Targeting Mhc-Linked Wild Type P53 With Tcr Mimic Single Chain Diabody For Cancer Immunotherapy.

2524 Background: Increased tumor suppressor protein p53 expression is observed in a wide range of human cancers. As a result there is intense interest in targeting p53 for cancer therapy. Intracellular p53 is inaccessible to therapeutic antibodies that bind cell surface proteins. However, intracellular proteins including p53 are degraded into peptides that are presented on cell surface in association with HLA class I molecules. Thus p53 peptide-HLA (p53-HLA) complexes can be antibody targets. Methods: Using phage display we identified a novel anti-p53-HLA single chain variable fragment (scFv) clone-43 that recognizes a wild-type p53 10-mer epitope bound to HLA-A*2402. By coupling our clone-43 scFv with an anti-CD3 scFv, we generated a single chain diabody (scDb) designed to activate T-cells against p53-expressing target cells. Results: In-vitro co-culture of clone-43 scDb with donor human T-cells and p53 expressing SIG-M5 cancer cells results in SIG-M5 cell killing and concomitant T-cell interferon gamma (IFNγ) release. In contrast, similar co-culture with SIG-M5 p53-knock out (KO) cells showed no cell killing and minimal IFNγ release demonstrating specificity of clone-43 to p53 expressing cells. Additionally, in-vivo growth of p53 expressing SW480 cancer cell xenografts in NSG mice was completely terminated by clone-43 scDb injections. A major concern for wild-type p53 epitope targeting is potential on-target off-tumor effect on non-cancerous tissue. We observed significant in-vitro clone-43 scDb mediated killing of human HLA-A*24:02 peripheral blood mononuclear cells. To better evaluate effect of clone-43 scDb on non-neoplastic human cells, we engrafted HLA-A*24:02 human CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells into NSG mice to generate a humanized mouse model with circulating mature human CD45+ cells. Clone-43 scDb treatment resulted in selective depletion of circulating human cells while the same cells persisted in mice treated with unrelated control scDb. Conclusions: Our observation that immune targeting of wild-type p53 epitope results in significant off-tumor hematopoietic cell death is contrary to previously published reports and carries important implications for future anti-p53 antibody and vaccine design for cancer immunotherapy.