and use of bispecific and multi-specific antibodies are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050002945, filed Feb. 11, 2004, the entire text of which is incorporated herein by reference. Bispecific antibodies can be produced by the quadroma method, which involves the fusion of two different hybridomas, each producing a monoclonal antibody recognizing a different antigenic site (Milstein and Cuello. Nature. 1983; 305:537-540). The fused hybridomas are capable of synthesizing two different heavy chains and two different light chains, which can associate randomly to give a heterogeneous population of 10 different antibody structures of which only one of them, amounting to 1/8 of the total antibody molecules, will be bispecific, and therefore must be further purified from the other forms, which even if feasible will not be cost effective. Furthermore, fused hybridomas are often less stable cytogenically than the parent hybridomas, making the generation of a production cell line more problematic.

Another method for producing bispecific antibodies uses heterobifunctional cross-linkers to chemically tether two different monoclonal antibodies, so that the resulting hybrid conjugate will bind to two different targets (Staerz, et al. Nature. 1985; 314:628-631; Perez, et al. Nature. 1985; 316:354-356). Bispecific antibodies generated by this approach are essentially heteroconjugates of two IgG molecules, which diffuse slowly into tissues and are rapidly removed from the circulation. Bispecific antibodies can also be produced by reduction of each of two parental monoclonal antibodies to the respective half molecules, which are then mixed and allowed to reoxidize to obtain the hybrid structure (Staerz and Bevan. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1986; 83:1453-1457). An alternative approach involves chemically cross-linking two or three separately purified Fab' fragments using appropriate linkers. For example, European Patent Application 0453082 disclosed the application of a tri-maleimide compound to the production of bi- or tri-specific antibody-like structures. A method for preparing tri- and tetra-valent monospecific antigen-binding proteins by covalently linking three or four Fab fragments to each other via a connecting structure is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,663. All these chemical methods are undesirable for commercial development due to high manufacturing cost, laborious production process, extensive purification steps, low yields (<20%), and heterogeneous products.

Other methods include improving the efficiency of generating hybrid hybridomas by gene transfer of distinct selectable markers via retrovirus-derived shuttle vectors into respective parental hybridomas, which are fused subsequently (DeMonte, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1990, 87:2941-2945); or transfection of a hybridoma cell line with expression plasmids containing the heavy and light chain genes of a different antibody. These methods also face the inevitable purification problems discussed above.

A method to produce a recombinant bispecific antibody composed of Fab fragments from the same or different antibodies that are brought into association by complementary interactive domains inserted into a region of the antibody heavy chain constant region, was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,996. The complementary interactive domains are selected from reciprocal leucine zippers or a pair of peptide segments, one containing a series of positively charged amino acid residues and the other containing a series of negatively charged amino acid residues. One limitation of such a method is that the individual Fab subunits containing the fused complementary interactive domains appears to have much reduced affinity for their target antigens unless both subunits are combined.

Discrete V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains of antibodies produced by recombinant DNA technology may pair with each other to form a dimer (recombinant Fv fragment) with binding capability (U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,334). However, such non-covalently associated molecules are not sufficiently stable under physiological conditions to have any practical use. Cognate V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains can be joined with a peptide linker of appropriate composition and length (usually consisting of more than 12 amino acid residues) to form a single-chain Fv (scFv) with binding activity. Methods of manufacturing scFvs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,778 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,405. Reduction of the peptide linker length to less than 12 amino acid residues prevents pairing of V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains on the same chain and forces pairing of V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains with complementary domains on other chains, resulting in the formation of functional multimers. Polypeptide chains of V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains that are joined with linkers between 3 and 12 amino acid residues form predominantly dimers (termed diabodies). With linkers between 0 and 2 amino acid residues, trimers (termed triabody) and tetramers (termed tetrabody) are favored, but the exact patterns of oligomerization appear to depend on the composition as well as the orientation of V-domains (V.sub.H-linker-V.sub.L or V.sub.L-linker-V.sub.H), in addition to the linker length.

Monospecific diabodies, triabodies, and tetrabodies with multiple valencies have been obtained using peptide linkers consisting of 5 amino acid residues or less. Bispecific diabodies, which are heterodimers of two different scFvs, each scFv consisting of the V.sub.H domain from one antibody connected by a short peptide linker to the V.sub.L domain of another antibody, have also been made using a dicistronic expression vector that contains in one cistron a recombinant gene construct comprising V.sub.H1-linker-V.sub.L2 and in the other cistron a second recombinant gene construct comprising V.sub.H2-linker-V.sub.L1 (Holliger, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1993; 90: 6444-6448; Atwell, et al. Mol Immunol. 1996; 33:1301-1302; Holliger, et al. Nature Biotechnol. 1997; 15: 632-631; Helfrich, et al. Int. J. Cancer. 1998; 76: 232-239; Kipriyanov, et al. Int J Cancer. 1998; 77: 763-772; Holliger, et al. Cancer Res. 1999; 59: 2909-2916).

More recently, a tetravalent tandem diabody (termed tandab) with dual specificity has also been reported (Cochlovius, et al. Cancer Res. 2000; 60: 4336-4341). The bispecific tandab is a dimer of two identical polypeptides, each containing four variable domains of two different antibodies (V.sub.H1, V.sub.L1, V.sub.H2, V.sub.L2) linked in an orientation to facilitate the formation of two potential binding sites for each of the two different specificities upon self-association.

To date, the construction of a vector that expresses bispecific or trispecific triabodies has not been achieved. However, polypeptides comprising a collectin neck region are reported to trimerize (Hoppe, et al. FEBS Letters. 1994; 344: 191-195). The production of homotrimers or heterotrimers from fusion proteins containing a neck region of a collectin is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,886.

Methods of manufacturing scFv-based agents of multivalency and multispecificity by varying the linker length were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,094, U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,242, and WO 98/44001. Methods of manufacturing scFv-based agents of multivalency and multispecificity by constructing two polypeptide chains, one comprising of the V.sub.H domains from at least two antibodies and the other the corresponding V.sub.L domains were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,830 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,259. Common problems that have been frequently associated with generating scFv-based agents of multivalency and multispecificity by prior art are low expression levels, heterogenous products forms, instability in solution leading to aggregates, instability in serum, and impaired affinity.

A recombinantly produced bispecific or trispecific antibody in which the c-termini of CH1 and C.sub.L of a Fab are each fused to a scFv derived from the same or different monoclonal antibodies was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,809,185. Major deficiencies of this "Tribody" technology include impaired binding affinity of the appended scFvs, heterogeneity of product forms, and instability in solution leading to aggregates.

Thus, there remains a need in the art for a method of making multivalent structures of multiple specificities or functionalities in general, and bispecific antibodies in particular, which are of defined composition, homogeneous purity, and unaltered affinity, and can be produced in high yields without the requirement of extensive purification steps. Furthermore, such structures must also be sufficiently stable in serum to allow in vivo applications. A need exists for stable, multivalent structures of multiple specificities or functionalities that are easy to construct and/or obtain in relatively purified form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a platform technology for quantitatively generating stably tethered structures that have multiple functions or binding specificities. In preferred embodiments, such stably tethered structures are produced as an exclusive binary complex of any two components, referred herein as A and B, via specific interactions between two distinct peptide sequences, one termed dimerization and docking domain (DDD) and the other anchoring domain (AD). In more preferred embodiments, the DDD sequences (shown for DDD1 and DDD2 in FIG. 1) are derived from the regulatory (R) subunits of a cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), and the AD sequences (shown for AD1 and AD2 in FIG. 2) are derived from a specific region found in various A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) that mediates association with the R subunits of PKA. However, the skilled artisan will realize that other dimerization and docking domains and anchoring domains are known and any such known domains may be used within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other exemplary 4-helix bundle type DDD domains may be obtained from p53, DCoH (pterin 4 alpha carbinolamine dehydratase/dimerization cofactor of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 alpha (TCF1)) and HNF-1 (hepatocyte nuclear factor 1). Although S100 proteins also exhibit a 4 helix-bundle DDD sequence, those proteins have biological activities such as tumorigenesis that make them impractical for such use. Other AD sequences of potential use may be found in Patent Application Serial No. US20003/0232420A1, the entire text of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In the most preferred embodiments, one component of the binary complex, A, is produced by linking a DDD sequence to the precursor of A, referred to as A, by recombinant engineering or chemical conjugation via a spacer group, resulting in a structure of A/DDD, hereafter referred to as a. As the DDD sequence in a effects the spontaneous formation of a dimer, A is thus composed of a.sub.2. The other component of the binary complex, B, is produced by linking an AD sequence to the precursor of B, referred to as B, by recombinant engineering or chemical conjugation via a spacer group, resulting in a structure of B/AD, hereafter referred to as b. The fact that the dimeric structure contained in a.sub.2 creates a docking site for binding to the AD sequence contained in b results in a ready association of a.sub.2 and b to form a binary complex composed of a.sub.2b. In various embodiments, this binding event is further stabilized with a subsequent reaction to covalently secure the two components of the assembly, for example via disulfide bridges, which occurs very efficiently as the initial binding interactions orient the reactive thiol groups to ligate site-specifically.

By placing cysteine residues at strategic locations in both the DDD and AD sequences (as shown for DDD2 and AD2), the binding interaction between a.sub.2 and b can be made covalent via disulfide bridges, thereby forming a stably tethered structure that renders in vivo applications more feasible. The stably tethered structure also retains the full functional properties of the two precursors A and B. The inventors are unaware of any prior art bispecific composition with this unique combination of features. The design disclosed above is modular in nature, as each of the two precursors selected can be linked to either DDD or AD and combined afterwards. The two precursors can also be the same (A=B) or different (A.noteq.B). When A=B, the resulting a.sub.2b complex is composed of a stably tethered assembly of three subunits, referred to hereafter as a.sub.3. Materials that are amenable as precursors include proteins, peptides, peptide mimetics, polynucleotides, RNAi, oligosaccharides, natural or synthetic polymeric substances, nanoparticles, quantum dots, and organic or inorganic compounds. Other non-limiting examples of precursors of potential use are listed in Tables 6 to 10 below.

In addition to the use of disulfide linkages for preventing the dissociation of the constituent subunits, other methods for enhancing the overall stability of the a.sub.2b structure may be practiced. For example, various crosslinking agents or methods that are commercially available or used in research may be selected for such purposes. A potentially useful agent is glutaraldehyde, which has been widely used for probing the structures of non-covalently associated multimeric proteins by cross-linking the constituent subunits to form stable conjugates (Silva, et al. Food Technol Biotechnol. 2004; 42:51-56). Also of interest are two chemical methods involving oxidative crosslinking of protein subunits. One is a proximity labeling technique that employs either hexahistidine-tagged proteins (Fancy, et al. Chem Biol. 1996; 3:551-559) or N-terminal glycine-glycine-histidine-tagged proteins (Brown, et al. Biochemistry. 1998; 37:4397-4406). These tags bind Ni(II) tightly and, when oxidized with a peracid, a Ni(III) species is produced that is capable of mediating a variety of oxidative reactions, including protein-protein crosslinking. The other technique, termed PICUP (photo-induced crosslinking of unmodified proteins) uses [Ru(II)(bipy).sub.3].sup.2+, ammonium persulfate, and visible light to induce protein-protein crosslinking (Fancy and Kodadek. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1999; 96:6020-6024). However, as discussed below, numerous methods for chemically cross-linking peptide, polypeptide, protein or other macromolecular species are known in the art and any such known method may be used to covalently stabilize the a.sub.2b structure.

Numerous products can be developed with the claimed methods and compositions. For example, at least 6 types of protein- or peptide-based products composed of stably tethered assembly of genetically engineered structures are envisioned: Type 1: A bispecific trivalent a.sub.2b complex composed of two Fab or scFv fragments derived from the same monoclonal antibody (mAb) and one Fab or scFv fragment derived from a different mAb (see, e.g., Table 6); Type 2A: A multifunctional a.sub.2b complex composed of two Fab or scFv fragments, derived from the same mAb, and one non-immunoglobulin protein or peptide (see, e.g., Table 7A); Type 2B: A multifunctional a.sub.2b complex composed of two identical non-immunoglobulin proteins or peptides and one Fab or scFv fragments derived from a mAb (see, e.g., Table 7B); Type 3: A multifunctional a.sub.2b complex composed of three non-immunoglobulin proteins or peptides, two of the three being identical (see, e.g, Table 8); Type 4: A trivalent a.sub.3 complex composed of three Fab or scFv fragments derived from the same mAb (see, e.g., Table 9); Type 5: A trivalent a.sub.3 complex composed of three identical non-immunoglobulin proteins or peptides (see, e.g., Table 10).

The skilled artisan will realize that where the above discussion refers to Fab or scFv fragments, other types of antibodies and/or antibody fragments as discussed in more detail below may be substituted. In general, the products in the type 1 category are useful in various applications where a bispecific antibody is desired. For example, a bispecific antibody reacting with both activated platelet and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) would not only prevent further clot formation by inhibiting platelet aggregation but also could dissolve existing clot by recruiting endogenous tPA to the platelet surface (Neblock et al., Bioconjugate Chem. 1991, 3:126-31).

In general, the products in the type 2A and type 2B categories are useful in various applications where target-specific delivery or binding of a non-immunoglobulin protein is desired. For example, a stably tethered a.sub.2b complex composed of a bivalent antibody binding structure against an internalizing tumor associated antigen (such as CD74) linked to a toxin (such as a ribonuclease) would be valuable for selective delivery of the toxin to destroy the target tumor cell.

In general, the products in the type 3 category are useful in various applications where the combination of two different non-immunoglubulin proteins are more desirable than each respective non-immunoglobulin protein alone. For example, a stably tethered a.sub.2b complex composed of a soluble component of the receptor for IL-4R (sIL-4R) and a soluble component of the receptor for IL-13 (sIL-13R) would be a potential therapeutic agent for treating asthma or allergy.

In general, the products in the type 4 and type 5 categories are useful in various applications where a trivalent complex is more desirable than its monovalent analog. For example, a stably tethered a.sub.3 complex binding structure composed of three anti-GPIIb/IIIa Fab fragments should be more effective in preventing clot reformation than either the monovalent (ReoPro, Centocor) or bivalent anlogs due to higher binding avidity. A stably tethered a.sub.3 complex composed of three copies of a soluble component of TNF.alpha.-R should be more efficacious for arresting TNF than Enbrel (Amgen) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and certain other autoimmune diseases (AID).

The claimed methods and compositions also include conjugates composed of one or more effectors or carriers linked to a stably tethered structure in either the a.sub.2b or a.sub.3 format. The effectors or carriers may be linked to the a.sub.2b or a.sub.3 complexes either non-covalently or covalently, for example by chemical cross-linking. Depending on the intended applications, the effector may be selected from a diagnostic agent, a therapeutic agent, a chemotherapeutic agent, a radioisotope, a radionuclide, an imaging agent, an anti-angiogenic agent, a cytokine, a chemokine, a growth factor, a drug, a prodrug, an enzyme, a binding molecule, a ligand for a cell surface receptor, a chelator, an immunomodulator, an oligonucleotide, a hormone, a photodetectable label, a dye, a peptide, a toxin, a contrast agent, a paramagnetic label, an ultrasound label, a pro-apoptotic agent, a liposome, a nanoparticle or a combination thereof. Moreover, a conjugate may contain more than one effector, which can be the same or different, or more than one carrier, which can be the same or different. Effectors and carriers can also be present in the same conjugate. When the effector is a chelator, the resulting conjugate is usually further complexed with a metal, which can be either radioactive or non-radioactive. Conjugates containing carriers are also further incorporated with agents of diagnostic or therapeutic functions for the intended applications.

In certain embodiments, the effectors or carriers may be administered to a subject after an a.sub.2b complex, for example in pre-targeting strategies discussed below. The a.sub.2b complex may be first administered to the subject and allowed to localize in, for example, a diseased tissue such as a tumor. The effectors or carriers may be added subsequently and allowed to bind to the localized a.sub.2b complex. Where the effector or carrier is conjugated to a toxic moiety, such as a radionuclide, this pretargeting method reduces the systemic exposure of the subject to toxicity, allowing a proportionately greater delivery of toxic agent to the targeted tissue. In such embodiments, the A subunit may, for example, contain binding sites for tumor associated antigens while the B subunit may contain a binding site for an effector or carrier or a hapten conjugated to an effector or carrier.

The disclosed methods and compositions enable site-directed covalent or non-covalent association of any two structures with the DDD/AD coupling system. The X-type four-helix bundle dimerization motif that is a structural characteristic of the DDD (Newlon, et al. EMBO J. 2001; 20: 1651-1662; Newlon, et al. Nature Struct Biol. 1999; 3: 222-227) is found in other classes of proteins, such as the S100 proteins (for example, S100B and calcyclin), and the hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF) family of transcriptional factors (for example, HNF-1.alpha. and HNF-1.beta.). Over 300 proteins that are involved in either signal transduction or transcriptional activation also contain a module of 65-70 amino acids termed the sterile .alpha. motif (SAM) domain, which has a variation of the X-type four-helix bundle present on its dimerization interface. For S100B, this X-type four-helix bundle enables the binding of each dimer to two p53 peptides derived from the c-terminal regulatory domain (residues 367-388) with micromolar affinity (Rustandi, et al. Biochemistry. 1998; 37: 1951-1960). Similarly, the N-terminal dimerization domain of HNF-1.alpha. (HNF-p1) was shown to associate with a dimer of DCoH (dimerization cofactor for HNF-1) via a dimer of HNF-p1 (Rose, et al. Nature Struct Biol. 2000; 7: 744-748). In alternative embodiments, these naturally occurring systems also may be utilized within the claimed methods and compositions to provide stable multimeric structures with multiple functions or binding specificities. Other binding events such as those between an enzyme and its substrate/inhibitor, for example, cutinase and phosphonates (Hodneland, et al. Proc Natl Acd Sci USA. 2002; 99: 5048-5052), may also be utilized to generate the two associating components (the "docking" step), which are subsequently stabilized covalently (the "lock" step).

In various embodiments, the subject compositions may be administered to a subject with a condition, for therapeutic and/or diagnostic purposes. The skilled artisan will realize that any condition that may be diagnosed and/or treated with a multifunctional, bivalent, trivalent, multispecific or bispecific complex may be treated with the subject compositions. Exemplary conditions include, but are not limited to, cancer, hyperplasia, neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer's disease, vasculitis, viral infection, fungal infection, bacterial infection, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis, asthma, edema, pulmonary hypertension, juvenile diabetes, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, sepsis, corneal graft rejection, neovascular glaucoma, Osler-Webber Syndrome, myocardial angiogenesis, plaque neovascularization, restenosis, neointima formation after vascular trauma, telangiectasia, hemophiliac joints, angiofibroma, fibrosis associated with chronic inflammation, lung fibrosis, deep venous thrombosis or wound granulation.

In particular embodiments, the disclosed methods and compositions may be of use to treat autoimmune disease, such as acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, dermatomyositis, Sydenham's chorea, myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, rheumatic fever, polyglandular syndromes, bullous pemphigoid, juvenile diabetes, Henoch-Schonlein purpura, post-streptococcalnephritis, erythema nodosurn, Takayasu's arteritis, Addison's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, sarcoidosis, ulcerative colitis, erythema multiforme, IgA nephropathy, polyarteritis nodosa, ankylosing spondylitis, Goodpasture's syndrome, thromboangitisubiterans, Sjogren's syndrome, primary biliary cirrhosis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, thyrotoxicosis, scleroderma, chronic active hepatitis, polymyositis/dermatomyositis, polychondritis, pemphigus vulgaris, Wegener's granulomatosis, membranous nephropathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tabes dorsalis, giant cell arteritis/polymyalgia, pernicious anemia, rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, psoriasis or fibrosing alveolitis.

In certain embodiments, the stably tethered structures may be of use for therapeutic treatment of cancer. It is anticipated that any type of tumor and any type of tumor antigen may be targeted. Exemplary types of tumors that may be targeted include acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, biliary cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, esophageal, gastric, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, lung cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, renal cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, glioma, melanoma, liver cancer, prostate cancer, and urinary bladder cancer.

Tumor-associated antigens that may be targeted include, but are not limited to, carbonic anhydrase IX, A3, antigen specific for A33 antibody, BrE3-antigen, CD1, CD1a, CD3, CD5, CD15, CD16, CD19, CD20, CD21, CD22, CD23, CD25, CD30, CD45, CD74, CD79a, CD80, HLA-DR, NCA 95, NCA90, HCG and its subunits, CEA (CEACAM-5), CEACAM-6, CSAp, EGFR, EGP-1, EGP-2, Ep-CAM, Ba 733, HER2/neu, hypoxia inducible factor (HIF), KC4-antigen, KS-1-antigen, KS1-4, Le-Y, macrophage inhibition factor (MIF), MAGE, MUC1, MUC2, MUC3, MUC4, PAM-4-antigen, PSA, PSMA, RS5, S100, TAG-72, p53, tenascin, IL-6, IL-8, insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1), Tn antigen, Thomson-Friedenreich antigens, tumor necrosis antigens, VEGF, placenta growth factor (P1GF), 17-1A-antigen, an angiogenesis marker (e.g., ED-B fibronectin), an oncogene marker, an oncogene product, and other tumor-associated antigens. Recent reports on tumor associated antigens include Mizukami et al., (2005, Nature Med. 11:992-97); Hatfield et al., (2005, Curr. Cancer Drug Targets 5:229-48); Vallbohmer et al. (2005, J. Clin. Oncol. 23:3536-44); and Ren et al. (2005, Ann. Surg. 242:55-63), each incorporated herein by reference.

Other embodiments may concern methods for treating a lymphoma, leukemia, or autoimmune disorder in a subject, by administering to the subject one or more dosages of a stably tethered structure, where the binding site of the second precursor bind to a lymphocyte antigen, and where the binding site of the first precursor binds to the same or a different lymphocyte antigen. The binding site or sites may bind a distinct epitope, or epitopes of an antigen selected from the group consisting of CD4, CD5, CD8, CD14, CD15, CD19, CD20, CD21, CD22, CD23, CD25, CD33, CD37, CD38, CD40, CD40L, CD46, CD52, CD54, CD74, CD80, CD126, CD138, CD154, B7, MUC1, Ia, Ii, HM1.24, HLA-DR, tenascin, VEGF, P1GF, ED-B fibronectin, an oncogene, an oncogene product, NCA 66a-d, necrosis antigens, IL-2, T101, TAG, IL-6, MIF, TRAIL-R1 (DR4) and TRAIL-R2 (DR5). The composition may be parenterally administered in a dosage of 20 to 1500 milligrams protein per dose, 20 to 500 milligrams protein per dose, 20 to 100 milligrams protein per dose, or 20 to 1500 milligrams protein per dose, for example.

In still other embodiments, the stably tethered structures may be of use to treat subjects infected with pathogenic organisms, such as bacteria, viruses or fungi. Exemplary fungi that may be treated include Microsporum, Trichophyton, Epidermophyton, Sporothrix schenckii, Cryptococcus neoformans, Coccidioides immitis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis or Candida albican. Exemplary viruses include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), herpes virus, cytomegalovirus, rabies virus, influenza virus, human papilloma virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, Sendai virus, feline leukemia virus, Reo virus, polio virus, human serum parvo-like virus, simian virus 40, respiratory syncytial virus, mouse mammary tumor virus, Varicella-Zoster virus, Dengue virus, rubella virus, measles virus, adenovirus, human T-cell leukemia viruses, Epstein-Barr virus, murine leukemia virus, mumps virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, Sindbis virus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus or blue tongue virus. Exemplary bacteria include Bacillus anthracis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Legionella pneumophilia, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Pneumococcus spp., Hemophilis influenzae B, Treponema pallidum, Lyme disease spirochetes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium leprae, Brucella abortus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis or a Mycoplasma. Such stably tethered structures may comprise, for example, binding sites for one or more antigenic determinant on a pathogen, and may be conjugated or attached to a therapeutic agent for the pathogen, for example an anti-viral, antibiotic or anti-fungal agent. Alternatively, a stably tethered conjugate may comprise a first binding site for a pathogen antigen and a second binding site for a hapten or carrier that is attached to one or more therapeutic agents.

Therapeutic agents of use against infectious organisms that may be conjugated to, incorporated into or targeted to bind to the subject stably tethered structures include, but are not limited to, acyclovir, albendazole, amantadine, amikacin, amoxicillin, amphotericin B, ampicillin, aztreonam, azithromycin, bacitracin, bactrim, Batrafen.RTM., bifonazole, carbenicillin, caspofungin, cefaclor, cefazolin, cephalosporins, cefepime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol, cidofovir, Cipro.RTM., clarithromycin, clavulanic acid, clotrimazole, cloxacillin, doxycycline, econazole, erythrocycline, erythromycin, flagyl, fluconazole, flucytosine, foscamet, furazolidone, ganciclovir, gentamycin, imipenem, isoniazid, itraconazole, kanamycin, ketoconazole, lincomycin, linezolid, meropenem, miconazole, minocycline, naftifine, nalidixic acid, neomycin, netilmicin, nitrofurantoin, nystatin, oseltamivir, oxacillin, paromomycin, penicillin, pentamidine, piperacillin-tazobactam, rifabutin, rifampin, rimantadine, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, sulfasalazine, tetracycline, tioconazole, tobramycin, tolciclate, tolnaftate, trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole, valacyclovir, vancomycin, zanamir, and zithromycin.

Although not limiting, in various embodiments, the precursors incorporated into the stably tethered structures may comprise one or more proteins, such as a bacterial toxin, a plant toxin, ricin, abrin, a ribonuclease (RNase), DNase I, Staphylococcal enterotoxin-A, pokeweed antiviral protein, gelonin, diphtherin toxin, Pseudomonas exotoxin, Pseudomonas endotoxin, Ranpirnase (Rap), Rap (N69Q), PE38, dgA, DT390, PLC, tPA, a cytokine, a growth factor, a soluble receptor component, surfactant protein D, IL-4, sIL-4R, sIL-13R, VEGF.sub.121, TPO, EPO, a clot-dissolving agent, an enzyme, a fluorescent protein, sTNF.alpha.-R, an avimer, a scFv, a dsFv or a nanobody.

In other embodiments, an anti-angiogenic agent may form part or all of a precursor or may be attached to a stably tethered structure. Exemplary anti-angiogenic agents of use include angiostatin, baculostatin, canstatin, maspin, anti-VEGF antibodies or peptides, anti-placental growth factor antibodies or peptides, anti-Flk-1 antibodies, anti-Flt-1 antibodies or peptides, laminin peptides, fibronectin peptides, plasminogen activator inhibitors, tissue metalloproteinase inhibitors, interferons, interleukin 12, IP-10, Gro-.beta., thrombospondin, 2-methoxyoestradiol, proliferin-related protein, carboxiamidotriazole, CM101, Marimastat, pentosan polysulphate, angiopoietin 2, interferon-alpha, herbimycin A, PNU145156E, 16K prolactin fragment, Linomide, thalidomide, pentoxifylline, genistein, TNP-470, endostatin, paclitaxel, accutin, angiostatin, cidofovir, vincristine, bleomycin, AGM-1470, platelet factor 4 or minocycline.

In still other embodiments, one or more therapeutic agents, such as aplidin, azaribine, anastrozole, azacytidine, bleomycin, bortezomib, bryostatin-1, busulfan, calicheamycin, camptothecin, 10-hydroxycamptothecin, carmustine, celebrex, chlorambucil, cisplatin, irinotecan (CPT-11), SN-38, carboplatin, cladribine, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, dacarbazine, docetaxel, dactinomycin, daunomycin glucuronide, daunorubicin, dexamethasone, diethylstilbestrol, doxorubicin, 2-pyrrolinodoxorubicine (2P-DOX), cyano-morpholino doxorubicin, doxorubicin glucuronide, epirubicin glucuronide, ethinyl estradiol, estramustine, etoposide, etoposide glucuronide, etoposide phosphate, floxuridine (FUdR), 3',5'-O-dioleoyl-FudR (FUdR-dO), fludarabine, flutamide, fluorouracil, fluoxymesterone, gemcitabine, hydroxyprogesterone caproate, hydroxyurea, idarubicin, ifosfamide, L-asparaginase, leucovorin, lomustine, mechlorethamine, medroprogesterone acetate, megestrol acetate, melphalan, mercaptopurine, 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate, nitoxantrone, mithramycin, mitomycin, mitotane, phenyl butyrate, prednisone, procarbazine, paclitaxel, pentostatin, PSI-341, semustine streptozocin, tamoxifen, taxanes, taxol, testosterone propionate, thalidomide, thioguanine, thiotepa, teniposide, topotecan, uracil mustard, velcade, vinblastine, vinorelbine, vincristine, ricin, abrin, ribonuclease, onconase, rapLR1, DNase I, Staphylococcal enterotoxin-A, pokeweed antiviral protein, gelonin, diphtheria toxin, Pseudomonas exotoxin, Pseudomonas endotoxin, an antisense oligonucleotide, an interference RNA, or a combination thereof, may be conjugated to or incorporated into a stably tethered structure.

In other embodiments, the first precursor may bind to an antigen or other target associated with a diseased tissue, while the second precursor may be designed to bind to a targetable construct, for delivery of one or more effectors. Following administration of the stably tethered structure and localization to a disease-associated cell or tissue, the targetable construct may be added to bind to the localized stably tethered structure. Optionally, a clearing agent may be administered to clear non-localized stably tethered structures from circulation before administration of the targetable construct. These methods are known in the art and described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,846, WO 92/19273, and Sharkey et al., Int. J. Cancer 51: 266 (1992). An exemplary targetable construct may have a structure of X-Phe-Lys(HSG)-D-Tyr-Lys(HSG)-Lys(Y)-NH.sub.2, where the compound includes a hard acid cation chelator at X or Y, and a soft acid cation chelator at remaining X or Y; and wherein the compound further comprises at least one diagnostic or therapeutic cation, and/or one or more chelated or chemically bound therapeutic agent, diagnostic agent, or enzyme. The diagnostic agent could be, for example, Gd(III), Eu(III), Dy(III), Pr(III), Pa(IV), Mn(II), Cr(III), Co(III), Fe(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Ti(III), V(IV) ions or a radical. A second exemplary construct may be of the formula X-Phe-Lys(HSG)-D-Tyr-Lys(HSG)-Lys(Y)-NH.sub.2, where the compound includes a hard acid cation chelator or a soft acid chelator at X or Y, and nothing at the remaining X or Y; and wherein the compound further comprises at least one diagnostic or therapeutic cation, and/or one or more chelated or chemically bound therapeutic agent, diagnostic agent, or enzyme.

Various embodiments may concern stably tethered structures and methods of use of same that are of use to induce apoptosis of diseased cells. Further details may be found in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050079184, the entire text of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such structures may comprise a first and/or second precursor with binding affinity for an antigen selected from the group consisting of CD2, CD3, CD8, CD10, CD21, CD23, CD24, CD25, CD30, CD33, CD37, CD38, CD40, CD48, CD52, CD55, CD59, CD70, CD74, CD80, CD86, CD138, CD147, HLA-DR, CEA, CSAp, CA-125, TAG-72, EFGR, HER2, HER3, HER4, IGF-1R, c-Met, PDGFR, MUC1, MUC2, MUC3, MUC4, TNFR1, TNFR2, NGFR, Fas (CD95), DR3, DR4, DR5, DR6, VEGF, PIGF, ED-B fibronectin, tenascin, PSMA, PSA, carbonic anhydrase IX, and IL-6. In more particular embodiments, a stably tethered structure of use to induce apoptosis may comprise monoclonal antibodies, Fab fragments, chimeric, humanized or human antibodies or fragments. In preferred embodiments, the stably tethered structure may comprise combinations of anti-CD74 X anti-CD20, anti-CD74 X anti-CD22, anti-CD22 X anti-CD20, anti-CD20 X anti-HLA-DR, anti-CD19 X anti-CD20, anti-CD20 X anti-CD80, anti-CD2 X anti-CD25, anti-CD8 X anti-CD25, and anti-CD2 X anti-CD147. In more preferred embodiments, the chimeric, humanized or human antibodies or antibody fragments may be derived from the variable domains of LL2 (anti-CD22), LL1 (anti-CD74) or A20 (anti-CD20).

Various embodiments may concern methods of treating inflammatory and immune-dysregulatory diseases, infectious diseases, pathologic angiogenesis or cancer. In this application the stably tethered structures bind to two different targets selected from the group consisting of (A) proinflammatory effectors of the innate immune system, (B) coagulation factors, (C) complement factors and complement regulatory proteins, and (D) targets specifically associated with an inflammatory or immune-dysregulatory disorder or with a pathologic angiogenesis or cancer, wherein the latter target is not (A), (B), or (C). At least one of the targets is (A), (B) or (C). Suitable combinations of targets are described in U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/634,076, filed Dec. 8, 2004, entitled "Methods and Compositions for Immunotherapy and Detection of Inflammatory and Immune-Dysregulatory Disease, Infectious Disease, Pathologic Angiogenesis and Cancer," the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.

The proinflammatory effector of the innate immune system to which the binding molecules may bind may be a proinflammatory effector cytokine, a proinflammatory effector chemokine or a proinflammatory effector receptor. Suitable proinflammatory effector cytokines include MIF, HMGB-1 (high mobility group box protein 1), TNF-a, IL-1, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-15, and IL-18. Examples of proinflammatory effector chemokines include CCL19, CCL21, IL-8, MCP-1, RANTES, MIP-1A, MIP-1B, ENA-78, MCP-1, IP-10, GROB, and Eotaxin. Proinflammatory effector receptors include IL-4R (interleukin-4 receptor), IL-6R (interleukin-6 receptor), IL-13R (interleukin-13 receptor), IL-15R (interleukin-15 receptor) and IL-18R (interleukin-18 receptor).

The binding molecule also may react specifically with at least one coagulation factor, particularly tissue factor (TF) or thrombin. In other embodiments, the binding molecule reacts specifically with at least one complement factor or complement regulatory protein. In preferred embodiments, the complement factor is selected from the group consisting of C3, C5, C3a, C3b, and C5a. When the binding molecule reacts specifically with a complement regulatory protein, the complement regulatory protein preferably is selected from the group consisting of CD46, CD55, CD59 and mCRP.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows two exemplary DDD sequences. The underlined sequence in DDD1 (SEQ ID NO:1) corresponds to the first 44 amino-terminal residues found in the RII.alpha. of human PKA. DDD2 (SEQ ID NO:2) differs from DDD1 in the two amino acid residues at the N-terminus.

FIG. 2 shows two exemplary AD sequences. The underlined sequence of AD1 (SEQ ID NO:3) corresponds to AKAP-is, which is an optimized RII-selective peptide reported with a Kd of 0.4 nM. Also shown is AD2 (SEQ ID NO:4).

FIG. 3 shows a structural model of the interaction between the DDD of RII and the AD of an AKAP.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of N-DDD2-Fab-hMN-14 (A), and the putative a.sub.2 structure formed by DDD2-mediated dimerization (B).

FIG. 5 shows the design of the N-DDD2-VH-hMN-14-pdHL2 plasmid expression vector.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of C-DDD2-Fab-hMN-14 (A), and the putative a.sub.2 structure formed by DDD2-mediated dimerization (B).

FIG. 7 shows the design of the C-DDD2-VH-hMN-14-pdHL2 plasmid expression vector.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of h679-Fab-AD2 (A) and its putative structure (B).

FIG. 9 shows the design of the h679-VH-AD2-pdHL2 plasmid expression vector.

FIG. 10 shows SE-HPLC analysis of h679-Fab-AD2 purified with IMP-291-Affigel.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic representation of the activation of h679-Fab-AD2ds (A) to h679-Fab-AD2 (B) by reduction.

FIG. 12 shows the predominant presence of the a.sub.4 form in N-DDD2-Fab-hMN-14 purified with CBind L (Protein L cellulose). The SE-HPLC trace also reveals the presence of the a.sub.2 form, as well as free light chains in both monomeric and dimeric forms.

FIG. 13 shows the dissociation of the a.sub.4 form present in purified N-DDD2-Fab-hMN-14