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  • C07K14/52—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
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  • A61K38/17—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • A61K38/19—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61K38/16—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
  • A61K38/17—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • A61K38/19—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
  • A61K38/195—Chemokines, e.g. RANTES
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides
  • A61K38/16—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
  • A61K38/17—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • A61K38/19—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
  • A61K38/20—Interleukins [IL]
  • A61K38/2006—IL-1
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  • A61K38/22—Hormones
  • A61K38/2264—Obesity-gene products, e.g. leptin
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
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  • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • C07K14/52—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
  • C07K14/521—Chemokines
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  • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • C07K14/52—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
  • C07K14/521—Chemokines
  • C07K14/523—Beta-chemokines, e.g. RANTES, I-309/TCA-3, MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta/ACT-2/LD78/SCIF, MCP-1/MCAF, MCP-2, MCP-3, LDCF-1, LDCF-2
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  • C07K14/52—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
  • C07K14/525—Tumour necrosis factor [TNF]
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  • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • C07K14/52—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
  • C07K14/54—Interleukins [IL]
  • C07K14/545—IL-1
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  • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • C07K14/52—Cytokines; Lymphokines; Interferons
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  • C07K14/56—IFN-alpha
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  • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
  • C07K14/575—Hormones
  • C07K14/5759—Products of obesity genes, e.g. leptin, obese (OB), tub, fat
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  • C07K2319/33—Fusion polypeptide fusions for targeting to specific cell types, e.g. tissue specific targeting, targeting of a bacterial subspecies
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  • C07K2319/70—Fusion polypeptide containing domain for protein-protein interaction
  • C07K2319/74—Fusion polypeptide containing domain for protein-protein interaction containing a fusion for binding to a cell surface receptor

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a fusion protein comprising at least two cytokines, of which at least one is a modified cytokine with a strongly reduced binding affinity to its receptor, or to one of its receptors.
• both cytokines are connected by a linker, preferably a GGS linker.
• the invention relates further to said fusion protein for use in treatment of diseases.
• Cytokines are small secreted or membrane-bound proteins which play a crucial role in intercellular communication. Cytokine binding to its cognate receptor complex triggers a cascade of intracellular signaling events that enables the cell to sense and respond to its surroundings according to the needs of the cell, tissue and organ of which it is part of. They are characteristically pleiotropic, meaning that they provoke a broad range of responses depending on the nature and the developmental state of the target cell. Moreover, some of them are highly redundant as several cytokines have overlapping activities, which enable them to functionally compensate for mutual loss. Cytokine activities can be autocrine, paracrine or endocrine causing a faint boundary between the designated term cytokine, peptide hormone and growth factor.
• cytokines Six different structural classes of cytokines are known: the a-helical bundle cytokines which comprises most interleukins, colony stimulating factors and hormones like growth hormone and leptin (Nicola and Hilton, 1998) , the trimeric tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family (Idriss and Naismith, 2000), the cysteine knot growth factors (Sun and Davies, 1995), the ⁇ -trefoil fold group that includes the interleukin-1 family (Murzin et al., 1992), the interleukin 17 (IL-17) family (Gaffen, 201 1 ), and the chemokines (Nomiyama et al., 2013).
• TNF tumor necrosis factor
• IL-17 interleukin 17
• chemokines Nomiyama et al., 2013.
• cytokines have found important clinical applications. Examples include erythropoietin (Epo), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interferons oc2 and - ⁇ , and growth hormone. Conversely, often as a consequence of their pro-inflammatory nature, antagonizing selected cytokines also finds specific medical applications. Prime examples here are the strategies to block TNFa activity to combat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Because of these successes, strategies to optimize cytokine activities in the clinic are being explored. These include optimized half-life, reduced immunogenicity, targeted delivery to specific cell types and genetic fusions of two cytokines, so-called fusokines.
• Fusokines are artificial combinations of two different cytokines which are genetically linked using a linker sequence.
• the first example of a fusokine is plXY321 or pixykine which is a fusion protein of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GMCSF) and IL-3 (Donahue et al., 1988) that showed superior hematopoietic and immune effects compared to either cytokine alone. This effect could be explained by enhanced binding to their respective receptor complexes.
• both receptors share the signaling ⁇ subunit, precluding synergistic effects at the signal transduction level.
• GM-CSF-based fusokines with cytokines of the IL-2 family were explored as well. These cytokines all signal through receptor complexes comprising the jc subunit. Examples of such fusokines with GM-CSF include IL-2 (Stagg et al., 2004), IL-15 (Rafei et al., 2007) and IL-21 (Williams et al., 2010a), aka as GIFT2, -15 and -21 . Synergistic effects could be expected both at the signaling level (i.e.
• GIFT2 induced more potent activation of NK cells compared to the combination of the unfused cytokines (Penafuerte et al., 2009) and GI FT15 induced an unanticipated, potent immune-suppressive B- cell population (Rafei et al., 2009a).
• GI FT21 exerted unexpected proinflammatory effects on monocytic cells (Williams et al, 2010b).
• Another example of a fusokine that combines a-helical cytokines is IL-2/IL-12 (Gillies et al., 2002; Jahn et al, 2012).
• fusokines combines cytokines from different structural families. Examples include the fusion of IL-1 8 (a member of the IL-1 cytokine family) and IL-2 (Acres et al. , 2005) and the fusion between IL-18 and EGF (epidermal growth factor). Since overexpression of the EGFR is often observed on certain tumor cell types, the latter fusokine offers the possibility to target the IL-18 activity to EGFR+ tumor cells (Lu et al., 2008). Fusions between a-helical bundle cytokines and chemokines were also explored in greater detail. Chemokines often act using concentration gradients to steer migration of immune cells to sites of infection and inflammation.
• chemokine receptors display a restricted expression pattern allowing targeting to selected (immune) cells. Moreover, signaling via the serpentine, G-protein coupled chemokine receptors is fundamentally different from pathways activated by the a-helical bundle cytokine receptor complexes and synergetic positive and negative cross-talk mechanisms could be expected.
• designed N-terminally truncated versions of chemokines can retain their receptor binding properties but display antagonistic behavior.
• An example is a fusokine between GM-CSF and a N-terminally truncated CCL2 lacking the first 5 N-terminal amino-acids, aka GMME1 (Rafei et al., 2009b).
• This fusokine induced the apoptosis of inflammatory CCR2+ cells and mice treated with GMME1 displayed reduced experimentally- induced autoimmune disease scores including EAE and CIA for multiple sclerosis (Rafei et al., 2009b) and rheumatoid arthritis (Rafei et al., 2009c), respectively.
• this fusokine induced apoptosis of CCR2+ tumor cells (Rafei et al., 201 1 ).
• fusions between a wild-type cytokine and a mutant cytokine with strongly reduced affinity for its cognate receptor complex were not explored before.
• XCL1 is a 93 amino acids chemokine secreted by CD8 + T cells, Th1 cell-polarized CD4 + T cells and NK cells. It interacts with XCR1 , a chemokine receptor exclusively expressed by dendritic cells. In mice, XCR1 is expressed in the large majority of splenic CD1 1 c + CD8a + dendritic cells whereas only a very minor subset of CD8a " dendritic cells expresses this receptor (Dorner et al. 2009). XCR1 is a conserved selective marker of mammalian cells (including human cells) homologous to mouse CD8a + dendritic cells (Crozat et al. 2010). Interestingly it has been shown that the action of type I interferon (IFNa/ ⁇ ) on this dendritic cell subset is critical for the innate immune recognition of a growing tumor in mice (Fuertes et al. 2011 ).
• IFNa/ ⁇ type I interferon
• Systemic IFNa therapy has considerable toxicity, including side effects such as severe fatigue, fever, chills, depression, thyroid dysfunction, retinal disease, hair loss, dry skin, rash, itching and bone marrow suppression. It would thus be highly worthwhile to target IFN activity toward only the cellular population which should be treated with IFN. For application in antitumor therapies, targeting the population of XCR1 -expressing dendritic cells is highly desirable since these cells are specialized in antigen cross-presentation (Bachem et al. 2012).
• the human IFNa2-Q124R mutant has a high affinity for the murine IFNAR1 chain and a low affinity for the murine IFNAR2 chain (Weber et al., 1987). It displays a very low activity on murine cells and hence represents a prototype of an engineered type I IFN subtype suitable to target IFN activity on selected mouse cells (PCT/EP2013/050787).
• the CC chemokine CCL20 also known as liver and activation-regulated chemokine (LARC), macrophage inflammatory protein-3a (MIP-3a) or Exodus-1 is a 96 AA protein that is predominantly expressed in liver and lymphoid tissue (Hieshima et al., 1997).
• CCL20 Upon secretion, CCL20 exerts its activity by binding to the CC chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6), which belongs to the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) 1 family (Baba et al., 1997). CCR6 expression is reported on different leukocyte subsets but is best documented for the Th17 cell population (Singh et al., 2008).
• CCR6 CC chemokine receptor 6
• GPCR G-protein coupled receptor
• Th17 function is indispensable for protective immunity against a range of pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Khader et al., 2007), Klebsiella pneumoniae (Ye et al., 2001 ) and Bordetella pertussis (Higgins et al., 2006).
• Th17 cells Potentiating effects of IL-1 ⁇ on the expansion and differentiation of different T cell subsets, in particular Th17 cells (Sutton et al., 2006; Acosta-Rodriguez et al., 2007; Dunne et al., 2010; Shaw et al., 2012) have been firmly established.
• Th17 cells express the highest levels of the IL-1 R and IL-1 plays an important role in Th17 priming. Controlled agonistic IL-1 activity could therefore have applications in different physiological/pathological processes, where immunostimulatory effects would be desirable.
• One of the main concerns regarding the use of IL-1 in immunostimulatory therapies is however its severe toxicity when administered systemically.
• IL-1 variants consist of mutant IL-1 fused to a CCL20 targeting moiety. Because activation will be confined to CCR6-expressing cells (ie Th17 cells) only, no major systemic toxicity is expected.
• TNFa is a cytokine with a wide range of biological activities including cytotoxicity, regulation of immune cells and mediation of inflammatory responses. It is a self-assembling, non-covalently bound, homotrimeric type II transmembrane protein of 233 amino acids. TNFa is active as a membrane-bound as well as a soluble protein, released from the cell membrane after proteolytic cleavage of the 76 aminoterminal amino acids (presequence) by TNFa converting enzyme (TACE, also called ADAM17). It signals through 2 distinct receptors, TNF-R1 (p55) and TNF-R2 (p75), both transmembrane glycoproteins with a cystein-rich motif in the ligand- binding extracellular domain.
• TACE TNFa converting enzyme
• scTNF single chain variant
• Leptin is a 16kDa adipocytic cytokine involved in a multitude of biological processes, including immunity, reproduction, linear growth, glucose homeostasis, bone metabolism and fat oxidation, but is best known for its dramatic effect as a satiety signal (Halaas et al., 1995). Because of its effect on immune cells, leptin is also implicated in several auto-immune diseases (likuni et al., 2008). Selective targeting of leptin activity may be beneficial for both metabolic and immune- or inflammation-related disorders.
• a first aspect of the invention is a fusion protein, comprising at least two cytokines, of which at least one cytokine is a modified cytokine that shows a strongly reduced binding activity towards its receptor, or towards at least one of its receptors, if binding on different receptors is possible.
• a reduced binding affinity means that the affinity is less than 50%, preferably less than 40%, more preferably less than 30%, more preferably more than 25%, more preferably less than 20%, more preferably less than 15%, more preferably less than 10%, more preferably less than 5%, most preferably less than 1 % of the wild type cytokine.
• Wild type cytokine as used here, means the cytokine as it occurs in nature, in the host organism.
• the modification of the cytokine resulting in a reduction in binding affinity can be a modification that decreases the activity of the normal wild type cytokine, or it can be a modification that increases the affinity of a homologous, non-endogenous cytokine (such as, but not limited to a mouse cytokine, binding to a human cytokine receptor).
• Modifications can be any modification reducing or increasing the activity, known to the person skilled in the art, including but not limited to chemical and/or enzymatic modifications such as pegylation and glycosylation, fusion to other proteins and mutations.
• the cytokine with reduced binding affinity to the receptor is a mutant cytokine.
• the mutation may be any mutation known to the person skilled in the art, including deletions, insertions, truncations or point mutations. Preferably, said mutation is a point mutation or a combination of point mutations.
• the affinity can be measured with any method known to the person skilled in the art. As a non-limiting example, the affinity of the ligand towards the receptor can be measured by Scatchard plot analysis and computer-fitting of binding data (e.g. Scatchard, 1949) or by reflectometric interference spectroscopy under flow through conditions, as described by Brecht et al. (1993). Alternatively, the reduced binding activity can be measured as reduction of the biological activity of the mutant ligand compared to the wild type ligand.
• said biological activity is measured in vitro, using a reporter assay.
• reporter assays depend upon the cytokine receptor system used, and are known to the person skilled in the art.
• an IFN- ⁇ reporter assay is described by Bono et al (1989) together with the Scatchard analysis.
• the biological activity of the mutant is less than 50%, preferably less than 40%, more preferably less than 30%, more preferably more than 25%, more preferably less than 20%, more preferably less than 15%, more preferably less than 10%, more preferably less than 5%, most preferably less than 1 % of the wild type cytokine
• the modified cytokine is fused to another cytokine, modified or not.
• both cytokines are fused using a linker sequence, preferably a GGS linker, comprising one or more GGS repeats.
• the modified cytokine may be placed in the aminoterminal part of the molecule, or in the carboxyteminal part; the fusion protein may further comprise other domains such as, but not limited to a tag sequence, a signal sequence, another cytokine or an antibody.
• a cytokine as used here may be any cytokine known to the person skilled in the art, including, but not limited to cytokines of the ohelical bundle cytokine family, the trimeric tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family (Idriss and Naismith, 2000), the cysteine knot growth factors (Sun and Davies, 1995), the ⁇ -trefoil fold group that includes the interleukin-1 family (Murzin et al., 1992), the interleukin 17 (IL-17) family (Gaffen, 201 1 ), and the chemokines (Nomiyama et al., 2013).
• TNF tumor necrosis factor
• IL-17 interleukin 17
• chemokines Nomiyama et al., 2013
• a single chain version is used.
• Such single chain cytokines are known to the person skilled in the art, and are described, amongst others, by Krippner-Heidenrich et al. (2008)
• said fusion protein is a fusion between XCL1 and a IFNa2- mutant, preferably a Q124R mutant.
• said fusion is a fusion between CCL20 and an I L1 ⁇ mutant.
• said I L1 ⁇ mutant is a Q148G mutant.
• said fusion is a fusion between TNFa and a leptin mutant.
• said leptin mutant is a selected from the group consisting of L86S and L86N.
• Another aspect of the invention is a fusion protein according to the invention for use as a medicament.
• it is a fusion protein according to the invention for use in treatment of cancer.
• it is a fusion protein according to the invention for use in modulation of the immune response.
• Figure 1 Schematic representation of the structural elements in the XCL1 / IFNa2-Q124R fusion protein.
• Figure 2 Selective activity of the XCL1 / IFNa2-Q124R fusion protein on XCR1 expressing cells.
• STAT1 Y701 phosphorylation is measured in response to IFNa/ ⁇ or XCL1 / IFNa2-Q124R fusion protein in different mouse splenocyte subsets, characterized by the expression of CD11 c and CD8a.
• Figure 3 Schematic representation of the structural elements in the IL-1 (3-mutant / CCL20 fusion proteins.
• Figure 4 Selective activity of the IL-i p-mutant / CCL20 fusion proteins on CCR6 expressing cells.
• Figure 6 Selective activity of the scTNFa / Leptin mutant fusion proteins on leptin receptor expressing cells.
• Leptin-dependent growth induced by indicated concentrations of scTNF-targeted WT or mutant leptin is measured by the XTT assay in Ba/F3-mLR cells (panel A) or Ba/F3-mLR-TNFR1 ACyt cells (panel B).
• Figure 7 In vivo targeting of IFN activity on mouse spleen cells expressing XCR1.
• C57BI/6 mice were injected iv with the indicated amount of XCL1-IFNa2-Q124R or with 1 000 000 units of natural murine IFNa/ ⁇ or PBS.
• spleen cells were analyzed by FACS for CD1 1 c and CD8a expression (first panel) and for P-STAT1 (further panels) in the following cell population: CD1 1 c- CD8a- (line 1 ), CD1 1c- CD8a+ (line 2), CD1 1c+ CD8a+ (Iine3), CD1 1c+ CD8a- (line 4).
• the XCL1 open reading frame was synthesized by PC from the XCL1 -encoding plasmid MR200473 (Origen Inc.), using the Expand High Fidelity PCR system (Roche Diagnostics) and the following primers:
• the PCR product was digested by EcoRI and BspEI and substituted to the EcoRI-BspEI fragment which encodes the nanobody in the pMET7 SlgK-HA-1 R59B-His-PAS-ybbr-IFNA2- Q124R vector (PCT/EP2013/050787).
• a codon-optimized sequence encoding the mature human I L-1 ⁇ / CCL20 fusion protein was generated via gene synthesis (Invitrogen Gene Art). Briefly, a sequence was synthesized in which the mature human IL- ⁇ protein, preceded by the SigK leader peptide, and equipped with an N-terminal HA, was fused at its C-terminus to a 13xGGS linker sequence, followed by the sequence for mature human CCL20 with a C-terminal HIS tag (Fig. 3).
• I L-1 ⁇ mutants expected to have reduced binding affinity for the IL-1 R were selected based on literature and analysis of published crystal structures of human I L-1 ⁇ complexed with its receptor. Mutations in the hi L-1 ⁇ moiety were created via site-directed mutagenesis (QuickChange, Stratagene) using the mutagenesis primers as indicated in the table:
• IL-13-CCL20 fusion proteins were produced in HEK293T cells.
• HEK293T cells were seeded in 6-well plates at 400000 cells/well in DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS. After 24 hours, culture medium was replaced by medium with reduced serum (DMEM/5%FCS) and cells were transfected using linear PEL Briefly, PEI transfection mix was prepared by combining 1 ⁇ g expression vector with 5 ⁇ g PEI in 160 ⁇ DMEM, incubated for 10 minutes at RT and added to the wells dropwise. After 24 hours, transfected cells were washed with DMEM and layered with 1.5 ml OptiMem/well for protein production. Conditioned media were recuperated after 48 hours, filtered through 0.45 ⁇ filters and stored at -20°C. I L-1 ⁇ content in the conditioned media was determined by ELISA according to the manufacturer's instructions (R&D Systems).
• the coding sequences of the wild-type (WT), L86S and L86N leptin were synthesized by PCR from pMet7 plasmids expressing WT Leptin, Leptin L86S or Leptin L86N, respectively, using the following primers:
• HekT cells were transfected with the different fusion protein constructs using the standard calcium phosphate precipitation method. 48 hours after the transfection culture mediums were harvested and stored at -20°C. The concentration was determined with a commercial hTNFa ELISA (DY210, R&D systems). Cell lines
• Hek 293T, HL1 16 and LL171 cell line were grown in DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS.
• Ba/F3-ml_R and Ba/F3-mLR-TNFR1 ACyt cells were maintained in RPMI supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated FCS and 100ng/ml leptin.
• Phospho STAT1 assay Single-cell suspensions were prepared from spleens isolated from C57BI/6 mice. Erythrocytes were depleted using red blood cell lysis buffer (Lonza). Splenocytes were treated for 30 min with mouse IFNa/ ⁇ or XCL1-IFNa2-Q124R fusion protein in RPMI 5% fetal calf serum at 37°C and then labelled with the BD Phosflow PE mouse anti-STAT1 (pY701 ) together with the Alexa Fluor 488-labelled anti-mouse CD1 1c (eBioscience #53-01 14-80) and APC-labelled anti mouse CD8a (BD Bioscience #553035) or anti-mouse CD1 1 c and Alexa 488-labelled anti- mouse CD8a according to BD Biosciences instructions. FACS data were acquired using a BD FACS Canto and analyzed using either Diva (BD Biosciences) software.
• HEK-BlueTM I L-1 ⁇ cells that stably express the IL-1 R (Invivogen) and transfected them transiently with an NF- ⁇ luciferase reportergene.
• HEK-BlueTM IL-1 ⁇ cells were seeded in culture medium (DMEIW10%FCS) in 96-well plates (10000 cells/well) and transfected the next day using the calciumphosphate precipitation method with the indicated amounts of expression plasmids and 5 ng/well of the 3KB-LUC reportergene plasmid (Vanden Berghe et al., 1998).
• the Ba/F3-mLR cell line was generated by electroporation of Ba/F3 cells with the pMet7-mLR vector. Stably expressing cells were selected by growing them on leptin instead of IL-3. Indeed, growth of Ba/F3 cells is dependent on IL-3, but when they express mLR, they also proliferate with leptin.
• Ba/F3-mLR-TNFR1ACyt cell line Ba/F3-mLR cells were co-transfected with pMet7-HA-hTNFR1ACyt and plRESpuro2 (Clontech) followed by puromycin selection and FACS sorting of hTNFRIACyt-expressing cells.
• Ba/F3-mLR and Ba/F3-mLR-TNFR1 ACyt cells were washed, seeded in RPMI/10%iFCS in 96-well plates (10.000 cells/well) and stimulated with the indicated amounts of leptin or fusion proteins.
• 50ul XTT XTT Cell Proliferation Kit II, Roche, 1 1 465 015 001 ) was added and incubated for 4 hrs before measuring absorbance at 450nm.
• Example 1 IFN activity of the XCL1 / IFNa2-Q124R fusion protein is restored on cells expressing XCR1.
• Mouse splenocytes were treated for 30 minutes with 1 nM XCL1 -IFNa2-Q124R or with 10000 units/ml mouse IFNa/ ⁇ . Cells were then fixed, permeabilized and stained with an anti-phospho STAT1 (PE), anti CD1 1 c (Alexa Fluor 488) and anti CD8a (APC) and analyzed by FACS.
• Figure 2 shows that mouse IFN ⁇ / ⁇ induced STAT1 phosphorylation in all splenocyte subsets analysed.
• the XCL1-IFNa2-Q124R fusion protein induced an IFN response only in the majority of cells belonging to the CD1 1 c + CD8a + subset and in a minority of cells belonging to the CD1 1 c + CD8a " subset.
• the distribution of the splenocyte subsets responding to the XCL1-IFNa2-Q124R fusion protein matches perfectly the expected distribution of XCR1 , the XCL1 receptor (Dorner et al. 2009).
• Example 2 IL1 ⁇ activity is restored on cells expressing CCR6 HEK-BlueTM I L- ⁇ cells, which stably express the IL-1 R, were transiently transfected with an NF-KB reportergene plasmid (5 ng/well) and an empty vector or hCCR6 expression plasmid (10 ng/well). Mock- and CCR6-transfected cells were next treated for 6 hours with wild type or mutant IL1 -CCL20 fusion proteins (25 ng/ml), after which cells were lysed and NF-KB reportergene activity was determined. As evident from Fig.
• FIG. 4A cells expressing CCR6 responded with increased NF- ⁇ reportergene activity to all investigated mutant IL1 3-CCL20 fusion proteins as compared to mock-transfected cells.
• I L-1 ⁇ - Q148G mutant for which the targeting effect was most apparent, in more detail, mock- transfected or CCR6-expressing HEK-BlueTM I L-1 ⁇ cells were treated for 6 hours with increasing doses of WT I L-1 ⁇ or I L-1 Q148G-CCL20 fusion protein.
• Fig. 4B demonstrates that overexpression of CCR6 increased the activity of the WT IL-i -CCL20 fusion, but had a stronger potentiating effect for the IL-13Q148G-CCL20 fusion.
• the targeting effect was most prominent when IL1-3-CCL20 was applied to the cells at 12.5 ng/ml (Fig. 4C).
• Example 3 Leptin activity is restored on cells expressing the TNFR
• Example 4 in vivo targeting of an XCR1 expressing cell population
• XCR1 expressing cells represent the major part of CD1 1 c+ CD8a+ spleen cell population and a minor part of CD11 c+ CD8a- spleen cell population.
• C57BI/6 mice were injected iv with the indicated amount of XCL1-IFNa2-Q124R or with 1 000 000 units of natural murine IFNa/ ⁇ or PBS. After 45 min, spleen cells were analyzed by FACS for P-STAT1 in the following cell population: CD1 1 c- CD8a-, CD1 1 c- CD8a+, CD1 1 c+ CD8a+, CD11 c+ CD8a- .
• IL-1 acts on T cells to enhance the magnitude of in vivo immune responses.
• the XC chemokine receptor 1 is a conserved selective marker of mammalian cells homologous to mouse CD8alpha+ dendritic cells. J. Exp. Med. 207, 1283-1292.
• TLR4 mediates vaccine-induced protective cellular immunity to Bordetella pertussis: role of IL-17-producing T cells. J Immunol. 177, 7980-9.
• TNF alpha and the TNF receptor superfamily structure- function relationship(s). Microscopy research and technique 50, 184-95.
• IL12-IL2-antibody fusion protein targeting Hodgkin's lymphoma cells potentiates activation of NK and T cells for an anti-tumor attack.
• EGF-IL-18 fusion protein as a potential anti-tumor reagent by induction of immune response and apoptosis in cancer cells. Cancer Lett 260, 187-197.
• ⁇ -Trefoil fold Patterns of structure and sequence in the Kunitz inhibitors interleukins- ⁇ ⁇ and 1 a and fibroblast growth factors. Journal of Molecular Biology 223, 531-543.
• GM-CSF interleukin-3/granulocyte- macrophage colony-stimulating factor
• PIXY321 interleukin-3/granulocyte- macrophage colony-stimulating factor

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