Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
  • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • C07K14/705—Receptors; Cell surface antigens; Cell surface determinants
  • C07K14/71—Receptors; Cell surface antigens; Cell surface determinants for growth factors; for growth regulators
• • 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
  • A61K39/39533—Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immune serum, e.g. antilymphocytic serum against materials from animals
  • A61K39/39558—Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immune serum, e.g. antilymphocytic serum against materials from animals against tumor tissues, cells, antigens
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P35/00—Antineoplastic agents
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides

Definitions

• the present invention provides a HER-2 binding antagonist. Specifically, intron retention has generated a novel HER-2 antagonist polypeptide that binds to the HER-2 receptor.
• HER-2/neu (erbB-2) oncogene encodes a receptor-like tyrosine kinase (RTK) that has been extensively investigated because of its role in several human carcinomas (Hynes and Stern, Biochim. et Biophys. Ada 1198:165-184, 1994; and Dougall et al., Oncogene 9:2109- 2123, 1994) and in mammalian development (Lee et al., Nature 378:394-398, 1995).
• RTK receptor-like tyrosine kinase
• the sequence of the HER-2 protein was determined from a cDNA that was cloned by homology to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mRNA from placenta (Coussens et al., Science 230:1132-1139, 1985) and from a gastric carcinoma cell line (Yamamoto et al., Nature 319:230-234, 1986).
• EGFR epidermal growth factor receptor
• the HER-2 mRNA was shown to be about 4.5 kb (Coussens et al., Science 230:1132-1139, 1985; and Yamamoto et al., Nature 319:230-234, 1986) and encodes a transmembrane glycoprotein of 185 kDa in normal and malignant human tissues (pl85HER-2) (Hynes and Stern, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1198:165-184, 1994; and Dougall et al.,
• Oncogene 9:2109-2123, 1994 The function of the HER-2 gene has been examined mainly by expressing the cDNA corresponding to the 4.5 kb transcript in transfected cells and from the structure and biochemical properties of the 185 kDa protein product.
• P185HER-2 consists of a large extracellular domain, a transmembrane segment, and an intracellular domain with tyrosine kinase activity (Hynes and Stern, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1198:165-184, 1994; and Dougall et al., Oncogene 9:2109-2123, 1994).
• pl85HER-2 causes phenotypic transformation of cultured cells (DiFiore et al., Science 237:178-182, 1987; and Hudziak et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 84:7159-7163, 1987) and has been associated with aggressive clinical progression of breast and ovarian cancer (Slamon et al., Science 235:177- 182, 1987; and Slamon et al., Science 244:707-712, 1989).
• pl85HER-2 is highly homologous to the EGFR. However, a ligand that directly binds with high affinity to pl85HER-2 has not yet been identified.
• the signaling activity of HER-2 may be mediated through heterodimerization with other ligand-binding members of the EGFR family (Carraway and Cantley, Cell 78:5-8, 1994; Earp et al., Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 35:115-132, 1995; and Qian et al., Oncogene 10:21 1-219, 1995).
• pl85HER-2 proteolytically shed from breast carcinoma cells in culture (Petch et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982, 1990; Scott et al., Mol Cell Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993; and Lee and Maihle, Oncogene 16:3243-3252, 1998).
• the extracellular domain of pl85HER-2 is proteolytically shed from breast carcinoma cells in culture (Petch et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982, 1990; Scott et al., Mol Cell Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993; and Lee and Maihle, Oncogene 16:3243-3252, 1998), and is found in the serum of some cancer patients (Leitzel et al., J. Clin. Oncol.
• a truncated extracellular domain of HER-2 is also the product of a 2.3 kb alternative transcript generated by use of a polyadenylation signal within an intron (Scott et al., Mol Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993).
• the alternative transcript was first identified in the gastric carcinoma cell line, MKN7 (Yamamoto et al., Nature 319:230-234, 1986; and Scott et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993) and the truncated receptor was located within the perinuclear cytoplasm rather than secreted from these tumor cells (Scott et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247- 2257, 1993).
• a truncated extracellular domain of the EGFR generated by alternative splicing (Petch et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982, 1990) is secreted, exhibits ligand-binding, and dimerization properties (Basu et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 9:671-677, 1989), and may have a dominant negative effect on receptor function (Basu et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 9:671-677, 1989; and Flickinger et al., Mol. Cell Biol. 12:883-893, 1992).
• the present invention provides an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 .
• the isolated polypeptide is from about 69 to 79 amino acids in length.
• the isolated polypeptide binds to a site on the ECD of HER-2 that is different from the site of binding of Herceptin® (a marketed humanized monoclonal antibody that is used for the treatment of cancer and that binds to the ECD or HER-2).
• Herceptin® a marketed humanized monoclonal antibody that is used for the treatment of cancer and that binds to the ECD or HER-2).
• the present invention further provides an isolated DNA sequence that codes, on expression, for a polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO.
• the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 .
• the isolated polypeptide is from about 69 to 79 amino acids in length.
• the isolated polypeptide binds to a site on the ECD of HER-2 that is different from the site of binding of Herceptin (a marketed humanized monoclonal antibody that is used for the treatment of cancer and that binds to the ECD or HER-2).
• the present invention further provides a transfected cell comprising an expression vector having a DNA sequence that codes on expression for a polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 .
• the present invention further provides an isolated and glycosylated polypeptide having from about 80 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 2, wherein the C terminal 79 amino acids are present, and wherein at least three N-linked glycosylation sites are present.
• the isolated polypeptide is from about 350 to 419 amino acids in length and four N-linked glycosylation sites are present.
• the isolated polypeptide binds to a site on the ECD of HER-2 that is different from the site of binding of Herceptin (a marketed humanized monoclonal antibody that is used for the treatment of cancer and that binds to the ECD or HER-2).
• the present invention further provides an isolated DNA sequence that codes on expression for a polypeptide having from about 80 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 3, wherein the C terminal 79 amino acids are present, and wherein at least three N-linked glycosylation sites are present.
• the isolated polypeptide is from about 350 to 419 amino acids in length and four N-linked glycosylation are present.
• the present invention further provides a transfected cell comprising an expression vector having a DNA sequence that codes on expression for a polypeptide having from about 80 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 3, wherein the C terminal 79 amino acids are present, and wherein at least three N-linked glycosylation sites are present.
• the present invention provides a method for treating a solid tumor characterized by overexpression of HER-2, comprising administering an agent that binds to the extracellular domain (ECD) of HER-2, wherein the agent is selected from the group consisting of (a) an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 , (b) an isolated and glycosylated polypeptide having from about 80 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO.
• ECD extracellular domain
• the agent is the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1. Most preferably, the agent is a combination of the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO.
• the present invention further provides a pharmaceutical composition for treating tumors that overexpress HER-2, comprising an agent selected from the group consisting of (a) an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 s , (b) an isolated and glycosylated polypeptide having from about 80 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO.
• the agent is the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1.
• the agent is a combination of the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1 and the monoclonal antibody that binds to the ECD of HER-2.
• the present invention further provides a method for targeting a therapeutic agent to solid tumor tissue, wherein the solid tumor tissue is characterized by overexpression of HER-2, comprising attaching the therapeutic agent to an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 .
• the isolated polypeptide is from about 69 to 79 amino acids in length.
• the isolated polypeptide binds to a site on the ECD of HER-2 that is different from the site of binding of Herceptin® (a marketed humanized monoclonal antibody that is used for the treatment of cancer and that binds to the ECD or HER-2).
• the present invention further provides a method for determining the prognosis of tumor treatment for a tumor that overexpresses HER-2, comprising: (a) obtaining a bodily fluid, wherein the bodily fluid is selected from the group consisting of blood, serum, urine, lymph, saliva, tumor tissue, and combinations thereof; and (b) measuring the amount of p68HER-2 expressed using an anti-p68HER-2 antibody-based assay, wherein the assay is selected from the group consisting of ELISA, immunoprecipitation, immunohistocytochemistry, and Western analysis.
• the method for determining the prognosis of tumor treatment further comprises measuring the amount of pi 85HER-2 ECD in the bodily fluid, and determining a ratio between the amount of p68HER-2 and pl85HER-2.
• Figure 1 shows a nucleotide and amino acid sequence of the insert in the extracellular domain of HER-2.
• the HER-2 ECD coding sequence from exon 1 -9 (primers A and B) was amplified by PCR from a cDNA library from SKOV-3 cells.
• a product of -1420 bp was found to be HER-2-specif ⁇ c by Southern blot analysis. This product was subcloned and the nucleotide sequence was determined.
• panel A the nucleotide sequence is shown for the 274 bp insert (outside the box) and for the immediately adjacent 5' and 3' sequences enclosed in the box.
• the insert is located between nucleotide residues 1171 and 1 172 and following amino acid residue 340 in pl 85HER-2 using the numbering of Coussens et al. (Science 230:1132- 1 139, 1985). The consensus 5' and 3' splice sites at the arrows are shown in larger print.
• the inserted sequence is in-frame with 5' HER-2 exon sequence and is deduced to encode a 79 amino acid extension following Arg 340 (R 340 ).
• the novel 79 novel amino acid sequence encoded by the insert is proline-rich (19%) and has a consensus asparagine linked glycosylation site, which is underlined. A stop codon was found at nucleotides 236-238 within the inserted sequence.
• the predicted product of the alternative transcript is a truncated secreted protein which contains subdomains I and II identical to pi 85 and is missing the transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic domain. If fully glycosylated, the expected size is 65-70 kDa.
• This polypeptide product is referred to as p68HER-2.
• the product will be a truncated secreted protein which is missing the transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic domain found in pl85HER-2.
• Figure 2 shows the detection of alternative HER-2 transcripts containing the ECDIIIa sequence by Northern blot analysis.
• PolyA+ mRNA 2.5 ⁇ g
• mRNA 2.5 ⁇ g
• HEK-293 cells was resolved in a formalin agarose gel and transferred to a BrightStar® membrane (Ambion) in 1 OxSSC.
• the membrane was hybridized with a 32 P-labeled antisense RNA probe complimentary to the ECDIII sequence, stripped and reprobed with a 32 P-labeled cDNA probe specific for the 5' HER-2 exon sequence.
• the membranes were washed under high stringency conditions and analyzed by phosphorimaging (Molecular Dynamics).
• Figure 3 shows a sequence-specific reactivity of anti-ECDIIIa with a protein of- 68 kDa in a human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK293).
• Cell extract protein (20 ⁇ g) and 20 ⁇ l of media conditioned by HEK-293 cells were Western blotted and probed with anti-ECDIIIa diluted 1 : 10,000 (lanes 1 and 2) or with anti-ECDIIa diluted 1:10,000 containing 50 ⁇ g/ml purified His-tagged ECDIIIa peptide (lanes 3, 4).
• Figure 4 shows the expression of pl85HER-2, relative to p68ECDIIIa expression, is markedly elevated in carcinoma cell lines in which the HER-2 gene is amplified.
• Cell extracts (15 ⁇ g of protein) from human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK293), nontumorigenic ovarian surface epithelial cell line (IOSEVAN), ovarian carcinoma cell line with HER-2 gene amplification (SKOV-3), nontumorigenic breast epithelial cell line (HBLIOO), and breast carcinoma cell lines with HER-2 gene amplification (BT474 and SKBR-3), were resolved by SDS-PAGE in 7.5% acrylamide gels and analyzed as a Western blot.
• IOSEVAN nontumorigenic ovarian surface epithelial cell line
• SKOV-3 ovarian carcinoma cell line with HER-2 gene amplification
• HBLIOO nontumorigenic breast epithelial cell line
• B474 and SKBR-3 breast carcinoma cell lines with HER-2 gene a
• Figure 6 shows that neither p68-rich conditioned media nor the ECDIIIa peptide stimulate tyrosine phosphorylation of pi 85HER-2.
• Monolayer cultures of ⁇ 10 5 HER-2 transfected 17-3-1 cells were washed twice with PBS, incubated in serum- free media at 37 °C for 24 hrs, and then treated for 10 minutes with 75 or 150 ⁇ M His-tagged ECDIIIa or with 50X CM from HEK-293 cells that secrete high levels of p68 or 50X CM from SKOV-3 cells that have no detectible p68HER-2.
• SKOV-3 ovarian cancinoma cells and HER-2 transfected 17-3-1 cells were suspended in media with 10% fetal bovine serum containing 0.3% agar (control conditions) to which was added 50X concentrated media conditioned by SKOV-3 cells (which contains no detectable ⁇ 68HER-2 (-p68 CM)), or 50X concentrated media conditioned by HEK-293 cells (which contains 20 nM p68HER-2 (+p68CM)).
• 50X concentrated media conditioned by SKOV-3 cells which contains no detectable ⁇ 68HER-2 (-p68 CM)
• 50X concentrated media conditioned by HEK-293 cells which contains 20 nM p68HER-2 (+p68CM)
• Five times 10 3 cells were plated in triplicate for each experimental condition onto a 0.5 ml layer of media containing 0.5% agarose in 12 well plates. The results shown are plotted as the mean and standard deviation of the number of colonies with more than 50 cells in triplicate wells counted at 21 days of incubation. Similar
• the present invention is based upon the initial discovery of an alternative HER-2 mRNA of 4.8 kb with a 274 bp insert identified as intron 8.
• the retained intron is in-frame and encodes 79 amino acids [SEQ ID NO. 1] followed by a stop codon at nucleotide 236.
• the alternative mRNA predicts a truncated HER-2 protein that lacks the transmembrane and intracellular domains and contains 419 amino acids [SEQ ID NO. 2]; 340 residues that are identical to the N-terminus of pl85HER-2 and 79 unique residues at the C-terminus [SEQ ID NO. 1].
• the ECDIIIa protein was found to be 68 kDa which is the approximate size expected of the protein encoded by the alternative transcript if the five N- linked glycosylation sites found in subdomains I and II of pl85HER-2 are glycosylated (Stern et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:1729-1740, 1986).
• the data presented herein demonstrate that p68HER-2 specifically binds to pl85HER- 2.
• the association with pl85HER-2 may be conferred by the novel proline rich ECDIIIa domain rather than the N-terminal subdomains I and II of p68HER-2.
• the HER-2 ECD generated by in vitro deletion mutagenesis, also contains subdomains I and II, it does not associate with the extracellular domain of pl85HER-2 unless engineered to enhance their proximity (Tzahar et al., EMBOJ. 16:4938-4950, 1997; O'Rourke et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.
• p68HER-2 In contrast to EGFR family ligands (Groenen et al., Growth Factors 11 :235-257, 1994), p68HER-2 lacks an EGF homo logy domain and contains the first 340 amino acids of the receptor itself, pl85HER.
• HER-2 ECD when engineered to enhance its binding to RTKs, prevented the formation of productive dimers required for transphosphorylation and receptor activation thereby having a dominant negative effect (O'Rourke et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 94:3250-3255, 1997).
• soluble p68HER-2 In contrast to the HER-2 ECD, soluble p68HER-2 exhibited strong binding to pl85HER-2, yet also contains subdomain I and II of the ECD. Since subdomain I may be the low affinity, promiscuous ligand binding site required for recruitment of pl85HER-2 into heteromeric complexes (Tzahar et al., EMBO J.
• p68HER-2 could block this site and thereby obstruct recruitment of pl85HER-2 into dimers.
• p68HER-2 could compete with an uncharacterized ligand for binding to pl85HER-2.
• the tissue-specific expression of p68HER-2 in human fetal liver and kidney may function to modulate the extent to which pl85HER-2 is occupied during development of these organs.
• the overexpression of pl85HER-2, relative to p68HER-2 in tumor cells with HER-2 gene amplification ( Figure 3), could occur though a selective pressure based on overcoming the effects of a binding protein such as p68HER-2. Therefore, p68HER-2 is the first example of a naturally occurring pl85HER-2 binding protein that may prevent activation of pl85HER-2.
• the present invention further provides a pharmaceutical composition for treating solid tumors that overexpress HER-2, comprising an agent selected from the group consisting of (a) an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 , (b) an isolated and glycosylated polypeptide having from about 300 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO.
• an agent selected from the group consisting of (a) an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 , (b) an isolated and glycosylated polypeptide having from about 300 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO.
• the agent is the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1.
• the agent is a combination of the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1 and the monoclonal antibody that binds to the ECD of HER-2.
• inventive pharmaceutical composition comprising either or both of the inventive polypeptides and/or monoclonal antibody
• inventive pharmaceutical compositions can be administered to a patient either by itself (complex or combination) or in pharmaceutical compositions where it is mixed with suitable carriers and excipients.
• inventive polypeptide can be administered parenterally, such as by intravenous injection or infusion, intraperitoneal injection, subcutaneous injection, or intramuscular injection.
• Inventive polypeptide can be administered orally or rectally through appropriate formulation with carriers and excipients to form tablets, pills, capsules, liquids, gels, syrups, slurries, suspensions and the like.
• Inventive polypeptide can be administered topically, such as by skin patch, to achieve consistent systemic levels of active agent.
• inventive polypeptide is formulated into topical creams, skin or mucosal patch, liquids or gels suitable to topical application to skin or mucosal membrane surfaces.
• inventive polypeptide can be administered by inhaler to the respiratory tract for local or systemic treatment of cancers characterized by overexpressing HER-2.
• the dosage of inventive polypeptide suitable for use with the present invention can be determined by those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
• Inventive polypeptide will contain an effective dosage (depending upon the route of administration and pharmacokinetics of the active agent) of inventive polypeptide and suitable pharmaceutical carriers and excipients, which are suitable for the particular route of administration of the formulation (i.e., oral, parenteral, topical or by inhalation).
• the active inventive polypeptide is mixed into the pharmaceutical formulation by means of mixing, dissolving, granulating, dragee-making, emulsifying, encapsulating, entrapping or lyophilizing processes.
• the pharmaceutical formulations for parenteral administration include aqueous solutions of the inventive polypeptide in water-soluble form. Additionally, suspensions of the inventive polypeptide may be prepared as oily injection suspensions. Suitable lipophilic solvents or vehicles include fatty oils such as sesame oil, or synthetic fatty acid esters, such as ethyl oleate or triglycerides, or liposomes.
• Aqueous injection suspensions may contain substances which increase the viscosity of the suspension, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sorbitol, or dextran.
• the suspension may optionally contain stabilizers or agents to increase the solubility of the complex or combination to allow for more concentrated solutions.
• compositions for oral administration can be obtained by combining the active compound with solid excipients, such as sugars (e.g., lactose, sucrose, mannitol or sorbitol), cellulose preparations (e.g., starch, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose), gelaten, gums, or polyvinylpyrrolidone.
• solid excipients such as sugars (e.g., lactose, sucrose, mannitol or sorbitol), cellulose preparations (e.g., starch, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose), gelaten, gums, or polyvinylpyrrolidone.
• a desintegrating agent may be added, and a stabilizer may be added.
• Polypeptide synthesis is done by a group of standard procedures for polypeptide synthesis by sequential amino acids building through peptide synthesis equipment, following manufacturer's instructions for synthesizing peptides.
• shorter polypeptides of less than 100 amino acids, are best suited for the method of synthesis through sequential amino acid building of polypeptides.
• heterologous polypeptides can be expressed by transformed cells using standard recombinant DNA techniques to transform either prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells, provide appropriate growth media for their expression, and then purify the inventive polypeptide either from the media, or from intracellular contents depending upon the type of cell used and its expression characteristics.
• the present invention provides a method for treating a solid tumor characterized by overexpression of HER-2, or HER-2 variants (see Example 8) comprising administering an agent that binds to the extracellular domain (ECD) of HER-2, wherein the agent is selected from the group consisting of (a) an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 , (b) an isolated and glycosylated polypeptide having from about 300 to 419 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO.
• ECD extracellular domain
• the solid tumor that overexpresses HER-2 is selected from the group consisting of breast cancer, small cell lung carcinoma, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, gastric carcinoma, cervical cancer, esophageal carcinoma, and colon cancer.
• the agent is the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1.
• the agent is a combination of the isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1 and the monoclonal antibody that binds to the ECD of HER-2.
• the p68HER-2 polypeptide described herein was found to bind to HER-2 and prevent signal transduction through the kinase domain. Without being bound by theory, the unique ECDIIIa domain mediates specific binding to pl85HER-2 and the resulting interaction with p68ECDIIIa prevents pl85HER-2 dimerization and subsequent signal transduction. Therefore, p68HER-2 functions as a HER-2 antagonist to prevent signal transduction by preventing dimerization as a necessary prerequisite for signal transduction. Thus, the mechanism of p68HER-2 as a HER-2 antagonist is different from the mechanism of binding agents, such as the 79 amino acid polypeptide described herein or a monoclonal antibody that binds to the EDC of HER-2.
• the inventive method provides that p68HER-2 inhibits tumor cell growth in tumors that overexpress HER-2 by providing a selective pressure for such tumor cells.
• the HER-2 antagonists that are binding agents also inhibit tumor cell growth in tumors that overexpress HER-2 by providing selective pressure to such cells to prevent ligand binding to the ECD of HER-2 and prevent signal transduction even before potential dimerization.
• the present invention further provides a method for targeting a therapeutic agent to solid tumor tissue, wherein the solid tumor tissue is characterized by overexpression of HER-2, comprising attaching the therapeutic agent to an isolated polypeptide having from about 50 to 79 amino acids taken from the sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein the polypeptide binds to the extracellular domain ECD of HER-2 at an affinity of at least 10 8 .
• the isolated polypeptide is from about 69 to 79 amino acids in length.
• the isolated polypeptide binds to a site on the ECD of HER-2 that is different from the site of binding of Herceptin® (a marketed humanized monoclonal antibody that is used for the treatment of cancer and that binds to the ECD or HER-2).
• the 79 amino acid polypeptide [SEQ ID NO. 1] exhibited su ⁇ rising high affinity binding properties to the ECD of HER-2. Moreover, the site of such binding is different and unaffected by the site of binding of a marketed humanized monoclonal antibody (Herceptin®). Therefore, the high binding affinity enables the 79 amino acid polypeptide to function as a targeting molecule to tumor cells expressing HER-2.
• Anti-p68 Antibody as a Diagnostic/Prognostic Agent
• the p68HER-2 glycosylated polypeptide was expressed and used as an antigen for antibody production.
• antibody specific for p68HER-2 was prepared by injecting rabbits with purified polyhistidine-tagged ECDIIIa peptide, which is the same as the intron encoded novel C-terminus or p68HER-2, the domain that binds with high affinity to pl85HER- 2.
• the isolated polyclonal antibody detected pM quantities of ECDIIIa peptide or of p68HER- 2 with high specificity (see Figures 3 and 5).
• an antibody specific for p68HER-2 is useful as a diagnostic agent for detecting p68HER-2 in bodily fluids and tumor tissues using diagnostic techniques, such as ELISA, immunoprecipitations, immunohistochemistry or Western analysis.
• the present invention further provides a method for determining the prognosis of tumor treatment for a tumor that overexpresses HER-2, comprising: (a) obtaining a bodily fluid, wherein the bodily fluid is selected from the group consisting of blood, serum, urine, lymph, saliva, tumor tissue, and combinations thereof; and (b) measuring the amount of p68HER-2 expressed using an anti-p68HER-2 antibody-based assay, wherein the assay is selected from the group consisting of ELISA, immunoprecipitation, immunohistocytochemistry, and Western analysis.
• the method for determining the prognosis of tumor treatment further comprises measuring the amount of pl85HER-2 ECD in the bodily fluid, and determining a ratio between the amount of p68HER-2 and pl85HER-2.
• Example 11 shows that the human sequence of intron 8 is polymo ⁇ hic. Sequencing of genomic DNA from fifteen different individuals resulted in the identification of 10 variable sequence regions within Her-2 Intron 8. See SEQ ID NO: 10; Figure 8, and Table 1. SEQ ID NO: 10 and Figure 8 show the most common nucleotide sequence of intron 8 with 10 different polymo ⁇ hisms (marked by an X) that would result in nonconservative amino acid substitutions. For example, the polymo ⁇ hism at residue #54 (G — > C) would result in a substitution of Arginine (R) for Proline (P).
• the nucleotide sequence shown in Figure 1(A) is a polymo ⁇ hic form that differs at amino acid residues #6 and #73 from the most commonly detected sequence shown here in Figure 8.
• an individual may, mter alia, be genetically heterozygous for two variants, homozygous for a given variant, or homozygous for a double variant. Both tumor progression and optimal treatment may vary depending upon the particular variants represented in a given individual.
• the present invention further provides a method for determining the prognosis of tumor treatment for a tumor that overexpresses HER-2 variants, comprising: (a) obtaining a bodily fluid, wherein the bodily fluid is selected from the group consisting of blood, serum, urine, lymph, saliva, tumor tissue, and combinations thereof; and (b) measuring the amount of p68HER-2 variant expressed using an anti-p68HER-2 variant antibody-based assay, wherein the assay is selected from the group consisting of ELISA, immunoprecipitation, immunohistocytochemistry, and Western analysis.
• the method for determining the prognosis of tumor treatment further comprises measuring the amount of pl85HER-2 ECD in the bodily fluid, and determining a ratio between the amount of p68HER-2 and pl85HER-2. The higher the ratio of p68HER-2:p 185HER-2, the better the treatment prognosis.
• the method for determining the prognosis of tumor treatment further comprises determining which particular HER-2 variants are present and optimizing tumor treatment in view of any altered biochemical and biological properties among herstatin protein variants.
• P68HER-2 as a Therapeutic Agent
• p68HER-2 or ECDIIIa peptide inhibits the growth of tumor cells that overexpress HER-2 by binding to pl85HER-2 at the cells surface.
• This hypothesis was examined by testing anchorage independent growth of cells in the presence or absence of p68HER-2 using cells that depend on ⁇ l85HER-2 overexpression for their malignant growth, yet have little or no detectable p68HER-2.
• Anchorage independent growth of cells in soft agar was used as a predictive model for tumor cytotoxicity.
• Example 1 This example provides the results from an experiment to investigate HER-2 mRNA diversity within the extracellular domain (ECD) coding sequence using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
• ECD extracellular domain
• PCR polymerase chain reaction
• SKOV-3 cDNA library was provided by Origene Technologies, Inc. (Rockville, MD), and was prepared from RNA extracted from SKOV-3 cells. RNA was extracted from SKOV-3 cells grown to 80% confluence on 15 cm plates with TriReagent (Molecular Research Center, Inc., Cincinnati, OH), according to the manufacturer's protocol, to obtain total RNA.
• RNA was resuspended in lOmM Tris-EDTA, pH 8.0, for reverse transcription and cDNA library construction, or in RNA hybridization buffer (80% formamide, 40mM PIPES, 4 mM NaCl, ImM EDTA, pH 7.5) for ribonuclease protection assay (RPA). RNA concentrations were determined spectrophotometrically at OD 260 . Poly A + mRNA was selected from total RNA using a mRNA extraction kit (Oligotex, Qiagen).
• Nucleic acids were fixed to membranes by UV crosslinking in a UV-Stratalinker (Stratagene, Inc., La Jolla, CA), and the membranes were blocked in hybridization buffer (50% formamide, 5X SSC, 1% SDS, 10 mg/ml herring sperm DNA) at 42 °C for 2 h.
• hybridization buffer 50% formamide, 5X SSC, 1% SDS, 10 mg/ml herring sperm DNA
• the membranes were hybridized at 42 °C for 16 h in hybridization buffer with 10 7 cpm of a 220 bp Kpn-HincII fragment from ECDIIIa cDNA labelled with ( ⁇ - 32 P)dCTP (NEN Life Sciences) using a Random Prime DNA Labelling Kit (Boehringer Mannheim).
• Templates were amplified in a Perkin Elmer GeneAmp PCR System 2400 (Perkin Elmer Cetus, Emeryville, CA) using the Expand High Fidelity PCR System (Boerhinger Mannheim) with IX High Fidelity PCR buffer containing 2.5 mM MgCl 2 , 5 ⁇ M of each primer, and 200 ⁇ M dNTPs. All primers were obtained from GIBCO BRL (Life Technologies). Numbering of nucleotide and amino acid residues is according to the HER-2 cDNA sequence reported by Coussens et al. (Coussens et al., Science 230:1132-1139, 1985).
• the HER-2 extracellular domain was targeted for amplification from an SKOV-3 cDNA library (Origene Technologies, Inc.) using a forward primer (A) identical to nucleotides (nt) 142-161 of HER-2 cDNA (5'-TGAGCACCATGGAGCTGGC-3' [SEQ ID NO 3]), which spans the initiation codon (underlined) and a reverse primer (B) (5'-
• TCCGGCAGAANTGCCAGGCTCC-3' [SEQ ID NO 4] which is complementary to HER-2 exon sequence at nt 1265-1286. Cycling parameters were: 94 °C, 30 sec; 58 °C, 45 sec; 68 °C, 3 min, for 30 cycles.
• a forward primer (A) described above and a reverse primer (D) (5'-ATACCGGGACAGGTCAACAGC- 3' [SEQ ID NO 6]) which is complementary to the 3 'ECDIIIa-specific sequence were used. Cycling parameters were: 94 °C, 30 sec; 60 °C, 40 sec; 68 °C, 2 min, for 30 cycles.
• Amplification of the ECDIIIa insert and adjacent 3' HER-2 exon-specific sequence was with a forward primer (E) (5'-TCTGGGTACCCACTCACTGC-3' [SEQ ID NO 7]) which is identical to the 5 'ECDIIIa-specific sequence and contains a Kpnl restriction site and a reverse primer (F) (5'-TJ£ACACTGGCACGTCCAGACC-3' [SEQ ID NO 8]) which is complementary to HER-2 exon sequence at nt 3898-3919 and spans the termination codon (underlined). Cycling parameters were: 94 °C, 30 sec; 60 °C, 40 sec; 68 °C, 5 min, for 30 cycles. The PCR product was subcloned and the nucleotide sequence was determined.
• This example provides the results from experiments characterizing ECDIIIa as contiguous with HER-2 exons in the genome.
• a forward primer identical to nucleotides 763-785
• a reverse primer complementary to nucleotides 1265-1286 of the HER-2 cDNA
• the amplification product was anticipated to span exon 5 (Tal et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 7:2597-2601, 1987) to an exon which is immediately 3' of the ECDIIIa sequence. Intron number and sizes were estimated based on PCR product sizes, restriction digest analysis, and partial sequence analysis of amplification products.
• HER-2 exon-specific primers that directly flank the insert to determine the sequences immediately flanking the ECDIIIa sequence.
• a -430 bp product was amplified from normal human genomic DNA and from genomic DNA extracted from carcinoma cell lines SKOV-3, SKBR-3 and BT474, all of which have HER-2 gene amplification (Kraus et al., EMBOJ. 6:605-610, 1987) and were found to express ECDIIIa in their cDNA.
• the identities of the PCR products as HER-2 were verified by Southern blot analysis using the procedure described in Example 1.
• Example 3 This example shows that ECDIIIa is the only retained intron within the coding sequence of HER-2 mRNA.
• RT-PCR reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction
• a forward primer identical to 5' HER-2 cDNA sequence at 142-161 which spans the initiation codon, and a reverse primer complementary to the 3' ECDIIIa sequence were employed with SKBR-3 and SKOV-3 cDNA.
• a product of 1.3 kb was amplified, which is the size expected if the product contained no introns other than intron 8.
• Amplification of the 3 'HER-2 coding sequence was then performed using a forward primer identical to 5' ECDIIIa sequence and a reverse primer complementary to 3 'HER-2 cDNA sequence at nucleotides 3898-3919, which spans the pl85HER-2 termination codon.
• a product of 2.9 kb was amplified, which is the size expected from the HER-2 cDNA if no additional introns were retained.
• This example illustrates the expression of a protein containing an ECDIIIa sequence.
• the ECDIIIa sequence was expressed as a polyhistidine-tagged peptide in bacteria, purified the peptide by nickel-affinity chromatography, and raised antisera against the purified peptide.
• the bacterial expression vector was prepared by amplifying the ECDIIIa sequence from the SKOV- 3 cDNA library using primer E and a reverse primer complementary to the 3' end of the ECDIIIa insert sequence.
• the reverse primer contained a BamHl restriction site sequence, and was identical to that used for template construction in the RPA (described in examples land 2).
• the PCR amplification product of -280 bp was digested with Kpnl and BamHl, gel purified (Qiaex II, Qiagen, Chatsworth, CA), and cloned into the pET30a vector, which encodes a six histidine tag at the amino-terminus of the expressed protein (Novagen, Madison, WI).
• the resulting expression vector, pET-ECDIIIa was used for transformation of bacterial strain BL21.
• BL21 cells transformed with the pET-ECDIIIa expression vector were grown in LB broth with 30 ⁇ g/ml Kanamycin for 4 h at 37 °C.
• a Western blot analysis examined whether SKBR-3 cells, which expressed the alternative sequence in its cDNA, produced a protein that reacts with anti-ECDIIIa antibody.
• a 68 kDa protein from the cell extract and from the extracellular media reacted with anti- ECDIIIa antibody from two different rabbits diluted at least 20.000 fold, but not with preimmune sera.
• Inspection of the cDNA sequence of the alternative transcript ( Figure 1) predicted a secreted protein product of 65-70 kDa if all 5 consensus N-linked glycosylation sites in the N-terminal pl 85HER-2 sequence were glycosylated (Stern et al., Mol Cell. Biol. 6:1729-1740, 1986).
• the 68 kDa ECDIIIa protein [SEQ ID NO. 2] is the translation product of the alternative HER-2 mRNA, then its N-terminal residues should be identical to the N-terminal 340 residues of pl85HER-2. Therefore, cell extract from SKBR-3 cells was immunoprecipitated with anti-peptide antibody against an N-terminal sequence of HER-2, anti- neu (N) (Lin and Clinton, Oncogene 6:639-643, 1991) or with anti-ECDIIIa, and the immune complexes were examined by Western blot analysis with both antibodies.
• the immune complexes were bound to Protein G Sepharose (Pharmacia) by incubation for 1 h at 4 °C with shaking, collected by centrifugation, and washed four times with M-RIPA.
• the proteins were released from the immune complex by incubation at 95° C for 2 min in SDS- PAGE sample buffer and resolved by SDS-PAGE in 7.5% gels (Mini-Protean II electrophoresis cell, Bio-Rad).
• HEK293 cells derived from normal human embryonic kidney cells, expressed the highest levels of p68ECDIIIa in the cell extract and in the extracellular media, at about 5 to 10-fold higher amounts than SKBR-3 cells.
• the HEK293 cells contained about 20 fold lower amounts of pl85HER-2.
• the relative proportion of p68HER-2 to pl85HER-2 was at least 100 fold greater in HEK293 cells than in the three carcinoma cell lines studied. Reactivity with p68HER-2 as well as with a protein of -120 kDa, particularly apparent in the HEK293 extracts, was blocked by preincubation of the antisera with purified ECDIIIa peptide demonstrating sequence-specific reactivity. The larger protein may be a dimer of p68HER-2. Therefore, p68HER-2 was expressed and secreted from several carcinoma cell lines and is at 5-10 fold elevated levels in HEK293.
• Example 5 This example illustrates expression of an alternative HER-2 transcript containing the
• ECDIIIa intron sequence results of the RT-PCR analysis indicated that the ECDIIIa sequence was inserted into an otherwise normal-sized HER-2 mRNA. These data suggest an alternative transcript of -4.8 kb.
• Northern blot analysis was conducted using an ECDIIIa-specific probe. Briefly, a template for antisense RNA probe synthesis was constructed from SKOV-3 cDNA by PCR amplification of a 389 bp sequence spanning the entire ECDIIIa insert sequence and containing adjacent 5 ⁇ ER-2 exon sequence. The PCR was done using the forward primer C [SEQ ID NO.
• RNA probe complimentary to the entire ECDIIIa sequence and to 87 nt of HER-2 exon sequence 5' to the insert was transcribed from 1 ⁇ g of linearized template using ( ⁇ - 32 P) CTP, T7 RNA polymerase, and the T7/SP6 Riboprobe Synthesis System (Promega, Madison, WI). This probe was expected to protect a 370 nt fragment when hybridized with mRNA containing ECDIIIa and adjacent HER-2 exon sequence, and to protect an 87 nt fragment when hybridized with fully spliced HER-2 mRNA. To prepare the RNA hybrids, 30 ⁇ g of RNA were hybridized with approximately
• RNA hybrids were digested for 30 min at 37 °C with 40 ⁇ g/ml RNaseA (Boerhinger Mannheim) and 2 ⁇ g/ml RNase Tl (Life Technologies) in a solution of 250 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, and 10 mM Tris pH 7.5. Proteinase K (100 ⁇ g) (Life Technologies) in 20 ⁇ l 10% SDS was added to stop the digestion.
• Samples were extracted with acid phenol (pH 4.5; Life Technologies) and chloroform, precipitated with two volumes of 100% ethanol, and suspended in 5 ⁇ l of RPA sample buffer (88% formamide, 10 mM EDTA pH 8.0, 1 mg/ml xylene cyanol, and 1 mg/ml bromophenol blue). Samples were denatured at 95° C for 10 min and electrophoresed on a 5% polyacrylamide/urea gel in TBE (89 mM Tris, 89 mM borate, 2 mM EDTA pH 8.3). Gels were dried under vacuum and subjected to phosphorimager analysis for quantitation of the protected fragments (IP Lab Gel, Molecular Dynamics).
• RNA from ovarian (SKOV-3) and breast (SKBR-3 and BT474) carcinoma cell lines which contained detectable levels of p68ECDIIIa, and a control cell line, 17-3-1, stably transfected with HER-2 cDNA, were hybridized with an antisense 32 P-labeled RNA probe which spanned the entire ECDIIIa (intron 8) sequence and 5' HER-2 exon sequence flanking intron 8.
• Example 6 This example shows that alternative transcripts containing the ECDIIIa insert were expressed in human embryonic kidney and liver.
• a Northern blot was conducted to examine whether an alternative transcript, which contains the ECDIIIa sequence, was expressed in normal human tissue.
• PolyA * mRNA from a variety of human fetal tissues prepared as a Northern blot was hybridized with a radiolabeled probe specific for the unique ECDIIIa sequence.
• a 4.8 kb mRNA was detected in kidney and a 2.6 kb transcript was detected in liver ( Figure 2).
• the 4.8 kb transcript likely corresponded to the full length 4.5 kb transcript with the 274bp insert and the 2.6 kb transcript may have corresponded to a previously described 2.3 kb alternative transcript (Yamamoto et al., Nature 319:230-234, 1986; and Scott et al., Mol. Cell Biol 13:2247-2257, 1993) with the 274bp ECDIIIa insert.
• ECDIIIa-containing alternative transcript Several cell lines were also investigated for the ECDIIIa-containing alternative transcript by Northern blot analysis.
• the 4.8 kb alternative transcript was detected in the human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK-293 ( Figure 2).
• the ECDIIIa sequence was detected by RT-PCR analysis of SKBR-3, BT474, and SKOV-3 carcinoma cell lines, which all contain HER-2 gene amplification, an ECDIIIa-containing alternative transcript could not be detected by Northern analysis of these cells. Therefore, the more sensitive ribonuclease protection assay (RPA) was employed using an antisense probe which spanned the entire ECDIIIa sequence and 5' HER-2 exon sequence flanking the ECDIIIa sequence.
• RPA ribonuclease protection assay
• the alternative HER-2 mRNA with the ECDIIIa insert was detected at less than 5% of the fully spliced transcript in SKOV-3, SKBR-3, and BT474 cells.
• Example 7 This example illustrates expression of a protein containing the ECDIIIa sequence.
• the ECDIIIa sequence As a polyhistidine-tagged peptide in bacteria, was expressed and purified by nickel- affinity chromatography, and raised antisera against the purified peptide.
• the larger protein of -125 kDa detected in some cell extracts may be an aggregate of p68HER-2.
• the cDNA sequence of the alternative transcript ( Figure 1) predicts a secreted protein product of 65-70 kDa if all 5 consensus N-linked glycosylation sites in the N-terminal pi 85HER-2 sequence are glycosylated (Stem et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:1729- 1740, 1986).
• Several other cell lines were examined for expression of p68ECDIIIa The carcinoma cell lines which contained ECDIIIa sequence in their cDNA (BT474, SKOV-3, SKBR-3) also had detectable levels of p68HER-2.
• Example 8 This example illustrates the expression of p68HER-2 relative to pl85HER-2 was markedly reduced in carcinoma cell lines in which the HER-2 gene is amplified. Because the p68HER-2 mRNA was expressed at very low levels relative to the pl85HER-2 mRNA in carcinoma cell lines with HER-2 gene amplification, the relative proportions of p68HER-2 and pl 85HER-2 proteins in several cell lines were examined with and without HER-2 gene amplification. Western blots were prepared and probed with both antisera specific for p68HER-2 and for pl85HER-2. Figure 4 shows that pl85HER-2 was readily detected in the carcinoma cells lines that have their HER-2 gene amplified about 8 times (Kraus et al., EMBO J.
• p68HER-2 was the only HER-2 protein detected in the HEK-293, IOSEVAN, and HBLIOO nontumorigenic cells, although pi 85HER-2 was expressed at very low levels in these cells (Kraus et al., EMBOJ. 6:605-610, 1987) and was detected in overexposed blots.
• p68HER-2 was low in proportion to pl85HER-2 in carcinoma cells with HER-2 gene amplification and suggests that a mechanism may exist to maintain low levels of p68HER-2 when pi 85HER-2 is overexpressed.
• Example 9 This example illustrates that p68HER-2 and the ECDIIIa peptide specifically bind to pl85HER-2. Because p68HER-2 is secreted and contains subdomains I and II identical to pl85HER-2, in addition to a novel sequence, the possibility that p68HER-2 may interact with pi 85HER-2 was investigated. Antipeptide antibody against the N-terminus of pi 85HER-2 and p68HER-2, anti-neu (N), or antibody specific for pl85HER-2, anti-neu(C), were used for immunoprecipitations of SKBR-3 carcinoma cells, which express low levels of p68HER-2 and overexpress pl85HER-2.
• the immunoprecipitated material was prepared as a Western blot and probed with both anti-ECDIIIa specific for p68HER-2 and with anti-neu(C).
• Anti-neu (N) immunoprecipitated both p68HER-2 and pl85HER-2 ( Figure 5 A).
• antibodies specific for the C-terminus of pl85HER-2 immunoprecipitated pl85HER-2 and coprecipitated p68HER-2 ( Figure 5A), suggesting an interaction between the two proteins.
• the question of whether the ECDIIIa domain preferentially binds to cells that overexpress pl85HER-2 was examined. This was investigated using monolayer cultures of 17-3-1 cells transfected with HER-2 compared to the parental 3T3 cells. The cells were incubated with different concentrations of the His-ECDIIIa peptide, washed, and extracted in denaturing buffer with protease inhibitors. To detect any bound peptide, the cell extracts were examined by Western blot analysis using antibodies specific for ECDIIIa.
• ECDIIIa peptide treated cells were reacted as a Western blot with antibodies specific for pl85HER-2, demonstrating the overexpression of pl85HER-2 in the transfected 17-3-1 cells.
• the ECDIIIa peptide preferentially bound to intact 17-3-1 cells at nM concentrations ( Figure 5C) whereas little or no peptide was found to bind to equivalent amounts of parental 3T3 cells suggesting a specific interaction with the extracellular domain of pl85HER-2.
• Tyrosine phosphorylation of RTKs is the initial indication of ligand activation and signal transduction.
• Tyrosine phosphorylation in 17-3-1 cells treated with different amounts of the purified ECDIIIa peptide, with conditioned media (CM) from HEK293 cells that contained high levels of p68HER-2 ( Figure 2A), or with control, conditioned media from SKOV-3 cells that had no detectable p68HER-2 were examined.
• Example 11 This example illustrates that the sequence of intron 8 is polymo ⁇ hic.
• Intron 8 of the human HER-2 gene is alternatively retained in mRNA, and encodes a novel 79-residue domain at the C-terminus of a part of the extracellular domain of p 185HER-2.
• the product, "herstatin,” of the alternative transcript with the retained intron functions as an autoinhibitor of the HER-2 oncogene.
• the intron 8 encoded domain alone, was shown to bind with nM affinity to pl85HER-2. (Doherty et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:10,869-10,874, 1999).
• polymo ⁇ hisms in the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence of intron 8 in the HER-2 gene were identified by sequencing genomic DNA from 15 different individuals.
• Figure 8 and SEQ ID NO: 10 show the most common nucleotide sequence of intron 8 with 10 different polymo ⁇ hisms (marked by an X) that result in nonconservative amino acid substitutions.
• the polymo ⁇ hism at residue #54 (G - C) result in a substitution of Arginine (R) for Proline (P).
• the N-terminal Glycine (G), designated as position 1 in this figure, corresponds to amino acid residue 341 in the herstatin sequence (Doherty et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:10,869-10,874, 1999).
• the nucleotide sequence shown in Figure 1(A) is a polymo ⁇ hic form that differs at amino acid residues #6 and #73 from the most commonly detected sequence shown here in
• the DNA sequence variants listed here correspond to the variable amino acid positions ("Xaa”) of SEQ ID NO:l as follows: X(4) to Xaa(2); X(14) to Xaa(5); X(17) to Xaa(6); X(47) to Xaa(16); X(54) to Xaa(18); X(62) to Xaa(21); X(106) to Xaa(36); X(161) to Xaa(54); X(191) to Xaa(64); X(217) to Xaa(73); and to the variable amino acid positions of SEQ ID NO:2 as follows: X(4) toXaa(342); X(14) to Xaa(345); X(17) to Xaa(346); X(47) to Xaa(356); X(54) to Xaa(358); X(62) to Xaa(361); X
• variable amino acid changes for the variable amino acid positions in SEQ ID NO:l are: Variant 1, Xaa(2)(Thr ⁇ Ser); Variant 2, Xaa(5) (Leu ⁇ Pro); Variant 3, Xaa(6) (Pro ⁇ Leu); Variant 4, Xaa(16) (Leu ⁇ Gln); Variant 5, Xaa(18) (Met ⁇ Leu); Variant 6, Xaa(21) (Gly ⁇ ); Variant 7, Xaa(36) (Leu ⁇ Ile); Variant 8, Xaa(54) (Pro ⁇ Arg); Variant 9, Xaa(64) (Pro ⁇ Leu); and Variant 10, Xaa(73) (Asp ⁇ Asn).
• the same substitutions apply to the corresponding variable amino acid positions in SEQ ID NO:2.

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