Methods for quantifying immunotoxin efficacy.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D M Neville.
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Differentiated neuroblastoma x glioma hybrid cells NG 108-15 express on their surface specific binding sites for tetanus toxin. 450 sites/cell with a KD of 2 x 10(-11) M were found under "physiological" conditions of pH and salt concentrations. A Hill coefficient of 1.1 indicated noncooperative binding. Specific binding of 125I-toxin to its sites could be prevented either by preincubation of the toxin with a neutralizing monoclonal antibody or by pretreatment of the cells with neuraminidase (Vibrio cholerae). To quantify the action of tetanus toxin on the stimulated release of 14C activity from differentiated cells preincubated with [14C]choline, a new type of perfusion device was designed which could be filled with cells growing in monolayers on Cytodex-3 microbeads. Tetanus toxin inhibited the stimulated 14C release in a time- and dose-dependent manner. A greater than 50% inhibition was found after 2 h of incubation with 10(-12) M toxin. The inhibitory action of tetanus toxin could be prevented with a monoclonal antibody to the toxin or with neuraminidase treatment of the cells. These results suggest that the neuraminidase-sensitive 2 x 10(-11) KD receptors are the productive receptors for tetanus intoxication in differentiated NG 108-15 cells. The possible chemical composition of these receptors is discussed. Differentiated NG 108-15 cells provide a useful model in which picomolar tetanus concentrations produce both measurable saturable binding and inhibition of potassium-evoked, acetylcholine release under physiological conditions of pH and salt concentrations.
Intoxication of Vero cells by ricin, modeccin, diphtheria toxin (DT), and Pseudomonas exotoxin A requires: 1) binding to cell surface receptors; 2) transport to the cytoplasm; and 3) enzymatic inactivation of a component of the protein synthetic machinery. The kinetic profiles of all four toxins consist of a lag followed by the apparent first-order decrease in protein synthesis. Autoradiographic analysis of DT-intoxicated cell populations has demonstrated that two subpopulations of cells exist during the period of decreasing protein synthesis: one population synthesizing at control levels and the other synthesizing little or no protein (Hudson, T. H., and Neville, D. M., Jr. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 2675-2680). The present study correlates the autoradiographic data with the rates of protein synthesis decline in cells intoxicated with modeccin, ricin, Pseudomonas exotoxin A, as well DT. In all cases, the first time point which exhibits a decrease in protein synthetic activity also exhibits two subpopulations of cells, one synthesizing protein at control rates and the other synthesizing little or no protein. As the intoxication progresses, cells leave the control population by the rapid cessation of all protein synthesis. These experiments demonstrate that transport of all four toxins to the cytosol is the rate-limiting step during the pseudo first-order decline in protein synthesis. Furthermore, the final step in the transport process (translocation) must result in the release to the cytoplasm of a quantity of toxin sufficient to rapidly inactivate all protein synthesis in that cell. The probability of a translocation event occurring in any cell of the population is established during the lag and remains constant throughout the first-order decrease in protein synthesis. The requirement for acidification during the intoxication by DT, Pseudomonas exotoxin A, or modeccin is restricted to the lag period. Acidification is therefore necessary to establish the probability of translocation, but it is not directly involved in the actual translocation of these toxins. The pseudo first-order passage of DT intoxications through antitoxin and NH4Cl- or monensin-sensitive stages are shown to have the same cellular basis as the pseudo first-order decrease in protein synthesis. A kinetic model is presented which defines the DT intoxication process from one of its earliest events (endocytosis) to its penultimate event (translocation of toxin to the cytosol).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Seventeen patients, ages 7-53 years were transplanted with histocompatible bone marrow that had been depleted of T lymphocytes by ex vivo immunotoxin (IT) treatment. Twelve patients had high-risk acute leukemias, and five had chronic myelogenous leukemia. No other graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was used. A mixture of three anti-T-cell monoclonal antibodies conjugated to ricin were used in this study: TA-1, UCHT-1 (anti-CD3), and T101 (anti-CD5). The mean number of bone marrow cells infused was 1.5 X 10(8) mononuclear cells/kg recipient weight. Thirteen of the 17 patients demonstrated complete and sustained engraftment. Four patients experienced autologous marrow recovery and/or graft rejection. Compared with an historical group of leukemic patients who received GVHD prophylaxis with methotrexate alone or combinations of methotrexate, and prednisone plus antithymocyte globulin, (ATG) or OKT3, the IT patients with stable engraftment demonstrated shorter time to recovery of leukocytes greater than or equal to 1000mm3 for three consecutive days (median, 20 days vs. 26 days, P = .03). The recovery of total lymphocytes, B and T cell subsets, and T cell function by day 28 was highly variable, but similar, for patients in both the IT-treated group and historical controls. Four patients (ages 13, 18, 21, and 38) developed grade II skin GVHD, but none had severe GVHD. Eight of the 13 patients with durable engraftment have had posttransplant leukemic relapse. Currently only four patients remain alive; two have not relapsed posttransplant, while the other two achieved remission following posttransplant relapse. We conclude that severe GVHD was not observed in this small series with ex vivo T cell depletion for GVHD prophylaxis, and that favorable recovery of hematologic and lymphocytic function was demonstrated for cases where primary engraftment was sustained. A larger randomized controlled study will be needed to establish whether T cell depletion of donor bone marrow with IT can significantly reduce GVHD, and/or improve disease-free survival.
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The plant toxin ricin was chemically coupled to an anti-Thy-1.1 antibody, and the resultant conjugates were fractionated by gel filtration. The cytotoxicity of the conjugate possessing two ricin molecules per immunoglobulin, yielding a first-order inactivation rate of protein synthesis of -0.4 log/h at 200 ng/mL, was well above that expected just from the increase in ricin per unit mass of conjugate, when compared to a conjugate possessing only one ricin per immunoglobulin. On a conjugate molar scale the biricin immunotoxin was determined to be 8 times more potent than the monoricin conjugate; thus, relative to the number of ricin molecules, the coupling of a second ricin to the immunoglobulin quadrupled the observed potency. The concentration of immunotoxin and the resultant inactivation rates of protein synthesis were found to be related through a power function. Additionally, the inactivation kinetics of these conjugates were found to be similar to those of native ricin.
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Immunotoxins are protein toxins which have been conjugated in whole or in part to antibodies in the hope of producing cell-type-specific toxic reagents with useful properties. Such reagents hold the promise for eliminating unwanted cells both in vivo and in vitro. In practice, to date, only in vitro usage has proven clinically and experimentally useful. The design of effective immunotoxins is based on utilizing cellular entry mechanisms or entry mechanisms inherent in the parent toxins to cross the plasma membrane barrier to the cytosol compartment where the toxins exert their effects. Knowledge in the area of receptor-mediated protein transport is expanding rapidly and new immunotoxins with increased efficiencies are anticipated.
The rate-limiting step in diphtheria toxin (DT) intoxication of Vero cells has been determined utilizing cycloheximide as an inhibitor of the intoxication process. Cycloheximide is shown to inhibit the toxin catalyzed ADP-ribosylation of elongation factor 2 (EF-2). The inhibition is blocked by puromycin thus establishing the ribosome as the location of cycloheximide protection. Washing cells free of cycloheximide rapidly reverses the protective effect. The initial rates of protein synthesis inhibition observed after removal of cycloheximide from DT-intoxicated cells are 5 to 12-fold greater than rates observed in unprotected cells and are shown to reflect ADP-ribosylation of EF-2 by cytosolic DT. Ten to thirty minutes after cycloheximide removal, the rate of protein synthesis inhibition abruptly changes to values identical to those of unprotected cells. Both the initial rates and extent of the initial rapid inactivation are directly related to toxin concentration and time of incubation with DT in the presence of cycloheximide. We concluded that: the rate-limiting step in protein synthesis inhibition by DT is not the ADP-ribosylation of EF-2 by cytosolic toxin but rather the earlier entry step of DT into the cytosol. DT enters the cytosol as a bolus of sufficient size to rapidly inactivate all EF-2 in that cell. It is inferred from 1 and 2 that the first order inactivation rate exhibited by DT is the result of the probability of the release of a bolus of toxin to the cytosol of any cell in the population per unit time. Autoradiographic analysis of intoxicated cell populations support this two-population state model. The size of a single bolus or quantum of DT is calculated from data over the range of 10(-11) to 10(-9) M DT and is found to remain constant. We suggest that the cytosolic entry mechanism of DT results from a unique ability of the internalized toxin molecules to destabilize the vesicular membrane resulting in a random release of a bolus of toxin into the cytosol. Because the bolus size remains constant over a 50-fold change in receptor occupancy the possibility is raised that DT undergoes a post-receptor packaging process, package size remaining a constant and package number increasing with receptor occupancy.
Kinetic data on toxin and antibody-toxin-conjugate inactivation of protein synthesis have been used to assess the variables which affect the transport of these toxins into the cytosol compartment. First-order inactivation rate constants of protein synthesis (ki) are compared under conditions of known receptor occupancy. The effect of inclusion of toxin B chains, both homologous and heterologous, in antibody-toxin conjugates is observed, and factors which affect toxin lag periods are studied. The results show that the inclusion of B chains in conjugates increases ki values 3-10-fold, but only if the B chain is homologous with the A chain. In spite of the augmentation of antibody-toxin-conjugate ki values by homologous toxin B chain, these ki values are only 1/20 those observed with unmodified toxins on sensitive cells. A further difference noted between toxins and antibody-toxin conjugates is the presence of a dose-dependent lag when toxins, but not antibody-toxin conjugates, effect sensitive cell types. This lag period for ricin can be shortened by alkalinizing the cell medium. The kinetic data can be fit by assuming a processing step interposed between the binding of ricin to surface receptors and the interaction of the A chain with ribosomes which is first-order in toxin concentration and pH-dependent. The time constant of this event is reflected in the dose-dependent lag period. It is proposed that antibody-toxin conjugates do not participate in this processing event and therefore fail to achieve the high entry levels exhibited by unmodified toxins.
Two patients undergoing marrow transplantation for acute lymphocytic leukaemia in third remission received from histocompatible siblings marrow pretreated with a mixture of three anti-T-cell immunotoxins, consisting of murine monoclonal antibodies covalently linked to ricin. This marrow processing effectively eliminated functional T-cell responses while preserving the marrow precursors necessary for sustained haematoimmunopoietic engraftment. No post-transplant immunoprophylaxis was administered. Both patients showed prompt peripheral engraftment and were discharged from hospital within a month of transplantation. No toxic effects or graft-versus-host disease were apparent after the administration of immunotoxin-treated marrow. Ex-vivo immunotoxin pretreatment appears a safe and simple procedure which deserves further clinical testing as a sole method of graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis.
Three murine anti-human monoclonal antibodies broadly reactive with human T cells were conjugated to intact ricin toxin. The purgative effects of these immunotoxins (IT) on alloreactive T cells after in vitro pretreatment was tested in an in vitro assay measuring the generation of cytotoxic T cells (CTL). Pretreatment was performed in the presence of lactose to block the native binding of ricin, thus rendering IT antibody specific. Blocking studies with free antibody showed that selective toxicity was determined by the antibody moiety of the antibody-toxin conjugate. Our assay system permitted the measurement of significant CTL levels in the bone marrow. Thus, we were able to determine the differential selectivity of IT for T cells as compared with stem cells in the same donor preparation. Our studies show that antibody-intact ricin conjugates have great potential as T cell purgative reagents for GVHD prophylaxis in human BMT.
Three new reagents that react against human T cells were synthesized by covalently linking the toxin ricin to monoclonal antibodies recognizing differentiation antigens on the surface of T lymphocytes. Each of these immunotoxins selectively inhibited T-cell proliferation when the cells were incubated in the presence of lactose. Multipotent human stem cells were inhibited only at much higher concentrations. Mixtures of all three immunotoxins were more effective than any one alone. These reagents have the potential for preventing graft-versus-host disease in man.
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The feasibility of selectively eliminating human antigen-specific B cell responses by treating cells in vitro with antigen covalently linked to a cell toxin was examined. Tetanus toxoid (TT) was conjugated to the toxin ricin via a thioether linkage. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from recently immunized subjects were preincubated for 2 h with TT-ricin in the presence of lactose. Antigen was then removed, and the cells from recently immunized subjects were preincubated for 2 h with TT-ricin in the presence of lactose. Antigen was then removed, and the cells were stimulated with pokeweed mitogen to induce antibody production. TT-specific antibody production was completely abrogated by preincubation with TT-ricin but not by TT alone or a mixture of TT and ricin. In contrast, polyclonal immunoglobulin production was not diminished by TT-ricin. This selective abrogation was also seen when B cells alone were preincubated with TT-ricin and a source of T cell help was later provided. T cell blastogenic responses to TT remained intact after TT-ricin exposure. Thus, antigen-toxin conjugates are capable of selectively eliminating specific antibody-producing B cell clones, while leaving intact the remainder of the B cell repertoire.
A new method has been devised to eliminate T cells from murine bone marrow grafts across major histocompatibility barriers and thus prevent graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD). The method utilizes a monoclonal antibody directed at the Thy-1.2 antigen but is complement independent. To make anti-Thy-1.2 toxic, the antibody is covalently linked to the toxin ricin. Ricin ordinarily binds, enters, and kills cells through receptors containing galactose. The hybrid protein, anti-Thy-1.2-ricin, can enter and kill cells via the Thy-1.2 receptor. In the presence of lactose the usual entry route for ricin is largely blocked and the hybrid is shown to be a highly selective reagent that is T cell specific in its inhibition of mitogen-stimulated splenocytes. We have used a model of severe and fatal GVHD where BALB/c splenocytes and bone marrow cells are given to irradiated C57BL/6 recipients. Over 90% of these mice die by day 70, exhibiting signs of GVHD. When donor cells are pretreated with 0.5 microgram/ml of anti-Thy-1.2-ricin plus 200 mM lactose before injection, 10 of 11 animals survive through day 70 without signs of GVHD. These studies demonstrate that ricin linked to monoclonal antibodies may have utility related to the prevention of GVHD in human bone marrow transplantation.
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