US20050112129A1 - Compositions and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors of glial origin - Google Patents

Compositions and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors of glial origin Download PDF

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US20050112129A1
US20050112129A1 US10/852,335 US85233504A US2005112129A1 US 20050112129 A1 US20050112129 A1 US 20050112129A1 US 85233504 A US85233504 A US 85233504A US 2005112129 A1 US2005112129 A1 US 2005112129A1
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antibody
seq
tat
polypeptide
amino acid
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Heidi Phillips
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Genentech Inc
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K16/00—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies
    • C07K16/18—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans
    • C07K16/28—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans against receptors, cell surface antigens or cell surface determinants
    • C07K16/30—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans against receptors, cell surface antigens or cell surface determinants from tumour cells
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
    • A61K39/395—Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immune serum, e.g. antilymphocytic serum
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P35/00—Antineoplastic agents
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12Q—MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEIC ACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL OR ENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES
    • C12Q1/00—Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions
    • C12Q1/68—Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions involving nucleic acids
    • C12Q1/6876—Nucleic acid products used in the analysis of nucleic acids, e.g. primers or probes
    • C12Q1/6883—Nucleic acid products used in the analysis of nucleic acids, e.g. primers or probes for diseases caused by alterations of genetic material
    • C12Q1/6886—Nucleic acid products used in the analysis of nucleic acids, e.g. primers or probes for diseases caused by alterations of genetic material for cancer
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/53—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor
    • G01N33/574—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for cancer
    • G01N33/57484—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for cancer involving compounds serving as markers for tumor, cancer, neoplasia, e.g. cellular determinants, receptors, heat shock/stress proteins, A-protein, oligosaccharides, metabolites
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
    • A61K2039/505—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies comprising antibodies
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12Q—MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEIC ACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL OR ENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES
    • C12Q2600/00—Oligonucleotides characterized by their use
    • C12Q2600/106—Pharmacogenomics, i.e. genetic variability in individual responses to drugs and drug metabolism
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12Q—MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEIC ACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL OR ENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES
    • C12Q2600/00—Oligonucleotides characterized by their use
    • C12Q2600/112—Disease subtyping, staging or classification
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12Q—MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEIC ACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL OR ENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES
    • C12Q2600/00—Oligonucleotides characterized by their use
    • C12Q2600/118—Prognosis of disease development
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12Q—MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEIC ACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL OR ENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES
    • C12Q2600/00—Oligonucleotides characterized by their use
    • C12Q2600/136—Screening for pharmacological compounds

Definitions

  • the present invention is directed to compositions of matter useful for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors of glial origin in mammals and to methods of using those compositions of matter for the same.
  • Cancers Malignant tumors (cancers) are the second leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease (Boring et al., CA Cancel J. Clin. 43:7 (1993)). Cancer is characterized by the increase in the number of abnormal, or neoplastic, cells derived from a normal tissue which proliferate to form a tumor mass, the invasion of adjacent tissues by these neoplastic tumor cells, and the generation of malignant cells which eventually spread via the blood or lymphatic system to regional lymph nodes and to distant sites via a process called metastasis. In a cancerous state, a cell proliferates under conditions in which normal cells would not grow. Cancer manifests itself in a wide variety of forms, characterized by different degrees of invasiveness and aggressiveness.
  • transmembrane or otherwise membrane-associated polypeptides that are specifically expressed on the surface of one or more particular type(s) of cancer cell as compared to on one or more normal non-cancerous cell(s).
  • membrane-associated polypeptides are more abundantly expressed on the surface of the cancer cells as compared to on the surface of the non-cancerous cells.
  • the identification of such tumor-associated cell surface antigen polypeptides has given rise to the ability to specifically target cancer cells for destruction via antibody-based therapies.
  • antibody-based therapy has proved very effective in the treatment of certain cancers.
  • HERCEPTIN® and RITUXAN® are antibodies that have been used successfully to treat breast cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, respectively. More specifically, HERCEPTIN® is a recombinant DNA-derived humanized monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to the extracellular domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) proto-oncogene. HER2 protein overexpression is observed in 25-30% of primary breast cancers.
  • RITUXAN® is a genetically engineered chimeric murine/human monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 antigen found on the surface of normal and malignant B lymphocytes. Both these antibodies are recombinantly produced in CHO cells.
  • non-membrane-associated polypeptides that are specifically produced by one or more particular type(s) of cancer cell(s) as compared to by one or more particular type(s) of non-cancerous normal cell(s), (2) polypeptides that are produced by cancer cells at an expression level that is significantly higher than that of one or more normal non-cancerous cell(s), or (3) polypeptides whose expression is specifically limited to only a single (or very limited number of different) tissue type(s) in both the cancerous and non-cancerous state (e.g., normal prostate and prostate tumor tissue).
  • Such polypeptides may remain intracellularly located or may be secreted by the cancer cell.
  • polypeptides may be expressed not by the cancer cell itself, but rather by cells which produce and/or secrete polypeptides having a potentiating or growth-enhancing effect on cancer cells.
  • secreted polypeptides are often proteins that provide cancer cells with a growth advantage over normal cells and include such things as, for example, angiogenic factors, cellular adhesion factors, growth factors, and the like. Identification of antagonists of such non-membrane associated polypeptides would be expected to serve as effective therapeutic agents for the treatment of such cancers. Furthermore, identification of the expression pattern of such polypeptides would be useful for the diagnosis of particular cancers in mammals.
  • cell membrane-associated polypeptides that are more abundantly expressed on one or more type(s) of cancer cell(s) as compared to on normal cells or on other different cancer cells
  • non-membrane-associated polypeptides that are specifically produced by one or more particular type(s) of cancer cell(s) (or by other cells that produce polypeptides having a potentiating effect on the growth of cancer cells) as compared to by one or more particular type(s) of non-cancerous normal cell(s)
  • non-membrane-associated polypeptides that are produced by cancer cells at an expression level that is significantly higher than that of one or more normal non-cancerous cell(s), or (4) polypeptides whose expression is specifically limited to only a single
  • Applicants describe for the first time the identification of various cellular polypeptides (and their encoding nucleic acids or fragments thereof) which are expressed to a greater degree on the surface of or by one or more types of cancer cell(s) (e.g., cancer cells of glial origin) as compared to on the surface of or by one or more types of normal non-cancer cells (e.g., normal glial cells).
  • cancer cell(s) e.g., cancer cells of glial origin
  • normal non-cancer cells e.g., normal glial cells.
  • such polypeptides are expressed by cells which produce and/or secrete polypeptides having a potentiating or growth-enhancing effect on cancer cells.
  • TAT T umor-associated A ntigenic T arget polypeptides
  • the invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule having a nucleotide sequence that encodes a tumor-associated antigenic target polypeptide or fragment thereof (a “TAT” polypeptide).
  • the isolated nucleic acid molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence having at least about 80% nucleic acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% nucleic acid sequence identity, to (a) a DNA molecule encoding a full-length TAT polypeptide having an amino acid sequence as disclosed herein, a TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, an extracellular domain of a transmembrane TAT polypeptide, with or without the signal peptide, as disclosed herein or any other specifically defined fragment of a full-length TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence as disclosed herein, or (b) the complement of the DNA molecule of (a).
  • the isolated nucleic acid molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence having at least about 80% nucleic acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% nucleic acid sequence identity, to (a) a DNA molecule comprising the coding sequence of a full-length TAT polypeptide cDNA as disclosed herein, the coding sequence of a TAT polypeptide lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, the coding sequence of an extracellular domain of a transmembrane TAT polypeptide, with or without the signal peptide, as disclosed herein or the coding sequence of any other specifically defined fragment of the full-length TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence as disclosed herein, or (b) the complement of the DNA molecule of (a).
  • the invention concerns an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence having at least about 80% nucleic acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% nucleic acid sequence identity, to (a) a DNA molecule that encodes the same mature polypeptide encoded by the full-length coding region of any of the human protein cDNAs deposited with the ATCC as disclosed herein, or (b) the complement of the DNA molecule of (a).
  • Another aspect of the invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a TAT polypeptide which is either transmembrane domain-deleted or transmembrane domain-inactivated, or is complementary to such encoding nucleotide sequence, wherein the transmembrane domain(s) of such polypeptide(s) are disclosed herein. Therefore, soluble extracellular domains of the herein described TAT polypeptides are contemplated.
  • the present invention is directed to isolated nucleic acid molecules which hybridize to (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding a TAT polypeptide having a full-length amino acid sequence as disclosed herein, a TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, an extracellular domain of a transmembrane TAT polypeptide, with or without the signal peptide, as disclosed herein or any other specifically defined fragment of a full-length TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence as disclosed herein, or (b) the complement of the nucleotide sequence of (a).
  • an embodiment of the present invention is directed to fragments of a full-length TAT polypeptide coding sequence, or the complement thereof, as disclosed herein, that may find use as, for example, hybridization probes useful as, for example, diagnostic probes, antisense oligonucleotide probes, or for encoding fragments of a full-length TAT polypeptide that may optionally encode a polypeptide comprising a binding site for an anti-TAT polypeptide antibody, a TAT binding oligopeptide or other small organic molecule that binds to a TAT polypeptide.
  • nucleic acid fragments are usually at least about 5 nucleotides in length, alternatively at least about 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, 390, 400, 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470, 480, 490, 500, 510, 520, 530, 540, 550, 560, 570, 580, 590, 600, 610, 620, 630, 640,
  • novel fragments of a TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleotide sequence may be determined in a routine manner by aligning the TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleotide sequence with other known nucleotide sequences using any of a number of well known sequence alignment programs and determining which TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleotide sequence fragment(s) are novel. All of such novel fragments of TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleotide sequences are contemplated herein.
  • TAT polypeptide fragments encoded by these nucleotide molecule fragments preferably those TAT polypeptide fragments that comprise a binding site for an anti-TAT antibody, a TAT binding oligopeptide or other small organic molecule that binds to a TAT polypeptide.
  • the invention provides isolated TAT polypeptides encoded by any of the isolated nucleic acid sequences hereinabove identified.
  • the invention concerns an isolated TAT polypeptide, comprising an amino acid sequence having at least about 80% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% amino acid sequence identity, to a TAT polypeptide having a full-length amino acid sequence as disclosed herein, a TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, an extracellular domain of a transmembrane TAT polypeptide protein, with or without the signal peptide, as disclosed herein, an amino acid sequence encoded by any of the nucleic acid sequences disclosed herein or any other specifically defined fragment of a full-length TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence as disclosed herein.
  • the invention concerns an isolated TAT polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least about 80% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% amino acid sequence identity, to an amino acid sequence encoded by any of the human protein cDNAs deposited with the ATCC as disclosed herein.
  • the invention provides an isolated TAT polypeptide without the N-terminal signal sequence and/or without the initiating methionine and is encoded by a nucleotide sequence that encodes such an amino acid sequence as hereinbefore described.
  • Processes for producing the same are also herein described, wherein those processes comprise culturing a host cell comprising a vector which comprises the appropriate encoding nucleic acid molecule under conditions suitable for expression of the TAT polypeptide and recovering the TAT polypeptide from the cell culture.
  • TAT polypeptide which is either transmembrane domain-deleted or transmembrane domain-inactivated.
  • Processes for producing the same are also herein described, wherein those processes comprise culturing a host cell comprising a vector which comprises the appropriate encoding nucleic acid molecule under conditions suitable for expression of the TAT polypeptide and recovering the TAT polypeptide from the cell culture.
  • the invention provides vectors comprising DNA encoding any of the herein described polypeptides.
  • Host cells comprising any such vector are also provided.
  • the host cells may be CHO cells, E. coli cells, or yeast cells.
  • a process for producing any of the herein described polypeptides is further provided and comprises culturing host cells under conditions suitable for expression of the desired polypeptide and recovering the desired polypeptide from the cell culture.
  • the invention provides isolated chimeric polypeptides comprising any of the herein described TAT polypeptides fused to a heterologous (non-TAT) polypeptide.
  • Example of such chimeric molecules comprise any of the herein described TAT polypeptides fused to a heterologous polypeptide such as, for example, an epitope tag sequence or a Fc region of an immunoglobulin.
  • the invention provides an antibody which binds, preferably specifically, to any of the above or below described polypeptides.
  • the antibody is a monoclonal antibody, antibody fragment, chimeric antibody, humanized antibody, single-chain antibody or antibody that competitively inhibits the binding of an anti-TAT polypeptide antibody to its respective antigenic epitope.
  • Antibodies of the present invention may optionally be conjugated to a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • the antibodies of the present invention may optionally be produced in CHO cells or bacterial cells and preferably induce death of a cell to which they bind.
  • the antibodies of the present invention may be detectably labeled, attached to a solid support, or the like.
  • the invention provides vectors comprising DNA encoding any of the herein described antibodies.
  • Host cell comprising any such vector are also provided.
  • the host cells may be CHO cells, E. coli cells, or yeast cells.
  • a process for producing any of the herein described antibodies is further provided and comprises culturing host cells under conditions suitable for expression of the desired antibody and recovering the desired antibody from the cell culture.
  • the invention provides oligopeptides (“TAT binding oligopeptides”) which bind, preferably specifically, to any of the above or below described TAT polypeptides.
  • TAT binding oligopeptides of the present invention may be conjugated to a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • the TAT binding oligopeptides of the present invention may optionally be produced in CHO cells or bacterial cells and preferably induce death of a cell to which they bind.
  • the TAT binding oligopeptides of the present invention may be detectably labeled, attached to a solid support, or the like.
  • the invention provides vectors comprising DNA encoding any of the herein described TAT binding oligopeptides.
  • Host cell comprising any such vector are also provided.
  • the host cells may be CHO cells, E. coli cells, or yeast cells.
  • a process for producing any of the herein described TAT binding oligopeptides is further provided and comprises culturing host cells under conditions suitable for expression of the desired oligopeptide and recovering the desired oligopeptide from the cell culture.
  • the invention provides small organic molecules (“TAT binding organic molecules”) which bind, preferably specifically, to any of the above or below described TAT polypeptides.
  • TAT binding organic molecules of the present invention may be conjugated to a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • the TAT binding organic molecules of the present invention preferably induce death of a cell to which they bind.
  • the TAT binding organic molecules of the present invention may be detectably labeled, attached to a solid support, or the like.
  • the invention concerns a composition of matter comprising a TAT polypeptide as described herein, a chimeric TAT polypeptide as described herein, an anti-TAT antibody as described herein, a TAT binding oligopeptide as described herein, or a TAT binding organic molecule as described herein, in combination with a carrier.
  • the carrier is a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • the invention concerns an article of manufacture comprising a container and a composition of matter contained within the container, wherein the composition of matter may comprise a TAT polypeptide as described herein, a chimeric TAT polypeptide as described herein, an anti-TAT antibody as described herein, a TAT binding oligopeptide as described herein, or a TAT binding organic molecule as described herein.
  • the article may further optionally comprise a label affixed to the container, or a package insert included with the container, that refers to the use of the composition of matter for the therapeutic treatment or diagnostic detection of a tumor.
  • Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to the use of a TAT polypeptide as described herein, a chimeric TAT polypeptide as described herein, an anti-TAT polypeptide antibody as described herein, a TAT binding oligopeptide as described herein, or a TAT binding organic molecule as described herein, for the preparation of a medicament useful in the treatment of a condition which is responsive to the TAT polypeptide, chimeric TAT polypeptide, anti-TAT polypeptide antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide, or TAT binding organic molecule.
  • Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for inhibiting the growth of a cell that expresses a TAT polypeptide, wherein the method comprises contacting the cell with an antibody, an oligopeptide or a small organic molecule that binds to the TAT polypeptide, and wherein the binding of the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule to the TAT polypeptide causes inhibition of the growth of the cell expressing the TAT polypeptide.
  • the cell is a cancer cell of glial origin and binding of the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule to the TAT polypeptide causes death of the cell expressing the TAT polypeptide.
  • the antibody is a monoclonal antibody, antibody fragment, chimeric antibody, humanized antibody, or single-chain antibody.
  • Antibodies, TAT binding oligopeptides and TAT binding organic molecules employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be conjugated to a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • the antibodies and TAT binding oligopeptides employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be produced in CHO cells or bacterial cells.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of therapeutically treating a mammal having a cancerous tumor comprising cells that express a TAT polypeptide, wherein the method comprises administering to the mammal a therapeutically effective amount of an antibody, an oligopeptide or a small organic molecule that binds to the TAT polypeptide, thereby resulting in the effective therapeutic treatment of the tumor.
  • the cells are cancerous cells of glial origin.
  • the antibody is a monoclonal antibody, antibody fragment, chimeric antibody, humanized antibody, or single-chain antibody.
  • Antibodies, TAT binding oligopeptides and TAT binding organic molecules employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be conjugated to a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • the antibodies and oligopeptides employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be produced in CHO cells or bacterial cells.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of determining the presence of a TAT polypeptide in a sample suspected of containing the TAT polypeptide, wherein the method comprises exposing the sample to an antibody, oligopeptide or small organic molecule that binds to the TAT polypeptide and determining binding of the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule to the TAT polypeptide in the sample, wherein the presence of such binding is indicative of the presence of the TAT polypeptide in the sample.
  • the sample may contain cells (which may be cancer cells of glial origin) suspected of expressing the TAT polypeptide.
  • the antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule employed in the method may optionally be detectably labeled, attached to a solid support, or the like.
  • a further embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of diagnosing the presence of a tumor in a mammal, wherein the method comprises detecting the level of expression of a gene encoding a TAT polypeptide (a) in a test sample of tissue cells obtained from said mammal, and (b) in a control sample of known normal non-cancerous cells of the same tissue origin or type, wherein a higher level of expression of the TAT polypeptide in the test sample, as compared to the control sample, is indicative of the presence of tumor in the mammal from which the test sample was obtained.
  • the tumor is a tumor of glial origin.
  • Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of diagnosing the presence of a tumor in a mammal, wherein the method comprises (a) contacting a test sample comprising tissue cells obtained from the mammal with an antibody, oligopeptide or small organic molecule that binds to a TAT polypeptide and (b) detecting the formation of a complex between the antibody, oligopeptide or small organic molecule and the TAT polypeptide in the test sample, wherein the formation of a complex is indicative of the presence of a tumor in the mammal.
  • the antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule employed is detectably labeled, attached to a solid support, or the like, and/or the test sample of tissue cells is obtained from an individual suspected of having a cancerous tumor.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for treating or preventing a cell proliferative disorder associated with altered, preferably increased, expression or activity of a TAT polypeptide, the method comprising administering to a subject in need of such treatment an effective amount of an antagonist of a TAT polypeptide.
  • the cell proliferative disorder is cancer and the antagonist of the TAT polypeptide is an anti-TAT polypeptide antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide, TAT binding organic molecule or antisense oligonucleotide.
  • Effective treatment or prevention of the cell proliferative disorder may be a result of direct killing or growth inhibition of cells that express a TAT polypeptide or by antagonizing the cell growth potentiating activity of a TAT polypeptide.
  • the cell proliferative disorder is a tumor of glial origin.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of binding an antibody, oligopeptide or small organic molecule to a cell that expresses a TAT polypeptide, wherein the method comprises contacting a cell that expresses a TAT polypeptide with said antibody, oligopeptide or small organic molecule under conditions which are suitable for binding of the antibody, oligopeptide or small organic molecule to said TAT polypeptide and allowing binding therebetween.
  • the cell is a cancerous cell of glial origin.
  • inventions of the present invention are directed to the use of (a) a TAT polypeptide, (b) a nucleic acid encoding a TAT polypeptide or a vector or host cell comprising that nucleic acid, (c) an anti-TAT polypeptide antibody, (d) a TAT-binding oligopeptide, or (e) a TAT-binding small organic molecule in the preparation of a medicament useful for (i) the therapeutic treatment or diagnostic detection of a cancer or tumor, or (ii) the therapeutic treatment or prevention of a cell proliferative disorder, wherein the cancer, tumor or cell proliferative disorder may be, for example, a tumor of glial cell origin.
  • Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for inhibiting the growth of a cancer cell, wherein the growth of said cancer cell is at least in part dependent upon the growth potentiating effect(s) of a TAT polypeptide (wherein the TAT polypeptide may be expressed either by the cancer cell itself or a cell that produces polypeptide(s) that have a growth potentiating effect on cancer cells), wherein the method comprises contacting the TAT polypeptide with an antibody, an oligopeptide or a small organic molecule that binds to the TAT polypeptide, thereby antagonizing the growth-potentiating activity of the TAT polypeptide and, in turn, inhibiting the growth of the cancer cell.
  • the growth of the cancer cell is completely inhibited.
  • the antibody is a monoclonal antibody, antibody fragment, chimeric antibody, humanized antibody, or single-chain antibody.
  • Antibodies, TAT binding oligopeptides and TAT binding organic molecules employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be conjugated to a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • the antibodies and TAT binding oligopeptides employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be produced in CHO cells or bacterial cells.
  • the cancer cell may be a cancer cell of glial origin.
  • Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method of therapeutically treating a tumor in a mammal, wherein the growth of said tumor is at least in part dependent upon the growth potentiating effect(s) of a TAT polypeptide, wherein the method comprises administering to the mammal a therapeutically effective amount of an antibody, an oligopeptide or a small organic molecule that binds to the TAT polypeptide, thereby antagonizing the growth potentiating activity of said TAT polypeptide and resulting in the effective therapeutic treatment of the tumor.
  • the tumor is a tumor of glial cell origin.
  • the antibody is a monoclonal antibody, antibody fragment, chimeric antibody, humanized antibody, or single-chain antibody.
  • Antibodies, TAT binding oligopeptides and TAT binding organic molecules employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be conjugated to a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • a growth inhibitory agent or cytotoxic agent such as a toxin, including, for example, a maytansinoid or calicheamicin, an antibiotic, a radioactive isotope, a nucleolytic enzyme, or the like.
  • the antibodies and oligopeptides employed in the methods of the present invention may optionally be produced in CHO cells or bacterial cells.
  • Isolated nucleic acid having a nucleotide sequence that has at least 80% nucleic acid sequence identity to:
  • Isolated nucleic acid having:
  • nucleic acid of claim 3 wherein the hybridization occurs under stringent conditions.
  • nucleic acid of claim 3 which is at least about 5 nucleotides in length.
  • An expression vector comprising the nucleic acid of claim 1 , 2 or 3.
  • nucleic acid is operably linked to control sequences recognized by a host cell transformed with the vector.
  • a host cell comprising the expression vector of claim 7 .
  • the host cell of claim 8 which is a CHO cell, an E. coli cell or a yeast cell.
  • a process for producing a polypeptide comprising culturing the host cell of claim 8 under conditions suitable for expression of said polypeptide and recovering said polypeptide from the cell culture.
  • a chimeric polypeptide comprising the polypeptide of claim 11 or 12 fused to a heterologous polypeptide.
  • heterologous polypeptide is an epitope tag sequence or an Fc region of an immunoglobulin.
  • the antibody of claim 15 or 16 which is a monoclonal antibody.
  • the antibody of claim 15 or 16 which is a chimeric or a humanized antibody.
  • the antibody of claim 15 or 16 which is conjugated to a cytotoxic agent.
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • the antibody of claim 23 wherein the toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • An expression vector comprising the nucleic acid of claim 30 operably linked to control sequences recognized by a host cell transformed with the vector.
  • a host cell comprising the expression vector of claim 31 .
  • the host cell of claim 32 which is a CHO cell, an E. coli cell or a yeast cell.
  • a process for producing an antibody comprising culturing the host cell of claim 32 under conditions suitable for expression of said antibody and recovering said antibody from the cell culture.
  • oligopeptide of claim 35 or 36 which is conjugated to a cytotoxic agent.
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • oligopeptide of claim 38 wherein the cytotoxic agent is a toxin.
  • the oligopeptide of claim 40 wherein the toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • oligopeptide of claim 35 or 36 which induces death of a cell to which it binds.
  • the oligopeptide of claim 35 or 36 which is detectably labeled.
  • a TAT binding organic molecule that binds to a polypeptide having at least 80% amino acid sequence identity to:
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • the organic molecule of claim 50 wherein the toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • composition of matter comprising:
  • composition of matter of claim 55 wherein said carrier is a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • An article of manufacture comprising:
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • cytotoxic agent is a toxin.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • a method of therapeutically treating a mammal having a cancerous tumor comprising cells that express a protein having at least 80% amino acid sequence identity to:
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • a method of diagnosing the presence of a tumor in a mammal comprising determining the level of expression of a gene encoding a protein having at least 80% amino acid sequence identity to:
  • step of determining the level of expression of a gene encoding said protein comprises employing an oligonucleotide in an in situ hybridization or RT-PCR analysis.
  • step determining the level of expression of a gene encoding said protein comprises employing an antibody in an immunohistochemistry or Western blot analysis.
  • a method of diagnosing the presence of a tumor in a mammal comprising contacting a test sample of tissue cells obtained from said mammal with an antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule that binds to a protein having at least 80% amino acid sequence identity to:
  • test sample of tissue cells is obtained from an individual suspected of having a cancerous tumor.
  • a method for treating or preventing a cell proliferative disorder associated with increased expression or activity of a protein having at least 80% amino acid sequence identity to:
  • said antagonist is an anti-TAT polypeptide antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide, TAT binding organic molecule or antisense oligonucleotide.
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • cytotoxic agent is a toxin.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • nucleic acid as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 or 30 in the preparation of a medicament for the therapeutic treatment or diagnostic detection of a cancer.
  • nucleic acid as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 or 30 in the preparation of a medicament for treating a tumor.
  • nucleic acid as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 or 30 in the preparation of a medicament for treatment or prevention of a cell proliferative disorder.
  • TAT binding organic molecule as claimed in any of claims 45 to 54 in the preparation of a medicament for the therapeutic treatment or diagnostic detection of a cancer.
  • TAT binding organic molecule as claimed in any of claims 45 to 54 in the preparation of a medicament for treating a tumor.
  • TAT binding organic molecule as claimed in any of claims 45 to 54 in the preparation of a medicament for treatment or prevention of a cell proliferative disorder.
  • composition of matter as claimed in any of claims 55 or 56 in the preparation of a medicament for the therapeutic treatment or diagnostic detection of a cancer.
  • composition of matter as claimed in any of claims 55 or 56 in the preparation of a medicament for treating a tumor.
  • composition of matter as claimed in any of claims 55 or 56 in the preparation of a medicament for treatment or prevention of a cell proliferative disorder.
  • a method for inhibiting the growth of a cell wherein the growth of said cell is at least in part dependent upon a growth potentiating effect of a protein having at least 80% amino acid sequence identity to:
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • cytotoxic agent is a toxin.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • a method of therapeutically treating a tumor in a mammal wherein the growth of said tumor is at least in part dependent upon a growth potentiating effect of a protein having at least 80% amino acid sequence identity to:
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • cytotoxic agent is a toxin.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • a method of inhibiting the growth of a tumor cell of glial origin comprising contacting said cell with a composition comprising a first binding agent and a second binding agent, wherein said first binding agent is a first antibody, first oligopeptide or first organic molecule that binds to a type A glial tumor antigen and wherein said second binding agent is a second antibody, second oligopeptide or second organic molecule that binds to a type B glial tumor antigen, the binding of said first antibody, first oligopeptide or first organic molecule to said type A glial tumor antigen and the binding of said second antibody, second oligopeptide or second organic molecule to said type B glial tumor antigen thereby causing an inhibition of growth of said cell.
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • cytotoxic agent is a toxin.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • a third binding agent which is a third antibody, third oligopeptide or third organic molecule that binds to a type C glial tumor antigen.
  • a method of therapeutically treating a mammal having a tumor of glial origin comprising cells that express a type A glial tumor antigen comprising contacting said cells with a composition comprising a first binding agent and a second binding agent, wherein said first binding agent is a first antibody, first oligopeptide or first organic molecule that binds to a type A glial tumor antigen and wherein said second binding agent is a second antibody, second oligopeptide or second organic molecule that binds to a type B glial tumor antigen, the binding of said first antibody, first oligopeptide or first organic molecule to said type A glial tumor antigen and the binding of said second antibody, second oligopeptide or second organic molecule to said type B glial tumor antigen thereby effectively treating said mammal.
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • the method of claim 202 further comprising contacting said cells with a third binding agent which is a third antibody, third oligopeptide or third organic molecule that binds to a type C glial tumor antigen.
  • a third binding agent which is a third antibody, third oligopeptide or third organic molecule that binds to a type C glial tumor antigen.
  • a method of therapeutically treating a mammal having a tumor of glial origin comprising cells that express a type B glial tumor antigen comprising contacting said cells with a composition comprising a first binding agent and a second binding agent, wherein said first binding agent is a first antibody, first oligopeptide or first organic molecule that binds to a type A glial tumor antigen and wherein said second binding agent is a second antibody, second oligopeptide or second organic molecule that binds to a type B glial tumor antigen, the binding of said first antibody, first oligopeptide or first organic molecule to said type A glial tumor antigen and the binding of said second antibody, second oligopeptide or second organic molecule to said type B glial tumor antigen thereby effectively treating said mammal.
  • cytotoxic agent is selected from the group consisting of toxins, antibiotics, radioactive isotopes and nucleolytic enzymes.
  • toxin is selected from the group consisting of maytansinoid and calicheamicin.
  • a third binding agent which is a third antibody, third oligopeptide or third organic molecule that binds to a type C glial tumor antigen.
  • a method of determining the presence of a type A glial tumor in a mammal comprising:
  • a method of determining the presence of a type B glial tumor in a mammal comprising:
  • FIG. 1 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) of a TAT152 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 1 is a clone designated herein as “DNA246435”.
  • FIG. 2 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) of a TAT285 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:2 is a clone designated herein as “DNA297393”.
  • FIG. 3 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:3) of a TAT214 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:3 is a clone designated herein as “DNA266920”.
  • FIG. 4 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:4) of a TAT422 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:4 is a clone designated herein as “DNA35916”.
  • FIG. 5 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:5) of a TAT385 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:5 is a clone designated herein as “DNA92958”.
  • FIG. 6 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:6) of a TAT164 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:6 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226094”.
  • FIG. 7 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:7) of a TAT423 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:7 is a clone designated herein as “DNA225643”.
  • FIG. 8 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:8) of a TAT424 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:8 is a clone designated herein as “DNA225649”.
  • FIG. 9 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:9) of a TAT425 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:9 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226522”.
  • FIG. 10 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 10) of a TAT426 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 10 is a clone designated herein as “DNA225758”.
  • FIG. 11 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 11) of a TAT427 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 11 is a clone designated herein as “DNA256886”.
  • FIG. 12 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 12) of a TAT428 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 12 is a clone designated herein as “DNA340337”.
  • FIG. 13 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 13) of a TAT429 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 13 is a clone designated herein as “DNA254942”.
  • FIG. 14 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 14) of a TAT430 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 14 is a clone designated herein as “DNA255505”.
  • FIG. 15 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 15) of a TAT431 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 15 is a clone designated herein as “DNA272284”.
  • FIG. 16 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 16) of a TAT432 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 16 is a clone designated herein as “DNA273088”.
  • FIG. 17 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 17) of a TAT433 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 17 is a clone designated herein as “DNA225556”.
  • FIG. 18 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 18) of a TAT434 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 18 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226037”.
  • FIG. 19 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 19) of a TAT391 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO: 19 is a clone designated herein as “DNA331171”.
  • FIG. 20 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:20) of a TAT435 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:20 is a clone designated herein as “DNA334625”.
  • FIG. 21 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:21) of a TAT436 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:21 is a clone designated herein as “DNA255915”.
  • FIG. 22 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:22) of a TAT437 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:22 is a clone designated herein as “DNA271568”.
  • FIG. 23 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:23) of a TAT438 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:23 is a clone designated herein as “DNA330250”.
  • FIG. 24 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:24) of a TAT439 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:24 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226627”.
  • FIG. 25 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:25) of a TAT440 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:25 is a clone designated herein as “DNA336053”.
  • FIG. 26 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:26) of a TAT441 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:26 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226375”.
  • FIG. 27 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:27) of a TAT442 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:27 is a clone designated herein as “DNA275290”.
  • FIG. 28 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:28) of a TAT443 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:28 is a clone designated herein as “DNA336054”.
  • FIG. 29 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:29) of a TAT351 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:29 is a clone designated herein as “DNA273438”.
  • FIG. 30 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:30) of a TAT444 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:30 is a clone designated herein as “DNA150906”.
  • FIG. 31 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:31) of a TAT227 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:31 is a clone designated herein as “DNA266307”.
  • FIG. 32 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:32) of a TAT445 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:32 is a clone designated herein as “DNA98541”.
  • FIG. 33 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:33) of a TAT446 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:33 is a clone designated herein as “DNA227020”.
  • FIG. 34 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:34) of a TAT447 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:34 is a clone designated herein as “DNA92995”.
  • FIG. 35 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:35) of a TAT448 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:35 is a clone designated herein as “DNA225952”.
  • FIG. 36 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:36) of a TAT449 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:36 is a clone designated herein as “DNA225829”.
  • FIG. 37 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:37) of a TAT450 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:37 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226129”.
  • FIG. 38 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:38) of a TAT451 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:38 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226061”.
  • FIG. 39 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:39) of a TAT452 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:39 is a clone designated herein as “DNA9691 1”.
  • FIG. 40 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:40) of a TAT453 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:40 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226121”.
  • FIG. 41 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:41) of a TAT454 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:41 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226651”.
  • FIG. 42 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:42) of a TAT455 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:42 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226968”.
  • FIG. 43 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:43) of a TAT456 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:43 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226843”.
  • FIG. 44 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:44) of a TAT457 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:44 is a clone designated herein as “DNA242495”.
  • FIG. 45 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:45) of a TAT458 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:45 is a clone designated herein as “DNA9298 I”.
  • FIG. 46 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:46) of a TAT459 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:46 is a clone designated herein as “DNA208684”.
  • FIG. 47 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:47) of a TAT171 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:47 is a clone designated herein as “DNA53971”.
  • FIG. 48 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:48) of a TAT460 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:48 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226031”.
  • FIG. 49 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:49) of a TAT461 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:49 is a clone designated herein as “DNA82314”.
  • FIG. 50 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:50) of a TAT462 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:50 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226139”.
  • FIG. 51 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:51) of a TAT463 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:51 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226006”.
  • FIG. 52 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:52) of a TAT464 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:52 is a clone designated herein as “DNA88323”.
  • FIG. 53 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:53) of a TAT465 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:53 is a clone designated herein as “DNA304673”.
  • FIG. 54 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:54) of a TAT466 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:54 is a clone designated herein as “DNA208684”.
  • FIG. 55 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:55) of a TAT467 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:55 is a clone designated herein as “DNA188396”.
  • FIG. 56 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:56) of a TAT468 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:56 is a clone designated herein as “DNA33447”.
  • FIG. 57 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:57) of a TAT469 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:57 is a clone designated herein as “DNA225520”.
  • FIG. 58 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:58) of a TAT274 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:58 is a clone designated herein as “DNA182764”.
  • FIG. 59 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:59) of a TAT470 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:59 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226874”.
  • FIG. 60 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:60) of a TAT471 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:60 is a clone designated herein as “DNA227470”.
  • FIG. 61 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:61) of a TAT262 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:61 is a clone designated herein as “DNA88126”.
  • FIG. 62 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:62) of a TAT263 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:62 is a clone designated herein as “DNA 103464”.
  • FIG. 63 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:63) of a TAT472 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:63 is a clone designated herein as “DNA88123”.
  • FIG. 64 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:64) of a TAT473 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:64 is a clone designated herein as “DNA88136”.
  • FIG. 65 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:65) of a TAT474 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:65 is a clone designated herein as “DNA88125”.
  • FIG. 66 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:66) of a TAT475 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:66 is a clone designated herein as “DNA88140”.
  • FIG. 67 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:67) of a TAT476 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:67 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226895”.
  • FIG. 68 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:68) of a TAT477 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:68 is a clone designated herein as “DNA88127”.
  • FIG. 69 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:69) of a TAT478 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:69 is a clone designated herein as “DNA219970”.
  • FIG. 70 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:70) of a TAT479 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:70 is a clone designated herein as “DNA125146”.
  • FIG. 71 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:71) of a TAT480 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:71 is a clone designated herein as “DNA287307”.
  • FIG. 72 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:72) of a TAT481 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:72 is a clone designated herein as “DNA304872”.
  • FIG. 73 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:73) of a TAT482 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:73 is a clone designated herein as “DNA327641”.
  • FIG. 74 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:74) of a TAT483 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:74 is a clone designated herein as “DNA304666”.
  • FIG. 75 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:75) of a TAT484 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:75 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226460”.
  • FIG. 76 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:76) of a TAT485 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:76 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226479”.
  • FIG. 77 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:77) of a TAT486 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:77 is a clone designated herein as “DNA271324”.
  • FIG. 78 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:78) of a TAT487 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:78 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226619”.
  • FIG. 79 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:79) of a TAT488 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:79 is a clone designated herein as “DNA327052”.
  • FIG. 80 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:80) of a TAT489 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:80 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226162”.
  • FIG. 81 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:81) of a TAT490 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:81 is a clone designated herein as “DNA272963”.
  • FIG. 82 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:82) of a TAT491 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:82 is a clone designated herein as “DNA222844”.
  • FIG. 83 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:83) of a TAT492 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:83 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226473”.
  • FIG. 84 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:84) of a TAT493 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:84 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226892”.
  • FIG. 85 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:85) of a TAT494 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:85 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226895”.
  • FIG. 86 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:86) of a TAT495 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:86 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226822”.
  • FIG. 87 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:87) of a TAT496 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:87 is a clone designated herein as “DNA274759”.
  • FIG. 88 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:88) of a TAT497 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:88 is a clone designated herein as “DNA227115”.
  • FIG. 89 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:89) of a TAT259 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:89 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226027”.
  • FIG. 90 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:90) of a TAT498 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:90 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226069”.
  • FIG. 91 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:91) of a TAT273 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:91 is a clone designated herein as “DNA19902”.
  • FIG. 92 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:92) of a TAT265 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:92 is a clone designated herein as “DNA288204”.
  • FIG. 93 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:93) of a TAT278 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:93 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226446”.
  • FIG. 94 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:94) of a TAT499 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:94 is a clone designated herein as “DNA50921”.
  • FIG. 95 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:95) of a TAT500 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:95 is a clone designated herein as “DNA119506”.
  • FIG. 96 shows a nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:96) of a TAT506 cDNA, wherein SEQ ID NO:96 is a clone designated herein as “DNA226447”.
  • FIG. 97 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:97) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 shown in FIG. 1 .
  • FIG. 98 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:98)mderived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 shown in FIG. 2 .
  • FIG. 99 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:99) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:3 shown in FIG. 3 .
  • FIG. 100 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 100) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:4 shown in FIG. 4 .
  • FIG. 101 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 101) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:6 shown in FIG. 6 .
  • FIG. 102 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 102) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:7 shown in FIG. 7 .
  • FIG. 103 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 103) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:8 shown in FIG. 8 .
  • FIG. 104 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 104) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:9 shown in FIG. 9 .
  • FIG. 105 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 105) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:10 shown in FIG. 10 .
  • FIG. 106 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 106) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11 shown in FIG. 11 .
  • FIG. 107 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 107) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12 shown in FIG. 12 .
  • FIG. 108 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 108) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:13 shown in FIG. 13 .
  • FIG. 109 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 109) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14 shown in FIG. 14 .
  • FIG. 110 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 110) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:15 shown in FIG. 15 .
  • FIG. 111 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:111) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:16 shown in FIG. 16 .
  • FIG. 112 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:112) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:17 shown in FIG. 17 .
  • FIG. 113 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 113) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:18 shown in FIG. 18 .
  • FIG. 114 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 114) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:19 shown in FIG. 19 .
  • FIG. 115 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 115) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:20 shown in FIG. 20 .
  • FIG. 116 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 116) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:21 shown in FIG. 21 .
  • FIG. 117 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 117) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:22 shown in FIG. 22 .
  • FIG. 118 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 118) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:23 shown in FIG. 23 .
  • FIG. 119 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 119) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:24 shown in FIG. 24 .
  • FIG. 120 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 120) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:25 shown in FIG. 25 .
  • FIG. 121 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 121) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:26 shown in FIG. 26 .
  • FIG. 122 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 122) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:27 shown in FIG. 27 .
  • FIG. 123 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:123) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:28 shown in FIG. 28 .
  • FIG. 124 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 124) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:29 shown in FIG. 29 .
  • FIG. 125 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 125) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:30 shown in FIG. 30 .
  • FIG. 126 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 126) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:31 shown in FIG. 31 .
  • FIG. 127 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 127) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:32 shown in FIG. 32 .
  • FIG. 128 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 128) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:33 shown in FIG. 33 .
  • FIG. 129 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 129) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:34 shown in FIG. 34 .
  • FIG. 130 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 130) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:35 shown in FIG. 35 .
  • FIG. 131 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 131) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:36 shown in FIG. 36 .
  • FIG. 132 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 132) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:37 shown in FIG. 37 .
  • FIG. 133 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 133) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:38 shown in FIG. 38 .
  • FIG. 134 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 134) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:39 shown in FIG. 39 .
  • FIG. 135 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 135) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:40 shown in FIG. 40 .
  • FIG. 136 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 136) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:41 shown in FIG. 41 .
  • FIG. 137 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 137) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:42 shown in FIG. 42 .
  • FIG. 138 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:138) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:43 shown in FIG. 43 .
  • FIG. 139 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 139) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:44 shown in FIG. 44 .
  • FIG. 140 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 140) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:45 shown in FIG. 45 .
  • FIG. 141 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 141) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:46 shown in FIG. 46 .
  • FIG. 142 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 142) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:47 shown in FIG. 47 .
  • FIG. 143 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 143) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:48 shown in FIG. 48 .
  • FIG. 144 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 144) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:49 shown in FIG. 49 .
  • FIG. 145 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:145) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:50 shown in FIG. 50 .
  • FIG. 146 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 146) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:51 shown in FIG. 51 .
  • FIG. 147 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:147) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:53 shown in FIG. 53 .
  • FIG. 148 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 148) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:54 shown in FIG. 54 .
  • FIG. 149 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 149) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:55 shown in FIG. 55 .
  • FIG. 150 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 150) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:56 shown in FIG. 56 .
  • FIG. 151 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 151) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:57 shown in FIG. 57 .
  • FIG. 152 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 152) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:58 shown in FIG. 58 .
  • FIG. 153 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 153) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:59 shown in FIG. 59 .
  • FIG. 154 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 154) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:60 shown in FIG. 60 .
  • FIG. 155 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:155) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:61 shown in FIG. 61 .
  • FIG. 156 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 156) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:62 shown in FIG. 62 .
  • FIG. 157 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 157) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:63 shown in FIG. 63 .
  • FIG. 158 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 158) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:64 shown in FIG. 64 .
  • FIG. 159 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:159) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:65 shown in FIG. 65 .
  • FIG. 160 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 160) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:66 shown in FIG. 66 .
  • FIG. 161 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:161) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:67 shown in FIG. 67 .
  • FIG. 162 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 162) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:68 shown in FIG. 68 .
  • FIG. 163 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:163) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:69 shown in FIG. 69 .
  • FIG. 164 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 164) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:70 shown in FIG. 70 .
  • FIG. 165 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 165) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:71 shown in FIG. 71 .
  • FIG. 166 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 166) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:72 shown in FIG. 72 .
  • FIG. 167 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 167) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:73 shown in FIG. 73 .
  • FIG. 168 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 168) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:74 shown in FIG. 74 .
  • FIG. 169 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:169) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:75 shown in FIG. 75 .
  • FIG. 170 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:170) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:76 shown in FIG. 76 .
  • FIG. 171 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:171) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:77 shown in FIG. 77 .
  • FIG. 172 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:172) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:78 shown in FIG. 78 .
  • FIG. 173 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 173) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:79 shown in FIG. 79 .
  • FIG. 174 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 174) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:80 shown in FIG. 80 .
  • FIG. 175 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 175) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:81 shown in FIG. 81 .
  • FIG. 176 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:176) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:82 shown in FIG. 82 .
  • FIG. 177 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:177) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:83 shown in FIG. 83 .
  • FIG. 178 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:178) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:84 shown in FIG. 84 .
  • FIG. 179 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:179) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:85 shown in FIG. 85 .
  • FIG. 180 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:180) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:86 shown in FIG. 86 .
  • FIG. 181 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 181) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:87 shown in FIG. 87 .
  • FIG. 182 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 182) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:88 shown in FIG. 88 .
  • FIG. 183 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 183) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:89 shown in FIG. 89 .
  • FIG. 184 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 184) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:90 shown in FIG. 90 .
  • FIG. 185 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 185) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:91 shown in FIG. 91 .
  • FIG. 186 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 186) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:92 shown in FIG. 92 .
  • FIG. 187 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 187) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:93 shown in FIG. 93 .
  • FIG. 188 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 188) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:94 shown in FIG. 94 .
  • FIG. 189 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 189) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:95 shown in FIG. 95 .
  • FIG. 190 shows the amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 190) derived from the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO:96 shown in FIG. 96 .
  • TAT polypeptide and “TAT” as used herein and when immediately followed by a numerical designation, refer to various polypeptides, wherein the complete designation (i.e., TAT/number) refers to specific polypeptide sequences as described herein.
  • TAT/number polypeptide and “TAT/number” wherein the term “number” is provided as an actual numerical designation as used herein encompass native sequence polypeptides, polypeptide variants and fragments of native sequence polypeptides and polypeptide variants (which are further defined herein).
  • the TAT polypeptides described herein may be isolated from a variety of sources, such as from human tissue types or from another source, or prepared by recombinant or synthetic methods.
  • TAT polypeptide refers to each individual TAT/number polypeptide disclosed herein. All disclosures in this specification which refer to the “TAT polypeptide” refer to each of the polypeptides individually as well as jointly. For example, descriptions of the preparation of, purification of, derivation of, formation of antibodies to or against, formation of TAT binding oligopeptides to or against, formation of TAT binding organic molecules to or against, administration of, compositions containing, treatment of a disease with, etc., pertain to each polypeptide of the invention individually.
  • TAT polypeptide also includes variants of the TAT/number polypeptides disclosed herein.
  • a “native sequence TAT polypeptide” comprises a polypeptide having the same amino acid sequence as the corresponding TAT polypeptide derived from nature. Such native sequence TAT polypeptides can be isolated from nature or can be produced by recombinant or synthetic means.
  • the term “native sequence TAT polypeptide” specifically encompasses naturally-occurring truncated or secreted forms of the specific TAT polypeptide (e.g., an extracellular domain sequence), naturally-occurring variant forms (e.g., alternatively spliced forms) and naturally-occurring allelic variants of the polypeptide.
  • the native sequence TAT polypeptides disclosed herein are mature or full-length native sequence polypeptides comprising the full-length amino acids sequences shown in the accompanying figures. Start and stop codons (if indicated) are shown in bold font and underlined in the figures. Nucleic acid residues indicated as “N” or “X” in the accompanying figures are any nucleic acid residue.
  • TAT polypeptides disclosed in the accompanying figures are shown to begin with methionine residues designated herein as amino acid position 1 in the figures, it is conceivable and possible that other methionine residues located either upstream or downstream from the amino acid position 1 in the figures may be employed as the starting amino acid residue for the TAT polypeptides.
  • the TAT polypeptide “extracellular domain” or “ECD” refers to a form of the TAT polypeptide which is essentially free of the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. Ordinarily, a TAT polypeptide ECD will have less than 1% of such transmembrane and/or cytoplasmic domains and preferably, will have less than 0.5% of such domains. It will be understood that any transmembrane domains identified for the TAT polypeptides of the present invention are identified pursuant to criteria routinely employed in the art for identifying that type of hydrophobic domain. The exact boundaries of a transmembrane domain may vary but most likely by no more than about 5 amino acids at either end of the domain as initially identified herein.
  • an extracellular domain of a TAT polypeptide may contain from about 5 or fewer amino acids on either side of the transmembrane domain/extracellular domain boundary as identified in the Examples or specification and such polypeptides, with or without the associated signal peptide, and nucleic acid encoding them, are contemplated by the present invention.
  • the C-terminal boundary of a signal peptide may vary, but most likely by no more than about 5 amino acids on either side of the signal peptide C-terminal boundary as initially identified herein, wherein the C-terminal boundary of the signal peptide may be identified pursuant to criteria routinely employed in the art for identifying that type of amino acid sequence element (e.g., Nielsen et al., Prot. Eng. 10:1-6 (1997) and von Heinje et al., Nucl. Acids. Res. 14:4683-4690 (1986)).
  • cleavage of a signal sequence from a secreted polypeptide is not entirely uniform, resulting in more than one secreted species.
  • These mature polypeptides, where the signal peptide is cleaved within no more than about 5 amino acids on either side of the C-terminal boundary of the signal peptide as identified herein, and the polynucleotides encoding them, are contemplated by the present invention.
  • TAT polypeptide variant means a TAT polypeptide, preferably an active TAT polypeptide, as defined herein having at least about 80% amino acid sequence identity with a full-length native sequence TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein, a TAT polypeptide sequence lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, an extracellular domain of a TAT polypeptide, with or without the signal peptide, as disclosed herein or any other fragment of a full-length TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein (such as those encoded by a nucleic acid that represents only a portion of the complete coding sequence for a full-length TAT polypeptide).
  • TAT polypeptide variants include, for instance, TAT polypeptides wherein one or more amino acid residues are added, or deleted, at the N- or C-terminus of the full-length native amino acid sequence.
  • a TAT polypeptide variant will have at least about 80% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% amino acid sequence identity, to a full-length native sequence TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein, a TAT polypeptide sequence lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, an extracellular domain of a TAT polypeptide, with or without the signal peptide, as disclosed herein or any other specifically defined fragment of a full-length TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein.
  • TAT variant polypeptides are at least about 10 amino acids in length, alternatively at least about 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, 390, 400, 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470, 480, 490, 500, 510, 520, 530, 540, 550, 560, 570, 580, 590, 600 amino acids in length, or more.
  • TAT variant polypeptides will have no more than one conservative amino acid substitution as compared to the native TAT polypeptide sequence, alternatively no more than 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 conservative amino acid substitution as compared to the native TAT polypeptide sequence.
  • Percent (%) amino acid sequence identity with respect to the TAT polypeptide sequences identified herein is defined as the percentage of amino acid residues in a candidate sequence that are identical with the amino acid residues in the specific TAT polypeptide sequence, after aligning the sequences and introducing gaps, if necessary, to achieve the maximum percent sequence identity, and not considering any conservative substitutions as part of the sequence identity. Alignment for purposes of determining percent amino acid sequence identity can be achieved in various ways that are within the skill in the art, for instance, using publicly available computer software such as BLAST, BLAST-2, ALIGN or Megalign (DNASTAR) software. Those skilled in the art can determine appropriate parameters for measuring alignment, including any algorithms needed to achieve maximal alignment over the full length of the sequences being compared.
  • % amino acid sequence identity values are generated using the sequence comparison computer program ALIGN-2, wherein the complete source code for the ALIGN-2 program is provided in Table 1 below.
  • the ALIGN-2 sequence comparison computer program was authored by Genentech, Inc. and the source code shown in Table 1 below has been filed with user documentation in the U.S. Copyright Office, Washington D.C., 20559, where it is registered under U.S. Copyright Registration No. TXU510087.
  • the ALIGN-2 program is publicly available through Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, Calif. or may be compiled from the source code provided in Table 1 below.
  • the ALIGN-2 program should be compiled for use on a UNIX operating system, preferably digital UNIX V4.0D. All sequence comparison parameters are set by the ALIGN-2 program and do not vary.
  • the % amino acid sequence identity of a given amino acid sequence A to, with, or against a given amino acid sequence B is calculated as follows: 100 times the fraction X/Y where X is the number of amino acid residues scored as identical matches by the sequence alignment program ALIGN-2 in that program's alignment of A and B, and where Y is the total number of amino acid residues in B.
  • TAT variant polynucleotide or “TAT variant nucleic acid sequence” means a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a TAT polypeptide, preferably an active TAT polypeptide, as defined herein and which has at least about 80% nucleic acid sequence identity with a nucleotide acid sequence encoding a full-length native sequence TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein, a full-length native sequence TAT polypeptide sequence lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, an extracellular domain of a TAT polypeptide, with or without the signal peptide, as disclosed herein or any other fragment of a full-length TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein (such as those encoded by a nucleic acid that represents only a portion of the complete coding sequence for a full-length TAT polypeptide).
  • a TAT variant polynucleotide will have at least about 80% nucleic acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% nucleic acid sequence identity with a nucleic acid sequence encoding a full-length native sequence TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein, a full-length native sequence TAT polypeptide sequence lacking the signal peptide as disclosed herein, an extracellular domain of a TAT polypeptide, with or without the signal sequence, as disclosed herein or any other fragment of a full-length TAT polypeptide sequence as disclosed herein. Variants do not encompass the native nucleotide sequence.
  • TAT variant polynucleotides are at least about 5 nucleotides in length, alternatively at least about 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, 390, 400, 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470, 480, 490, 500, 510, 520, 530, 540, 550, 560, 570, 580, 590, 600, 610, 620,
  • Percent (%) nucleic acid sequence identity with respect to TAT-encoding nucleic acid sequences identified herein is defined as the percentage of nucleotides in a candidate sequence that are identical with the nucleotides in the TAT nucleic acid sequence of interest, after aligning the sequences and introducing gaps, if necessary, to achieve the maximum percent sequence identity. Alignment for purposes of determining percent nucleic acid sequence identity can be achieved in various ways that are within the skill in the art, for instance, using publicly available computer software such as BLAST, BLAST-2, ALIGN or Megalign (DNASTAR) software.
  • % nucleic acid sequence identity values are generated using the sequence comparison computer program ALIGN-2, wherein the complete source code for the ALIGN-2 program is provided in Table 1 below.
  • the ALIGN-2 sequence comparison computer program was authored by Genentech, Inc. and the source code shown in Table 1 below has been filed with user documentation in the U.S. Copyright Office, Washington D.C., 20559, where it is registered under U.S. Copyright Registration No. TXU510087.
  • the ALIGN-2 program is publicly available through Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, Calif. or may be compiled from the source code provided in Table 1 below.
  • the ALIGN-2 program should be compiled for use on a UNIX operating system, preferably digital UNIX V4.0D. All sequence comparison parameters are set by the ALIGN-2 program and do not vary.
  • the % nucleic acid sequence identity of a given nucleic acid sequence C to, with, or against a given nucleic acid sequence D is calculated as follows: 100 times the fraction W/Z where W is the number of nucleotides scored as identical matches by the sequence alignment program ALIGN-2 in that program's alignment of C and D, and where Z is the total number of nucleotides in D.
  • nucleic acid sequence identity of C to D will not equal the % nucleic acid sequence identity of D to C.
  • Tables 4 and 5 demonstrate how to calculate the % nucleic acid sequence identity of the nucleic acid sequence designated “Comparison DNA” to the nucleic acid sequence designated “TAT-DNA”, wherein “TAT-DNA” represents a hypothetical TAT-encoding nucleic acid sequence of interest, “Comparison DNA” represents the nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid molecule against which the “TAT-DNA” nucleic acid molecule of interest is being compared, and “N”, “L” and “V” each represent different hypothetical nucleotides. Unless specifically stated otherwise, all % nucleic acid sequence identity values used herein are obtained as described in the immediately preceding paragraph using the ALIGN-2 computer program.
  • TAT variant polynucleotides are nucleic acid molecules that encode a TAT polypeptide and which are capable of hybridizing, preferably under stringent hybridization and wash conditions, to nucleotide sequences encoding a full-length TAT polypeptide as disclosed herein.
  • TAT variant polypeptides may be those that are encoded by a TAT variant polynucleotide.
  • full-length coding region when used in reference to a nucleic acid encoding a TAT polypeptide refers to the sequence of nucleotides which encode the full-length TAT polypeptide of the invention (which is often shown between start and stop codons, inclusive thereof, in the accompanying figures).
  • full-length coding region when used in reference to an ATCC deposited nucleic acid refers to the TAT polypeptide-encoding portion of the cDNA that is inserted into the vector deposited with the ATCC (which is often shown between start and stop codons, inclusive thereof, in the accompanying figures).
  • Isolated when used to describe the various TAT polypeptides disclosed herein, means polypeptide that has been identified and separated and/or recovered from a component of its natural environment. Contaminant components of its natural environment are materials that would typically interfere with diagnostic or therapeutic uses for the polypeptide, and may include enzymes, hormones, and other proteinaceous or non-proteinaceous solutes.
  • the polypeptide will be purified (1) to a degree sufficient to obtain at least 15 residues of N-terminal or internal amino acid sequence by use of a spinning cup sequenator, or (2) to homogeneity by SDS-PAGE under non-reducing or reducing conditions using Coomassie blue or, preferably, silver stain.
  • Isolated polypeptide includes polypeptide in situ within recombinant cells, since at least one component of the TAT polypeptide natural environment will not be present. Ordinarily, however, isolated polypeptide will be prepared by at least one purification step.
  • An “isolated” TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid or other polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid is a nucleic acid molecule that is identified and separated from at least one contaminant nucleic acid molecule with which it is ordinarily associated in the natural source of the polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid.
  • An isolated polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid molecule is other than in the form or setting in which it is found in nature. Isolated polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid molecules therefore are distinguished from the specific polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid molecule as it exists in natural cells.
  • an isolated polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid molecule includes polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid molecules contained in cells that ordinarily express the polypeptide where, for example, the nucleic acid molecule is in a chromosomal location different from that of natural cells.
  • control sequences refers to DNA sequences necessary for the expression of an operably linked coding sequence in a particular host organism.
  • the control sequences that are suitable for prokaryotes include a promoter, optionally an operator sequence, and a ribosome binding site.
  • Eukaryotic cells are known to utilize promoters, polyadenylation signals, and enhancers.
  • Nucleic acid is “operably linked” when it is placed into a functional relationship with another nucleic acid sequence.
  • DNA for a presequence or secretory leader is operably linked to DNA for a polypeptide if it is expressed as a preprotein that participates in the secretion of the polypeptide;
  • a promoter or enhancer is operably linked to a coding sequence if it affects the transcription of the sequence; or
  • a ribosome binding site is operably linked to a coding sequence if it is positioned so as to facilitate translation.
  • “operably linked” means that the DNA sequences being linked are contiguous, and, in the case of a secretory leader, contiguous and in reading phase. However, enhancers do not have to be contiguous. Linking is accomplished by ligation at convenient restriction sites. If such sites do not exist, the synthetic oligonucleotide adaptors or linkers are used in accordance with conventional practice.
  • “Stringency” of hybridization reactions is readily determinable by one of ordinary skill in the art, and generally is an empirical calculation dependent upon probe length, washing temperature, and salt concentration. In general, longer probes require higher temperatures for proper annealing, while shorter probes need lower temperatures. Hybridization generally depends on the ability of denatured DNA to reanneal when complementary strands are present in an environment below their melting temperature. The higher the degree of desired homology between the probe and hybridizable sequence, the higher the relative temperature which can be used. As a result, it follows that higher relative temperatures would tend to make the reaction conditions more stringent, while lower temperatures less so. For additional details and explanation of stringency of hybridization reactions, see Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology , Wiley Interscience Publishers, (1995).
  • Stringent conditions or “high stringency conditions”, as defined herein, may be identified by those that:
  • Modely stringent conditions may be identified as described by Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual , New York: Cold Spring Harbor Press, 1989, and include the use of washing solution and hybridization conditions (e.g., temperature, ionic strength and % SDS) less stringent that those described above.
  • washing solution and hybridization conditions e.g., temperature, ionic strength and % SDS
  • An example of moderately stringent conditions is overnight incubation at 37° C.
  • epitope tagged when used herein refers to a chimeric polypeptide comprising a TAT polypeptide or anti-TAT antibody fused to a “tag polypeptide”.
  • the tag polypeptide has enough residues to provide an epitope against which an antibody can be made, yet is short enough such that it does not interfere with activity of the polypeptide to which it is fused.
  • the tag polypeptide preferably also is fairly unique so that the antibody does not substantially cross-react with other epitopes.
  • Suitable tag polypeptides generally have at least six amino acid residues and usually between about 8 and 50 amino acid residues (preferably, between about 10 and 20 amino acid residues).
  • “Active” or “activity” for the purposes herein refers to form(s) of a TAT polypeptide which retain a biological and/or an immunological activity of native or naturally-occurring TAT, wherein “biological” activity refers to a biological function (either inhibitory or stimulatory) caused by a native or naturally-occurring TAT other than the ability to induce the production of an antibody against an antigenic epitope possessed by a native or naturally-occurring TAT and an “immunological” activity refers to the ability to induce the production of an antibody against an antigenic epitope possessed by a native or naturally-occurring TAT.
  • antagonist is used in the broadest sense, and includes any molecule that partially or fully blocks, inhibits, or neutralizes a biological activity of a native TAT polypeptide disclosed herein.
  • agonist is used in the broadest sense and includes any molecule that mimics a biological activity of a native TAT polypeptide disclosed herein.
  • Suitable agonist or antagonist molecules specifically include agonist or antagonist antibodies or antibody fragments, fragments or amino acid sequence variants of native TAT polypeptides, peptides, antisense oligonucleotides, small organic molecules, extracellular domains of TAT polypeptides, etc.
  • Methods for identifying agonists or antagonists of a TAT polypeptide may comprise contacting a TAT polypeptide with a candidate agonist or antagonist molecule and measuring a detectable change in one or more biological activities normally associated with the TAT polypeptide.
  • type A antigens as defined herein have a growth inhibiting effect on glial tumor cells.
  • one may employ agonists of type A antigens (e.g., type A antigens-derived polypeptides, e.g., extracellular domains, agonist antibodies, etc.) for inhibiting the growth of glial tumor cells.
  • Treating” or “treatment” or “alleviation” refers to both therapeutic treatment and prophylactic or preventative measures, wherein the object is to prevent or slow down (lessen) the targeted pathologic condition or disorder.
  • Those in need of treatment include those already with the disorder as well as those prone to have the disorder or those in whom the disorder is to be prevented.
  • a subject or mammal is successfully “treated” for a TAT polypeptide-expressing cancer if, after receiving a therapeutic amount of an anti-TAT antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule according to the methods of the present invention, the patient shows observable and/or measurable reduction in or absence of one or more of the following: reduction in the number of cancer cells or absence of the cancer cells; reduction in the tumor size; inhibition (i.e., slow to some extent and preferably stop) of cancer cell infiltration into peripheral organs including the spread of cancer into soft tissue and bone; inhibition (i.e., slow to some extent and preferably stop) of tumor metastasis; inhibition, to some extent, of tumor growth; and/or relief to some extent, one or more of the symptoms associated with the specific cancer; reduced morbidity and mortality, and improvement in quality of life issues.
  • a subject or mammal is successfully “treated” if, after receiving a therapeutic amount of an anti-TAT antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule according to the methods of the present invention, the patient shows observable and/or measurable reduction in the invasiveness or migration of glial tumor cells into surrounding brain tissue.
  • the anti-TAT antibody or TAT binding oligopeptide may prevent growth and/or kill existing cancer cells, it may be cytostatic and/or cytotoxic. Reduction of these signs or symptoms may also be felt by the patient.
  • TTP time to disease progression
  • RR response rate
  • Metastasis can be determined by staging tests and by bone scan and tests for calcium level and other enzymes to determine spread to the bone.
  • CT scans can also be done to look for spread to the pelvis and lymph nodes in the area.
  • Chest X-rays and measurement of liver enzyme levels by known methods are used to look for metastasis to the lungs and liver, respectively.
  • Other routine methods for monitoring the disease include transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) and transrectal needle biopsy (TRNB). With specific regard to tumors of glial origin, one may also employ MRI analyses to successful treatment and/or improvement of the disease.
  • Chronic administration refers to administration of the agent(s) in a continuous mode as opposed to an acute mode, so as to maintain the initial therapeutic effect (activity) for an extended period of time.
  • Intermittent administration is treatment that is not consecutively done without interruption, but rather is cyclic in nature.
  • “Mammal” for purposes of the treatment of, alleviating the symptoms of or diagnosis of a cancer refers to any animal classified as a mammal, including humans, domestic and farm animals, and zoo, sports, or pet animals, such as dogs, cats, cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, goats, rabbits, etc.
  • the mammal is human.
  • Administration “in combination with” one or more further therapeutic agents includes simultaneous (concurrent) and consecutive administration in any order.
  • Carriers as used herein include pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, excipients, or stabilizers which are nontoxic to the cell or mammal being exposed thereto at the dosages and concentrations employed. Often the physiologically acceptable carrier is an aqueous pH buffered solution.
  • physiologically acceptable carriers include buffers such as phosphate, citrate, and other organic acids; antioxidants including ascorbic acid; low molecular weight (less than about 10 residues) polypeptide; proteins, such as serum albumin, gelatin, or immunoglobulins; hydrophilic polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone; amino acids such as glycine, glutamine, asparagine, arginine or lysine; monosaccharides, disaccharides, and other carbohydrates including glucose, mannose, or dextrins; chelating agents such as EDTA; sugar alcohols such as mannitol or sorbitol; salt-forming counterions such as sodium; and/or nonionic surfactants such as TWEEN®, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and PLURONICS®.
  • buffers such as phosphate, citrate, and other organic acids
  • antioxidants including ascorbic acid
  • proteins such as serum albumin,
  • solid phase or “solid support” is meant a non-aqueous matrix to which an antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule of the present invention can adhere or attach.
  • solid phases encompassed herein include those formed partially or entirely of glass (e.g., controlled pore glass), polysaccharides (e.g., agarose), polyacrylamides, polystyrene, polyvinyl alcohol and silicones.
  • the solid phase can comprise the well of an assay plate; in others it is a purification column (e.g., an affinity chromatography column). This term also includes a discontinuous solid phase of discrete particles, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,149.
  • a “liposome” is a small vesicle composed of various types of lipids, phospholipids and/or surfactant which is useful for delivery of a drug (such as a TAT polypeptide, an antibody thereto or a TAT binding oligopeptide) to a mammal.
  • a drug such as a TAT polypeptide, an antibody thereto or a TAT binding oligopeptide
  • the components of the liposome are commonly arranged in a bilayer formation, similar to the lipid arrangement of biological membranes.
  • a “small” molecule or “small” organic molecule is defined herein to have a molecular weight below about 500 Daltons.
  • an “effective amount” of a polypeptide, antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide, TAT binding organic molecule or an agonist or antagonist thereof as disclosed herein is an amount sufficient to carry out a specifically stated purpose.
  • An “effective amount” may be determined empirically and in a routine manner, in relation to the stated purpose.
  • the term “therapeutically effective amount” refers to an amount of an antibody, polypeptide, TAT binding oligopeptide, TAT binding organic molecule or other drug effective to “treat” a disease or disorder in a subject or mammal.
  • the therapeutically effective amount of the drug may reduce the number of cancer cells; reduce the tumor size; inhibit (i.e., slow to some extent and preferably stop) cancer cell infiltration into peripheral organs; inhibit (i.e., slow to some extent and preferably stop) tumor metastasis; inhibit, to some extent, tumor growth; and/or relieve to some extent one or more of the symptoms associated with the cancer. See the definition herein of “treating”.
  • the drug may prevent growth and/or kill existing cancer cells, it may be cytostatic and/or cytotoxic.
  • a “growth inhibitory amount” of an anti-TAT antibody, TAT polypeptide, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule is an amount capable of inhibiting the growth of a cell, especially tumor, e.g., cancer cell, either in vitro or in vivo.
  • a “growth inhibitory amount” of an anti-TAT antibody, TAT polypeptide, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule for purposes of inhibiting neoplastic cell growth may be determined empirically and in a routine manner.
  • a “cytotoxic amount” of an anti-TAT antibody, TAT polypeptide, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule is an amount capable of causing the destruction of a cell, especially tumor, e.g., cancer cell, either in vitro or in vivo.
  • a “cytotoxic amount” of an anti-TAT antibody, TAT polypeptide, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule for purposes of inhibiting neoplastic cell growth may be determined empirically and in a routine manner.
  • antibody is used in the broadest sense and specifically covers, for example, single anti-TAT monoclonal antibodies (including agonist, antagonist, and neutralizing antibodies), anti-TAT antibody compositions with polyepitopic specificity, polyclonal antibodies, single chain anti-TAT antibodies, and fragments of anti-TAT antibodies (see below) as long as they exhibit the desired biological or immunological activity.
  • immunoglobulin Ig is used interchangeable with antibody herein.
  • an “isolated antibody” is one which has been identified and separated and/or recovered from a component of its natural environment. Contaminant components of its natural environment are materials which would interfere with diagnostic or therapeutic uses for the antibody, and may include enzymes, hormones, and other proteinaceous or nonproteinaceous solutes.
  • the antibody will be purified (1) to greater than 95% by weight of antibody as determined by the Lowry method, and most preferably more than 99% by weight, (2) to a degree sufficient to obtain at least 15 residues of N-terminal or internal amino acid sequence by use of a spinning cup sequenator, or (3) to homogeneity by SDS-PAGE under reducing or nonreducing conditions using Coomassie blue or, preferably, silver stain.
  • Isolated antibody includes the antibody in situ within recombinant cells since at least one component of the antibody's natural environment will not be present. Ordinarily, however, isolated antibody will be prepared by at least one purification step.
  • the basic 4-chain antibody unit is a heterotetrameric glycoprotein composed of two identical light (L) chains and two identical heavy (H) chains (an IgM antibody consists of 5 of the basic heterotetramer unit along with an additional polypeptide called J chain, and therefore contain 10 antigen binding sites, while secreted IgA antibodies can polymerize to form polyvalent assemblages comprising 2-5 of the basic 4-chain units along with J chain).
  • the 4-chain unit is generally about 150,000 daltons.
  • Each L chain is linked to a H chain by one covalent disulfide bond, while the two H chains are linked to each other by one or more disulfide bonds depending on the H chain isotype.
  • Each H and L chain also has regularly spaced intrachain disulfide bridges.
  • Each H chain has at the N-terminus, a variable domain (V H ) followed by three constant domains (C H ) for each of the ⁇ and ⁇ chains and four C H domains for ⁇ and ⁇ isotypes.
  • Each L chain has at the N-terminus, a variable domain (V L ) followed by a constant domain (C L ) at its other end.
  • the V L is aligned with the V H and the C L is aligned with the first constant domain of the heavy chain (C H 1). Particular amino acid residues are believed to form an interface between the light chain and heavy chain variable domains.
  • the pairing of a V H and V L together forms a single antigen-binding site.
  • immunoglobulins can be assigned to different classes or isotypes. There are five classes of immunoglobulins: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM, having heavy chains designated ⁇ , ⁇ , ⁇ , ⁇ , and ⁇ , respectively.
  • the ⁇ and ⁇ classes are further divided into subclasses on the basis of relatively minor differences in C H sequence and function, e.g., humans express the following subclasses: IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgA1, and IgA2.
  • variable refers to the fact that certain segments of the variable domains differ extensively in sequence among antibodies.
  • the V domain mediates antigen binding and define specificity of a particular antibody for its particular antigen.
  • variability is not evenly distributed across the 110-amino acid span of the variable domains.
  • the V regions consist of relatively invariant stretches called framework regions (FRs) of 15-30 amino acids separated by shorter regions of extreme variability called “hypervariable regions” that are each 9-12 amino acids long.
  • FRs framework regions
  • hypervariable regions that are each 9-12 amino acids long.
  • the variable domains of native heavy and light chains each comprise four FRs, largely adopting a ⁇ -sheet configuration, connected by three hypervariable regions, which form loops connecting, and in some cases forming part of, the ⁇ -sheet structure.
  • the hypervariable regions in each chain are held together in close proximity by the FRs and, with the hypervariable regions from the other chain, contribute to the formation of the antigen-binding site of antibodies (see Kabat et al., Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, 5th Ed. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. (1991)).
  • the constant domains are not involved directly in binding an antibody to an antigen, but exhibit various effector functions, such as participation of the antibody in antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC).
  • hypervariable region when used herein refers to the amino acid residues of an antibody which are responsible for antigen-binding.
  • the hypervariable region generally comprises amino acid residues from a “complementarity determining region” or “CDR” (e.g. around about residues 24-34 (L1), 50-56 (L2) and 89-97 (L3) in the V L , and around about 1-35 (H1), 50-65 (H2) and 95-102 (H3) in the V H ; Kabat et al., Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, 5th Ed. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. (1991)) and/or those residues from a “hypervariable loop” (e.g.
  • the term “monoclonal antibody” as used herein refers to an antibody obtained from a population of substantially homogeneous antibodies, i.e., the individual antibodies comprising the population are identical except for possible naturally occurring mutations that may be present in minor amounts. Monoclonal antibodies are highly specific, being directed against a single antigenic site. Furthermore, in contrast to polyclonal antibody preparations which include different antibodies directed against different determinants (epitopes), each monoclonal antibody is directed against a single determinant on the antigen. In addition to their specificity, the monoclonal antibodies are advantageous in that they may be synthesized uncontaminated by other antibodies. The modifier “monoclonal” is not to be construed as requiring production of the antibody by any particular method.
  • the monoclonal antibodies useful in the present invention may be prepared by the hybridoma methodology first described by Kohler et al., Nature, 256:495 (1975), or may be made using recombinant DNA methods in bacterial, eukaryotic animal or plant cells (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567).
  • the “monoclonal antibodies” may also be isolated from phage antibody libraries using the techniques described in Clackson et al., Nature, 352:624-628 (1991) and Marks et al., J. Mol. Biol., 222:581-597 (1991), for example.
  • the monoclonal antibodies herein include “chimeric” antibodies in which a portion of the heavy and/or light chain is identical with or homologous to corresponding sequences in antibodies derived from a particular species or belonging to a particular antibody class or subclass, while the remainder of the chain(s) is identical with or homologous to corresponding sequences in antibodies derived from another species or belonging to another antibody class or subclass, as well as fragments of such antibodies, so long as they exhibit the desired biological activity (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567; and Morrison et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 81:6851-6855 (1984)).
  • Chimeric antibodies of interest herein include “primatized” antibodies comprising variable domain antigen-binding sequences derived from a non-human primate (e.g. Old World Monkey, Ape etc), and human constant region sequences.
  • an “intact” antibody is one which comprises an antigen-binding site as well as a C L and at least heavy chain constant domains, C H 1, C H 2 and C H 3.
  • the constant domains may be native sequence constant domains e(g. human native sequence constant domains) or amino acid sequence variant thereof.
  • the intact antibody has one or more effector functions.
  • Antibody fragments comprise a portion of an intact antibody, preferably the antigen binding or variable region of the intact antibody.
  • antibody fragments include Fab, Fab′, F(ab′) 2 and Fv fragments; diabodies; linear antibodies (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,870, Example 2; Zapata et al., Protein Eng. 8(10): 1057-1062 [1995]); single-chain antibody molecules; and multispecific antibodies formed from antibody fragments.
  • Papain digestion of antibodies produces two identical antigen-binding fragments, called “Fab” fragments, and a residual “Fc” fragment, a designation reflecting the ability to crystallize readily.
  • the Fab fragment consists of an entire L chain along with the variable region domain of the H chain (V H ), and the first constant domain of one heavy chain (C H 1).
  • Each Fab fragment is monovalent with respect to antigen binding, i.e., it has a single antigen-binding site.
  • Pepsin treatment of an antibody yields a single large F(ab′) 2 fragment which roughly corresponds to two disulfide linked Fab fragments having divalent antigen-binding activity and is still capable of cross-linking antigen.
  • Fab′ fragments differ from Fab fragments by having additional few residues at the carboxy terminus of the C H 1 domain including one or more cysteines from the antibody hinge region.
  • Fab′-SH is the designation herein for Fab′ in which the cysteine residue(s) of the constant domains bear a free thiol group.
  • F(ab′) 2 antibody fragments originally were produced as pairs of Fab′ fragments which have hinge cysteines between them. Other chemical couplings of antibody fragments are also known.
  • the Fc fragment comprises the carboxy-terminal portions of both H chains held together by disulfides.
  • the effector functions of antibodies are determined by sequences in the Fc region, which region is also the part recognized by Fc receptors (FcR) found on certain types of cells.
  • “Fv” is the minimum antibody fragment which contains a complete antigen-recognition and -binding site. This fragment consists of a dimer of one heavy- and one light-chain variable region domain in tight, non-covalent association. From the folding of these two domains emanate six hypervariable loops (3 loops each from the H and L chain) that contribute the amino acid residues for antigen binding and confer antigen binding specificity to the antibody. However, even a single variable domain (or half of an Fv comprising only three CDRs specific for an antigen) has the ability to recognize and bind antigen, although at a lower affinity than the entire binding site.
  • Single-chain Fv also abbreviated as “sFv” or “scFv” are antibody fragments that comprise the V H and V L antibody domains connected into a single polypeptide chain.
  • the sFv polypeptide further comprises a polypeptide linker between the V H and V L domains which enables the sFv to form the desired structure for antigen binding.
  • diabodies refers to small antibody fragments prepared by constructing sFv fragments (see preceding paragraph) with short linkers (about 5-10 residues) between the V H and V L domains such that inter-chain but not intra-chain pairing of the V domains is achieved, resulting in a bivalent fragment, i.e., fragment having two antigen-binding sites.
  • Bispecific diabodies are heterodimers of two “crossover” sFv fragments in which the V H and V L domains of the two antibodies are present on different polypeptide chains.
  • Diabodies are described more fully in, for example, EP 404,097; WO 93/11161; and Hollinger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90:6444-6448 (1993).
  • “Humanized” forms of non-human (e.g., rodent) antibodies are chimeric antibodies that contain minimal sequence derived from the non-human antibody.
  • humanized antibodies are human immunoglobulins (recipient antibody) in which residues from a hypervariable region of the recipient are replaced by residues from a hypervariable region of a non-human species (donor antibody) such as mouse, rat, rabbit or non-human primate having the desired antibody specificity, affinity, and capability.
  • donor antibody such as mouse, rat, rabbit or non-human primate having the desired antibody specificity, affinity, and capability.
  • framework region (FR) residues of the human immunoglobulin are replaced by corresponding non-human residues.
  • humanized antibodies may comprise residues that are not found in the recipient antibody or in the donor antibody. These modifications are made to further refine antibody performance.
  • the humanized antibody will comprise substantially all of at least one, and typically two, variable domains, in which all or substantially all of the hypervariable loops correspond to those of a non-human immunoglobulin and all or substantially all of the FRs are those of a human immunoglobulin sequence.
  • the humanized antibody optionally also will comprise at least a portion of an immunoglobulin constant region (Fc), typically that of a human immunoglobulin.
  • Fc immunoglobulin constant region
  • a “species-dependent antibody,” e.g., a mammalian anti-human IgE antibody, is an antibody which has a stronger binding affinity for an antigen from a first mammalian species than it has for a homologue of that antigen from a second mammalian species.
  • the species-dependent antibody “bind specifically” to a human antigen (i.e., has a binding affinity (Kd) value of no more than about 1 ⁇ 10 ⁇ 7 M, preferably no more than about 1 ⁇ 10 ⁇ 8 and most preferably no more than about 1 ⁇ 10 ⁇ 9 M) but has a binding affinity for a homologue of the antigen from a second non-human mammalian species which is at least about 50 fold, or at least about 500 fold, or at least about 1000 fold, weaker than its binding affinity for the human antigen.
  • the species-dependent antibody can be of any of the various types of antibodies as defined above, but preferably is a humanized or human antibody.
  • a “TAT binding oligopeptide” is an oligopeptide that binds, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptide as described herein.
  • TAT binding oligopeptides may be chemically synthesized using known oligopeptide synthesis methodology or may be prepared and purified using recombinant technology.
  • TAT binding oligopeptides are usually at least about 5 amino acids in length, alternatively at least about 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, or 100 amino acids in length or more, wherein such oligopeptides that are capable of binding, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptid
  • TAT binding oligopeptides may be identified without undue experimentation using well known techniques.
  • techniques for screening oligopeptide libraries for oligopeptides that are capable of specifically binding to a polypeptide target are well known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,556,762, 5,750,373, 4,708,871, 4,833,092, 5,223,409, 5,403,484, 5,571,689, 5,663,143; PCT Publication Nos. WO 84/03506 and WO84/03564; Geysen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
  • a “TAT binding organic molecule” is an organic molecule other than an oligopeptide or antibody as defined herein that binds, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptide as described herein.
  • TAT binding organic molecules may be identified and chemically synthesized using known methodology (see, e.g., PCT Publication Nos. WO00/00823 and WO00/39585).
  • TAT binding organic molecules are usually less than about 2000 daltons in size, alternatively less than about 1500, 750, 500, 250 or 200 daltons in size, wherein such organic molecules that are capable of binding, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptide as described herein may be identified without undue experimentation using well known techniques.
  • An antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule “which binds” an antigen of interest e.g. a tumor-associated polypeptide antigen target, is one that binds the antigen with sufficient affinity such that the antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule is useful as a diagnostic and/or therapeutic agent in targeting a cell or tissue expressing the antigen, and does not significantly cross-react with other proteins.
  • the extent of binding of the antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule to a “non-target” protein will be less than about 10% of the binding of the antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule to its particular target protein as determined by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis or radioimmunoprecipitation (RIA).
  • FACS fluorescence activated cell sorting
  • RIA radioimmunoprecipitation
  • Specific binding can be measured, for example, by determining binding of a molecule compared to binding of a control molecule, which generally is a molecule of similar structure that does not have binding activity. For example, specific binding can be determined by competition with a control molecule that is similar to the target, for example, an excess of non-labeled target. In this case, specific binding is indicated if the binding of the labeled target to a probe is competitively inhibited by excess unlabeled target.
  • telomere binding or “specifically binds to” or is “specific for” a particular polypeptide or an epitope on a particular polypeptide target as used herein can be exhibited, for example, by a molecule having a Kd for the target of at least about 10′ M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 5 M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 6 M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 7 M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 8 M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 9 M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 10 M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 8 M, alternatively at least about 10 ⁇ 12 M, or greater.
  • the term “specific binding” refers to binding where a molecule binds to a particular polypeptide or epitope on a particular polypeptide without substantially binding to any other polypeptide or polypeptide epitope.
  • An antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule that “inhibits the growth of tumor cells expressing aTAT polypeptide” or a “growth inhibitory” antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule is one which results in measurable growth inhibition of cancer cells expressing or overexpressing the appropriate TAT polypeptide.
  • the TAT polypeptide may be a transmembrane polypeptide expressed on the surface of a cancer cell or may be a polypeptide that is produced and secreted by a cancer cell.
  • Preferred growth inhibitory anti-TAT antibodies, oligopeptides or organic molecules inhibit growth of TAT-expressing tumor cells by greater than 20%, preferably from about 20% to about 50%, and even more preferably, by greater than 50% (e.g., from about 50% to about 100%) as compared to the appropriate control, the control typically being tumor cells not treated with the antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule being tested.
  • growth inhibition can be measured at an antibody concentration of about 0.1 to 30 ⁇ g/ml or about 0.5 nM to 200 nM in cell culture, where the growth inhibition is determined 1-10 days after exposure of the tumor cells to the antibody. Growth inhibition of tumor cells in vivo can be determined in various ways such as is described in the Experimental Examples section below.
  • the antibody is growth inhibitory in vivo if administration of the anti-TAT antibody at about 1 ⁇ g/kg to about 100 mg/kg body weight results in reduction in tumor size or tumor cell proliferation within about 5 days to 3 months from the first administration of the antibody, preferably within about 5 to 30 days.
  • An antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule which “induces apoptosis” is one which induces programmed cell death as determined by binding of annexin V, fragmentation of DNA, cell shrinkage, dilation of endoplasmic reticulum, cell fragmentation, and/or formation of membrane vesicles (called apoptotic bodies).
  • the cell is usually one which overexpresses a TAT polypeptide.
  • the cell is a tumor cell, e.g., a glial- or other brain tissue-derived tumor cell.
  • Various methods are available for evaluating the cellular events associated with apoptosis.
  • phosphatidyl serine (PS) translocation can be measured by annexin binding; DNA fragmentation can be evaluated through DNA laddering; and nuclear/chromatin condensation along with DNA fragmentation can be evaluated by any increase in hypodiploid cells.
  • the antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule which induces apoptosis is one which results in about 2 to 50 fold, preferably about 5 to 50 fold, and most preferably about 10 to 50 fold, induction of annexin binding relative to untreated cell in an annexin binding assay.
  • Antibody effector functions refer to those biological activities attributable to the Fc region (a native sequence Fc region or amino acid sequence variant Fc region) of an antibody, and vary with the antibody isotype. Examples of antibody effector functions include: C1q binding and complement dependent cytotoxicity; Fc receptor binding; antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC); phagocytosis; down regulation of cell surface receptors (e.g., B cell receptor); and B cell activation.
  • ADCC antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity
  • FcRs Fc receptors
  • cytotoxic cells e.g., Natural Killer (NK) cells, neutrophils, and macrophages
  • NK Natural Killer
  • the antibodies “arm” the cytotoxic cells and are absolutely required for such killing.
  • ADCC activity of a molecule of interest is summarized in Table 3 on page 464 of Ravetch and Kinet, Annu. Rev. Immunol. 9:457-92 (1991).
  • an in vitro ADCC assay such as that described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,500,362 or 5,821,337 may be performed.
  • Useful effector cells for such assays include peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and Natural Killer (NK) cells.
  • PBMC peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • NK Natural Killer
  • ADCC activity of the molecule of interest may be assessed in vivo, e.g., in a animal model such as that disclosed in Clynes et al. (USA) 95:652-656 (1998).
  • Fc receptor or “FcR” describes a receptor that binds to the Fc region of an antibody.
  • the preferred FcR is a native sequence human FcR.
  • a preferred FcR is one which binds an IgG antibody (a gamma receptor) and includes receptors of the Fc ⁇ RI, Fc ⁇ RII and Fc ⁇ RIII subclasses, including allelic variants and alternatively spliced forms of these receptors.
  • Fc ⁇ RII receptors include Fc ⁇ RIIA (an “activating receptor”) and Fc ⁇ RIIB (an “inhibiting receptor”), which have similar amino acid sequences that differ primarily in the cytoplasmic domains thereof.
  • Activating receptor Fc ⁇ RIIA contains an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) in its cytoplasmic domain.
  • Inhibiting receptor Fc ⁇ RIIB contains an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif (ITIM) in its cytoplasmic domain.
  • ITAM immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif
  • ITIM immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif
  • FcR FcR
  • FcRn neonatal receptor
  • Human effector cells are leukocytes which express one or more FcRs and perform effector functions. Preferably, the cells express at least Fc ⁇ RIII and perform ADCC effector function. Examples of human leukocytes which mediate ADCC include peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), natural killer (NK) cells, monocytes, cytotoxic T cells and neutrophils; with PBMCs and NK cells being preferred.
  • PBMC peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • NK natural killer cells
  • monocytes cytotoxic T cells and neutrophils
  • the effector cells may be isolated from a native source, e.g., from blood.
  • “Complement dependent cytotoxicity” or “CDC” refers to the lysis of a target cell in the presence of complement. Activation of the classical complement pathway is initiated by the binding of the first component of the complement system (C1q) to antibodies (of the appropriate subclass) which are bound to their cognate antigen.
  • C1q first component of the complement system
  • a CDC assay e.g., as described in Gazzano-Santoro et al. Immunol. Methods 202:163 (1996), may be performed.
  • cancer and “cancerous” refer to or describe the physiological condition in mammals that is typically characterized by unregulated cell growth.
  • examples of cancer include, but are not limited to, carcinoma, lymphoma, blastoma, sarcoma, and leukemia or lymphoid malignancies.
  • cancers include squamous cell cancer (e.g., epithelial squamous cell cancer), lung cancer including small-cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, adenocarcinoma of the lung and squamous carcinoma of the lung, cancer of the peritoneum, hepatocellular cancer, gastric or stomach cancer including gastrointestinal cancer, pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the urinary tract, hepatoma, breast cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial or uterine carcinoma, salivary gland carcinoma, kidney or renal cancer, prostate cancer, vulval cancer, thyroid cancer, hepatic carcinoma, anal carcinoma, penile carcinoma, melanoma, multiple myeloma and B-cell lymphoma, brain, as well as head and neck cancer, and associated metastases.
  • the cancer is one of glial origin.
  • cancer or tumor types that are “of glial origin” include, for example, astrocytoma (including grades I, II, III, and IV which may be designated as pilocytic astrocytoma, diffuse astrocytoma, anaplastic astrocytoma and/or glioblastoma multiforma), subependymal giant cell astrocytoma, pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, oligodendroglioma (including grades II and III which maybe designated as diffuse oligodendroglioma, malignant oligodendroglioma, or anaplastic oligodendroglioma), oligoastrocytoma (sometimes also referred to as mixed glioma), ependymoma,
  • astrocytoma including grades I, II, III, and IV which may be designated as pilocytic astrocytoma, diffuse astrocytoma, anaplastic astrocytoma and/
  • cell proliferative disorder and “proliferative disorder” refer to disorders that are associated with some degree of abnormal cell proliferation.
  • the cell proliferative disorder is cancer.
  • Tumor refers to all neoplastic cell growth and proliferation, whether malignant or benign, and all pre-cancerous and cancerous cells and tissues.
  • the cell is one which expresses a TAT polypeptide, preferably a cell that overexpresses a TAT polypeptide as compared to a normal cell of the same tissue type.
  • the TAT polypeptide may be a transmembrane polypeptide expressed on the surface of a cancer cell or may be a polypeptide that is produced and secreted by a cancer cell.
  • the cell is a cancer cell, e.g., a breast, ovarian, stomach, endometrial, salivary gland, lung, kidney, colon, thyroid, pancreatic or bladder cell.
  • Cell death in vitro may be determined in the absence of complement and immune effector cells to distinguish cell death induced by antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) or complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC).
  • the assay for cell death may be performed using heat inactivated serum (i.e., in the absence of complement) and in the absence of immune effector cells.
  • To determine whether the antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule is able to induce cell death loss of membrane integrity as evaluated by uptake of propidium iodide (PI), trypan blue (see Moore et al. Cytotechnology 17:1-11(1995)) or 7AAD can be assessed relative to untreated cells.
  • Preferred cell death-inducing antibodies, oligopeptides or other organic molecules are those which induce PI uptake in the PI uptake assay in BT474 cells.
  • a “TAT-expressing cell” is a cell which expresses an endogenous or transfected TAT polypeptide either on the cell surface or in a secreted form.
  • a “TAT-expressing cancer” is a cancer comprising cells that have a TAT polypeptide present on the cell surface or that produce and secrete a TAT polypeptide.
  • a “TAT-expressing cancer” optionally produces sufficient levels of TAT polypeptide on the surface of cells thereof, such that an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide ot other organic molecule can bind thereto and have a therapeutic effect with respect to the cancer.
  • a “TAT-expressing cancer” optionally produces and secretes sufficient levels of TAT polypeptide, such that an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide ot other organic molecule antagonist can bind thereto and have a therapeutic effect with respect to the cancer.
  • the antagonist may be an antisense oligonucleotide which reduces, inhibits or prevents production and secretion of the secreted TAT polypeptide by tumor cells.
  • a cancer which “overexpresses” a TAT polypeptide is one which has significantly higher levels of TAT polypeptide at the cell surface thereof, or produces and secretes, compared to a noncancerous cell of the same tissue type.
  • TAT polypeptide overexpression may be caused by gene amplification or by increased transcription or translation.
  • TAT polypeptide overexpression may be determined in a diagnostic or prognostic assay by evaluating increased levels of the TAT protein present on the surface of a cell, or secreted by the cell (e.g., via an immunohistochemistry assay using anti-TAT antibodies prepared against an isolated TAT polypeptide which may be prepared using recombinant DNA technology from an isolated nucleic acid encoding the TAT polypeptide; FACS analysis, etc.).
  • TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid or mRNA may be measured levels of TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid or mRNA in the cell, e.g., via fluorescent in situ hybridization using a nucleic acid based probe corresponding to a TAT-encoding nucleic acid or the complement thereof; (FISH; see WO98/45479 published October, 1998), Southern blotting, Northern blotting, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, such as real time quantitative PCR (RT-PCR).
  • FISH fluorescent in situ hybridization using a nucleic acid based probe corresponding to a TAT-encoding nucleic acid or the complement thereof;
  • PCR polymerase chain reaction
  • RT-PCR real time quantitative PCR
  • various in vivo assays are available to the skilled practitioner. For example, one may expose cells within the body of the patient to an antibody which is optionally labeled with a detectable label, e.g., a radioactive isotope, and binding of the antibody to cells in the patient can be evaluated, e.g., by external scanning for radioactivity or by analyzing a biopsy taken from a patient previously exposed to the antibody.
  • a detectable label e.g., a radioactive isotope
  • immunoadhesin designates antibody-like molecules which combine the binding specificity of a heterologous protein (an “adhesin”) with the effector functions of immunoglobulin constant domains.
  • the immunoadhesins comprise a fusion of an amino acid sequence with the desired binding specificity which is other than the antigen recognition and binding site of an antibody (i.e., is “heterologous”), and an immunoglobulin constant domain sequence.
  • the adhesin part of an immunoadhesin molecule typically is a contiguous amino acid sequence comprising at least the binding site of a receptor or a ligand.
  • the immunoglobulin constant domain sequence in the immunoadhesin may be obtained from any immunoglobulin, such as IgG-1, IgG-2, IgG-3, or IgG-4 subtypes, IgA (including IgA-1 and IgA-2), IgE, IgD or IgM.
  • immunoglobulin such as IgG-1, IgG-2, IgG-3, or IgG-4 subtypes, IgA (including IgA-1 and IgA-2), IgE, IgD or IgM.
  • label when used herein refers to a detectable compound or composition which is conjugated directly or indirectly to the antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule so as to generate a “labeled” antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule.
  • the label may be detectable by itself (e.g. radioisotope labels or fluorescent labels) or, in the case of an enzymatic label, may catalyze chemical alteration of a substrate compound or composition which is detectable.
  • cytotoxic agent refers to a substance that inhibits or prevents the function of cells and/or causes destruction of cells.
  • the term is intended to include radioactive isotopes (e.g., At 211 , I 131 , I 125 , Y 90 , Re 186 , Re 188 , Sm 153 , Bi 212 , P 32 and radioactive isotopes of Lu), chemotherapeutic agents e.g.
  • methotrexate adriamicin, vinca alkaloids (vincristine, vinblastine, etoposide), doxorubicin, melphalan, mitomycin C, chlorambucil, daunorubicin or other intercalating agents, enzymes and fragments thereof such as nucleolytic enzymes, antibiotics, and toxins such as small molecule toxins or enzymatically active toxins of bacterial, fungal, plant or animal origin, including fragments and/or variants thereof, and the various antitumor or anticancer agents disclosed below. Other cytotoxic agents are described below.
  • a tumoricidal agent causes destruction of tumor cells.
  • a “growth inhibitory agent” when used herein refers to a compound or composition which inhibits growth of a cell, especially a TAT-expressing cancer cell, either in vitro or in vivo.
  • the growth inhibitory agent may be one which significantly reduces the percentage of TAT-expressing cells in S phase.
  • growth inhibitory agents include agents that block cell cycle progression (at a place other than S phase), such as agents that induce G1 arrest and M-phase arrest.
  • Classical M-phase blockers include the vincas (vincristine and vinblastine), taxanes, and topoisomerase II inhibitors such as doxorubicin, epirubicin, daunorubicin, etoposide, and bleomycin.
  • DNA alkylating agents such as tamoxifen, prednisone, dacarbazine, mechlorethamine, cisplatin, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, and ara-C.
  • DNA alkylating agents such as tamoxifen, prednisone, dacarbazine, mechlorethamine, cisplatin, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, and ara-C.
  • DNA alkylating agents such as tamoxifen, prednisone, dacarbazine, mechlorethamine, cisplatin, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, and ara-C.
  • Docetaxel (TAXOTERE®, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer), derived from the European yew, is a semisynthetic analogue of paclitaxel (TAXOL®, Bristol-Myers Squibb). Paclitaxel and docetaxel promote the assembly of microtubules from tubulin dimers and stabilize microtubules by preventing depolymerization, which results in the inhibition of mitosis in cells. Growth inhibitory agents also include the family of auristatins.
  • Doxorubicin is an anthracycline antibiotic.
  • the full chemical name of doxorubicin is (8S-cis)-10-[(3-amino-2,3,6-trideoxy- ⁇ -L-lyxo-hexapyranosyl)oxy]-7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-6,8, 1′-trihydroxy-8-(hydroxyacetyl)-1-methoxy-5,12-naphthacenedione.
  • cytokine is a generic term for proteins released by one cell population which act on another cell as intercellular mediators.
  • cytokines are lymphokines, monokines, and traditional polypeptide hormones. Included among the cytokines are growth hormone such as human growth hormone, N-methionyl human growth hormone, and bovine growth hormone; parathyroid hormone; thyroxine; insulin; proinsulin; relaxin; prorelaxin; glycoprotein hormones such as follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH); hepatic growth factor; fibroblast growth factor; prolactin; placental lactogen; tumor necrosis factor- ⁇ and - ⁇ ; mullerian-inhibiting substance; mouse gonadotropin-associated peptide; inhibin; activin; vascular endothelial growth factor; integrin; thrombopoietin (TPO); nerve growth factors such as NGF- ⁇ ; platelet-growth factor;
  • package insert is used to refer to instructions customarily included in commercial packages of therapeutic products, that contain information about the indications, usage, dosage, administration, contraindications and/or warnings concerning the use of such therapeutic products.
  • the present invention provides anti-TAT antibodies which may find use herein as therapeutic and/or diagnostic agents.
  • exemplary antibodies include polyclonal, monoclonal, humanized, bispecific, and heteroconjugate antibodies.
  • Polyclonal antibodies are preferably raised in animals by multiple subcutaneous (sc) or intraperitoneal (ip) injections of the relevant antigen and an adjuvant. It may be useful to conjugate the relevant antigen (especially when synthetic peptides are used) to a protein that is immunogenic in the species to be immunized.
  • the antigen can be conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), serum albumin, bovine thyroglobulin, or soybean trypsin inhibitor, using a bifunctional or derivatizing agent, e.g., maleimidobenzoyl sulfosuccinimide ester (conjugation through cysteine residues), N-hydroxysuccinimide (through lysine residues), glutaraldehyde, succinic anhydride, SOCl 2 , or R 1 N ⁇ C ⁇ NR, where R and R 1 are different alkyl groups.
  • KLH keyhole limpet hemocyanin
  • serum albumin serum albumin
  • bovine thyroglobulin or soybean trypsin inhibitor
  • a bifunctional or derivatizing agent e.g., maleimidobenzoyl sulfosuccinimide ester (conjugation through cysteine residues), N-hydroxysuccinimide (through lys
  • Animals are immunized against the antigen, immunogenic conjugates, or derivatives by combining, e.g., 100 ⁇ g or 5 ⁇ g of the protein or conjugate (for rabbits or mice, respectively) with 3 volumes of Freund's complete adjuvant and injecting the solution intradermally at multiple sites.
  • the animals are boosted with 1 ⁇ 5 to ⁇ fraction (1/10) ⁇ the original amount of peptide or conjugate in Freund's complete adjuvant by subcutaneous injection at multiple sites.
  • the animals are bled and the serum is assayed for antibody titer. Animals are boosted until the titer plateaus.
  • Conjugates also can be made in recombinant cell culture as protein fusions. Also, aggregating agents such as alum are suitably used to enhance the immune response.
  • Monoclonal antibodies may be made using the hybridoma method first described by Kohler et al., Nature, 256:495 (1975), or may be made by recombinant DNA methods (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567).
  • lymphocytes In the hybridoma method, a mouse or other appropriate host animal, such as a hamster, is immunized as described above to elicit lymphocytes that produce or are capable of producing antibodies that will specifically bind to the protein used for immunization.
  • lymphocytes may be immunized in vitro. After immunization, lymphocytes are isolated and then fused with a myeloma cell line using a suitable fusing agent, such as polyethylene glycol, to form a hybridoma cell (Goding, Monoclonal Antibodies: Principles and Practice , pp. 59-103 (Academic Press, 1986)).
  • the hybridoma cells thus prepared are seeded and grown in a suitable culture medium which medium preferably contains one or more substances that inhibit the growth or survival of the unfused, parental myeloma cells (also referred to as fusion partner).
  • a suitable culture medium which medium preferably contains one or more substances that inhibit the growth or survival of the unfused, parental myeloma cells (also referred to as fusion partner).
  • the parental myeloma cells lack the enzyme hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT or HPRT)
  • HGPRT or HPRT the selective culture medium for the hybridomas typically will include hypoxanthine, aminopterin, and thymidine (HAT medium), which substances prevent the growth of HGPRT-deficient cells.
  • Preferred fusion partner myeloma cells are those that fuse efficiently, support stable high-level production of antibody by the selected antibody-producing cells, and are sensitive to a selective medium that selects against the unfused parental cells.
  • Preferred myeloma cell lines are murine myeloma lines, such as those derived from MOPC-21 and MPC-11 mouse tumors available from the Salk Institute Cell Distribution Center, San Diego, Calif. USA, and SP-2 and derivatives e.g., X63-Ag8-653 cells available from the American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va., USA.
  • Human myeloma and mouse-human heteromyeloma cell lines also have been described for the production of human monoclonal antibodies (Kozbor, J. Immunol., 133:3001 (1984); and Brodeur et al., Monoclonal Antibody Production Techniques and Applications , pp. 51 ⁇ 6 3 (Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1987)).
  • Culture medium in which hybridoma cells are growing is assayed for production of monoclonal antibodies directed against the antigen.
  • the binding specificity of monoclonal antibodies produced by hybridoma cells is determined by immunoprecipitation or by an in vitro binding assay, such as radioimmunoassay (RIA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  • RIA radioimmunoassay
  • ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
  • the binding affinity of the monoclonal antibody can, for example, be determined by the Scatchard analysis described in Munson et al., Anal. Biochem., 107:220 (1980).
  • the clones may be subcloned by limiting dilution procedures and grown by standard methods (Goding, Monoclonal Antibodies: Principles and Practice , pp. 59-103 (Academic Press, 1986)). Suitable culture media for this purpose include, for example, D-MEM or RPMI-1640 medium.
  • the hybridoma cells may be grown in vivo as ascites tumors in an animal e.g, by i.p. injection of the cells into mice.
  • the monoclonal antibodies secreted by the subclones are suitably separated from the culture medium, ascites fluid, or serum by conventional antibody purification procedures such as, for example, affinity chromatography (e.g., using protein A or protein G-Sepharose) or ion-exchange chromatography, hydroxylapatite chromatography, gel electrophoresis, dialysis, etc.
  • affinity chromatography e.g., using protein A or protein G-Sepharose
  • ion-exchange chromatography e.g., ion-exchange chromatography
  • hydroxylapatite chromatography hydroxylapatite chromatography
  • gel electrophoresis e.g., dialysis, etc.
  • DNA encoding the monoclonal antibodies is readily isolated and sequenced using conventional procedures (e.g., by using oligonucleotide probes that are capable of binding specifically to genes encoding the heavy and light chains of murine antibodies).
  • the hybridoma cells serve as a preferred source of such DNA.
  • the DNA may be placed into expression vectors, which are then transfected into host cells such as E. coli cells, simian COS cells, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, or myeloma cells that do not otherwise produce antibody protein, to obtain the synthesis of monoclonal antibodies in the recombinant host cells.
  • host cells such as E. coli cells, simian COS cells, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, or myeloma cells that do not otherwise produce antibody protein.
  • Review articles on recombinant expression in bacteria of DNA encoding the antibody include Skerra et al., Curr. Opinion in Immunol., 5:256-262 (19
  • monoclonal antibodies or antibody fragments can be isolated from antibody phage libraries generated using the techniques described in McCafferty et al., Nature, 348:552-554 (1990). Clackson et al., Nature, 352:624-628 (1991) and Marks et al., J. Mol. Biol., 222:581-597 (1991) describe the isolation of murine and human antibodies, respectively, using phage libraries.
  • the DNA that encodes the antibody may be modified to produce chimeric or fusion antibody polypeptides, for example, by substituting human heavy chain and light chain constant domain (CH and CL) sequences for the homologous murine sequences (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567; and Morrison, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 81:6851 (1984)), or by fusing the immunoglobulin coding sequence with all or part of the coding sequence for a non-immunoglobulin polypeptide (heterologous polypeptide).
  • CH and CL human heavy chain and light chain constant domain
  • the non-immunoglobulin polypeptide sequences can substitute for the constant domains of an antibody, or they are substituted for the variable domains of one antigen-combining site of an antibody to create a chimeric bivalent antibody comprising one antigen-combining site having specificity for an antigen and another antigen-combining site having specificity for a different antigen.
  • the anti-TAT antibodies of the invention may further comprise humanized antibodies or human antibodies.
  • Humanized forms of non-human (e.g., murine) antibodies are chimeric immunoglobulins, immunoglobulin chains or fragments thereof (such as Fv, Fab, Fab′, F(ab′) 2 or other antigen-binding subsequences of antibodies) which contain minimal sequence derived from non-human immunoglobulin.
  • Humanized antibodies include human immunoglobulins (recipient antibody) in which residues from a complementary determining region (CDR) of the recipient are replaced by residues from a CDR of a non-human species (donor antibody) such as mouse, rat or rabbit having the desired specificity, affinity and capacity.
  • CDR complementary determining region
  • Fv framework residues of the human immunoglobulin are replaced by corresponding non-human residues.
  • Humanized antibodies may also comprise residues which are found neither in the recipient antibody nor in the imported CDR or framework sequences.
  • the humanized antibody will comprise substantially all of at least one, and typically two, variable domains, in which all or substantially all of the CDR regions correspond to those of a non-human immunoglobulin and all or substantially all of the FR regions are those of a human immunoglobulin consensus sequence.
  • the humanized antibody optimally also will comprise at least a portion of an immunoglobulin constant region (Fc), typically that of a human immunoglobulin [Jones et al., Nature 321:522-525 (1986); Riechmann et al., Nature 332:323-329 (1988); and Presta, Curr. Op. Struct. Biol., 2:593-596 (1992)].
  • Fc immunoglobulin constant region
  • a humanized antibody has one or more amino acid residues introduced into it from a source which is non-human. These non-human amino acid residues are often referred to as “import” residues, which are typically taken from an “import” variable domain. Humanization can be essentially performed following the method of Winter and co-workers [Jones et al., Nature, 321:522-525 (1986); Riechmann et al., Nature, 332:323-327 (1988); Verhoeyen et al., Science, 239: 1534-1536 (1988)], by substituting rodent CDRs or CDR sequences for the corresponding sequences of a human antibody.
  • humanized antibodies are chimeric antibodies (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567), wherein substantially less than an intact human variable domain has been substituted by the corresponding sequence from a non-human species.
  • humanized antibodies are typically human antibodies in which some CDR residues and possibly some FR residues are substituted by residues from analogous sites in rodent antibodies.
  • variable domains both light and heavy
  • HAMA response human anti-mouse antibody
  • the sequence of the variable domain of a rodent antibody is screened against the entire library of known human variable domain sequences.
  • the human V domain sequence which is closest to that of the rodent is identified and the human framework region (FR) within it accepted for the humanized antibody (Sims et al., J. Immunol. 151:2296 (1993); Chothia et al., J. Mol. Biol., 196:901 (1987)).
  • Another method uses a particular framework region derived from the consensus sequence of all human antibodies of a particular subgroup of light or heavy chains.
  • the same framework may be used for several different humanized antibodies (Carter et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:4285 (1992); Presta et al., J. Immunol. 151:2623 (1993)).
  • humanized antibodies are prepared by a process of analysis of the parental sequences and various conceptual humanized products using three-dimensional models of the parental and humanized sequences.
  • Three-dimensional immunoglobulin models are commonly available and are familiar to those skilled in the art.
  • Computer programs are available which illustrate and display probable three-dimensional conformational structures of selected candidate immunoglobulin sequences. Inspection of these displays permits analysis of the likely role of the residues in the functioning of the candidate immunoglobulin sequence, i.e., the analysis of residues that influence the ability of the candidate immunoglobulin to bind its antigen.
  • FR residues can be selected and combined from the recipient and import sequences so that the desired antibody characteristic, such as increased affinity for the target antigen(s), is achieved.
  • the hypervariable region residues are directly and most substantially involved in influencing antigen binding.
  • the humanized antibody may be an antibody fragment, such as a Fab, which is optionally conjugated with one or more cytotoxic agent(s) in order to generate an immunoconjugate.
  • the humanized antibody may be an intact antibody, such as an intact IgG1 antibody.
  • human antibodies can be generated.
  • transgenic animals e.g., mice
  • transgenic animals e.g., mice
  • J H antibody heavy-chain joining region
  • phage display technology can be used to produce human antibodies and antibody fragments in vitro, from immunoglobulin variable (V) domain gene repertoires from unimmunized donors.
  • V domain genes are cloned in-frame into either a major or minor coat protein gene of a filamentous bacteriophage, such as M13 or fd, and displayed as functional antibody fragments on the surface of the phage particle. Because the filamentous particle contains a single-stranded DNA copy of the phage genome, selections based on the functional properties of the antibody also result in selection of the gene encoding the antibody exhibiting those properties.
  • the phage mimics some of the properties of the B-cell.
  • Phage display can be performed in a variety of formats, reviewed in, e.g., Johnson, Kevin S. and Chiswell, David J., Current Opinion in Structural Biology 3:564-571 (1993).
  • V-gene segments can be used for phage display. Clackson et al. Nature, 352:624-628 (1991) isolated a diverse array of anti-oxazolone antibodies from a small random combinatorial library of V genes derived from the spleens of immunized mice.
  • a repertoire of V genes from unimmunized human donors can be constructed and antibodies to a diverse array of antigens (including self-antigens) can be isolated essentially following the techniques described by Marks et al., J. Mol. Biol. 222:581-597 (1991), or Griffith et al., EMBO J. 12:725-734 (1993). See, also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,565,332 and 5,573,905.
  • human antibodies may also be generated by in vitro activated B cells (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,567,610 and 5,229,275).
  • F(ab′) 2 fragments can be isolated directly from recombinant host cell culture.
  • Fab and F(ab′) 2 fragment with increased in vivo half-life comprising a salvage receptor binding epitope residues are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,046.
  • Other techniques for the production of antibody fragments will be apparent to the skilled practitioner.
  • the antibody of choice is a single chain Fv fragment (scFv). See WO 93/16185; U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,894; and U.S. Pat. No.
  • Fv and sFv are the only species with intact combining sites that are devoid of constant regions; thus, they are suitable for reduced nonspecific binding during in vivo use.
  • sFv fusion proteins may be constructed to yield fusion of an effector protein at either the amino or the carboxy terminus of an sFv. See Antibody Engineering , ed. Borrebaeck, supra.
  • the antibody fragment may also be a “linear antibody”, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,870 for example. Such linear antibody fragments may be monospecific or bispecific.
  • Bispecific antibodies are antibodies that have binding specificities for at least two different epitopes. Exemplary bispecific antibodies may bind to two different epitopes of a TAT protein as described herein. Other such antibodies may combine a TAT binding site with a binding site for another protein. Alternatively, an anti-TAT arm may be combined with an arm which binds to a triggering molecule on a leukocyte such as a T-cell receptor molecule (e.g. CD3), or Fc receptors for IgG (Fc ⁇ R), such as Fc ⁇ RI (CD64), Fc ⁇ RII (CD32) and Fc ⁇ RIII (CD16), so as to focus and localize cellular defense mechanisms to the TAT-expressing cell.
  • a triggering molecule such as a T-cell receptor molecule (e.g. CD3), or Fc receptors for IgG (Fc ⁇ R), such as Fc ⁇ RI (CD64), Fc ⁇ RII (CD32) and Fc ⁇ RIII (CD16), so as to focus and
  • Bispecific antibodies may also be used to localize cytotoxic agents to cells which express TAT. These antibodies possess a TAT-binding arm and an arm which binds the cytotoxic agent (e.g., saporin, anti-interferon- ⁇ , vinca alkaloid, ricin A chain, methotrexate or radioactive isotope hapten). Bispecific antibodies can be prepared as full length antibodies or antibody fragments (e.g., F(ab′) 2 bispecific antibodies).
  • cytotoxic agent e.g., saporin, anti-interferon- ⁇ , vinca alkaloid, ricin A chain, methotrexate or radioactive isotope hapten.
  • Bispecific antibodies can be prepared as full length antibodies or antibody fragments (e.g., F(ab′) 2 bispecific antibodies).
  • WO 96/16673 describes a bispecific anti-ErbB2/anti-Fc ⁇ RIII antibody and U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,234 discloses a bispecific anti-ErbB2/anti-Fc ⁇ RI antibody. A bispecific anti-ErbB2/Fc a antibody is shown in WO98/02463. U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,337 teaches a bispecific anti-ErbB2/anti-CD3 antibody.
  • bispecific antibodies are known in the art. Traditional production of full length bispecific antibodies is based on the co-expression of two immunoglobulin heavy chain-light chain pairs, where the two chains have different specificities (Millstein et al., Nature 305:537-539 (1983)). Because of the random assortment of immunoglobulin heavy and light chains, these hybridomas (quadromas) produce a potential mixture of 10 different antibody molecules, of which only one has the correct bispecific structure. Purification of the correct molecule, which is usually done by affinity chromatography steps, is rather cumbersome, and the product yields are low. Similar procedures are disclosed in WO 93/08829, and in Traunecker et al., EMBO J. 10:3655-3659 (1991).
  • antibody variable domains with the desired binding specificities are fused to immunoglobulin constant domain sequences.
  • the fusion is with an Ig heavy chain constant domain, comprising at least part of the hinge, C H 2, and C H 3 regions. It is preferred to have the first heavy-chain constant region (C H 1) containing the site necessary for light chain bonding, present in at least one of the fusions.
  • DNAs encoding the immunoglobulin heavy chain fusions and, if desired, the immunoglobulin light chain are inserted into separate expression vectors, and are co-transfected into a suitable host cell.
  • the bispecific antibodies are composed of a hybrid immunoglobulin heavy chain with a first binding specificity in one arm, and a hybrid immunoglobulin heavy chain-light chain pair (providing a second binding specificity) in the other arm. It was found that this asymmetric structure facilitates the separation of the desired bispecific compound from unwanted immunoglobulin chain combinations, as the presence of an immunoglobulin light chain in only one half of the bispecific molecule provides for a facile way of separation. This approach is disclosed in WO 94/04690. For further details of generating bispecific antibodies see, for example, Suresh et al., Methods in Enzymology 121:210 (1986).
  • the interface between a pair of antibody molecules can be engineered to maximize the percentage of heterodimers which are recovered from recombinant cell culture.
  • the preferred interface comprises at least a part of the C H 3 domain.
  • one or more small amino acid side chains from the interface of the first antibody molecule are replaced with larger side chains (e.g., tyrosine or tryptophan).
  • Compensatory “cavities” of identical or similar size to the large side chain(s) are created on the interface of the second antibody molecule by replacing large amino acid side chains with smaller ones (e.g., alanine or threonine). This provides a mechanism for increasing the yield of the heterodimer over other unwanted end-products such as homodimers.
  • Bispecific antibodies include cross-linked or “heteroconjugate” antibodies.
  • one of the antibodies in the heteroconjugate can be coupled to avidin, the other to biotin.
  • Such antibodies have, for example, been proposed to target immune system cells to unwanted cells (U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,980), and for treatment of HIV infection (WO 91/00360, WO 92/200373, and EP 03089).
  • Heteroconjugate antibodies may be made using any convenient cross-linking methods. Suitable cross-linking agents are well known in the art, and are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,980, along with a number of cross-linking techniques.
  • bispecific antibodies can be prepared using chemical linkage.
  • Brennan et al., Science 229:81 (1985) describe a procedure wherein intact antibodies are proteolytically cleaved to generate F(ab′) 2 fragments. These fragments are reduced in the presence of the dithiol complexing agent, sodium arsenite, to stabilize vicinal dithiols and prevent intermolecular disulfide formation.
  • the Fab′ fragments generated are then converted to thionitrobenzoate (TNB) derivatives.
  • One of the Fab′-TNB derivatives is then reconverted to the Fab′-thiol by reduction with mercaptoethylamine and is mixed with an equimolar amount of the other Fab′-TNB derivative to form the bispecific antibody.
  • the bispecific antibodies produced can be used as agents for the selective immobilization of enzymes.
  • bispecific antibodies have been produced using leucine zippers.
  • the leucine zipper peptides from the Fos and Jun proteins were linked to the Fab′ portions of two different antibodies by gene fusion.
  • the antibody homodimers were reduced at the hinge region to form monomers and then re-oxidized to form the antibody heterodimers. This method can also be utilized for the production of antibody homodimers.
  • the fragments comprise a V H connected to a V L by a linker which is too short to allow pairing between the two domains on the same chain. Accordingly, the V H and V L domains of one fragment are forced to pair with the complementary V L and V H domains of another fragment, thereby forming two antigen-binding sites.
  • Another strategy for making bispecific antibody fragments by the use of single-chain Fv (sFv) dimers has also been reported. See Gruber et al., J. Immunol., 152:5368 (1994).
  • Antibodies with more than two valencies are contemplated.
  • trispecific antibodies can be prepared. Tutt et al., J. Immunol. 147:60 (1991).
  • Heteroconjugate antibodies are also within the scope of the present invention.
  • Heteroconjugate antibodies are composed of two covalently joined antibodies. Such antibodies have, for example, been proposed to target immune system cells to unwanted cells [U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,980], and for treatment of HIV infection [WO 91/00360; WO 92/200373; EP 03089].
  • the antibodies may be prepared in vitro using known methods in synthetic protein chemistry, including those involving crosslinking agents.
  • immunotoxins may be constructed using a disulfide exchange reaction or by forming a thioether bond. Examples of suitable reagents for this purpose include iminothiolate and methyl-4-mercaptobutyrimidate and those disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,980.
  • a multivalent antibody may be internalized (and/or catabolized) faster than a bivalent antibody by a cell expressing an antigen to which the antibodies bind.
  • the antibodies of the present invention can be multivalent antibodies (which are other than of the IgM class) with three or more antigen binding sites (e.g. tetravalent antibodies), which can be readily produced by recombinant expression of nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide chains of the antibody.
  • the multivalent antibody can comprise a dimerization domain and three or more antigen binding sites.
  • the preferred dimerization domain comprises (or consists of) an Fc region or a hinge region. In this scenario, the antibody will comprise an Fc region and three or more antigen binding sites amino-terminal to the Fc region.
  • the preferred multivalent antibody herein comprises (or consists of) three to about eight, but preferably four, antigen binding sites.
  • the multivalent antibody comprises at least one polypeptide chain (and preferably two polypeptide chains), wherein the polypeptide chain(s) comprise two or more variable domains.
  • the polypeptide chain(s) may comprise VD1-(X1) n -VD2-(X2) n —Fc, wherein VD1 is a first variable domain, VD2 is a second variable domain, Fc is one polypeptide chain of an Fc region, X1 and X2 represent an amino acid or polypeptide, and n is 0 or 1.
  • the polypeptide chain(s) may comprise: VH-CH1-flexible linker-VH-CH1-Fc region chain; or VH-CH1-VH-CH1-Fc region chain.
  • the multivalent antibody herein preferably further comprises at least two (and preferably four) light chain variable domain polypeptides.
  • the multivalent antibody herein may, for instance, comprise from about two to about eight light chain variable domain polypeptides.
  • the light chain variable domain polypeptides contemplated here comprise a light chain variable domain and, optionally, further comprise a CL domain.
  • ADCC antigen-dependent cell-mediated cyotoxicity
  • CDC complement dependent cytotoxicity
  • This may be achieved by introducing one or more amino acid substitutions in an Fc region of the antibody.
  • cysteine residue(s) may be introduced in the Fc region, thereby allowing interchain disulfide bond formation in this region.
  • the homodimeric antibody thus generated may have improved internalization capability and/or increased complement-mediated cell killing and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). See Caron et al., J. Exp. Med. 176:1191-1195 (1992) and Shopes, B. J.
  • Homodimeric antibodies with enhanced anti-tumor activity may also be prepared using heterobifunctional cross-linkers as described in Wolff et al., Cancer Research 53:2560-2565 (1993).
  • an antibody can be engineered which has dual Fc regions and may thereby have enhanced complement lysis and ADCC capabilities. See Stevenson et al., Anti - Cancer Drug Design 3:219-230 (1989).
  • a salvage receptor binding epitope into the antibody (especially an antibody fragment) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,277, for example.
  • the term “salvage receptor binding epitope” refers to an epitope of the Fc region of an IgG molecule (e.g., IgG 1 , IgG 2 , IgG 3 , or IgG 4 ) that is responsible for increasing the in vivo serum half-life of the IgG molecule.
  • the invention also pertains to immunoconjugates comprising an antibody conjugated to a cytotoxic agent such as a chemotherapeutic agent, a growth inhibitory agent, a toxin (e.g., an enzymatically active toxin of bacterial, fungal, plant, or animal origin, or fragments thereof), or a radioactive isotope (i.e., a radioconjugate).
  • a cytotoxic agent such as a chemotherapeutic agent, a growth inhibitory agent, a toxin (e.g., an enzymatically active toxin of bacterial, fungal, plant, or animal origin, or fragments thereof), or a radioactive isotope (i.e., a radioconjugate).
  • Enzymatically active toxins and fragments thereof that can be used include diphtheria A chain, nonbinding active fragments of diphtheria toxin, exotoxin A chain (from Pseudomonas aeruginosa ), ricin A chain, abrin A chain, modeccin A chain, alpha-sarcin, Aleurites fordii proteins, dianthin proteins, Phytolaca americana proteins (PAPI, PAPII, and PAP-S), momordica charantia inhibitor, curcin, crotin, sapaonaria officinalis inhibitor, gelonin, mitogellin, restrictocin, phenomycin, enomycin, and the tricothecenes.
  • radionuclides are available for the production of radioconjugated antibodies. Examples include 212 Bi, 131 I, 131 In, 90 Y, and 186 Re. Conjugates of the antibody and cytotoxic agent are made using a variety of bifunctional protein-coupling agents such as N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithiol) propionate (SPDP), iminothiolane (IT), bifunctional derivatives of imidoesters (such as dimethyl adipimidate HCL), active esters (such as disuccinimidyl suberate), aldehydes (such as glutareldehyde), bis-azido compounds (such as bis (p-azidobenzoyl) hexanediamine), bis-diazonium derivatives (such as bis-(p-diazoniumbenzoyl)-ethylenediamine), diisocyanates (such as tolyene 2,6-diisocyanate), and bis
  • a ricin immunotoxin can be prepared as described in Vitetta et al., Science 238: 1098 (1987).
  • Carbon-14-labeled 1-isothiocyanatobenzyl-3-methyldiethylene triaminepentaacetic acid (MX-DTPA) is an exemplary chelating agent for conjugation of radionucleotide to the antibody. See WO94/11026.
  • Conjugates of an antibody and one or more small molecule toxins such as a calicheamicin, maytansinoids, a trichothene, and CC 1065, and the derivatives of these toxins that have toxin activity, are also contemplated herein.
  • an anti-TAT antibody (full length or fragments) of the invention is conjugated to one or more maytansinoid molecules.
  • Maytansinoids are mitototic inhibitors which act by inhibiting tubulin polymerization. Maytansine was first isolated from the east African shrub Maytenus serrata (U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,111). Subsequently, it was discovered that certain microbes also produce maytansinoids, such as maytansinol and C-3 maytansinol esters (U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,042). Synthetic maytansinol and derivatives and analogues thereof are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.
  • maytansine and maytansinoids have been conjugated to antibodies specifically binding to tumor cell antigens.
  • Immunoconjugates containing maytansinoids and their therapeutic use are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,208,020, 5,416,064 and European Patent EP 0 425 235 B 1, the disclosures of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
  • the conjugate was found to be highly cytotoxic towards cultured colon cancer cells, and showed antitumor activity in an in vivo tumor growth assay.
  • Chari et al., Cancer Research 52:127-131 (1992) describe immunoconjugates in which a maytansinoid was conjugated via a disulfide linker to the murine antibody A7 binding to an antigen on human colon cancer cell lines, or to another murine monoclonal antibody TA.1 that binds the HER-2/neu oncogene.
  • the cytotoxicity of the TA.1-maytansonoid conjugate was tested in vitro on the human breast cancer cell line SK-BR-3, which expresses 3 ⁇ 10 5 HER-2 surface antigens per cell.
  • the drug conjugate achieved a degree of cytotoxicity similar to the free maytansonid drug, which could be increased by increasing the number of maytansinoid molecules per antibody molecule.
  • the A7-maytansinoid conjugate showed low systemic cytotoxicity in mice.
  • Anti-TAT antibody-maytansinoid conjugates are prepared by chemically linking an anti-TAT antibody to a maytansinoid molecule without significantly diminishing the biological activity of either the antibody or the maytansinoid molecule.
  • An average of 3-4 maytansinoid molecules conjugated per antibody molecule has shown efficacy in enhancing cytotoxicity of target cells without negatively affecting the function or solubility of the antibody, although even one molecule of toxin/antibody would be expected to enhance cytotoxicity over the use of naked antibody.
  • Maytansinoids are well known in the art and can be synthesized by known techniques or isolated from natural sources. Suitable maytansinoids are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.
  • Preferred maytansinoids are maytansinol and maytansinol analogues modified in the aromatic ring or at other positions of the maytansinol molecule, such as various maytansinol esters.
  • linking groups known in the art for making antibody-maytansinoid conjugates, including, for example, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,020 or EP Patent 0 425 235 B1, and Chari et al., Cancer Research 52:127-131 (1992).
  • the linking groups include disufide groups, thioether groups, acid labile groups, photolabile groups, peptidase labile groups, or esterase labile groups, as disclosed in the above-identified patents, disulfide and thioether groups being preferred.
  • Conjugates of the antibody and maytansinoid may be made using a variety of bifunctional protein coupling agents such as N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP), succinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylate, iminothiolane (IT), bifunctional derivatives of imidoesters (such as dimethyl adipimidate HCL), active esters (such as disuccinimidyl suberate), aldehydes (such as glutareldehyde), bis-azido compounds (such as bis (p-azidobenzoyl) hexanediamine), bis-diazonium derivatives (such as bis-(p-diazoniumbenzoyl)-ethylenediamine), diisocyanates (such as toluene 2,6-diisocyanate), and bis-active fluorine compounds (such as 1,5-
  • Particularly preferred coupling agents include N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP) (Carlsson et al., Biochem. J. 173:723-737 [1978]) and N-succinimidyl-4-(2-pyridylthio)pentanoate (SPP) to provide for a disulfide linkage.
  • SPDP N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate
  • SPP N-succinimidyl-4-(2-pyridylthio)pentanoate
  • the linker may be attached to the maytansinoid molecule at various positions, depending on the type of the link.
  • an ester linkage may be formed by reaction with a hydroxyl group using conventional coupling techniques. The reaction may occur at the C-3 position having a hydroxyl group, the C-14 position modified with hyrdoxymethyl, the C-15 position modified with a hydroxyl group, and the C-20 position having a hydroxyl group.
  • the linkage is formed at the C-3 position of maytansinol or a maytansinol analogue.
  • Another immunoconjugate of interest comprises an anti-TAT antibody conjugated to one or more calicheamicin molecules.
  • the calicheamicin family of antibiotics are capable of producing double-stranded DNA breaks at sub-picomolar concentrations.
  • For the preparation of conjugates of the calicheamicin family see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,712,374, 5,714,586, 5,739,116, 5,767,285, 5,770,701, 5,770,710, 5,773,001, 5,877,296 (all to American Cyanamid Company).
  • Structural analogues of calicheamicin which may be used include, but are not limited to, ⁇ 1 I , ⁇ 2 I , ⁇ 3 I , N-acetyl- ⁇ 1 I , PSAG and ⁇ I 1 (Hinman et al., Cancer Research 53:3336-3342 (1993), Lode et al., Cancer Research 58:2925-2928 (1998) and the aforementioned U.S. patents to American Cyanamid).
  • Another anti-tumor drug that the antibody can be conjugated is QFA which is an antifolate.
  • QFA is an antifolate.
  • Both calicheamicin and QFA have intracellular sites of action and do not readily cross the plasma membrane. Therefore, cellular uptake of these agents through antibody mediated internalization greatly enhances their cytotoxic effects.
  • Enzymatically active toxins and fragments thereof which can be used include diphtheria A chain, nonbinding active fragments of diphtheria toxin, exotoxin A chain (from Pseudomonas aeruginosa ), ricin A chain, abrin A chain, modeccin A chain, alpha-sarcin, Aleurites fordii proteins, dianthin proteins, Phytolaca americana proteins (PAPI, PAPII, and PAP-S), momordica charantia inhibitor, curcin, crotin, sapaonaria officinalis inhibitor, gelonin, mitogellin, restrictocin, phenomycin, enomycin and the tricothecenes. See, for example, WO 93/21232 published Oct. 28, 1993.
  • the present invention further contemplates an immunoconjugate formed between an antibody and a compound with nucleolytic activity (e.g., a ribonuclease or a DNA endonuclease such as a deoxyribonuclease; DNase).
  • a compound with nucleolytic activity e.g., a ribonuclease or a DNA endonuclease such as a deoxyribonuclease; DNase.
  • the antibody may comprise a highly radioactive atom.
  • a variety of radioactive isotopes are available for the production of radioconjugated anti-TAT antibodies. Examples include At 211 , I 131 , I 125 , Y 90 , Re 186 , Re 188 , Sm 153 , Bi 212 , P 32 , Pb 212 and radioactive isotopes of Lu.
  • the conjugate When used for diagnosis, it may comprise a radioactive atom for scintigraphic studies, for example tc 99m or I 123 , or a spin label for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging (also known as magnetic resonance imaging, mri), such as iodine-123 again, iodine-131, indium-111, fluorine-19, carbon-13, nitrogen-15, oxygen-17, gadolinium, manganese or iron.
  • NMR nuclear magnetic resonance
  • the radio- or other labels may be incorporated in the conjugate in known ways.
  • the peptide may be biosynthesized or may be synthesized by chemical amino acid synthesis using suitable amino acid precursors involving, for example, fluorine-19 in place of hydrogen.
  • Labels such as tc 99m or I 123 , Re 186 , Re 188 and In 111 can be attached via a cysteine residue in the peptide.
  • Yttrium-90 can be attached via a lysine residue.
  • the IODOGEN method (Fraker et al (1978) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 80: 49-57 can be used to incorporate iodine-123. “Monoclonal Antibodies in Immunoscintigraphy” (Chatal, CRC Press 1989) describes other methods in detail.
  • Conjugates of the antibody and cytotoxic agent may be made using a variety of bifunctional protein coupling agents such as N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP), succinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylate, iminothiolane (IT), bifunctional derivatives of imidoesters (such as dimethyl adipimidate HCL), active esters (such as disuccinimidyl suberate), aldehydes (such as glutareldehyde), bis-azido compounds (such as bis (p-azidobenzoyl) hexanediamine), bis-diazonium derivatives (such as bis-(p-diazoniumbenzoyl)-ethylenediamine), diisocyanates (such as tolyene 2,6-diisocyanate), and bis-active fluorine compounds (such as 1,5-diflu
  • a ricin immunotoxin can be prepared as described in Vitetta et al., Science 238:1098 (1987).
  • Carbon-14-labeled 1-isothiocyanatobenzyl-3-methyldiethylene triaminepentaacetic acid (MX-DTPA) is an exemplary chelating agent for conjugation of radionucleotide to the antibody. See WO94/11026.
  • the linker may be a “cleavable linker” facilitating release of the cytotoxic drug in the cell.
  • an acid-labile linker for example, an acid-labile linker, peptidase-sensitive linker, photolabile linker, dimethyl linker or disulfide-containing linker (Chari et al., Cancer Research 52:127-131 (1992); U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,020) may be used.
  • a fusion protein comprising the anti-TAT antibody and cytotoxic agent may be made, e.g., by recombinant techniques or peptide synthesis.
  • the length of DNA may comprise respective regions encoding the two portions of the conjugate either adjacent one another or separated by a region encoding a linker peptide which does not destroy the desired properties of the conjugate.
  • the antibody may be conjugated to a “receptor” (such streptavidin) for utilization in tumor pre-targeting wherein the antibody-receptor conjugate is administered to the patient, followed by removal of unbound conjugate from the circulation using a clearing agent and then administration of a “ligand” (e.g., avidin) which is conjugated to a cytotoxic agent (e.g., a radionucleotide).
  • a receptor such streptavidin
  • a ligand e.g., avidin
  • cytotoxic agent e.g., a radionucleotide
  • the anti-TAT antibodies disclosed herein may also be formulated as immunoliposomes.
  • a “liposome” is a small vesicle composed of various types of lipids, phospholipids and/or surfactant which is useful for delivery of a drug to a mammal. The components of the liposome are commonly arranged in a bilayer formation, similar to the lipid arrangement of biological membranes.
  • Liposomes containing the antibody are prepared by methods known in the art, such as described in Epstein et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:3688 (1985); Hwang et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 77:4030 (1980); U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,045 and 4,544,545; and WO97/38731 published Oct. 23, 1997. Liposomes with enhanced circulation time are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,556.
  • Particularly useful liposomes can be generated by the reverse phase evaporation method with a lipid composition comprising phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and PEG-derivatized phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-PE). Liposomes are extruded through filters of defined pore size to yield liposomes with the desired diameter.
  • Fab′ fragments of the antibody of the present invention can be conjugated to the liposomes as described in Martin et al., J. Biol. Chem. 257:286-288 (1982) via a disulfide interchange reaction. A chemotherapeutic agent is optionally contained within the liposome. See Gabizon et al., J. National Cancer Inst. 81(19):1484 (1989).
  • TAT binding oligopeptides of the present invention are oligopeptides that bind, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptide as described herein.
  • TAT binding oligopeptides may be chemically synthesized using known oligopeptide synthesis methodology or may be prepared and purified using recombinant technology.
  • TAT binding oligopeptides are usually at least about 5 amino acids in length, alternatively at least about 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, or 100 amino acids in length or more, wherein such oligopeptides that are capable of binding, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptid
  • TAT binding oligopeptides may be identified without undue experimentation using well known techniques.
  • techniques for screening oligopeptide libraries for oligopeptides that are capable of specifically binding to a polypeptide target are well known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,556,762, 5,750,373, 4,708,871, 4,833,092, 5,223,409, 5,403,484, 5,571,689, 5,663,143; PCT Publication Nos. WO 84/03506 and WO84/03564; Geysen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
  • bacteriophage (phage) display is one well known technique which allows one to screen large oligopeptide libraries to identify member(s) of those libraries which are capable of specifically binding to a polypeptide target.
  • Phage display is a technique by which variant polypeptides are displayed as fusion proteins to the coat protein on the surface of bacteriophage particles (Scott, J. K. and Smith, G. P. (1990) Science 249: 386).
  • the utility of phage display lies in the fact that large libraries of selectively randomized protein variants (or randomly cloned cDNAs) can be rapidly and efficiently sorted for those sequences that bind to a target molecule with high affinity. Display of peptide (Cwirla, S. E. et al.
  • Sorting phage libraries of random mutants requires a strategy for constructing and propagating a large number of variants, a procedure for affinity purification using the target receptor, and a means of evaluating the results of binding enrichments.
  • phage display libraries have been used to analyze and control bimolecular interactions (WO 98/20169; WO 98/20159) and properties of constrained helical peptides (WO 98/20036).
  • WO 97/35196 describes a method of isolating an affinity ligand in which a phage display library is contacted with one solution in which the ligand will bind to a target molecule and a second solution in which the affinity ligand will not bind to the target molecule, to selectively isolate binding ligands.
  • WO 97/46251 describes a method of biopanning a random phage display library with an affinity purified antibody and then isolating binding phage, followed by a micropanning process using microplate wells to isolate high affinity binding phage.
  • Staphlylococcus aureus protein A as an affinity tag has also been reported (L1 et al. (1998) Mol Biotech., 9:187).
  • WO 97/47314 describes the use of substrate subtraction libraries to distinguish enzyme specificities using a combinatorial library which may be a phage display library.
  • a method for selecting enzymes suitable for use in detergents using phage display is described in WO 97/09446. Additional methods of selecting specific binding proteins are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,498,538, 5,432,018, and WO 98/15833.
  • TAT binding organic molecules are organic molecules other than oligopeptides or antibodies as defined herein that bind, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptide as described herein.
  • TAT binding organic molecules may be identified and chemically synthesized using known methodology (see, e.g., PCT Publication Nos. WO00/00823 and WO00/39585).
  • TAT binding organic molecules are usually less than about 2000 daltons in size, alternatively less than about 1500, 750, 500, 250 or 200 daltons in size, wherein such organic molecules that are capable of binding, preferably specifically, to a TAT polypeptide as described herein may be identified without undue experimentation using well known techniques.
  • TAT binding organic molecules may be, for example, aldehydes, ketones, oximes, hydrazones, semicarbazones, carbazides, primary amines, secondary amines, tertiary amines, N-substituted hydrazines, hydrazides, alcohols, ethers, thiols, thioethers, disulfides, carboxylic acids, esters, amides, ureas, carbamates, carbonates, ketals, thioketals, acetals, thioacetals, aryl halides, aryl sulfonates, alkyl halides, alkyl sulfonates, aromatic compounds, heterocyclic compounds, anilines, alkenes, alkynes, diols, amino alcohols, oxazolidines, oxazolines, thiazolidines, thiazolines, enamines, sulfonamides, ep
  • an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule of the invention may be assessed by methods known in the art, e.g., using cells which express a TAT polypeptide either endogenously or following transfection with the TAT gene.
  • appropriate tumor cell lines and TAT-transfected cells may treated with an anti-TAT monoclonal antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule of the invention at various concentrations for a few days (e.g., 2-7) days and stained with crystal violet or MTT or analyzed by some other colorimetric assay.
  • Another method of measuring proliferation would be by comparing 3 H-thymidine uptake by the cells treated in the presence or absence an anti-TAT antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule of the invention. After treatment, the cells are harvested and the amount of radioactivity incorporated into the DNA quantitated in a scintillation counter. Appropriate positive controls include treatment of a selected cell line with a growth inhibitory antibody known to inhibit growth of that cell line. Growth inhibition of tumor cell in vivo can be determined in various ways known in the art. Preferably, the tumor cell is one that overexpresses a TAT polypeptide.
  • the anti-TAT antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule will inhibit cell proliferation of a TAT-expressing tumor cell in vitro or in vivo by about 25-100% compared to the untreated tumor cell, more preferably, by about 30-100%, and even more preferably by about 50-100% or 70-100%, in one embodiment, at an antibody concentration of about 0.5 to 30 ⁇ g/ml.
  • Growth inhibition can be measured at an antibody concentration of about 0.5 to 10 g/ml or about 0.5 nM to 200 nM in cell culture, where the growth inhibition is determined 1-10 days after exposure of the tumor cells to the antibody.
  • the antibody is growth inhibitory in vivo if administration of the anti-TAT antibody at about 1 ⁇ g/kg to about 100 mg/kg body weight results in reduction in tumor size or reduction of tumor cell proliferation within about 5 days to 3 months from the first administration of the antibody, preferably within about 5 to 30 days.
  • TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule which induces cell death, loss of membrane integrity as indicated by, e.g., propidium iodide (PI), trypan blue or 7AAD uptake may be assessed relative to control.
  • a PI uptake assay can be performed in the absence of complement and immune effector cells.
  • TAT polypeptide-expressing tumor cells are incubated with medium alone or medium containing the appropriate anti-TAT antibody (e.g, at about 10 ⁇ g/ml), TAT binding oligopeptide or TAT binding organic molecule. The cells are incubated for a 3 day time period.
  • Those anti-TAT antibodies, TAT binding oligopeptides or TAT binding organic molecules that induce statistically significant levels of cell death as determined by PI uptake may be selected as cell death-inducing anti-TAT antibodies, TAT binding oligopeptides or TAT binding organic molecules.
  • a routine cross-blocking assay such as that described in Antibodies. A Laboratory Manual , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Ed Harlow and David Lane (1988), can be performed. This assay can be used to determine if a test antibody, oligopeptide or other organic molecule binds the same site or epitope as a known anti-TAT antibody.
  • epitope mapping can be performed by methods known in the art.
  • the antibody sequence can be mutagenized such as by alanine scanning, to identify contact residues. The mutant antibody is initailly tested for binding with polyclonal antibody to ensure proper folding.
  • peptides corresponding to different regions of a TAT polypeptide can be used in competition assays with the test antibodies or with a test antibody and an antibody with a characterized or known epitope.
  • ADPT Antibody Dependent Enzyme Mediated Prodrug Therapy
  • the antibodies of the present invention may also be used in ADEPT by conjugating the antibody to a prodrug-activating enzyme which converts a prodrug (e.g., a peptidyl chemotherapeutic agent, see WO81/01145) to an active anti-cancer drug.
  • a prodrug e.g., a peptidyl chemotherapeutic agent, see WO81/01145
  • WO 88/07378 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,278 See, for example, WO 88/07378 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,278.
  • the enzyme component of the immunoconjugate useful for ADEPT includes any enzyme capable of acting on a prodrug in such a way so as to covert it into its more active, cytotoxic form.
  • Enzymes that are useful in the method of this invention include, but are not limited to, alkaline phosphatase useful for converting phosphate-containing prodrugs into free drugs; arylsulfatase useful for converting sulfate-containing prodrugs into free drugs; cytosine deaminase useful for converting non-toxic 5-fluorocytosine into the anti-cancer drug, 5-fluorouracil; proteases, such as serratia protease, thermolysin, subtilisin, carboxypeptidases and cathepsins (such as cathepsins B and L), that are useful for converting peptide-containing prodrugs into free drugs; D-alanylcarboxypeptidases, useful for converting prodrugs that contain D-amino acid substituents; carbohydrate-cleaving enzymes such as ⁇ -galactosidase and neuramimidase useful for converting glycosylated prodrugs into free drugs; ⁇ -lac
  • antibodies with enzymatic activity can be used to convert the prodrugs of the invention into free active drugs (see, e.g., Massey, Nature 328:457-458 (1987)).
  • Antibody-abzyme conjugates can be prepared as described herein for delivery of the abzyme to a tumor cell population.
  • the enzymes of this invention can be covalently bound to the anti-TAT antibodies by techniques well known in the art such as the use of the heterobifunctional crosslinking reagents discussed above.
  • fusion proteins comprising at least the antigen binding region of an antibody of the invention linked to at least a functionally active portion of an enzyme of the invention can be constructed using recombinant DNA techniques well known in the art (see, e.g., Neuberger et al., Nature 312:604-608 (1984).
  • the present invention also provides newly identified and isolated nucleotide sequences encoding polypeptides referred to in the present application as TAT polypeptides.
  • TAT polypeptides referred to in the present application as TAT polypeptides.
  • cDNAs partial and full-length encoding various TAT polypeptides have been identified and isolated, as disclosed in further detail in the Examples below.
  • anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide variants can be prepared.
  • Anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide variants can be prepared by introducing appropriate nucleotide changes into the encoding DNA, and/or by synthesis of the desired antibody or polypeptide.
  • amino acid changes may alter post-translational processes of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide, such as changing the number or position of glycosylation sites or altering the membrane anchoring characteristics.
  • Variations in the anti-TAT antibodies and TAT polypeptides described herein can be made, for example, using any of the techniques and guidelines for conservative and non-conservative mutations set forth, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,934.
  • Variations may be a substitution, deletion or insertion of one or more codons encoding the antibody or polypeptide that results in a change in the amino acid sequence as compared with the native sequence antibody or polypeptide.
  • the variation is by substitution of at least one amino acid with any other amino acid in one or more of the domains of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide.
  • Guidance in determining which amino acid residue may be inserted, substituted or deleted without adversely affecting the desired activity may be found by comparing the sequence of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide with that of homologous known protein molecules and minimizing the number of amino acid sequence changes made in regions of high homology.
  • Amino acid substitutions can be the result of replacing one amino acid with another amino acid having similar structural and/or chemical properties, such as the replacement of a leucine with a serine, i.e., conservative amino acid replacements.
  • Insertions or deletions may optionally be in the range of about 1 to 5 amino acids. The variation allowed may be determined by systematically making insertions, deletions or substitutions of amino acids in the sequence and testing the resulting variants for activity exhibited by the full-length or mature native sequence.
  • Anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide fragments are provided herein. Such fragments may be truncated at the N-terminus or C-terminus, or may lack internal residues, for example, when compared with a full length native antibody or protein. Certain fragments lack amino acid residues that are not essential for a desired biological activity of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide.
  • Anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide fragments may be prepared by any of a number of conventional techniques. Desired peptide fragments may be chemically synthesized.
  • An alternative approach involves generating antibody or polypeptide fragments by enzymatic digestion, e.g., by treating the protein with an enzyme known to cleave proteins at sites defined by particular amino acid residues, or by digesting the DNA with suitable restriction enzymes and isolating the desired fragment.
  • Yet another suitable technique involves isolating and amplifying a DNA fragment encoding a desired antibody or polypeptide fragment, by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Oligonucleotides that define the desired termini of the DNA fragment are employed at the 5′ and 3′ primers in the PCR.
  • anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide fragments share at least one biological and/or immunological activity with the native anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide disclosed herein.
  • conservative substitutions of interest are shown in Table 6 under the heading of preferred substitutions. If such substitutions result in a change in biological activity, then more substantial changes, denominated exemplary substitutions in Table 6, or as further described below in reference to amino acid classes, are introduced and the products screened.
  • Substantial modifications in function or immunological identity of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide are accomplished by selecting substitutions that differ significantly in their effect on maintaining (a) the structure of the polypeptide backbone in the area of the substitution, for example, as a sheet or helical conformation, (b) the charge or hydrophobicity of the molecule at the target site, or (c) the bulk of the side chain.
  • Naturally occurring residues are divided into groups based on common side-chain properties:
  • Non-conservative substitutions will entail exchanging a member of one of these classes for another class. Such substituted residues also may be introduced into the conservative substitution sites or, more preferably, into the remaining (non-conserved) sites.
  • the variations can be made using methods known in the art such as oligonucleotide-mediated (site-directed) mutagenesis, alanine scanning, and PCR mutagenesis.
  • Site-directed mutagenesis [Carter et al., Nucl. Acids Res., 13:4331 (1986); Zoller et al., Nucl. Acids Res., 10:6487 (1987)]
  • cassette mutagenesis [Wells et al., Gene, 34:315 (1985)]
  • restriction selection mutagenesis [Wells et al., Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London SerA, 317:415 (1986)] or other known techniques can be performed on the cloned DNA to produce the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide variant DNA.
  • Scanning amino acid analysis can also be employed to identify one or more amino acids along a contiguous sequence.
  • preferred scanning amino acids are relatively small, neutral amino acids.
  • amino acids include alanine, glycine, serine, and cysteine.
  • Alanine is typically a preferred scanning amino acid among this group because it eliminates the side-chain beyond the beta-carbon and is less likely to alter the main-chain conformation of the variant [Cunningham and Wells, Science, 244:1081-1085 (1989)].
  • Alanine is also typically preferred because it is the most common amino acid. Further, it is frequently found in both buried and exposed positions [Creighton, The Proteins , (W. H. Freeman & Co., N.Y.); Chothia, J. Mol. Biol., 150:1 (1976)]. If alanine substitution does not yield adequate amounts of variant, an isoteric amino acid can be used.
  • cysteine residues not involved in maintaining the proper conformation of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide also may be substituted, generally with serine, to improve the oxidative stability of the molecule and prevent aberrant crosslinking.
  • cysteine bond(s) may be added to the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide to improve its stability (particularly where the antibody is an antibody fragment such as an Fv fragment).
  • a particularly preferred type of substitutional variant involves substituting one or more hypervariable region residues of a parent antibody (e.g., a humanized or human antibody).
  • a parent antibody e.g., a humanized or human antibody
  • the resulting variant(s) selected for further development will have improved biological properties relative to the parent antibody from which they are generated.
  • a convenient way for generating such substitutional variants involves affinity maturation using phage display. Briefly, several hypervariable region sites (e.g., 6-7 sites) are mutated to generate all possible amino substitutions at each site.
  • the antibody variants thus generated are displayed in a monovalent fashion from filamentous phage particles as fusions to the gene III product of M13 packaged within each particle.
  • the phage-displayed variants are then screened for their biological activity (e.g., binding affinity) as herein disclosed.
  • alanine scanning mutagenesis can be performed to identify hypervariable region residues contributing significantly to antigen binding.
  • the panel of variants is subjected to screening as described herein and antibodies with superior properties in one or more relevant assays may be selected for further development.
  • Nucleic acid molecules encoding amino acid sequence variants of the anti-TAT antibody are prepared by a variety of methods known in the art. These methods include, but are not limited to, isolation from a natural source (in the case of naturally occurring amino acid sequence variants) or preparation by oligonucleotide-mediated (or site-directed) mutagenesis, PCR mutagenesis, and cassette mutagenesis of an earlier prepared variant or a non-variant version of the anti-TAT antibody.
  • Covalent modifications of anti-TAT antibodies and TAT polypeptides are included within the scope of this invention.
  • One type of covalent modification includes reacting targeted amino acid residues of an anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide with an organic derivatizing agent that is capable of reacting with selected side chains or the N- or C-terminal residues of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide.
  • Derivatization with bifunctional agents is useful, for instance, for crosslinking anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide to a water-insoluble support matrix or surface for use in the method for purifying anti-TAT antibodies, and vice-versa.
  • crosslinking agents include, e.g., 1, 1-bis(diazoacetyl)-2-phenylethane, glutaraldehyde, N-hydroxysuccinimide esters, for example, esters with 4-azidosalicylic acid, homobifunctional imidoesters, including disuccinimidyl esters such as 3,3′-dithiobis(succinimidylpropionate), bifunctional maleimides such as bis-N-maleimido-1,8-octane and agents such as methyl-3-[(p-azidophenyl)dithio]propioimidate.
  • 1, 1-bis(diazoacetyl)-2-phenylethane glutaraldehyde
  • N-hydroxysuccinimide esters for example, esters with 4-azidosalicylic acid
  • homobifunctional imidoesters including disuccinimidyl esters such as 3,3′-dithiobis(succin
  • Another type of covalent modification of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide included within the scope of this invention comprises altering the native glycosylation pattern of the antibody or polypeptide.
  • “Altering the native glycosylation pattern” is intended for purposes herein to mean deleting one or more carbohydrate moieties found in native sequence anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide (either by removing the underlying glycosylation site or by deleting the glycosylation by chemical and/or enzymatic means), and/or adding one or more glycosylation sites that are not present in the native sequence anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide.
  • the phrase includes qualitative changes in the glycosylation of the native proteins, involving a change in the nature and proportions of the various carbohydrate moieties present.
  • N-linked refers to the attachment of the carbohydrate moiety to the side chain of an asparagine residue.
  • the tripeptide sequences asparagine-X-serine and asparagine-X-threonine, where X is any amino acid except proline, are the recognition sequences for enzymatic attachment of the carbohydrate moiety to the asparagine side chain.
  • O-linked glycosylation refers to the attachment of one of the sugars N-aceylgalactosamine, galactose, or xylose to a hydroxyamino acid, most commonly serine or threonine, although 5-hydroxyproline or 5-hydroxylysine may also be used.
  • Addition of glycosylation sites to the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide is conveniently accomplished by altering the amino acid sequence such that it contains one or more of the above-described tripeptide sequences (for N-linked glycosylation sites).
  • the alteration may also be made by the addition of, or substitution by, one or more serine or threonine residues to the sequence of the original anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide (for O-linked glycosylation sites).
  • the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide amino acid sequence may optionally be altered through changes at the DNA level, particularly by mutating the DNA encoding the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide at preselected bases such that codons are generated that will translate into the desired amino acids.
  • Another means of increasing the number of carbohydrate moieties on the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide is by chemical or enzymatic coupling of glycosides to the polypeptide. Such methods are described in the art, e.g., in WO 87/05330 published 11 Sep. 1987, and in Aplin and Wriston, CRC Crit. Rev. Biochem ., pp. 259-306 (1981).
  • Removal of carbohydrate moieties present on the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide may be accomplished chemically or enzymatically or by mutational substitution of codons encoding for amino acid residues that serve as targets for glycosylation.
  • Chemical deglycosylation techniques are known in the art and described, for instance, by Hakimuddin, et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 259:52 (1987) and by Edge et al., Anal. Biochem., 118:131 (1981).
  • Enzymatic cleavage of carbohydrate moieties on polypeptides can be achieved by the use of a variety of endo- and exo-glycosidases as described by Thotakura et al., Meth. Enzymol., 138:350 (1987).
  • Another type of covalent modification of anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide comprises linking the antibody or polypeptide to one of a variety of nonproteinaceous polymers, e.g., polyethylene glycol (PEG), polypropylene glycol, or polyoxyalkylenes, in the manner set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,640,835; 4,496,689; 4,301,144; 4,670,417; 4,791,192 or 4,179,337.
  • PEG polyethylene glycol
  • polypropylene glycol polypropylene glycol
  • polyoxyalkylenes polyoxyalkylenes
  • the antibody or polypeptide also may be entrapped in microcapsules prepared, for example, by coacervation techniques or by interfacial polymerization (for example, hydroxymethylcellulose or gelatin-microcapsules and poly-(methylmethacylate) microcapsules, respectively), in colloidal drug delivery systems (for example, liposomes, albumin microspheres, microemulsions, nano-particles and nanocapsules), or in macroemulsions.
  • colloidal drug delivery systems for example, liposomes, albumin microspheres, microemulsions, nano-particles and nanocapsules
  • the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide of the present invention may also be modified in a way to form chimeric molecules comprising an anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide fused to another, heterologous polypeptide or amino acid sequence.
  • such a chimeric molecule comprises a fusion of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide with a tag polypeptide which provides an epitope to which an anti-tag antibody can selectively bind.
  • the epitope tag is generally placed at the amino- or carboxyl-terminus of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide. The presence of such epitope-tagged forms of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide can be detected using an antibody against the tag polypeptide. Also, provision of the epitope tag enables the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide to be readily purified by affinity purification using an anti-tag antibody or another type of affinity matrix that binds to the epitope tag.
  • tag polypeptides and their respective antibodies are well known in the art. Examples include poly-histidine (poly-his) or poly-histidine-glycine (poly-his-gly) tags; the flu HA tag polypeptide and its antibody 12CA5 [Field et al., Mol. Cell.
  • tag polypeptides include the Flag-peptide [Hopp et al., BioTechnology, 6:1204-1210 (1988)]; the KT3 epitope peptide [Martin et al., Science, 255:192-194 (1992)]; an ⁇ -tubulin epitope peptide [Skinner et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266:15163-15166 (1991)]; and the T7 gene 10 protein peptide tag [Lutz-Freyermuth et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87:6393-6397 (1990)].
  • the chimeric molecule may comprise a fusion of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide with an immunoglobulin or a particular region of an immunoglobulin.
  • an immunoglobulin also referred to as an “immunoadhesin”
  • a fusion could be to the Fc region of an IgG molecule.
  • the Ig fusions preferably include the substitution of a soluble (transmembrane domain deleted or inactivated) form of an anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide in place of at least one variable region within an Ig molecule.
  • the immunoglobulin fusion includes the hinge, CH 2 and CH 3 , or the hinge, CH 1 , CH 2 and CH 3 regions of an IgG1 molecule.
  • immunoglobulin fusions see also U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,130 issued Jun. 27, 1995.
  • anti-TAT antibodies and TAT polypeptides are produced by culturing cells transformed or transfected with a vector containing anti-TAT antibody- and TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid. It is, of course, contemplated that alternative methods, which are well known in the art, may be employed to prepare anti-TAT antibodies and TAT polypeptides. For instance, the appropriate amino acid sequence, or portions thereof, may be produced by direct peptide synthesis using solid-phase techniques [see, e.g., Stewart et al., Solid - Phase Peptide Synthesis , W. H. Freeman Co., San Francisco, Calif. (1969); Merrifield, J. Am. Chem.
  • In vitro protein synthesis may be performed using manual techniques or by automation. Automated synthesis may be accomplished, for instance, using an Applied Biosystems Peptide Synthesizer (Foster City, Calif.) using manufacturer's instructions. Various portions of the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide may be chemically synthesized separately and combined using chemical or enzymatic methods to produce the desired anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide.
  • DNA encoding anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide may be obtained from a cDNA library prepared from tissue believed to possess the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide mRNA and to express it at a detectable level. Accordingly, human anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide DNA can be conveniently obtained from a cDNA library prepared from human tissue.
  • the anti-TAT antibody- or TAT polypeptide-encoding gene may also be obtained from a genomic library or by known synthetic procedures (e.g., automated nucleic acid synthesis).
  • Probes such as oligonucleotides of at least about 20-80 bases
  • Screening the cDNA or genomic library with the selected probe may be conducted using standard procedures, such as described in Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989).
  • An alternative means to isolate the gene encoding anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide is to use PCR methodology [Sambrook et al., supra; Dieffenbach et al., PCR Primer: A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1995)].
  • the oligonucleotide sequences selected as probes should be of sufficient length and sufficiently unambiguous that false positives are minimized.
  • the oligonucleotide is preferably labeled such that it can be detected upon hybridization to DNA in the library being screened. Methods of labeling are well known in the art, and include the use of radiolabels like 32 P-labeled ATP, biotinylation or enzyme labeling. Hybridization conditions, including moderate stringency and high stringency, are provided in Sambrook et al., supra.
  • Sequences identified in such library screening methods can be compared and aligned to other known sequences deposited and available in public databases such as GenBank or other private sequence databases. Sequence identity (at either the amino acid or nucleotide level) within defined regions of the molecule or across the full-length sequence can be determined using methods known in the art and as described herein.
  • Nucleic acid having protein coding sequence may be obtained by screening selected cDNA or genomic libraries using the deduced amino acid sequence disclosed herein for the first time, and, if necessary, using conventional primer extension procedures as described in Sambrook et al., supra, to detect precursors and processing intermediates of mRNA that may not have been reverse-transcribed into cDNA.
  • Host cells are transfected or transformed with expression or cloning vectors described herein for anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide production and cultured in conventional nutrient media modified as appropriate for inducing promoters, selecting transformants, or amplifying the genes encoding the desired sequences.
  • the culture conditions such as media, temperature, pH and the like, can be selected by the skilled artisan without undue experimentation. In general, principles, protocols, and practical techniques for maximizing the productivity of cell cultures can be found in Mammalian Cell Biotechnology: a Practical Approach M. Butler, ed. (IRL Press, 1991) and Sambrook et al., supra.
  • Methods of eukaryotic cell transfection and prokaryotic cell transformation are known to the ordinarily skilled artisan, for example, CaCl 2 , CaPO 4 , liposome-mediated and electroporation. Depending on the host cell used, transformation is performed using standard techniques appropriate to such cells.
  • the calcium treatment employing calcium chloride, as described in Sambrook et al., supra, or electroporation is generally used for prokaryotes.
  • Infection with Agrobacterium tumefaciens is used for transformation of certain plant cells, as described by Shaw et al., Gene, 23:315 (1983) and WO 89/05859 published 29 Jun. 1989.
  • DNA into cells such as by nuclear microinjection, electroporation, bacterial protoplast fusion with intact cells, or polycations, e.g., polybrene, polyornithine, may also be used.
  • polycations e.g., polybrene, polyornithine.
  • Suitable host cells for cloning or expressing the DNA in the vectors herein include prokaryote, yeast, or higher eukaryote cells.
  • Suitable prokaryotes include but are not limited to eubacteria , such as Gram-negative or Gram-positive organisms, for example, Enterobacteriaceae such as E. coli .
  • Various E. coli strains are publicly available, such as E. coli K12 strain MM294 (ATCC 31,446); E. coli X 1776 (ATCC 31,537); E. coli strain W3110 (ATCC 27,325) and K5 772 (ATCC 53,635).
  • suitable prokaryotic host cells include Enterobacteriaceae such as Escherichia , e.g., E. coli, Enterobacter, Erwinia, Klebsiella, Proteus, Salmonella , e.g., Salmonella typhimurium, Serratia , e.g., Serratia marcescans , and Shigella , as well as Bacilli such as B. subtilis and B. licheniformis (e.g., B. licheniformis 41P disclosed in DD 266,710 published 12 Apr. 1989), Pseudomonas such as P. aeruginosa , and Streptomyces . These examples are illustrative rather than limiting.
  • Strain W3110 is one particularly preferred host or parent host because it is a common host strain for recombinant DNA product fermentations. Preferably, the host cell secretes minimal amounts of proteolytic enzymes.
  • strain W3110 may be modified to effect a genetic mutation in the genes encoding proteins endogenous to the host, with examples of such hosts including E. coli W3110 strain 1A2, which has the complete genotype tonA; E. coli W3110 strain 9E4, which has the complete genotype tonA ptr3, E.
  • E. coli W3110 strain 27C7 (ATCC 55,244), which has the complete genotype tonA ptr3phoA E15 (argF-lac)169 degP ompT ka r n
  • E. coli W3110 strain 37D6 which has the complete genotype tonA ptr3phoA E15 (argF-lac)169 degP ompT rbs7 ilvG ka r n
  • E. coli W3110 strain 40B4 which is strain 37D6 with a non-kanamycin resistant degP deletion mutation
  • in vitro methods of cloning e.g., PCR or other nucleic acid polymerase reactions, are suitable.
  • Full length antibody, antibody fragments, and antibody fusion proteins can be produced in bacteria, in particular when glycosylation and Fc effector function are not needed, such as when the therapeutic antibody is conjugated to a cytotoxic agent (e.g., a toxin) and the immunoconjugate by itself shows effectiveness in tumor cell destruction.
  • Full length antibodies have greater half life in circulation. Production in E. coli is faster and more cost efficient.
  • cytotoxic agent e.g., a toxin
  • the antibody is isolated from the E. coli cell paste in a soluble fraction and can be purified through, e.g., a protein A or G column depending on the isotype. Final purification can be carried out similar to the process for purifying antibody expressed e.g., in CHO cells.
  • eukaryotic microbes such as filamentous fungi or yeast are suitable cloning or expression hosts for anti-TAT antibody- or TAT polypeptide-encoding vectors.
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a commonly used lower eukaryotic host microorganism.
  • Others include Schizosaccharomyces pombe (Beach and Nurse, Nature, 290: 140 [1981]; EP 139,383 published 2 May 1985); Kluyveromyces hosts (U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,529; Fleer et al., Bio/Technology, 9:968-975 (1991)) such as, e.g., K.
  • lactis (MW98-8C, CBS683, CBS4574; Louvencourt et al., J. Bacteriol., 154(2):737-742 [1983]), K. fragilis (ATCC 12,424), K. bulgaricus (ATCC 16,045), K. wickeramii (ATCC 24,178), K. waltii (ATCC 56,500), K. drosophilarum (ATCC 36,906; Van den Berg et al., Bio/Technology, 8:135 (1990)), K. thermotolerans , and K. marxianus; yarrowia (EP 402,226); Pichia pastoris (EP 183,070; Sreekrishna et al., J.
  • Candida Trichoderma reesia (EP 244,234); Neurospora crassa (Case et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 76:5259-5263 [1979]); Schwanniomyces such as Schwanniomyces occidentalis (EP 394,538 published 31 Oct. 1990); and filamentous fungi such as, e.g., Neurospora, Penicillium, Tolypocladium (WO 91/00357 published 10 Jan. 1991), and Aspergillus hosts such as A. nidulans (Ballance et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res.
  • Methylotropic yeasts are suitable herein and include, but are not limited to, yeast capable of growth on methanol selected from the genera consisting of Hansenula, Candida, Kloeckera, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Torulopsis , and Rhodotorula .
  • yeast capable of growth on methanol selected from the genera consisting of Hansenula, Candida, Kloeckera, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Torulopsis , and Rhodotorula .
  • a list of specific species that are exemplary of this class of yeasts may be found in C. Anthony, The Biochemistry of Methylotrophs, 269 (1982).
  • Suitable host cells for the expression of glycosylated anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide are derived from multicellular organisms.
  • invertebrate cells include insect cells such as Drosophila S2 and Spodoptera Sf9, as well as plant cells, such as cell cultures of cotton, corn, potato, soybean, petunia, tomato, and tobacco.
  • Numerous baculoviral strains and variants and corresponding permissive insect host cells from hosts such as Spodoptera frugiperda (caterpillar), Aedes aegypti (mosquito), Aedes albopictus (mosquito), Drosophila melanogaster (fruitfly), and Bombyx mori have been identified.
  • a variety of viral strains for transfection are publicly available, e.g., the L-1 variant of Autographa californica NPV and the Bm-5 strain of Bombyx mori NPV, and such viruses may be used as the virus herein according to the present invention, particularly for transfection of Spodoptera frugiperda cells.
  • vertebrate cells have been greatest in vertebrate cells, and propagation of vertebrate cells in culture (tissue culture) has become a routine procedure.
  • useful mammalian host cell lines are monkey kidney CV1 line transformed by SV40 (COS-7, ATCC CRL 1651); human embryonic kidney line (293 or 293 cells subcloned for growth in suspension culture, Graham et al., J. Gen Virol. 36:59 (1977)); baby hamster kidney cells (BHK, ATCC CCL 10); Chinese hamster ovary cells/-DHFR(CHO, Urlaub et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:4216 (1980)); mouse sertoli cells (TM4, Mather, Biol. Reprod.
  • monkey kidney cells (CV1 ATCC CCL 70); African green monkey kidney cells (VERO-76, ATCC CRL-1587); human cervical carcinoma cells (HELA, ATCC CCL 2); canine kidney cells (MDCK, ATCC CCL 34); buffalo rat liver cells (BRL 3A, ATCC CRL 1442); human lung cells (W138, ATCC CCL 75); human liver cells (Hep G2, HB 8065); mouse mammary tumor (MMT 060562, ATCC CCL51); TR1 cells (Mather et al., Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci. 383:44-68 (1982)); MRC 5 cells; FS4 cells; and a human hepatoma line (Hep G2).
  • Host cells are transformed with the above-described expression or cloning vectors for anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide production and cultured in conventional nutrient media modified as appropriate for inducing promoters, selecting transformants, or amplifying the genes encoding the desired sequences.
  • the nucleic acid encoding anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide may be inserted into a replicable vector for cloning (amplification of the DNA) or for expression.
  • a replicable vector for cloning (amplification of the DNA) or for expression.
  • the vector may, for example, be in the form of a plasmid, cosmid, viral particle, or phage.
  • the appropriate nucleic acid sequence may be inserted into the vector by a variety of procedures. In general, DNA is inserted into an appropriate restriction endonuclease site(s) using techniques known in the art.
  • Vector components generally include, but are not limited to, one or more of a signal sequence, an origin of replication, one or more marker genes, an enhancer element, a promoter, and a transcription termination sequence. Construction of suitable vectors containing one or more of these components employs standard ligation techniques which are known to the skilled artisan.
  • the TAT may be produced recombinantly not only directly, but also as a fusion polypeptide with a heterologous polypeptide, which may be a signal sequence or other polypeptide having a specific cleavage site at the N-terminus of the mature protein or polypeptide.
  • the signal sequence may be a component of the vector, or it may be a part of the anti-TAT antibody- or TAT polypeptide-encoding DNA that is inserted into the vector.
  • the signal sequence may be a prokaryotic signal sequence selected, for example, from the group of the alkaline phosphatase, penicillinase, lpp, or heat-stable enterotoxin II leaders.
  • the signal sequence may be, e.g., the yeast invertase leader, alpha factor leader (including Saccharomyces and Kluyveromyces ⁇ -factor leaders, the latter described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,182), or acid phosphatase leader, the C. albicans glucoamylase leader (EP 362,179 published 4 Apr. 1990), or the signal described in WO 90/13646 published 15 Nov. 1990.
  • mammalian signal sequences may be used to direct secretion of the protein, such as signal sequences from secreted polypeptides of the same or related species, as well as viral secretory leaders.
  • Both expression and cloning vectors contain a nucleic acid sequence that enables the vector to replicate in one or more selected host cells. Such sequences are well known for a variety of bacteria, yeast, and viruses.
  • the origin of replication from the plasmid pBR322 is suitable for most Gram-negative bacteria, the 2 ⁇ plasmid origin is suitable for yeast, and various viral origins (SV40, polyoma, adenovirus, VSV or BPV) are useful for cloning vectors in mammalian cells.
  • Selection genes will typically contain a selection gene, also termed a selectable marker.
  • Typical selection genes encode proteins that (a) confer resistance to antibiotics or other toxins, e.g., ampicillin, neomycin, methotrexate, or tetracycline, (b) complement auxotrophic deficiencies, or (c) supply critical nutrients not available from complex media, e.g., the gene encoding D-alanine racemase for Bacilli.
  • selectable markers for mammalian cells are those that enable the identification of cells competent to take up the anti-TAT antibody- or TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid, such as DHFR or thymidine kinase.
  • An appropriate host cell when wild-type DHFR is employed is the CHO cell line deficient in DHFR activity, prepared and propagated as described by Urlaub et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 77:4216 (1980).
  • a suitable selection gene for use in yeast is therp1 gene present in the yeast plasmid YRp7 [Stinchcomb et al., Nature, 282:39 (1979); Kingsman et al., Gene, 7:141 (1979); Tschemper et al., Gene, 10:157 (1980)].
  • the trp1 gene provides a selection marker for a mutant strain of yeast lacking the ability to grow in tryptophan, for example, ATCC No. 44076 or PEP4-1 [Jones, Genetics, 85:12 (1977)].
  • Expression and cloning vectors usually contain a promoter operably linked to the anti-TAT antibody- or TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid sequence to direct mRNA synthesis. Promoters recognized by a variety of potential host cells are well known. Promoters suitable for use with prokaryotic hosts include the ⁇ -lactamase and lactose promoter systems [Chang et al., Nature, 275:615 (1978); Goeddel et al., Nature, 281:544 (1979)], alkaline phosphatase, a tryptophan (trp) promoter system [Goeddel, Nucleic Acids Res., 8:4057 (1980); EP 36,776], and hybrid promoters such as the tac promoter [deBoer et al., Proc.
  • Promoters for use in bacterial systems also will contain a Shine-Dalgarno (S.D.) sequence operably linked to the DNA encoding anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide.
  • S.D. Shine-Dalgarno
  • Suitable promoting sequences for use with yeast hosts include the promoters for 3-phosphoglycerate kinase [Hitzeman et al., J. Biol. Chem., 255:2073 (1980)] or other glycolytic enzymes [Hess et al., J. Adv.
  • yeast promoters which are inducible promoters having the additional advantage of transcription controlled by growth conditions, are the promoter regions for alcohol dehydrogenase 2, isocytochrome C, acid phosphatase, degradative enzymes associated with nitrogen metabolism, metallothionein, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and enzymes responsible for maltose and galactose utilization. Suitable vectors and promoters for use in yeast expression are further described in EP 73,657.
  • Anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide transcription from vectors in mammalian host cells is controlled, for example, by promoters obtained from the genomes of viruses such as polyoma virus, fowlpox virus (UK 2,211,504 published 5 Jul. 1989), adenovirus (such as Adenovirus 2), bovine papilloma virus, avian sarcoma virus, cytomegalovirus, a retrovirus, hepatitis-B virus and Simian Virus 40 (SV40), from heterologous mammalian promoters, e.g., the actin promoter or an immunoglobulin promoter, and from heat-shock promoters, provided such promoters are compatible with the host cell systems.
  • viruses such as polyoma virus, fowlpox virus (UK 2,211,504 published 5 Jul. 1989), adenovirus (such as Adenovirus 2), bovine papilloma virus, avian sarcoma virus, cyto
  • Enhancers are cis-acting elements of DNA, usually about from 10 to 300 bp, that act on a promoter to increase its transcription.
  • Many enhancer sequences are now known from mammalian genes (globin, elastase, albumin, ⁇ -fetoprotein, and insulin). Typically, however, one will use an enhancer from a eukaryotic cell virus.
  • Examples include the SV40 enhancer on the late side of the replication origin (bp 100-270), the cytomegalovirus early promoter enhancer, the polyoma enhancer on the late side of the replication origin, and adenovirus enhancers.
  • the enhancer may be spliced into the vector at a position 5′ or 3′ to the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide coding sequence, but is preferably located at a site 5′ from the promoter.
  • Expression vectors used in eukaryotic host cells will also contain sequences necessary for the termination of transcription and for stabilizing the mRNA. Such sequences are commonly available from the 5′ and, occasionally 3′, untranslated regions of eukaryotic or viral DNAs or cDNAs. These regions contain nucleotide segments transcribed as polyadenylated fragments in the untranslated portion of the mRNA encoding anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide.
  • the host cells used to produce the anti-TAT antibody or TAT polypeptide of this invention may be cultured in a variety of media.
  • Commercially available media such as Ham's F10 (Sigma), Minimal Essential Medium ((MEM), (Sigma), RPMI-1640 (Sigma), and Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium ((DMEM), Sigma) are suitable for culturing the host cells.
  • any of these media may be supplemented as necessary with hormones and/or other growth factors (such as insulin, transferrin, or epidermal growth factor), salts (such as sodium chloride, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate), buffers (such as HEPES), nucleotides (such as adenosine and thymidine), antibiotics (such as GENTAMYCINTM drug), trace elements (defined as inorganic compounds usually present at final concentrations in the micromolar range), and glucose or an equivalent energy source. Any other necessary supplements may also be included at appropriate concentrations that would be known to those skilled in the art.
  • the culture conditions such as temperature, pH, and the like, are those previously used with the host cell selected for expression, and will be apparent to the ordinarily skilled artisan.
  • Gene amplification and/or expression may be measured in a sample directly, for example, by conventional Southern blotting, Northern blotting to quantitate the transcription of mRNA [Thomas, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 77:5201-5205 (1980)], dot blotting (DNA analysis), or in situ hybridization, using an appropriately labeled probe, based on the sequences provided herein.
  • antibodies may be employed that can recognize specific duplexes, including DNA duplexes, RNA duplexes, and DNA-RNA hybrid duplexes or DNA-protein duplexes. The antibodies in turn may be labeled and the assay may be carried out where the duplex is bound to a surface, so that upon the formation of duplex on the surface, the presence of antibody bound to the duplex can be detected.
  • Gene expression may be measured by immunological methods, such as immunohistochemical staining of cells or tissue sections and assay of cell culture or body fluids, to quantitate directly the expression of gene product.
  • Antibodies useful for immunohistochemical staining and/or assay of sample fluids may be either monoclonal or polyclonal, and may be prepared in any mammal. Conveniently, the antibodies may be prepared against a native sequence TAT polypeptide or against a synthetic peptide based on the DNA sequences provided herein or against exogenous sequence fused to TAT DNA and encoding a specific antibody epitope.
  • anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide may be recovered from culture medium or from host cell lysates. If membrane-bound, it can be released from the membrane using a suitable detergent solution (e.g. Triton-X 100) or by enzymatic cleavage. Cells employed in expression of anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide can be disrupted by various physical or chemical means, such as freeze-thaw cycling, sonication, mechanical disruption, or cell lysing agents.
  • the following procedures are exemplary of suitable purification procedures: by fractionation on an ion-exchange column; ethanol precipitation; reverse phase HPLC; chromatography on silica or on a cation-exchange resin such as DEAE; chromatofocusing; SDS-PAGE; ammonium sulfate precipitation; gel filtration using, for example, Sephadex G-75; protein A Sepharose columns to remove contaminants such as IgG; and metal chelating columns to bind epitope-tagged forms of the anti-TAT antibody and TAT polypeptide.
  • the antibody can be produced intracellularly, in the periplasmic space, or directly secreted into the medium. If the antibody is produced intracellularly, as a first step, the particulate debris, either host cells or lysed fragments, are removed, for example, by centrifugation or ultrafiltration. Carter et al., Bio/Technology 10: 163-167 (1992) describe a procedure for isolating antibodies which are secreted to the periplasmic space of E. coli . Briefly, cell paste is thawed in the presence of sodium acetate (pH 3.5), EDTA, and phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride (PMSF) over about 30 min.
  • sodium acetate pH 3.5
  • EDTA EDTA
  • PMSF phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride
  • Cell debris can be removed by centrifugation.
  • supernatants from such expression systems are generally first concentrated using a commercially available protein concentration filter, for example, an Amicon or Millipore Pellicon ultrafiltration unit.
  • a protease inhibitor such as PMSF may be included in any of the foregoing steps to inhibit proteolysis and antibiotics may be included to prevent the growth of adventitious contaminants.
  • the antibody composition prepared from the cells can be purified using, for example, hydroxylapatite chromatography, gel electrophoresis, dialysis, and affinity chromatography, with affinity chromatography being the preferred purification technique.
  • affinity chromatography is the preferred purification technique.
  • the suitability of protein A as an affinity ligand depends on the species and isotype of any immunoglobulin Fc domain that is present in the antibody.
  • Protein A can be used to purify antibodies that are based on human ⁇ 1, ⁇ 2 or ⁇ 4 heavy chains (Lindmark et al., J. Immunol. Meth. 62:1-13 (1983)). Protein G is recommended for all mouse isotypes and for human ⁇ 3 (Guss et al., EMBO J. 5:15671575 (1986)).
  • the matrix to which the affinity ligand is attached is most often agarose, but other matrices are available. Mechanically stable matrices such as controlled pore glass or poly(styrenedivinyl)benzene allow for faster flow rates and shorter processing times than can be achieved with agarose. Where the antibody comprises a C H 3 domain, the Bakerbond ABXTM resin (J. T. Baker, Phillipsburg, N.J.) is useful for purification.
  • the mixture comprising the antibody of interest and contaminants may be subjected to low pH hydrophobic interaction chromatography using an elution buffer at a pH between about 2.5-4.5, preferably performed at low salt concentrations (e.g., from about 0-0.25M salt).
  • Therapeutic formulations of the anti-TAT antibodies, TAT binding oligopeptides, TAT binding organic molecules and/or TAT polypeptides used in accordance with the present invention are prepared for storage by mixing the antibody, polypeptide, oligopeptide or organic molecule having the desired degree of purity with optional pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, excipients or stabilizers Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences 16th edition, Osol, A. Ed. (1980)), in the form of lyophilized formulations or aqueous solutions.
  • Acceptable carriers, excipients, or stabilizers are nontoxic to recipients at the dosages and concentrations employed, and include buffers such as acetate, Tris, phosphate, citrate, and other organic acids; antioxidants including ascorbic acid and methionine; preservatives (such as octadecyldimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride; hexamethonium chloride; benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride; phenol, butyl or benzyl alcohol; alkyl parabens such as methyl or propyl paraben; catechol; resorcinol; cyclohexanol; 3-pentanol; and m-cresol); low molecular weight (less than about 10 residues) polypeptides; proteins, such as serum albumin, gelatin, or immunoglobulins; hydrophilic polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone; amino acids such as glycine, glutamine, asparag
  • the formulations herein may also contain more than one active compound as necessary for the particular indication being treated, preferably those with complementary activities that do not adversely affect each other.
  • an anti-TAT antibody, TAT binding oligopeptide, or TAT binding organic molecule it may be desirable to include in the one formulation, an additional antibody, e.g., a second anti-TAT antibody which binds a different epitope on the TAT polypeptide, or an antibody to some other target such as a growth factor that affects the growth of the particular cancer.
  • the composition may further comprise a chemotherapeutic agent, cytotoxic agent, cytokine, growth inhibitory agent, anti-hormonal agent, and/or cardioprotectant. Such molecules are suitably present in combination in amounts that are effective for the purpose intended.
  • the active ingredients may also be entrapped in microcapsules prepared, for example, by coacervation techniques or by interfacial polymerization, for example, hydroxymethylcellulose or gelatin-microcapsules and poly-(methylmethacylate) microcapsules, respectively, in colloidal drug delivery systems (for example, liposomes, albumin microspheres, microemulsions, nano-particles and nanocapsules) or in macroemulsions.
  • colloidal drug delivery systems for example, liposomes, albumin microspheres, microemulsions, nano-particles and nanocapsules
  • Sustained-release preparations may be prepared. Suitable examples of sustained-release preparations include semi-permeable matrices of solid hydrophobic polymers containing the antibody, which matrices are in the form of shaped articles, e.g., films, or microcapsules. Examples of sustained-release matrices include polyesters, hydrogels (for example, poly(2-hydroxyethyl-methacrylate), or poly(vinylalcohol)), polylactides (U.S. Pat. No.
  • copolymers of L-glutamic acid and ⁇ ethyl-L-glutamate copolymers of L-glutamic acid and ⁇ ethyl-L-glutamate, non-degradable ethylene-vinyl acetate, degradable lactic acid-glycolic acid copolymers such as the LUPRON DEPOT® (injectable microspheres composed of lactic acid-glycolic acid copolymer and leuprolide acetate), and poly-D-( ⁇ )-3-hydroxybutyric acid.
  • LUPRON DEPOT® injectable microspheres composed of lactic acid-glycolic acid copolymer and leuprolide acetate
  • poly-D-( ⁇ )-3-hydroxybutyric acid poly-D-( ⁇ )-3-hydroxybutyric acid.
  • the formulations to be used for in vivo administration must be sterile. This is readily accomplished by filtration through sterile filtration membranes.
  • TAT polypeptide overexpression may be analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC).
  • IHC immunohistochemistry
  • Parrafin embedded tissue sections from a tumor biopsy may be subjected to the IHC assay and accorded a TAT protein staining intensity criteria as follows:
  • Those tumors with 0 or 1+scores for TAT polypeptide expression may be characterized as not overexpressing TAT, whereas those tumors with 2+ or 3+scores may be characterized as overexpressing TAT.
  • FISH assays such as the INFORM® (sold by Ventana, Arizona) or PATHVISION® (Vysis, Illinois) may be carried out on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue to determine the extent (if any) of TAT overexpression in the tumor.
  • TAT overexpression or amplification may be evaluated using an in vivo diagnostic assay, e.g., by administering a molecule (such as an antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule) which binds the molecule to be detected and is tagged with a detectable label (e.g., a radioactive isotope or a fluorescent label) and externally scanning the patient for localization of the label.
  • a detectable label e.g., a radioactive isotope or a fluorescent label
  • the anti-TAT antibodies, oligopeptides and organic molecules of the invention have various non-therapeutic applications.
  • the anti-TAT antibodies, oligopeptides and organic molecules of the present invention can be useful for diagnosis and staging of TAT polypeptide-expressing cancers (e.g., in radioimaging).
  • the antibodies, oligopeptides and organic molecules are also useful for purification or immunoprecipitation of TAT polypeptide from cells, for detection and quantitation of TAT polypeptide in vitro, e.g., in an ELISA or a Western blot, to kill and eliminate TAT-expressing cells from a population of mixed cells as a step in the purification of other cells.
  • cancer treatment involves one or a combination of the following therapies: surgery to remove the cancerous tissue, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.
  • Anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule therapy may be especially desirable in elderly patients who do not tolerate the toxicity and side effects of chemotherapy well and in metastatic disease where radiation therapy has limited usefulness.
  • the tumor targeting anti-TAT antibodies, oligopeptides and organic molecules of the invention are useful to alleviate TAT-expressing cancers upon initial diagnosis of the disease or during relapse.
  • the anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule can be used alone, or in combination therapy with, e.g., hormones, antiangiogens, or radiolabelled compounds, or with surgery, cryotherapy, and/or radiotherapy.
  • Anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule treatment can be administered in conjunction with other forms of conventional therapy, either consecutively with, pre- or post-conventional therapy.
  • Chemotherapeutic drugs such as TAXOTERE® (docetaxel), TAXOL® (palictaxel), estramustine and mitoxantrone are used in treating cancer, in particular, in good risk patients.
  • the cancer patient can be administered anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule in conjuction with treatment with the one or more of the preceding chemotherapeutic agents.
  • combination therapy with palictaxel and modified derivatives is contemplated.
  • the anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule will be administered with a therapeutically effective dose of the chemotherapeutic agent.
  • the anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule is administered in conjunction with chemotherapy to enhance the activity and efficacy of the chemotherapeutic agent, e.g., paclitaxel.
  • the Physicians' Desk Reference discloses dosages of these agents that have been used in treatment of various cancers.
  • the dosing regimen and dosages of these aforementioned chemotherapeutic drugs that are therapeutically effective will depend on the particular cancer being treated, the extent of the disease and other factors familiar to the physician of skill in the art and can be determined by the physician.
  • a conjugate comprising an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule conjugated with a cytotoxic agent is administered to the patient.
  • the immunoconjugate bound to the TAT protein is internalized by the cell, resulting in increased therapeutic efficacy of the immunoconjugate in killing the cancer cell to which it binds.
  • the cytotoxic agent targets or interferes with the nucleic acid in the cancer cell. Examples of such cytotoxic agents are described above and include maytansinoids, calicheamicins, ribonucleases and DNA endonucleases.
  • the anti-TAT antibodies, oligopeptides, organic molecules or toxin conjugates thereof are administered to a human patient, in accord with known methods, such as intravenous administration, e.g., as a bolus or by continuous infusion over a period of time, by intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intracerobrospinal, subcutaneous, intra-articular, intrasynovial, intrathecal, oral, topical, or inhalation routes.
  • Intravenous or subcutaneous administration of the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule is preferred.
  • Other therapeutic regimens may be combined with the administration of the anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule.
  • the combined administration includes co-administration, using separate formulations or a single pharmaceutical formulation, and consecutive administration in either order, wherein preferably there is a time period while both (or all) active agents simultaneously exert their biological activities.
  • Preferably such combined therapy results in a synergistic therapeutic effect.
  • anti-TAT antibody or antibodies may also be desirable to combine administration of the anti-TAT antibody or antibodies, oligopeptides or organic molecules, with administration of an antibody directed against another tumor antigen associated with the particular cancer.
  • the therapeutic treatment methods of the present invention involves the combined administration of an anti-TAT antibody (or antibodies), oligopeptides or organic molecules and one or more chemotherapeutic agents or growth inhibitory agents, including co-administration of cocktails of different chemotherapeutic agents.
  • Chemotherapeutic agents include estramustine phosphate, prednimustine, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, melphalan, cyclophosphamide, hydroxyurea and hydroxyureataxanes (such as paclitaxel and doxetaxel) and/or anthracycline antibiotics.
  • Preparation and dosing schedules for such chemotherapeutic agents may be used according to manufacturers' instructions or as determined empirically by the skilled practitioner. Preparation and dosing schedules for such chemotherapy are also described in Chemotherapy Service Ed., M. C. Perry, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, Md. (1992).
  • the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule may be combined with an anti-hormonal compound; e.g., an anti-estrogen compound such as tamoxifen; an anti-progesterone such as onapristone (see, EP 616 812); or an anti-androgen such as flutamide, in dosages known for such molecules.
  • an anti-hormonal compound e.g., an anti-estrogen compound such as tamoxifen; an anti-progesterone such as onapristone (see, EP 616 812); or an anti-androgen such as flutamide
  • an anti-hormonal compound e.g., an anti-estrogen compound such as tamoxifen; an anti-progesterone such as onapristone (see, EP 616 812); or an anti-androgen such as flutamide
  • the cancer to be treated is androgen independent cancer
  • the patient may previously have been subjected to anti-androgen therapy and, after the cancer becomes and
  • a cardioprotectant to prevent or reduce myocardial dysfunction associated with the therapy
  • one or more cytokines to the patient.
  • the patient may be subjected to surgical removal of cancer cells and/or radiation therapy, before, simultaneously with, or post antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule therapy.
  • Suitable dosages for any of the above co-administered agents are those presently used and may be lowered due to the combined action (synergy) of the agent and anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule.
  • the dosage and mode of administration will be chosen by the physician according to known criteria.
  • the appropriate dosage of antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule will depend on the type of disease to be treated, as defined above, the severity and course of the disease, whether the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule is administered for preventive or therapeutic purposes, previous therapy, the patient's clinical history and response to the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule, and the discretion of the attending physician.
  • the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule is suitably administered to the patient at one time or over a series of treatments.
  • the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule is administered by intravenous infusion or by subcutaneous injections.
  • about 1 ⁇ g/kg to about 50 mg/kg body weight (e.g., about 0.1-15 mg/kg/dose) of antibody can be an initial candidate dosage for administration to the patient, whether, for example, by one or more separate administrations, or by continuous infusion.
  • a dosing regimen can comprise administering an initial loading dose of about 4 mg/kg, followed by a weekly maintenance dose of about 2 mg/kg of the anti-TAT antibody.
  • other dosage regimens may be useful.
  • a typical daily dosage might range from about ⁇ g/kg to 100 mg/kg or more, depending on the factors mentioned above.
  • the treatment is sustained until a desired suppression of disease symptoms occurs. The progress of this therapy can be readily monitored by conventional methods and assays and based on criteria known to the physician or other persons of skill in the art.
  • the present application contemplates administration of the antibody by gene therapy.
  • administration of nucleic acid encoding the antibody is encompassed by the expression “administering a therapeutically effective amount of an antibody”. See, for example, WO96/07321 published Mar. 14, 1996 concerning the use of gene therapy to generate intracellular antibodies.
  • nucleic acid (optionally contained in a vector) into the patient's cells
  • in vivo and ex vivo the nucleic acid is injected directly into the patient, usually at the site where the antibody is required.
  • ex vivo treatment the patient's cells are removed, the nucleic acid is introduced into these isolated cells and the modified cells are administered to the patient either directly or, for example, encapsulated within porous membranes which are implanted into the patient (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,892,538 and 5,283,187).
  • techniques available for introducing nucleic acids into viable cells There are a variety of techniques available for introducing nucleic acids into viable cells.
  • the techniques vary depending upon whether the nucleic acid is transferred into cultured cellsin vitro, or in vivo in the cells of the intended host.
  • Techniques suitable for the transfer of nucleic acid into mammalian cells in vitro include the use of liposomes, electroporation, microinjection, cell fusion, DEAE-dextran, the calcium phosphate precipitation method, etc.
  • a commonly used vector for ex vivo delivery of the gene is a retroviral vector.
  • the currently preferred in vivo nucleic acid transfer techniques include transfection with viral vectors (such as adenovirus, Herpes simplex I virus, or adeno-associated virus) and lipid-based systems (useful lipids for lipid-mediated transfer of the gene are DOTMA, DOPE and DC-Chol, for example).
  • viral vectors such as adenovirus, Herpes simplex I virus, or adeno-associated virus
  • lipid-based systems useful lipids for lipid-mediated transfer of the gene are DOTMA, DOPE and DC-Chol, for example.
  • the anti-TAT antibodies of the invention can be in the different forms encompassed by the definition of “antibody” herein.
  • the antibodies include full length or intact antibody, antibody fragments, native sequence antibody or amino acid variants, humanized, chimeric or fusion antibodies, immunoconjugates, and functional fragments thereof.
  • fusion antibodies an antibody sequence is fused to a heterologous polypeptide sequence.
  • the antibodies can be modified in the Fc region to provide desired effector functions.
  • the naked antibody bound on the cell surface can induce cytotoxicity, e.g., via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) or by recruiting complement in complement dependent cytotoxicity, or some other mechanism.
  • ADCC antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity
  • certain other Fc regions may be used.
  • the antibody competes for binding or bind substantially to, the same epitope as the antibodies of the invention.
  • Antibodies having the biological characteristics of the present anti-TAT antibodies of the invention are also contemplated, specifically including the in vivo tumor targeting and any cell proliferation inhibition or cytotoxic characteristics.
  • the present anti-TAT antibodies, oligopeptides and organic molecules are useful for treating a TAT-expressing cancer or alleviating one or more symptoms of the cancer in a mammal.
  • a cancer includes prostate cancer, cancer of the urinary tract, lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and ovarian cancer, more specifically, prostate adenocarcinoma, renal cell carcinomas, colorectal adenocarcinomas, lung adenocarcinomas, lung squamous cell carcinomas, and pleural mesothelioma and all cancers or tumors of glial origin.
  • the cancers encompass metastatic cancers of any of the preceding.
  • the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule is able to bind to at least a portion of the cancer cells that express TAT polypeptide in the mammal.
  • the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule is effective to destroy or kill TAT-expressing tumor cells or inhibit the growth of such tumor cells, in vitro or in vivo, upon binding to TAT polypeptide on the cell or in secreted form.
  • Such an antibody includes a naked anti-TAT antibody (not conjugated to any agent). Naked antibodies that have cytotoxic or cell growth inhibition properties can be further harnessed with a cytotoxic agent to render them even more potent in tumor cell destruction.
  • Cytotoxic properties can be conferred to an anti-TAT antibody by, e.g., conjugating the antibody with a cytotoxic agent, to form an immunoconjugate as described herein.
  • the cytotoxic agent or a growth inhibitory agent is preferably a small molecule.
  • Toxins such as calicheamicin or a maytansinoid and analogs or derivatives thereof, are preferable.
  • compositions comprising an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule of the invention, and a carrier.
  • compositions can be administered to the patient in need of such treatment, wherein the composition can comprise one or more anti-TAT antibodies present as an immunoconjugate or as the naked antibody.
  • the compositions can comprise these antibodies, oligopeptides or organic molecules in combination with other therapeutic agents such as cytotoxic or growth inhibitory agents, including chemotherapeutic agents.
  • the invention also provides formulations comprising an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule of the invention, and a carrier.
  • the formulation is a therapeutic formulation comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • nucleic acids encoding the anti-TAT antibodies are encompassed.
  • the invention also provides methods useful for treating a TAT polypeptide-expressing cancer or alleviating one or more symptoms of the cancer in a mammal, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule to the mammal.
  • the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule therapeutic compositions can be administered short term (acute) or chronic, or intermittent as directed by physician. Also provided are methods of inhibiting the growth of, and killing a TAT polypeptide-expressing cell.
  • kits and articles of manufacture comprising at least one anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule.
  • Kits containing anti-TAT antibodies, oligopeptides or organic molecules find use, e.g., for TAT cell killing assays, for purification or immunoprecipitation of TAT polypeptide from cells.
  • the kit can contain an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule coupled to beads (e.g., sepharose beads).
  • Kits can be provided which contain the antibodies, oligopeptides or organic molecules for detection and quantitation of TAT in vitro, e.g., in an ELISA or a Western blot.
  • Such antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule useful for detection may be provided with a label such as a fluorescent or radiolabel.
  • the article of manufacture comprises a container and a label or package insert on or associated with the container.
  • Suitable containers include, for example, bottles, vials, syringes, etc.
  • the containers may be formed from a variety of materials such as glass or plastic.
  • the container holds a composition which is effective for treating the cancer condition and may have a sterile access port (for example the container may be an intravenous solution bag or a vial having a stopper pierceable by a hypodermic injection needle).
  • At least one active agent in the composition is an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule of the invention.
  • the label or package insert indicates that the composition is used for treating cancer.
  • the label or package insert will further comprise instructions for administering the antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule composition to the cancer patient.
  • the article of manufacture may further comprise a second container comprising a pharmaceutically-acceptable buffer, such as bacteriostatic water for injection (BWFI), phosphate-buffered saline, Ringer's solution and dextrose solution. It may further include other materials desirable from a commercial and user standpoint, including other buffers, diluents, filters, needles, and syringes.
  • Kits are also provided that are useful for various purposes, e.g., for TAT-expressing cell killing assays, for purification or immunoprecipitation of TAT polypeptide from cells.
  • the kit can contain an anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule coupled to beads (e.g., sepharose beads).
  • Kits can be provided which contain the antibodies, oligopeptides or organic molecules for detection and quantitation of TAT polypeptide in vitro, e.g., in an ELISA or a Western blot.
  • the kit comprises a container and a label or package insert on or associated with the container.
  • the container holds a composition comprising at least one anti-TAT antibody, oligopeptide or organic molecule of the invention. Additional containers may be included that contain, e.g., diluents and buffers, control antibodies.
  • the label or package insert may provide a description of the composition as well as instructions for the intended in vitro or diagnostic use.
  • TAT polypeptides have various applications in the art of molecular biology, including uses as hybridization probes, in chromosome and gene mapping and in the generation of anti-sense RNA and DNA probes.
  • TAT-encoding nucleic acid will also be useful for the preparation of TAT polypeptides by the recombinant techniques described herein, wherein those TAT polypeptides may find use, for example, in the preparation of anti-TAT antibodies as described herein.
  • the full-length native sequence TAT gene, or portions thereof, may be used as hybridization probes for a cDNA library to isolate the full-length TAT cDNA or to isolate still other cDNAs (for instance, those encoding naturally-occurring variants of TAT or TAT from other species) which have a desired sequence identity to the native TAT sequence disclosed herein.
  • the length of the probes will be about 20 to about 50 bases.
  • the hybridization probes may be derived from at least partially novel regions of the full length native nucleotide sequence wherein those regions may be determined without undue experimentation or from genomic sequences including promoters, enhancer elements and introns of native sequence TAT.
  • a screening method will comprise isolating the coding region of the TAT gene using the known DNA sequence to synthesize a selected probe of about 40 bases.
  • Hybridization probes may be labeled by a variety of labels, including radionucleotides such as 32 P or 35 S, or enzymatic labels such as alkaline phosphatase coupled to the probe via avidin/biotin coupling systems. Labeled probes having a sequence complementary to that of the TAT gene of the present invention can be used to screen libraries of human cDNA, genomic DNA or mRNA to determine which members of such libraries the probe hybridizes to. Hybridization techniques are described in further detail in the Examples below. Any EST sequences disclosed in the present application may similarly be employed as probes, using the methods disclosed herein.
  • TAT-encoding nucleic acids include antisense or sense oligonucleotides comprising a singe-stranded nucleic acid sequence (either RNA or DNA) capable of binding to target TAT mRNA (sense) or TAT DNA (antisense) sequences.
  • Antisense or sense oligonucleotides comprise a fragment of the coding region of TAT DNA. Such a fragment generally comprises at least about 14 nucleotides, preferably from about 14 to 30 nucleotides.
  • binding of antisense or sense oligonucleotides to target nucleic acid sequences results in the formation of duplexes that block transcription or translation of the target sequence by one of several means, including enhanced degradation of the duplexes, premature termination of transcription or translation, or by other means.
  • the antisense oligonucleotides thus may be used to block expression of TAT proteins, wherein those TAT proteins may play a role in the induction of cancer in mammals.
  • Antisense or sense oligonucleotides further comprise oligonucleotides having modified sugar-phosphodiester backbones (or other sugar linkages, such as those described in WO 91/06629) and wherein such sugar linkages are resistant to endogenous nucleases.
  • Such oligonucleotides with resistant sugar linkages are stable in vivo (i.e., capable of resisting enzymatic degradation) but retain sequence specificity to be able to bind to target nucleotide sequences.
  • Preferred intragenic sites for antisense binding include the region incorporating the translation initiation/start codon (5′-AUG/5′-ATG) or termination/stop codon (5′-UAA, 5′-UAG and 5-UGA/5′-TAA, 5′-TAG and 5′-TGA) of the open reading frame (ORF) of the gene. These regions refer to a portion of the mRNA or gene that encompasses from about 25 to about 50 contiguous nucleotides in either direction (i.e., 5′ or 3′) from a translation initiation or termination codon.
  • Other preferred regions for antisense binding include: introns; exons; intron-exon junctions; the open reading frame (ORF) or “coding region,” which is the region between the translation initiation codon and the translation termination codon; the 5′ cap of an mRNA which comprises an N7-methylated guanosine residue joined to the 5′-most residue of the mRNA via a 5′-5′ triphosphate linkage and includes 5′ cap structure itself as well as the first 50 nucleotides adjacent to the cap; the 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR), the portion of an mRNA in the 5′ direction from the translation initiation codon, and thus including nucleotides between the 5′ cap site and the translation initiation codon of an mRNA or corresponding nucleotides on the gene; and the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR), the portion of an mRNA in the 3′ direction from the translation termination codon, and thus including nucleotides between the translation termination codon and 3′ end of an mRNA or
  • oligonucleotides containing modified backbones or non-natural internucleoside linkages include those that retain a phosphorus atom in the backbone and those that do not have a phosphorus atom in the backbone.
  • modified oligonucleotides that do not have a phosphorus atom in their internucleoside backbone can also be considered to be oligonucleosides.
  • Preferred modified oligonucleotide backbones include, for example, phosphorothioates, chiral phosphorothioates, phosphorodithioates, phosphotriesters, aminoalkylphosphotri-esters, methyl and other alkyl phosphonates including 3′-alkylene phosphonates, 5′-alkylene phosphonates and chiral phosphonates, phosphinates, phosphoramidates including 3′-amino phosphoramidate and aminoalkylphosphoramidates, thionophosphoramidates, thionoalkylphosphonates, thionoalkylphosphotriesters, selenophosphates and borano-phosphates having normal 3′-5′ linkages, 2′-5′ linked analogs of these, and those having inverted polarity wherein one or more internucleotide linkages is a 3′ to 3′, 5′ to 5′ or 2′ to 2′ linkage.
  • Preferred oligonucleotides having inverted polarity comprise a single 3′ to 3′ linkage at the 3′-most internucleotide linkage i.e. a single inverted nucleoside residue which may be a basic (the nucleobase is missing or has a hydroxyl group in place thereof).
  • Various salts, mixed salts and free acid forms are also included.
  • Representative United States patents that teach the preparation of phosphorus-containing linkages include, but are not limited to, U.S. Pat. Nos.
  • Preferred modified oligonucleotide backbones that do not include a phosphorus atom therein have backbones that are formed by short chain alkyl or cycloalkyl internucleoside linkages, mixed heteroatom and alkyl or cycloalkyl internucleoside linkages, or one or more short chain heteroatomic or heterocyclic internucleoside linkages.
  • morpholino linkages formed in part from the sugar portion of a nucleoside
  • siloxane backbones sulfide, sulfoxide and sulfone backbones
  • formacetyl and thioformacetyl backbones methylene formacetyl and thioformacetyl backbones
  • riboacetyl backbones alkene containing backbones; sulfamate backbones; methyleneimino and methylenehydrazino backbones; sulfonate and sulfonamide backbones; amide backbones; and others having mixed N, O, S and CH.sub.2 component parts.
  • oligonucleosides include, but are not limited to, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,034,506; 5,166,315; 5,185,444; 5,214,134; 5,216,141; 5,235,033; 5,264,562; 5,264,564; 5,405,938; 5,434,257; 5,466,677; 5,470,967; 5,489,677; 5,541,307; 5,561,225; 5,596,086; 5,602,240; 5,610,289; 5,602,240; 5,608,046; 5,610,289; 5,618,704; 5,623,070; 5,663,312; 5,633,360; 5,677,437; 5,792,608; 5,646,269 and 5,677,439, each of which is herein incorporated by reference.
  • both the sugar and the internucleoside linkage, i.e., the backbone, of the nucleotide units are replaced with novel groups.
  • the base units are maintained for hybridization with an appropriate nucleic acid target compound.
  • One such oligomeric compound, an oligonucleotide mimetic that has been shown to have excellent hybridization properties is referred to as a peptide nucleic acid (PNA).
  • PNA peptide nucleic acid
  • the sugar-backbone of an oligonucleotide is replaced with an amide containing backbone, in particular an aminoethylglycine backbone.
  • nucleobases are retained and are bound directly or indirectly to aza nitrogen atoms of the amide portion of the backbone.
  • Representative United States patents that teach the preparation of PNA compounds include, but are not limited to, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,539,082; 5,714,331; and 5,719,262, each of which is herein incorporated by reference. Further teaching of PNA compounds can be found in Nielsen et al., Science, 1991, 254, 1497-1500.
  • Preferred antisense oligonucleotides incorporate phosphorothioate backbones and/or heteroatom backbones, and in particular —CH 2 —NH—O—CH 2 —, —CH 2 —N(CH 3 )—O—CH 2 — [known as a methylene (methylimino) or MMI backbone], —CH 2 —O—N(CH 3 )—CH 2 —, —CH 2 —N(CH 3 )—N(CH 3 )—CH 2 — and —O—N(CH 3 )—CH 2 —CH 2 — [wherein the native phosphodiester backbone is represented as —O—P—O—CH 2 —] described in the above referenced U.S.
  • Modified oligonucleotides may also contain one or more substituted sugar moieties.
  • Preferred oligonucleotides comprise one of the following at the 2′ position: OH; F; O-alkyl, S-alkyl, or N-alkyl; O-alkenyl, S-alkeynyl, or N-alkenyl; O-alkynyl, S-alkynyl or N-alkynyl; or O-alkyl-O-alkyl, wherein the alkyl, alkenyl and alkynyl may be substituted or unsubstituted C, to C 10 alkyl or C 2 to C 10 alkenyl and alkynyl.
  • oligonucleotides comprise one of the following at the 2′ position: C 1 to C 10 lower alkyl, substituted lower alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, alkaryl, aralkyl, O-alkaryl or O-aralkyl, SH, SCH 3 , OCN, Cl, Br, CN, CF 3 , OCF 3 , SOCH 3 , SO 2 CH 3 , ONO 2 , NO 2 , N 3 , NH 2 , heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkaryl, aminoalkylamino, polyalkylamino, substituted silyl, an RNA cleaving group, a reporter group, an intercalator, a group for improving the pharmacokinetic properties of an oligonucleotide, or a group for improving the pharmacodynamic properties of an oligonucleotide, and other substituents having similar properties.
  • a preferred modification includes 2′-methoxyethoxy (2′-O—CH 2 CH 2 OCH 3 , also known as 2′-O-(2-methoxyethyl) or 2′-MOE) (Martin et al., Helv. Chim. Acta, 1995, 78, 486-504) i.e., an alkoxyalkoxy group.
  • a further preferred modification includes 2′-dimethylaminooxyethoxy, i.e., a O(CH 2 ) 2 ON(CH 3 ) 2 group, also known as 2′-DMAOE, as described in examples hereinbelow, and 2′-dimethylaminoethoxyethoxy (also known in the art as 2′-O-dimethylaminoethoxyethyl or 2′-DMAEOE), i.e., 2′-O—CH 2 —O—CH 2 —N(CH 2 ).
  • a further prefered modification includes Locked Nucleic Acids (LNAs) in which the 2′-hydroxyl group is linked to the 3′ or 4′ carbon atom of the sugar ring thereby forming a bicyclic sugar moiety.
  • the linkage is preferably a methelyne (—CH 2 —) n group bridging the 2′ oxygen atom and the 4′ carbon atom wherein n is 1 or 2.
  • LNAs and preparation thereof are described in WO 98/39352 and WO 99/14226.
  • the 2′-modification may be in the arabino (up) position or ribo (down) position.
  • a preferred 2′-arabino modification is 2′-F.
  • oligonucleotide Similar modifications may also be made at other positions on the oligonucleotide, particularly the 3′ position of the sugar on the 3′ terminal nucleotide or in 2′-5′ linked oligonucleotides and the 5′ position of 5′ terminal nucleotide. Oligonucleotides may also have sugar mimetics such as cyclobutyl moieties in place of the pentofuranosyl sugar. Representative United States patents that teach the preparation of such modified sugar structures include, but are not limited to, U.S. Pat. Nos.
  • Oligonucleotides may also include nucleobase (often referred to in the art simply as “base”) modifications or substitutions.
  • base include the purine bases adenine (A) and guanine (G), and the pyrimidine bases thymine (T), cytosine (C) and uracil (U).
  • Modified nucleobases include other synthetic and natural nucleobases such as 5-methylcytosine (5-me-C), 5-hydroxymethyl cytosine, xanthine, hypoxanthine, 2-aminoadenine, 6-methyl and other alkyl derivatives of adenine and guanine, 2-propyl and other alkyl derivatives of adenine and guanine, 2-thiouracil, 2-thiothymine and 2-thiocytosine, 5-halouracil and cytosine, 5-propynyl (—C ⁇ C—CH 3 or —CH 2 —C ⁇ CH) uracil and cytosine and other alkynyl derivatives of pyrimidine bases, 6-azo uracil, cytosine and thymine, 5-uracil (pseudouracil), 4-thiouracil, 8-halo, 8-amino, 8-thiol, 8-thioalkyl, 8-hydroxyl and other 8-substit
  • nucleobases include tricyclic pyrimidines such as phenoxazine cytidine(1H-pyrimido[5,4-b][1,4]benzoxazin-2(3H)-one), phenothiazine cytidine (1H-pyrimido[5,4-b][1,4]benzothiazin-2(3H)-one), G-clamps such as a substituted phenoxazine cytidine (e.g.
  • nucleobases may also include those in which the purine or pyrimidine base is replaced with other heterocycles, for example 7-deaza-adenine, 7-deazaguanosine, 2-aminopyridine and 2-pyridone. Further nucleobases include those disclosed in U.S. Pat.
  • nucleobases are particularly useful for increasing the binding affinity of the oligomeric compounds of the invention. These include 5-substituted pyrimidines, 6-azapyrimidines and N-2, N-6 and 0-6 substituted purines, including 2-aminopropyladenine, 5-propynyluracil and 5-propynylcytosine.
  • 5-methylcytosine substitutions have been shown to increase nucleic acid duplex stability by 0.6-1.2.degree. C. (Sanghvi et al, Antisense Research and Applications, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1993, pp. 276-278) and are preferred base substitutions, even more particularly when combined with 2′-O-methoxyethyl sugar modifications.
  • Representative United States patents that teach the preparation of modified nucleobases include, but are not limited to: U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,808, as well as U.S. Pat. Nos.
  • the compounds of the invention can include conjugate groups covalently bound to functional groups such as primary or secondary hydroxyl groups.
  • Conjugate groups of the invention include intercalators, reporter molecules, polyamines, polyamides, polyethylene glycols, polyethers, groups that enhance the pharmacodynamic properties of oligomers, and groups that enhance the pharmacokinetic properties of oligomers.
  • Typical conjugates groups include cholesterols, lipids, cation lipids, phospholipids, cationic phospholipids, biotin, phenazine, folate, phenanthridine, anthraquinone, acridine, fluoresceins, rhodamines, coumarins, and dyes.
  • Groups that enhance the pharmacodynamic properties include groups that improve oligomer uptake, enhance oligomer resistance to degradation, and/or strengthen sequence-specific hybridization with RNA.
  • Groups that enhance the pharmacokinetic properties include groups that improve oligomer uptake, distribution, metabolism or excretion.
  • Conjugate moieties include but are not limited to lipid moieties such as a cholesterol moiety (Letsinger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1989, 86, 6553-6556), cholic acid (Manoharan et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem. Let., 1994, 4, 1053-1060), a thioether, e.g., hexyl-S-tritylthiol (Manoharan et al., Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1992, 660, 306-309; Manoharan et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem.
  • lipid moieties such as a cholesterol moiety (Letsinger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1989, 86, 6553-6556), cholic acid (Manoharan et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem. Let., 1994, 4, 1053
  • Acids Res., 1990, 18, 3777-3783 a polyamine or a polyethylene glycol chain (Manoharan et al., Nucleosides & Nucleotides, 1995, 14, 969-973), or adamantane acetic acid (Manoharan et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 1995, 36, 3651-3654), a palmityl moiety (Mishra et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1995, 1264, 229-237), or an octadecylamine or hexylamino-carbonyl-oxycholesterol moiety.
  • Oligonucleotides of the invention may also be conjugated to active drug substances, for example, aspirin, warfarin, phenylbutazone, ibuprofen, suprofen, fenbufen, ketoprofen, (S)-(+)-pranoprofen, carprofen, dansylsarcosine, 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid, flufenamic acid, folinic acid, a benzothiadiazide, chlorothiazide, a diazepine, indomethicin, a barbiturate, a cephalosporin, a sulfa drug, an antidiabetic, an antibacterial or an antibiotic.
  • active drug substances for example, aspirin, warfarin, phenylbutazone, ibuprofen, suprofen, fenbufen, ketoprofen, (S)-(+)-pranoprofen, carprofen
  • the present invention also includes antisense compounds which are chimeric compounds.
  • “Chimeric” antisense compounds or “chimeras,” in the context of this invention, are antisense compounds, particularly oligonucleotides, which contain two or more chemically distinct regions, each made up of at least one monomer unit, i.e., a nucleotide in the case of an oligonucleotide compound.
  • oligonucleotides typically contain at least one region wherein the oligonucleotide is modified so as to confer upon the oligonucleotide increased resistance to nuclease degradation, increased cellular uptake, and/or increased binding affinity for the target nucleic acid.
  • An additional region of the oligonucleotide may serve as a substrate for enzymes capable of cleaving RNA:DNA or RNA:RNA hybrids.
  • RNase H is a cellular endonuclease which cleaves the RNA strand of an RNA:DNA duplex.
  • Chimeric antisense compounds of the invention may be formed as composite structures of two or more oligonucleotides, modified oligonucleotides, oligonucleosides and/or oligonucleotide mimetics as described above.
  • Preferred chimeric antisense oligonucleotides incorporate at least one 2′ modified sugar (preferably 2′-O-(—)-CH 3 ) at the 3′ terminal to confer nuclease resistance and a region with at least 4 contiguous 2′-H sugars to confer RNase H activity.
  • Such compounds have also been referred to in the art as hybrids or gapmers.
  • Preferred gapmers have a region of 2′ modified sugars (preferably 2′-O—(CH 2 ) 2 —O—CH 3 ) at the 3′-terminal and at the 5′ terminal separated by at least one region having at least 4 contiguous 2′-H sugars and preferably incorporate phosphorothioate backbone linkages.
  • the antisense compounds used in accordance with this invention may be conveniently and routinely made through the well-known technique of solid phase synthesis.
  • Equipment for such synthesis is sold by several vendors including, for example, Applied Biosystems (Foster City, Calif.). Any other means for such synthesis known in the art may additionally or alternatively be employed. It is well known to use similar techniques to prepare oligonucleotides such as the phosphorothioates and alkylated derivatives.
  • the compounds of the invention may also be admixed, encapsulated, conjugated or otherwise associated with other molecules, molecule structures or mixtures of compounds, as for example, liposomes, receptor targeted molecules, oral, rectal, topical or other formulations, for assisting in uptake, distribution and/or absorption.
  • sense or antisense oligonucleotides include those oligonucleotides which are covalently linked to organic moieties, such as those described in WO 90/10048, and other moieties that increases affinity of the oligonucleotide for a target nucleic acid sequence, such as poly-(L-lysine).
  • intercalating agents such as ellipticine, and alkylating agents or metal complexes may be attached to sense or antisense oligonucleotides to modify binding specificities of the antisense or sense oligonucleotide for the target nucleotide sequence.
  • Antisense or sense oligonucleotides may be introduced into a cell containing the target nucleic acid sequence by any gene transfer method, including, for example, Capo 4 ,mediated DNA transfection, electroporation, or by using gene transfer vectors such as Epstein-Barr virus.
  • an antisense or sense oligonucleotide is inserted into a suitable retroviral vector.
  • a cell containing the target nucleic acid sequence is contacted with the recombinant retroviral vector, either in vivo or ex vivo.
  • Suitable retroviral vectors include, but are not limited to, those derived from the murine retrovirus M-MuLV, N2 (a retrovirus derived from M-MuLV), or the double copy vectors designated DCT5A, DCT5B and DCT5C (see WO 90/13641).
  • Sense or antisense oligonucleotides also may be introduced into a cell containing the target nucleotide sequence by formation of a conjugate with a ligand binding molecule, as described in WO 91/04753.
  • Suitable ligand binding molecules include, but are not limited to, cell surface receptors, growth factors, other cytokines, or other ligands that bind to cell surface receptors.
  • conjugation of the ligand binding molecule does not substantially interfere with the ability of the ligand binding molecule to bind to its corresponding molecule or receptor, or block entry of the sense or antisense oligonucleotide or its conjugated version into the cell.
  • a sense or an antisense oligonucleotide may be introduced into a cell containing the target nucleic acid sequence by formation of an oligonucleotide-lipid complex, as described in WO 90/10448.
  • the sense or antisense oligonucleotide-lipid complex is preferably dissociated within the cell by an endogenous lipase.
  • Antisense or sense RNA or DNA molecules are generally at least about 5 nucleotides in length, alternatively at least about 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, 390, 400, 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470, 480, 490, 500, 510, 520, 530, 540, 550, 560, 570, 580, 590, 600, 610, 620, 630,
  • the probes may also be employed in PCR techniques to generate a pool of sequences for identification of closely related TAT coding sequences.
  • Nucleotide sequences encoding a TAT can also be used to construct hybridization probes for mapping the gene which encodes that TAT and for the genetic analysis of individuals with genetic disorders.
  • the nucleotide sequences provided herein may be mapped to a chromosome and specific regions of a chromosome using known techniques, such as in situ hybridization, linkage analysis against known chromosomal markers, and hybridization screening with libraries.
  • the TAT can be used in assays to identify the other proteins or molecules involved in the binding interaction. By such methods, inhibitors of the receptor/ligand binding interaction can be identified. Proteins involved in such binding interactions can also be used to screen for peptide or small molecule inhibitors or agonists of the binding interaction. Also, the receptor TAT can be used to isolate correlative ligand(s). Screening assays can be designed to find lead compounds that mimic the biological activity of a native TAT or a receptor for TAT.
  • screening assays will include assays amenable to high-throughput screening of chemical libraries, making them particularly suitable for identifying small molecule drug candidates.
  • Small molecules contemplated include synthetic organic or inorganic compounds.
  • the assays can be performed in a variety of formats, including protein-protein binding assays, biochemical screening assays, immunoassays and cell based assays, which are well characterized in the art.
  • Nucleic acids which encode TAT or its modified forms can also be used to generate either transgenic animals or “knock out” animals which, in turn, are useful in the development and screening of therapeutically useful reagents.
  • a transgenic animal e.g., a mouse or rat
  • a transgenic animal is an animal having cells that contain a transgene, which transgene was introduced into the animal or an ancestor of the animal at a prenatal, e.g., an embryonic stage.
  • a transgene is a DNA which is integrated into the genome of a cell from which a transgenic animal develops.
  • cDNA encoding TAT can be used to clone genomic DNA encoding TAT in accordance with established techniques and the genomic sequences used to generate transgenic animals that contain cells which express DNA encoding TAT.
  • Methods for generating transgenic animals, particularly animals such as mice or rats, have become conventional in the art and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,736,866 and 4,870,009.
  • particular cells would be targeted for TAT transgene incorporation with tissue-specific enhancers.
  • Transgenic animals that include a copy of a transgene encoding TAT introduced into the germ line of the animal at an embryonic stage can be used to examine the effect of increased expression of DNA encoding TAT.
  • Such animals can be used as tester animals for reagents thought to confer protection from, for example, pathological conditions associated with its overexpression.
  • an animal is treated with the reagent and a reduced incidence of the pathological condition, compared to untreated animals bearing the transgene, would indicate a potential therapeutic intervention for the pathological condition.
  • non-human homologues of TAT can be used to construct a TAT “knock out” animal which has a defective or altered gene encoding TAT as a result of homologous recombination between the endogenous gene encoding TAT and altered genomic DNA encoding TAT introduced into an embryonic stem cell of the animal.
  • cDNA encoding TAT can be used to clone genomic DNA encoding TAT in accordance with established techniques. A portion of the genomic DNA encoding TAT can be deleted or replaced with another gene, such as a gene encoding a selectable marker which can be used to monitor integration.
  • flanking DNA typically, several kilobases of unaltered flanking DNA (both at the 5′ and 3′ ends) are included in the vector [see e.g., Thomas and Capecchi, Cell, 51:503 (1987) for a description of homologous recombination vectors].
  • the vector is introduced into an embryonic stem cell line (e.g., by electroporation) and cells in which the introduced DNA has homologously recombined with the endogenous DNA are selected [see e.g., L1 et al., Cell 69:915 (1992)].
  • the selected cells are then injected into a blastocyst of an animal (e.g., a mouse or rat) to form aggregation chimeras [see e.g., Bradley, in Teratocarcinomas and Embryonic Stem Cells: A Practical Approach , E. J. Robertson, ed. (IRL, Oxford, 1987), pp. 113-152].
  • a chimeric embryo can then be implanted into a suitable pseudopregnant female foster animal and the embryo brought to term to create a “knock out” animal.
  • Progeny harboring the homologously recombined DNA in their germ cells can be identified by standard techniques and used to breed animals in which all cells of the animal contain the homologously recombined DNA.
  • Knockout animals can be characterized for instance, for their ability to defend against certain pathological conditions and for their development of pathological conditions due to absence of the TAT polypeptide.
  • Nucleic acid encoding the TAT polypeptides may also be used in gene therapy.
  • genes are introduced into cells in order to achieve in vivo synthesis of a therapeutically effective genetic product, for example for replacement of a defective gene.
  • Gene therapy includes both conventional gene therapy where a lasting effect is achieved by a single treatment, and the administration of gene therapeutic agents, which involves the one time or repeated administration of a therapeutically effective DNA or mRNA.
  • Antisense RNAs and DNAs can be used as therapeutic agents for blocking the expression of certain genes in vivo. It has already been shown that short antisense oligonucleotides can be imported into cells where they act as inhibitors, despite their low intracellular concentrations caused by their restricted uptake by the cell membrane.
  • oligonucleotides can be modified to enhance their uptake, e.g. by substituting their negatively charged phosphodiester groups by uncharged groups.
  • nucleic acids there are a variety of techniques available for introducing nucleic acids into viable cells.
  • the techniques vary depending upon whether the nucleic acid is transferred into cultured cells in vitro, or in vivo in the cells of the intended host.
  • Techniques suitable for the transfer of nucleic acid into mammalian cells in vitro include the use of liposomes, electroporation, microinjection, cell fusion, DEAE-dextran, the calcium phosphate precipitation method, etc.
  • the currently preferred in vivo gene transfer techniques include transfection with viral (typically retroviral) vectors and viral coat protein-liposome mediated transfection (Dzau et al., Trends in Biotechnology 11, 205-210 [1993]).
  • the nucleic acid source with an agent that targets the target cells, such as an antibody specific for a cell surface membrane protein or the target cell, a ligand for a receptor on the target cell, etc.
  • an agent that targets the target cells such as an antibody specific for a cell surface membrane protein or the target cell, a ligand for a receptor on the target cell, etc.
  • proteins which bind to a cell surface membrane protein associated with endocytosis may be used for targeting and/or to facilitate uptake, e.g. capsid proteins or fragments thereof tropic for a particular cell type, antibodies for proteins which undergo internalization in cycling, proteins that target intracellular localization and enhance intracellular half-life.
  • the technique of receptor-mediated endocytosis is described, for example, by Wu et al., J. Biol. Chem.
  • the nucleic acid molecules encoding the TAT polypeptides or fragments thereof described herein are useful for chromosome identification.
  • there exists an ongoing need to identify new chromosome markers since relatively few chromosome marking reagents, based upon actual sequence data are presently available.
  • Each TAT nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can be used as a chromosome marker.
  • TAT polypeptides and nucleic acid molecules of the present invention may also be used diagnostically for tissue typing, wherein the TAT polypeptides of the present invention may be differentially expressed in one tissue as compared to another, preferably in a diseased tissue as compared to a normal tissue of the same tissue type.
  • TAT nucleic acid molecules will find use for generating probes for PCR, Northern analysis, Southern analysis and Western analysis.
  • This invention encompasses methods of screening compounds to identify those that mimic the TAT polypeptide (agonists) or prevent the effect of the TAT polypeptide (antagonists).
  • Screening assays for antagonist drug candidates are designed to identify compounds that bind or complex with the TAT polypeptides encoded by the genes identified herein, or otherwise interfere with the interaction of the encoded polypeptides with other cellular proteins, including e.g., inhibiting the expression of TAT polypeptide from cells.
  • Such screening assays will include assays amenable to high-throughput screening of chemical libraries, making them particularly suitable for identifying small molecule drug candidates.
  • the assays can be performed in a variety of formats, including protein-protein binding assays, biochemical screening assays, immunoassays, and cell-based assays, which are well characterized in the art.
  • All assays for antagonists are common in that they call for contacting the drug candidate with a TAT polypeptide encoded by a nucleic acid identified herein under conditions and for a time sufficient to allow these two components to interact.
  • the interaction is binding and the complex formed can be isolated or detected in the reaction mixture.
  • the TAT polypeptide encoded by the gene identified herein or the drug candidate is immobilized on a solid phase, e.g., on a microtiter plate, by covalent or non-covalent attachments.
  • Non-covalent attachment generally is accomplished by coating the solid surface with a solution of the TAT polypeptide and drying.
  • an immobilized antibody e.g., a monoclonal antibody, specific for the TAT polypeptide to be immobilized can be used to anchor it to a solid surface.
  • the assay is performed by adding the non-immobilized component, which may be labeled by a detectable label, to the immobilized component, e.g., the coated surface containing the anchored component.
  • the non-reacted components are removed, e.g., by washing, and complexes anchored on the solid surface are detected.
  • the detection of label immobilized on the surface indicates that complexing occurred.
  • complexing can be detected, for example, by using a labeled antibody specifically binding the immobilized complex.
  • the candidate compound interacts with but does not bind to a particular TAT polypeptide encoded by a gene identified herein, its interaction with that polypeptide can be assayed by methods well known for detecting protein-protein interactions.
  • assays include traditional approaches, such as, e.g., cross-linking, co-immunoprecipitation, and co-purification through gradients or chromatographic columns.
  • protein-protein interactions can be monitored by using a yeast-based genetic system described by Fields and co-workers (Fields and Song, Nature ( London ), 340:245-246 (1989); Chien et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
  • yeast GAL4 Many transcriptional activators, such as yeast GAL4, consist of two physically discrete modular domains, one acting as the DNA-binding domain, the other one functioning as the transcription-activation domain.
  • yeast expression system described in the foregoing publications (generally referred to as the “two-hybrid system”) takes advantage of this property, and employs two hybrid proteins, one in which the target protein is fused to the DNA-binding domain of GAL4, and another, in which candidate activating proteins are fused to the activation domain.
  • GAL1-lacZ reporter gene under control of a GAL4-activated promoter depends on reconstitution of GAL4 activity via protein-protein interaction. Colonies containing interacting polypeptides are detected with a chromogenic substrate for ⁇ -galactosidase.
  • a complete kit (MATCHMAKERTM) for identifying protein-protein interactions between two specific proteins using the two-hybrid technique is commercially available from Clontech. This system can also be extended to map protein domains involved in specific protein interactions as well as to pinpoint amino acid residues that are crucial for these interactions.
  • a reaction mixture is prepared containing the product of the gene and the intra- or extracellular component under conditions and for a time allowing for the interaction and binding of the two products.
  • a candidate compound to inhibit binding, the reaction is run in the absence and in the presence of the test compound.
  • a placebo may be added to a third reaction mixture, to serve as positive control.
  • the binding (complex formation) between the test compound and the intra- or extracellular component present in the mixture is monitored as described hereinabove. The formation of a complex in the control reaction(s) but not in the reaction mixture containing the test compound indicates that the test compound interferes with the interaction of the test compound and its reaction partner.
  • the TAT polypeptide may be added to a cell along with the compound to be screened for a particular activity and the ability of the compound to inhibit the activity of interest in the presence of the TAT polypeptide indicates that the compound is an antagonist to the TAT polypeptide.
  • antagonists may be detected by combining the TAT polypeptide and a potential antagonist with membrane-bound TAT polypeptide receptors or recombinant receptors under appropriate conditions for a competitive inhibition assay.
  • the TAT polypeptide can be labeled, such as by radioactivity, such that the number of TAT polypeptide molecules bound to the receptor can be used to determine the effectiveness of the potential antagonist.
  • the gene encoding the receptor can be identified by numerous methods known to those of skill in the art, for example, ligand panning and FACS sorting. Coligan et al., Current Protocols in Immun., 1(2): Chapter 5 (1991).
  • expression cloning is employed wherein polyadenylated RNA is prepared from a cell responsive to the TAT polypeptide and a cDNA library created from this RNA is divided into pools and used to transfect COS cells or other cells that are not responsive to the TAT polypeptide. Transfected cells that are grown on glass slides are exposed to labeled TAT polypeptide.
  • the TAT polypeptide can be labeled by a variety of means including iodination or inclusion of a recognition site for a site-specific protein kinase. Following fixation and incubation, the slides are subjected to autoradiographic analysis. Positive pools are identified and sub-pools are prepared and re-transfected using an interactive sub-pooling and re-screening process, eventually yielding a single clone that encodes the putative receptor.
  • labeled TAT polypeptide can be photoaffinity-linked with cell membrane or extract preparations that express the receptor molecule. Cross-linked material is resolved by PAGE and exposed to X-ray film. The labeled complex containing the receptor can be excised, resolved into peptide fragments, and subjected to protein micro-sequencing. The amino acid sequence obtained from micro-sequencing would be used to design a set of degenerate oligonucleotide probes to screen a cDNA library to identify the gene encoding the putative receptor.
  • mammalian cells or a membrane preparation expressing the receptor would be incubated with labeled TAT polypeptide in the presence of the candidate compound. The ability of the compound to enhance or block this interaction could then be measured.
  • potential antagonists include an oligonucleotide that binds to the fusions of immunoglobulin with TAT polypeptide, and, in particular, antibodies including, without limitation, poly- and monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments, single-chain antibodies, anti-idiotypic antibodies, and chimeric or humanized versions of such antibodies or fragments, as well as human antibodies and antibody fragments.
  • a potential antagonist may be a closely related protein, for example, a mutated form of the TAT polypeptide that recognizes the receptor but imparts no effect, thereby competitively inhibiting the action of the TAT polypeptide.
  • TAT polypeptide antagonist is an antisense RNA or DNA construct prepared using antisense technology, where, e.g., an antisense RNA or DNA molecule acts to block directly the translation of mRNA by hybridizing to targeted mRNA and preventing protein translation.
  • Antisense technology can be used to control gene expression through triple-helix formation or antisense DNA or RNA, both of which methods are based on binding of a polynucleotide to DNA or RNA.
  • the 5′ coding portion of the polynucleotide sequence, which encodes the mature TAT polypeptides herein is used to design an antisense RNA oligonucleotide of from about 10 to 40 base pairs in length.
  • a DNA oligonucleotide is designed to be complementary to a region of the gene involved in transcription (triple helix—see Lee et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 3:173 (1979); Cooney et al., Science, 241: 456 (1988); Dervan et al., Science, 251:1360 (1991)), thereby preventing transcription and the production of the TAT polypeptide.
  • the antisense RNA oligonucleotide hybridizes to the mRNA in vivo and blocks translation of the mRNA molecule into the TAT polypeptide (antisense—Okano, Neurochem., 56:560 (1991); Oligodeoxynucleotides as Antisense Inhibitors of Gene Expression (CRC Press: Boca Raton, Fla., 1988).
  • the oligonucleotides described above can also be delivered to cells such that the antisense RNA or DNA may be expressed in vivo to inhibit production of the TAT polypeptide.
  • antisense DNA is used, oligodeoxyribonucleotides derived from the translation-initiation site, e.g., between about ⁇ 10 and +10 positions of the target gene nucleotide sequence, are preferred.
  • Potential antagonists include small molecules that bind to the active site, the receptor binding site, or growth factor or other relevant binding site of the TAT polypeptide, thereby blocking the normal biological activity of the TAT polypeptide.
  • small molecules include, but are not limited to, small peptides or peptide-like molecules, preferably soluble peptides, and synthetic non-peptidyl organic or inorganic compounds.
  • Ribozymes are enzymatic RNA molecules capable of catalyzing the specific cleavage of RNA. Ribozymes act by sequence-specific hybridization to the complementary target RNA, followed by endonucleolytic cleavage. Specific ribozyme cleavage sites within a potential RNA target can be identified by known techniques. For further details see, e.g., Rossi, Current Biology, 4:469-471 (1994), and PCT publication No. WO 97/33551 (published Sep. 18, 1997).
  • Nucleic acid molecules in triple-helix formation used to inhibit transcription should be single-stranded and composed of deoxynucleotides.
  • the base composition of these oligonucleotides is designed such that it promotes triple-helix formation via Hoogsteen base-pairing rules, which generally require sizeable stretches of purines or pyrimidines on one strand of a duplex.
  • Hoogsteen base-pairing rules which generally require sizeable stretches of purines or pyrimidines on one strand of a duplex.
  • Isolated TAT polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid can be used herein for recombinantly producing TAT polypeptide using techniques well known in the art and as described herein.
  • the produced TAT polypeptides can be employed for generating anti-TAT antibodies using techniques well known in the art and as described herein.
  • Antibodies specifically binding a TAT polypeptide identified herein, as well as other molecules identified by the screening assays disclosed hereinbefore, can be administered for the treatment of various disorders, including cancer, in the form of pharmaceutical compositions.
  • TAT polypeptide is intracellular and whole antibodies are used as inhibitors, internalizing antibodies are preferred.
  • lipofections or liposomes can also be used to deliver the antibody, or an antibody fragment, into cells. Where antibody fragments are used, the smallest inhibitory fragment that specifically binds to the binding domain of the target protein is preferred.
  • peptide molecules can be designed that retain the ability to bind the target protein sequence. Such peptides can be synthesized chemically and/or produced by recombinant DNA technology. See, e.g., Marasco et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90: 7889-7893 (1993).
  • the formulation herein may also contain more than one active compound as necessary for the particular indication being treated, preferably those with complementary activities that do not adversely affect each other.
  • the composition may comprise an agent that enhances its function, such as, for example, a cytotoxic agent, cytokine, chemotherapeutic agent, or growth-inhibitory agent.
  • cytotoxic agent such as, for example, a cytotoxic agent, cytokine, chemotherapeutic agent, or growth-inhibitory agent.
  • Such molecules are suitably present in combination in amounts that are effective for the purpose intended.
  • antigens overexpressed by gliomas consist of 3 separate categories: type A antigens which are overexpressed in a set of tumors designated type A tumors, type B antigens which are overexpressed in a set of tumors designated type B tumors, and type C antigens which are overexpressed in both type A and type B tumors at roughly equivalent abundance.
  • type A tumors include tumors of both astrocytic and oligodendroglial character and included tumors of all histological grades.
  • type B tumors include only high grade (grade 3 and 4) astrocytic tumors.
  • type A and type B antigens can be used to predict patient survival. These findings also suggest that type A and type B antigens can be used as diagnostic tools and as targets therapies including antibody based therapies.
  • a “type A antigen” is a protein or RNA (or any identifiable portion of the protein or RNA including postranslational modifications) that is detected in a set of type A glioma tumors (see below) at 1.5 fold or greater abundance than levels detected in a set of type B glioma tumors (see below).
  • the difference in magnitude of expression in type A and type B tumors are generally detectable at a significance level of p ⁇ 0.05 using a t test.
  • a “type B antigen” is a protein or RNA (or any identifiable portion of the protein or RNA including postranslational modifications) that is detected in a set of type B glioma tumors (see below) at 3 fold or greater abundance than levels detected in a set of type A glioma tumors (see below).
  • the difference in magnitude of expression in type A and type B tumors are generally detectable at a significance level of p ⁇ 0.01 using a t test.
  • a “type C antigen” is a protein or RNA (or any identifiable portion of the protein or RNA including postranslational modifications) that is detected at higher levels in any set of gliomas at levels that are 3 fold or greater abundance than in normal brain, but which fails to meet either the criteria for type A or type B antigens.
  • Type A glioma tumors as defined herein are glioma tumors of astrocytic or oligodendroglial or mixed morphology of tumor grades I-IV (inclusive) which meet the following critieria.
  • Each tumor included in this set must display overexpression of at least 5 fold as compared to a sample set of adult human brain of at least 3 of the following type A antigens: DNA246435 (TAT152), DNA297393 (TAT285), DNA266920 (TAT214), DNA92958 (TAT385), DNA35916 (TAT422), DNA225649 (TAT424), DNA226522 (TAT425), DNA256886 (TAT427), DNA340337 (TAT428), DNA334625 (TAT435), DNA226037 (TAT434), DNA330250 (TAT438), DNA255915 (TAT436), DNA226375 (TAT441) and DNA336054 (TAT443).
  • type A antigens are molecules that are found in a subset of human gliomas and are expressed in the developing and/or adult nervous system at levels that exceed expression of these molecules in most other normal healthy tissues and organs. Many (but not all) type A antigens display expression in developing or adult nervous tissue at levels that exceed those seen in any other healthy organ, tissue or cell type. Many type A antigens are known to be associated with development or function of the nervous system. Type A antigens are typically either undetectable in established human glioma cell lines or present at levels well below what is seen in type A tumors.
  • Type A antigens can be identified by comparing expression of RNA or proteins between type A tumors (or a set of tumors which includes type a tumors) and any one of a variety of comparator tissues including type B tumors, or tissue from adult brain or other organs.
  • the hallmark of type A antigens is that they are more strongly expressed in type A gliomas than in type B gliomas and that they are markers associated with one or more of the following cell types or their precursors: neurons, astrocytes, and oligodgendroglia. Many, but not all, type A antigens are more strongly expressed in type A tumors than normal adult brain. We have focused on type A antigens that are overexpressed in type A tumors as compared to normal brain.
  • Type A marker that can be used to distinguish type A tumors from other gliomas, but do not necessarily distinguish type A tumors from normal brain.
  • This specific class of type A marker can be identified by comparison of proteins or mRNAs differentially expressed between a group of type A tumors and a group of type B tumors.
  • Type A tumors include gliomas of varying grades (I-IV) of both astrocytic and oligodendroglial character and may include those of ependymal character as well.
  • type A tumors are identified by high expression of one or more of the type A antigens listed below.
  • type A tumors are distinguished by lower expression of most type B antigens than is detected in type B tumors.
  • Type A tumors are identified by methods that detect the presence of RNA or protein corresponding to type A antigens and the demonstration that one or more of such type A markers is present at higher levels in these tumors than in a set of comparator tissues.
  • the set of comparator tissues may be comprised of a set of non-type A glial tumors or of any of a variety of other tissues.
  • the method of identifying type A tumors based on detection of one or more type A markers may be applied to identify individual type A tumors in a mixed population of glial tumors or to specify that a set of tumors that has been identified or sorted from a larger population of gliomas by other means is a group of type A tumors based on the presence of one or more type A antigens in one or more of the samples in that group.
  • type A tumors could be identified by ranking a set of glial tumors for relative expression of one or more type A antigens or by hierarchical clustering of tumors based on a list of sequences that includes one or more type A antigens.
  • a group of glial tumors sorted by similarity in expression of a large number of unspecified sequences could be identified as a set of group A tumors based on the expression of one or more type A markers in one or more tumors present in the sample set.
  • Type B glioma tumors as defined herein are gliomas of astrocytic morphology of tumor grades III or IV which meet the following critieria. Most commonly, type B tumors are grade 4 astrocytomas, known as glioblastoma.
  • Each tumor included in the set of type B tumors must display overexpression of at least 10 fold as compared to a sample set of adult human brain of at least 3 of the following type B antigens: DNA273438 (TAT351), DNA225952 (TAT448), DNA266307 (TAT227), DNA98541 (TAT445), DNA227020 (TAT446), DNA92995 (TAT447), DNA225952 (TAT448), DNA226139 (TAT462), DNA271324 (TAT486), DNA226061 (TAT451), DNA 96911 (TAT452), DNA226121 (TAT453), DNA226651 (TAT454), DNA208684 (TAT459) and DNA182764 (TAT274).
  • type B tumors must not display 5-fold or greater overexpression of more than one of the type A antigens listed above.
  • type B antigens are molecules that are found in a subset of human gliomas, and are typically expressed in one or more tissues, organs, or cell types outside of the nervous system at levels that meet or exceed those seen in normal brain.
  • Type B antigens are often expressed in tissues of mesenchymal origin including fibroblasts, connective tissues, bone, and cartilage or in elements of the immune system, notably cells of hematopoetic origin.
  • Many type B antigens are extracellular matrix proteins, but other classes of molecule are represented as well. Many, but not all, type B antigens are expressed in some glioma cell lines at an abundance that meets or exceeds that seen in type B tumors.

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US20090011060A1 (en) * 2007-07-06 2009-01-08 Peter Koepke Campsiandra angustifolia extract and methods of extracting and using such extract
US20090074762A1 (en) * 2007-08-03 2009-03-19 Pdl Biopharma, Inc. Therapeutic use of anti-tweak receptor antibodies
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US7879369B2 (en) 2007-09-18 2011-02-01 Selvamedica, Llc Combretum laurifolium Mart. extract and methods of extracting and using such extract
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US10260089B2 (en) 2012-10-29 2019-04-16 The Research Foundation Of The State University Of New York Compositions and methods for recognition of RNA using triple helical peptide nucleic acids
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US20090186409A1 (en) * 2002-01-02 2009-07-23 Genentech, Inc. Compositions and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of tumor
US20030228305A1 (en) * 2002-01-02 2003-12-11 Genentech, Inc. Compositions and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of tumor
US20150132286A1 (en) * 2003-08-08 2015-05-14 Celera Corporation Pancreatic cancer targets and uses thereof
US20060057602A1 (en) * 2004-01-26 2006-03-16 Baylor College Of Medicine RTVP based compositions and methods for the treatment of prostate cancer
US7824685B2 (en) * 2004-01-26 2010-11-02 Baylor College Of Medicine RTVP based compositions and methods for the treatment of prostate cancer
US20090181077A1 (en) * 2005-11-15 2009-07-16 United States Department Of Veterans Affairs Detection of pkc-iota as a biomarker for brain tumorigenesis
US20090269351A1 (en) * 2006-11-29 2009-10-29 Genentech, Inc. Method of diagnosing and treating glioma
US20090011060A1 (en) * 2007-07-06 2009-01-08 Peter Koepke Campsiandra angustifolia extract and methods of extracting and using such extract
US20090074762A1 (en) * 2007-08-03 2009-03-19 Pdl Biopharma, Inc. Therapeutic use of anti-tweak receptor antibodies
US9056908B2 (en) 2007-08-03 2015-06-16 Abbvie Biotherapeutics Inc. Therapeutic use of anti-tweak receptor antibodies
US7879369B2 (en) 2007-09-18 2011-02-01 Selvamedica, Llc Combretum laurifolium Mart. extract and methods of extracting and using such extract
US20110123530A1 (en) * 2008-03-31 2011-05-26 Arron Joseph R Compositions and methods for treating and diagnosing asthma
RU2636461C2 (ru) * 2010-05-03 2017-11-23 Дженентек, Инк. Композиции и способы для диагностики и лечения опухоли
US9684000B2 (en) 2010-12-16 2017-06-20 Genentech, Inc. Diagnosis and treatments relating to TH2 inhibition
US9995755B2 (en) 2010-12-16 2018-06-12 Genentech, Inc. Diagnosis and treatments relating to TH2 inhibition
US11226341B2 (en) 2010-12-16 2022-01-18 Genentech, Inc. Method of treating asthma using an IL-13 antibody
US10260089B2 (en) 2012-10-29 2019-04-16 The Research Foundation Of The State University Of New York Compositions and methods for recognition of RNA using triple helical peptide nucleic acids
EP3438125A1 (de) * 2017-07-31 2019-02-06 Modern Meadow, Inc. Hefestämme und verfahren zur steuerung der hydroxylierung von rekombinantem kollagen
WO2024107709A3 (en) * 2022-11-14 2024-06-27 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Compositions and methods of using nitration resistant ccl2 chemokines

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