Classifications

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  • 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
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  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K16/00—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies
  • C07K16/18—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans
  • C07K16/28—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans against receptors, cell surface antigens or cell surface determinants
  • C07K16/2803—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans against receptors, cell surface antigens or cell surface determinants against the immunoglobulin superfamily
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61K45/00—Medicinal preparations containing active ingredients not provided for in groups A61K31/00 - A61K41/00
  • A61K45/06—Mixtures of active ingredients without chemical characterisation, e.g. antiphlogistics and cardiaca
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K9/00—Medicinal preparations characterised by special physical form
  • A61K9/0012—Galenical forms characterised by the site of application
  • A61K9/0019—Injectable compositions; Intramuscular, intravenous, arterial, subcutaneous administration; Compositions to be administered through the skin in an invasive manner
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
  • A61P35/00—Antineoplastic agents
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61P35/00—Antineoplastic agents
  • A61P35/04—Antineoplastic agents specific for metastasis
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
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  • C07K16/00—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies
  • C07K16/18—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans
  • C07K16/28—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans against receptors, cell surface antigens or cell surface determinants
  • C07K16/2851—Immunoglobulins [IG], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from animals or humans against receptors, cell surface antigens or cell surface determinants against the lectin superfamily, e.g. CD23, CD72
• • 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
  • G01N33/5005—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving human or animal cells
  • G01N33/5008—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving human or animal cells for testing or evaluating the effect of chemical or biological compounds, e.g. drugs, cosmetics
  • G01N33/5044—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving human or animal cells for testing or evaluating the effect of chemical or biological compounds, e.g. drugs, cosmetics involving specific cell types
  • G01N33/5047—Cells of the immune system
  • G01N33/505—Cells of the immune system involving T-cells
• • 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
  • G01N33/575—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor 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
  • G01N33/575—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for cancer
  • G01N33/5758—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for cancer involving compounds serving as markers for tumours, cancers or neoplasias, e.g. cellular determinants, receptors, heat shock/stress proteins, A-protein, oligosaccharides or metabolites
  • G01N33/5759—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for cancer involving compounds serving as markers for tumours, cancers or neoplasias, e.g. cellular determinants, receptors, heat shock/stress proteins, A-protein, oligosaccharides or metabolites involving compounds localised on the membrane of tumour or cancer 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
  • A61K2039/505—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies comprising antibodies
• • 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
  • A61K2039/545—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies characterised by the dose, timing or administration schedule
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
  • C07K2317/20—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by taxonomic origin
  • C07K2317/21—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by taxonomic origin from primates, e.g. man
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
  • C07K2317/30—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by aspects of specificity or valency
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
  • C07K2317/30—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by aspects of specificity or valency
  • C07K2317/34—Identification of a linear epitope shorter than 20 amino acid residues or of a conformational epitope defined by amino acid residues
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
  • C07K2317/50—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by immunoglobulin fragments
  • C07K2317/55—Fab or Fab'
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
  • C07K2317/70—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by effect upon binding to a cell or to an antigen
  • C07K2317/76—Antagonist effect on antigen, e.g. neutralization or inhibition of binding
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N2500/00—Screening for compounds of potential therapeutic value
  • G01N2500/02—Screening involving studying the effect of compounds C on the interaction between interacting molecules A and B (e.g. A = enzyme and B = substrate for A, or A = receptor and B = ligand for the receptor)
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N2500/00—Screening for compounds of potential therapeutic value
  • G01N2500/10—Screening for compounds of potential therapeutic value involving cells
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N2500/00—Screening for compounds of potential therapeutic value
  • G01N2500/20—Screening for compounds of potential therapeutic value cell-free systems

Definitions

• T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3 (TIM-3) is known as one of such negative regulators of T cell activation, however the mechanism of TIM-3 suppression of T cell activation is largely unknown.
• TIM-3 T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3
• Earlier efforts have been exerted toward identifying ligands for TIM-3 in this regulation, however the data have been inconsistent and unreliable.
• galectin-9 Gal9
• Gal9 can bind to TIM-3 (Zhu et al., Nature Immunology 6, 1245); however, later reports showed that the interaction of TIM-3 and Gal9 is non-specific in nature (Leitner et al. PLoS Pathog 9(3): el003253).
• CEACAM1 was also reported as a TIM-3 ligand to regulate T cell tolerance and exhaustion (Huang et al. Nature 517, 386). However, Huang's results are inconsistent with inventors' own data which show that TIM-3 does not bind to CEACAM1 (see below).
• This invention is based on the surprising discovery that TIM-3 interacts with a novel ligand galectin-3 (Gal3) and the interaction leads to suppression of immune response, e.g., T cell activation.
• Gal3 novel ligand galectin-3
• the invention provides novel compositions and methods that block the interaction, activate immune response, and thus cure cancer.
• the disclosure provides a method of activating immune response in a patient comprising administering to the patient a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor that interferes with the interaction between the Gal3 and TIM-3 in the patient, where said inhibitor is administered in an amount sufficient to activate immune response.
• the patient hosts a cancer and the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 occurs in a tumor microenvironment.
• the activation of the immune response decreases the cancer load of the patient.
• the TIM-3 is present on the immune cells.
• the patient hosts a cancer and Gal3 is overexpressed in the tumor microenvironment and the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor is administered in an amount sufficient to decrease the cancer load of the patient.
• the cancer comprises cancer cells overexpressing Gal3 on their surface.
• the immune cells on which the TIM-3 is expressed are T cells and/or NK cells.
• the disclosure provides a method of activating T-cells in a patient hosting a cancer comprising cells in a tumor microenvironment, wherein the cells overexpress Gal3, the method comprising administering to the patient a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor that interferes with the interaction between the Gal3 and TIM-3 on the T-cells where said inhibitor is administered in an amount sufficient to decrease the cancer load of the patient by activation of the T-cells.
• the cells in the tumor microenvironment comprises cancer cells.
• the cells in the tumor microenvironment comprises tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated tumor-associated
• TAMs macrophages
• M2 TAMs macrophages
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor binds to TIM-3. In some embodiments, the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor binds to Gal3.
• the disclosure provides a method for determining if a patient's cancer is suitable for treatment with a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor, said method comprising: combining cells obtained from a tumor microenvironment of a known type from a patient with an antibody specific for the Gal3; determining the level of Gal3 on the surface of the primary cancer cells in the sample; comparing the level of Gal3 on the surface of the cells with a first threshold activity value of Gal3; and determining the patient's cancer as suitable for treatment with a Gal3:TI M-3 inhibitor if the level of Gal3 on the surface of the primary cancer cells is higher than the first threshold activity value.
• the first threshold activity value of Gal3 is derived from a cohort of at least 100 test individuals with the same type of cancer as the patient sample. In some embodiments, the first threshold activity value of Gal3 is based on the average, mean, or median level of Gal3 on the surface of cells of similar tissue type from healthy individuals.
• this disclosure provides a sterile solution that is able to interfere with the interaction between the Gal3 and TI M-3 on T-cells in a cancer patient, where the solution comprises between 10 ⁇ g and 100 mg of antibody per kilogram of patient body weight in a solution of 100 ml suitable for intravenous delivery over a 1-4 hour period, wherein the antibody can interfere with the interaction between the Gal3 and TI M-3 on the T-cells.
• the sterile solution further comprises one or more other checkpoint inhibitor antibodies.
• the one of more other checkpoint inhibitor antibodies is selected from the group consisting of anti PD-1 and anti CTLA-4 antibodies.
• this disclosure provides a method of producing an anti-Gal3 antibody that can interfere with the interaction between Gal3 and TI M-3, the method comprising: introducing a peptide comprising any one of the sequences as set forth in SEQ I D NOs: 5-8 to an animal, wherein the animal produces the anti-Gal3 antibody.
• this disclosure provides a humanized anti-Gal3 antibody, wherein the antibody comprises (1) a light chain variable region comprising a
• CD complementary determining region
• CDR L2 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:18
• CDR L3 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:19
• the CDR H I comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ I D NO:9
• the CDR H2 comprises the amino acid of SEQ I D NO: 10
• the CDR H3 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ I D NO:ll.
• the heavy chain variable region of the humanized antibody has a sequence having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 25. In some embodiments, the light chain variable region of the humanized antibody has a sequence having at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26.
• the humanized antibody is capable of blocking the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3, thereby activating immune response.
• the disclosure provides a method of selecting compounds that can block interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3, activating immune response and/or treating cancer in a patient comprising (a) contacting a library of compounds with Gal3 and TIM-3, and (b) selecting one or more candidate compounds from the library that are capable of blocking the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3.
• the method further comprises (c) contacting the one or more candidate compounds selected from step (b) with a mixture comprising T cells, and allogeneic antigen presenting cells, and identifying one or more compounds that are capable of stimulating the T cells, and/or (d) administering the one or more candidate compounds selected from (b) to a mammal hosting a tumor and identifying one or more compounds that are capable of reducing tumor load of the mammal, and optionally (e) administering an effective amount of a compound that is capable of stimulating the T cells and/or capable of reducing tumor load of the mammal to the patient, thereby activating immune response and/or treating cancer in the patient.
• the compounds are antibodies.
• the disclosure provides a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor, as disclosed in any of the embodiments above, for use in a methods of activating immune response in a patient comprising administering to the patient a Gal3 ⁇ M-3 inhibitor that interferes with the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3, wherein said inhibitor is administered in an amount sufficient to activate immune response.
• the Gal3:TIM inhibitor is a humanized anti-Gal3 antibody as described above.
• the disclosure provides use of a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor, as disclosed in any of the embodiments above, in manufacturing a medicament (i.e., a pharmaceutical composition) for activating immune response and/or treating cancer.
• a medicament i.e., a pharmaceutical composition
• the Gal3:TIM inhibitor is a humanized anti-Gal3 antibody as described above.
• FIG. 1 shows the results of co-immunoprecipitation assay indicating that human Gal3 (hGal3) specifically pulled down human TIM-3 (hTIM-3).
• FIG. 1A shows TIM-3 expression in the 293T cells co-transfected with a plasmid encoding a HA-tagged hTIM-3 and a plasmid encoding hGal3, hGal9, or hCEACAMl.
• FIG. IB shows expression of hGal9, hGal3, or hCEACAMl.
• FIG. 1C shows that hGal3, but not CEACAM1, pulled down the-HA-tagged hTIM- 3 in the co-transfected 293T cells.
• the results also show that human Gal9 (hGal9) pulled down hTIM-3, but the pull down was accompanied with protein aggregation (FIG. IB), indicating the binding between hGal9 and hTIM-3 might be non-specific.
• FIG. 2 shows the results of pull-down assays using a fusion protein composed of a hTIM-3 extracellular domain fused with the Fc portion of hlgG (hTIM-3 Fc).
• the results show that the binding between Gal3 and TIM-3 was specific.
• hTIM-3 Fc but not hFc or hPDl Fc, pulled down the over-expressed, Flag-tagged hGal3 protein from 293T cells.
• FIG. 3 shows the results of cell adhesion assay indicating the specific interaction between hGal3 and hTim3.
• a significantly higher number of A20 cells expressing hGal3 (A20 Gal3 cells) were able to adhere to plates coated with hTIM-3 Fc than to plates coated with hVISTA Fc or hPDl Fc.
• the results also indicate that a higher number of A20 PDL1 cells were able to adhere to plates coated with hPDl Fc than to plates coated with human VISTA Fc (hVISTA Fc) or plates coated with hTIM-3 Fc.
• FIG. 4A shows live A20 cells (the peak on the left) and dead A20 cells (the peak on the right) by flow cytometry analysis.
• FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C show the results of flow cytometry analysis of the live cells (FIG. 4B) and dead cells (FIG. 4C) that are stained with anti hFc APC antibody.
• FIGs. 5A-5C show the ELISA results indicating the specific binding of Gal3 on TIM-3.
• FIG. 5A-5C show the ELISA results indicating the specific binding of Gal3 on TIM-3.
• FIG. 5A plates were coated with mGal3 at 10 ug/ml, mGal3 polyclonal antibody (mGal3 pAb) and monoclonal antibody IMT001, but not monoclonal antibody M3/38, were shown to block the interaction between Gal3 and Tim3.
• FIG. 5B shows that lactose blocked Gal9, but not Gal3 from binding to TIM-3, indicating that the binding between Gal3 and Tim3 is sugar- independent binding.
• FIG. 5C shows that antibody MT3-23 blocked phosphatidylserine (PS), but not Gal3 from binding to Tim3, indicating the epitopes on TIM-3 that bind to Gal3 is different from those that bind to PS.
• PS phosphatidylserine
• FIGs. 6A and 6B show that over-expressed Gal3 suppressed T cell activation.
• FIG. 6A shows that mouse A20 cell clones #41, #31, and #15 overexpress Gal3.
• FIG. 6B shows that when these cells were mixed with mouse DO11.10 T cells, much less IL-2 was produced as compared to parental A20 cells (FIG. 6B).
• FIGs. 7A-7E show that Gal3 antibody has anti-tumor activity in a lung metastasis model.
• FIG. 7A shows high expression of Gal3 on B16F10 tumor cells.
• FIG. 7B shows representative images of the whole lung from three treated groups.
• FIG. 7C shows numbers of metastatic colonies on surface of the left lung lobe (Mean ⁇ SEM).
• FIG. 7D and FIG. 7E show lung weight and body weight of different treatment groups (Mean ⁇ SEM).
• animals treated with the monoclonal anti- human Gal3 antibody showed significant reduction of tumor number (p ⁇ 0.01) (FIG. 7B) and much less tumor burden as indicated by lung weight (p ⁇ 0.05) (FIG. 7D).
• FIG. 7E shows that animals treated with either the PDl antibody or the Gal3 antibody had similar body weight as the control group, indicating that there were no adverse effects associated with administration of either antibody.
• FIGs. 8A-8C show the anti-tumor activity of Gal3 antibody in 4T1 orthotopic tumor induced lung metastasis.
• FIG. 8A shows the images of metastasized tumor colonies on the lung of mice that have been implanted with 4T1 cells and then treated with either control antibody ("isotype") or IMT001. The antibodies were administered intraperitoneally on day 0, 3, 7, 10 and 14 during a period of 30 days. The images were taken at the day 30 when the mice were sacrificed.
• FIG. 8B shows the body weight measurements of these mice during the same period.
• FIG. 8C shows the number of metastasized tumor colonies on the surface of the left lobe of these mice at day 30.
• FIG. 9 shows the tumor growth in mice implanted with enca tumor cells and treated with Gal3 antibody. As compared to mice implanted with Renca tumor cells and treated with the isotype control antibody ("iso"), mice treated with Gal3 antibody
• FIG. 10 shows the tumor growth in mice implanted with MC38 colon cancer cells and treated with the anti Gal3 antibody.
• mice implanted with MC38 tumor cells and treated with the isotype control antibody (“iso") mice treated with Gal3 antibody (“IMTOOl”) showed much reduced tumor size (p ⁇ 0.05).
• FIGs. 11A-11D show the results of epitope mapping.
• a peptide array derived from hGal3 protein sequence was synthesized (FIG. 11A) and dot blotted with anti Gal3 antibody IMTOOl (FIG. 11B).
• Peptides 5 and 6 showed good signal, indicating that the anti Gal3 monoclonal antibody, IMTOOl, can bind to these peptides.
• To further map the binding epitopes of IMTOOl on these peptides several shorter peptides derived from these peptide sequences were synthesized (FIG. 11C) and their binding to IMTOOl was measured by ELISA (FIG. 11D).
• Peptide with sequence GQAPPGAYPG SEQ ID NO: 8 produced the highest signal.
• FIG. 12 summarizes the number of immune cells from mice implanted with B16F10 cells that express various lymphocyte markers: CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, or DX5. These mice have been treated with the isotype control antibody or IMTOOl.
• FIGs. 13A and 13B show Gal3 expression on tumor associated macrophages in human lung cancer in immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays. IMTOOl was used to stain human lung cancer frozen slides to detect Gal3 expression on tumor associated macrophages.
• FIG. 13A shows the results from staining squamous cell carcinoma and FIG. 13B shows the results from staining of adenocarcinoma.
• FIGs. 14A-14C show that expression of Gal3 was detected on human M2 macrophages (FIG. 14C), but not on Dendritic cells (DC) (FIG. 14A) or Ml macrophages (FIG. 14B).
• FIG. 15 shows the immune activity of Gal3 antibody ("IMT001") in mouse macrophage/T cell reaction.
• FIG. 15B shows detection of expression of Gal3 by I HC on mouse macrophage cell line AW264.7, as compared to control (FIG. 15A).
• FIG. 15C shows the expression of Gal 3 on mouse macrophage cell line by flow cytometry using cells stained with IMT001.
• the anti Gal3 antibody I MT001, but not anti mouse PD-1 antibody 29F, enhanced I L-2 production in RAW macrophages/DOll.10 T cell mixed reaction FIG. 15D).
• compositions include the recited elements, but not excluding others. Therefore, comprises can also mean the composition include only the recited elements.
• a light chain comprises SEQ ID NO: 24, include the scenario that the light chain has the sequence as shown in SEQ I D NO: 24.
• the terms "subject”, “patient” or “individual” are used herein interchangeably to refer to a human or animal.
• the animal subject may be a mammal, a primate (e.g., a monkey), a livestock animal (e.g., a horse, a cow, a sheep, a pig, or a goat), a companion animal (e.g., a dog, a cat), a laboratory test animal (e.g., a mouse, a rat, a guinea pig, a bird), an animal of veterinary significance, or an animal of economic significance.
• a primate e.g., a monkey
• livestock animal e.g., a horse, a cow, a sheep, a pig, or a goat
• a companion animal e.g., a dog, a cat
• a laboratory test animal e.g., a mouse, a rat, a guinea pig, a bird
• polypeptide “peptide,” and “protein” are used interchangeably herein to include a polymer of amino acid residues.
• the terms apply to amino acid polymers in which one or more amino acid residue is an artificial chemical mimetic of a corresponding naturally occurring amino acid, as well as to naturally occurring amino acid polymers and non-naturally occurring amino acid polymers.
• the terms encompass amino acid chains of any length, including full-length proteins (i.e., antigens), wherein the amino acid residues are linked by covalent peptide bonds.
• amino acid includes naturally occurring and synthetic amino acids, as well as amino acid analogs and amino acid mimetics that function in a manner similar to the naturally occurring amino acids.
• Naturally occurring amino acids are those encoded by the genetic code, as well as those amino acids that are later modified, e.g., hydroxyproline, ⁇ - carboxyglutamate, and O-phosphoserine.
• Amino acid analogs include compounds that have the same basic chemical structure as a naturally occurring amino acid, i.e., an a carbon that is bound to a hydrogen, a carboxyl group, an amino group, and an group, e.g., homoserine, norleucine, methionine sulfoxide, methionine methyl sulfonium. Such analogs have modified R groups [e.g., norleucine) or modified peptide backbones, but retain the same basic chemical structure as a naturally occurring amino acid.
• Amino acid mimetics include chemical compounds that have a structure that is different from the general chemical structure of an amino acid, but that functions in a manner similar to a naturally occurring amino acid.
• Amino acids may be referred to herein by either the commonly known three letter symbols or by the one-letter symbols recommended by the lUPAC-IUB Biochemical Nomenclature Commission. Nucleotides, likewise, may be referred to by their commonly accepted single-letter codes.
• therapeutically effective amount or “effective mount” includes an amount or quantity effective, at dosages and for periods of time necessary, to achieve the desired therapeutic or prophylactic result.
• administering includes oral administration, topical contact, administration as a suppository, intravenous, intraperitoneal, intramuscular, intralesional, intrathecal, intranasal, or subcutaneous administration, or the implantation of a slow-release device, e.g., a mini-osmotic pump, to a subject.
• Administration is by any route, including parenteral and transmucosal [e.g., buccal, sublingual, palatal, gingival, nasal, vaginal, rectal, or transdermal).
• Parenteral administration includes, e.g., intravenous, intramuscular, intra- arteriole, intradermal, subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, intraventricular, and intracranial.
• a therapeutically effective amount of the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor described herein to interfere with the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 on the T-cells to decrease the caner load of a patient.
• co-administer it is meant that a first compound described herein is administered at the same time, just prior to, or just after the administration of a second compound described herein.
• tumor and the term “cancer” are used interchangeably and both refer to an abnormal growth of tissue that results from excessive cell division.
• tumor microenvironment refers to a cellular environment in which the tumor exists, including tumor cells and surrounding blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, bone marrow-derived inflammatory cells, lymphocytes, signaling molecules and the extracellular matrix.
• Immune cells refers to cells of hematopoietic origin that are involved in the specific recognition of antigens.
• Immune cells include antigen presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells or macrophages, B cells, T cells, natural killer cells, and myeloid cells, such as monocytes, macrophages, eosinophils, mast cells, basophils, and granulocytes.
• APCs antigen presenting cells
• monocytes such as dendritic cells or macrophages
• B cells such as T cells
• myeloid cells such as monocytes, macrophages, eosinophils, mast cells, basophils, and granulocytes.
• immune response refers to T cell-mediated and/or B cell-mediated immune responses.
• Exemplary immune responses include B cell responses (e.g., antibody production) T cell responses (e.g., cytokine production, and cellular cytotoxicity) and activation of cytokine responsive cells, e.g., macrophages.
• activating immune response refers to enhancing the level of T-cell-mediated and/or B cell-mediated immune response, using methods known to one of skilled in the art.
• the level of enhancement is at least 20 50%, alternatively at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 100%, at least 120%, at least 150%, or at least 200%.
• the term "recognizes” refers to a phenomenon that a molecule is able to specifically and selectively bind to a second molecule. Typically, a specific or selective binding will be at least twice background signal or noise and more typically more than 10 to 100 times background.
• Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor refers to a molecule that inhibits the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 and the inhibition results in T cell activation.
• TIM-3:Gal3 or “Gal3:TIM-3” pathway refers to the signal pathway in which TIM-3 binds to Gal3, and the interaction suppresses T cell activation.
• activating T cells refers to phenomenon that T cells are activated and engaged in signaling pathways that promote immune responses. The activation of T cells is typically accompanied with T cell proliferation and/or release of cytokines, e.g., interferon- gamma, IL-2, IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, or transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta.
• cytokines e.g., interferon- gamma, IL-2, IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, or transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta.
• the term "cancer over expressing Gal3" refers to a cancer in which expresses a higher level of Gal 3 on cell surface relative to the control cells.
• the control cells are cells from similar tissue in a healthy individual.
• the control cells are non-cancerous cells from the same individual that hosts the cancer.
• cancer load generally refers to the number of cancer cells, the size of a tumor, or the amount of cancer in the body in a subject at any given time.
• Tumor load can be detected by e.g., measuring the expression of tumor specific genetic markers and measuring tumor size by a number of well-known, biochemical or imaging methods disclosed herein, infra.
• threshold activity value refers to an expression level or an activity level, a comparison with which may aid the determination whether a diagnosis can be made or a treatment can be prescribed.
• the threshold activity value is the median expression level of Gal3 on the cancer cells from a heterogeneous population having the same type of cancer as the patient being treated.
• the threshold activity value is the level of Gal3 on the non-cancerous tissue of the patient that hosts the cancer.
• the threshold activity level is the expression level or activity level of Gal3 on cells of similar tissue type on healthy individuals.
• antibody is used in the broadest sense and specifically covers monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies, multispecific antibodies, e.g., bispecific antibodies, chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, fully synthetic antibodies and antibody fragments so long as they exhibit the desired biologic activity, i.e., binding specificity.
• An antibody is a monomeric or multimeric protein comprising one or more polypeptide chains.
• An antibody binds specifically to an antigen and can be able to modulate the biological activity of the antigen.
• antibody also includes antibody fragments.
• Specific antibody fragments include, but are not limited to, (i) the Fab fragment consisting of VL, VH, CL and CHI domains, (ii) the Fd fragment consisting of the VH and CHI domains, (iii) the Fv fragment consisting of the VL and VH domains of a single antibody; (iv) the dAb fragment (Ward et al., 1989, Nature 341:544-546) which consists of a single variable, (v) isolated CDR regions, (vi) F(ab')2 fragments, a bivalent fragment comprising two linked Fab fragments (vii) single chain Fv molecules (scFv), wherein a VH domain and a VL domain are linked by a peptide linker which allows the two domains to associate to form an antigen binding site (Bird et al., 1988, Science 242:423-426, Huston et al., 1988, Proc.
• scFv single chain Fv molecules
• antibodies are produced by recombinant DNA techniques.
• antibodies are produced by enzymatic or chemical cleavage of naturally occurring antibodies.
• humanized antibody refers to antibodies in which CDR sequences derived from the germline of another mammalian species, such as a mouse, have been grafted onto human framework sequences. Framework region modifications may be made within the human framework sequences.
• the term "framework” refers to variable domain residues other than hypervariable region residues.
• the "framework regions” or "FRs" of different light or heavy chains are relatively conserved within a species.
• the framework of a variable domain generally consists of four FR domains: FR1, FR2, FR3, and FR4. framework region modifications may be made within the human framework sequences.
• the framework region of an antibody which is the combined framework regions of the constituent light and heavy chains, serves to position and align the CDRs in three-dimensional space. Framework sequences can be obtained from public DNA databases or published references that include germline antibody gene sequences.
• variable region and “variable domain” as used herein refer to the portions of the light and heavy chains of an antibody that include amino acid sequences of complementary determining regions (CD s, e.g., CDR HI, CDR H2, CDR H3, CDR LI, CDR L2, and CDR L3) and framework regions (FRs).
• CD s complementary determining regions
• FRs framework regions
• the amino acid positions assigned to CDRs and FRs may be defined according to Chothia, Kabat (Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, 5th Ed. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
• variable region in an antibody heavy chain or light chain is derived from a germline Variable (V) gene, Diversity (D) gene, or Joining (J) gene (and not derived from a Constant (0 ⁇ and C6) gene segment), and gives an antibody its specificity for binding to an antigen.
• V germline Variable
• D Diversity
• J Joining
• an antibody variable region comprises four conserved "framework" regions interspersed with three hypervariable "complementarity determining regions.”
• the terms "complementary determining regions" and “CDRs” refer to the regions of an antibody variable region which are hypervariable in sequence and/or form structurally defined loops.
• a CDR is also known as a hypervariable region.
• the light chain and heavy chain variable regions each has three CDRs.
• the light chain variable region contains CDR LI, CDR L2, and CDR L3.
• the heavy chain variable region contains CDR HI, CDR H2, and CDR H3.
• Each CDR may include amino acid residues from a complementarity determining region as defined by Chothia, Kabat (Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, 5th Ed. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. (1991)), or international ImMunoGeneTics database (IMGT).
• Chothia Kabat (Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, 5th Ed. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. (1991)
• IMGT
• human antibody refers to an antibody that possesses an amino acid sequence which corresponds to that of an antibody produced by a human or a human cell or derived from a non-human source that utilizes human antibody repertoires or other human antibody-encoding sequences. This definition of a human antibody specifically excludes a humanized antibody comprising non-human antigen-binding residues.
• chimeric antibody refers to antibodies in which the variable region sequences are derived from one species and the constant region sequences are derived from another species, such as an antibody in which the variable region sequences are derived from a mouse antibody and the constant region sequences are derived from a human antibody.
• a checkpoint inhibitor therapy refers to a therapy that suppresses a checkpoint pathway.
• Non-limiting examples of checkpoint inhibitor therapies include therapies that inhibit the PDl signaling pathway and therapies that inhibit the CTLA4 signaling pathway.
• a checkpoint inhibitor therapy can be a peptide, an antibody, a nucleoside analog (e.g., an aptamer), a small molecule compound, or combinations thereof.
• primary cancer refers to a cancer that is at a location of the body or a tissue where the particular cancer starts.
• Primary cancer is often referred to as the first or original cancer.
• Primary cancer is the opposite of metastasis, which refers to the migration of cancer cells from the original tumor site to produce cancer in other tissues.
• metal cancer refers to a cancer that has spread from the site of origin (where it started) into different area(s) of the body.
• primary cancer cells refers to cancer cells that are isolated from a cancer patient, e.g., a cancer biopsy, and have not been cultured in vitro.
• a cancer is "suitable for treatment of a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor" refers a cancer that is likely to respond to treatment with a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor, for example, the patient receiving the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor is likely to have a beneficial clinical outcome, such as, overall survival rate, time to progression, disease-free survival, progression-free survival, tumor load reduction, or any of other beneficial clinical outcome as disclosed below or those according to the ECIST criteria.
• a beneficial clinical outcome such as, overall survival rate, time to progression, disease-free survival, progression-free survival, tumor load reduction, or any of other beneficial clinical outcome as disclosed below or those according to the ECIST criteria.
• This invention is based on the surprising discovery that TIM-3 binds specifically to the Gal3 protein and the interaction results in suppression of T cell activation.
• the disclosure provides methods that restore T cell activation by administering an inhibitor that interferes with the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 to treat patients hosting a cancer, especially the cancer types that overexpresses Gal3.
• the disclosure additionally provides methods of determining if a cancer is suitable for treatment using the Gal3:TIM-3 therapy by determining the level of Gal3 on the surface of the cells in the tumor microenvironment, e.g., cancer cells and tumor-associated macrophages, and comparing the level of Gal3 with a threshold activity value. 1.
• Gal3 also known as Galectin-3, is expressed in several cell types and involved in a broad range of physiological and pathological processes, which include cell adhesion, cell activation and chemoattraction, cell cycle, apoptosis, cell growth and differentiation, and tumor progression and metastasis.
• Gal3 expresses on tumors cells and cells in the tumor microenvironment, e.g., tumor-associated macrophages, especially M2 macrophages, as described below.
• TIM-3 is a molecule expressed on immune cells, especially on T cells and can suppress immune response, e.g., T cell signaling, through the interaction with Gal3.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitors disclosed herein can interfere with the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 and activate immune response.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor disclosed herein can be used to treat cancers or other diseases that could benefit from activation of immune response.
• a tumor microenvironment is the cellular environment in which the tumor exists, including surrounding blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, other cells, soluble factors, signaling molecules, an extracellular matrix, and mechanical cues that can promote neoplastic transformation, support tumor growth and invasion, protect the tumor from host immunity, foster therapeutic resistance, and provide niches for dormant metastases to thrive.
• the tumor and its surrounding microenvironment are closely related and interact constantly.
• Tumors can influence their microenvironment by releasing extracellular signals, promoting tumor angiogenesis and inducing peripheral immune tolerance, while the immune cells in the microenvironment can affect the growth and evolution of cancerous cells. See Swarts et al. "Tumor Microenvironment Complexity: Emerging Roles in Cancer Therapy," Cancer Res, vol., 72, pages 2473-2480, 2012.
• Tumors are often associated with an immune infiltrate as part of the reactive stroma that is enriched for macrophages.
• Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in facilitating tumor growth by promoting neovascularization and matrix degradation.
• TAMs Tumor-associated macrophages
• Ml macrophages also known as TH1
• M2 macrophages also known as TH2
• Ml macrophages are known to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines and play an active role in cell destruction while M2 macrophages primarily scavenge debris and promote angiogenesis and would repair. Consequently, many tumors with a high number of TAMs have an increased tumor growth rate, local proliferation and distant metastasis.
• the M2 Tumor-associated macrophages
• M2 macrophage population is phenotypically similar to the TAM population that promotes tumor growth and development.
• M2 macrophages may also express one or more cell surface markers selected from the group consisting of CD206, IL-4r, IL-lra, decoy IL-lrll, IL-lOr, CD23, macrophage scavenging receptors A and B, Ym-1, Ym-2, Low density receptor-related protein 1 (L P1), IL-6r, CXCRl/2, CD136, CD14, CDla, CDlb, CD93, CD226, (FcyR) and PD-L1.
• L P1 Low density receptor-related protein 1
• IL-6r CXCRl/2
• CD136 CD14
• CDla CDlb
• CD93 CD226,
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitors disclosed herein can be used to treat a cancer that overexpresses Gal3 in a tumor microenvironment.
• the cancer comprises cancer cells that overexpress Gal3 on their surface.
• the cancer comprises other types of cells that are included in the tumor microenvironment, e.g., tumor-associated macrophages, blood vessels, stroma cells, fibroblasts, that overexpress Gal 3 on the surface.
• the cancer overexpresses Gal3 and the Gal3 exists as a soluble protein to the tumor microenvironment.
• the term "overexpress" refers to the at least 10%, at least 20%, at least 30%, at least 40%, or at least 50% above the expression levels in controls, e.g., similar cells, tissues, or regions of the body from healthy individuals.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitors disclosed herein are useful for treating various types of cancers having a higher level of Gal3 on the surface of cells in the tumor microenvironment, e.g., the cancer cells or tumor-associated macrophages, as compared to control cells.
• Expression level of Gal3 on the cell surface can be measured by methods well known in the art, including, but not limited to, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry.
• detecting the expression level of Gal3 in the tumor microenvironment comprises combining a sample comprising cells from the tumor microenvironment, including the cancer cells and/or tumor-associated macrophages (e.g., M2 TAMs), with an anti-Gal3 antibody and the level of Gal3 on the cell surface is indicated by the amount of Gal3 antibody that is able to bind the cell surface.
• the level of Gal3 is determined by measuring a detectable label conjugated to the Gal3 antibody.
• a labeled secondary antibody that binds to the Gal3 antibody is used and the Gal3 expression level is determined by measuring the signals from the labels on the secondary antibody.
• the antibody can be conjugated with biotin, and detectably labeled avidin (a polypeptide that binds to biotin) can be used to detect the presence of the biotinylated antibody.
• detectable labels include, without limitation, radionuclides (e.g., 125 l, 131 l, 35 S, 3 H, or 32 P), enzymes (e.g., alkaline phosphatase, horseradish peroxidase, luciferase, or .beta.-glactosidase), fluorescent moieties or proteins (e.g., fluorescein, rhodamine, phycoerythrin, GFP, or BFP), or luminescent moieties (e.g., QdotTM nanoparticles supplied by the Quantum Dot Corporation, Palo Alto, Calif.).
• the Gal3 expression level of the cancer that has been determined is compared with a threshold activity level to determine if the cancer is suitable for treatment with a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor disclosed herein.
• the threshold activity level is expression level or activity level of Gal3 in cells of the non-cancerous tissue of the patient that hosts the cancer.
• the threshold activity level is the expression level or activity level of Gal3 on cells of similar tissue type on healthy individuals.
• the threshold activity level is from individual median expression level of Gal3 on a cohort of patients having the same type of cancer and the cohort of patients are of a heterogeneous population with regard to the expression level of Gal3.
• the test cohort preferably comprises at least 25, 50, 100, 200, 1000 individuals or more including all values and ranges thereof.
• the expression levels of Gal3 in the patient and the threshold activity levels are normalized before comparison.
• the disclosure provides a method of determining if a patient's cancer is suitable for treatment with a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor and the method comprises obtaining a sample containing the cancer cells from the patient, determining the level of Gal3 on the cell surface in the sample, comparing the levels of the Gal3 on the cells with a threshold activity level, and determining that the patient's cancer is suitable for treatment with a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor if the Gal3 surface expression on the cancer cells of the patient is at least 15%, at least 25%, at least 50%, at least 75%, at least 2-fold, at least 5-fold, at least 10-fold, at least 100-fold, at least 1000-fold, or at least 10000-fold higher than the threshold activity value.
• the threshold activity level used for the comparison can be based on the average, mean, or median level of the Gal3 on the surface of the cancer cells of the same cancer type from at least 100, 200, 300, 500 cancer patients. In some embodiments, the threshold activity level based on the average, mean, or median level of Gal3 on the surface of cells of similar tissue type from healthy individuals. In some embodiments, the cancer cells in the sample used for determination whether a cancer is suitable for treatment with a Gal3:TIM-3 are primary cancer cells.
• a number of cancer types will overexpress Gal3 on the surface, including those that are metastatic, and thus are suitable for being treated using the method disclosed herein.
• These cancer types include, but not limited to, lung cancer, liver cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, skin cancer, bladder cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, glioma, renal carcinoma, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, oral squamous cell cancer, head/neck cancer, melanoma, sarcoma, renal cell tumor, hepatocellular tumor, glioblastoma, neuroendocrine tumor, bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, gall bladder cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, thyroid cancer and mesothelioma.
• the cancers that are suitable for being treated using the methods disclosed herein are metastatic cancers that originate from the tumor as described above, e.g., metastatic lung cancer
• the disclosure provides a method to treat cancer by administration to the patient an therapeutically effective amount of at least one Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor.
• a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor can be any molecule that inhibits the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 and said inhibition results in activation of T cells.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor binds to the TIM-3 protein and such inhibitor is referred to as the TIM-3 inhibitor in this disclosure.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor binds to the Gal3 protein and such inhibitor is referred to as the Gal3 inhibitor.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor can be a protein (e.g., an antibody) or a small molecule.
• An antibody that is a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor is referred to as GIA in this disclosure. i. Gal3:TIM-3 Inhibitor Antibodies ("GIA")
• the method for treating cancer comprises administering a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor antibody.
• a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor antibody can block the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 and activate T cells.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor antibody is a Gal3 inhibitor antibody.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor antibody is a TIM-3 inhibitor antibody.
• GIAs can be developed using methods well known in the art. See, for example, Kohler and Milstein, Nature 256: 495 (1975), and Coligan et al. (eds.), CURRENT PROTOCOLS IN IMM UNOLOGY, VOL. 1, pages 2.5.1-2.6.7 (John Wiley & Sons 1991). Monoclonal antibodies can be obtained by injecting mice with a composition comprising an antigen, e.g.
• Gal3 or an epitope of thereof, removing the spleen to obtain B-lymphocytes, fusing the B- lymphocytes with myeloma cells to produce hybridomas, cloning the hybridomas, selecting positive clones which produce antibodies to the antigen, culturing the clones that produce antibodies to the antigen, and isolating the antibodies from the hybridoma cultures.
• the epitope of Gal3 that is used to produce the Gal3 inhibitor antibodies is: SEQ ID NO: 5 (PGAYPGQAPPGAYPGQAPPG), SEQ ID NO 6
• SEQ ID NO:8 (GQAPPGAYPG).
• Monoclonal antibodies produced can be isolated and purified from hybridoma cultures by a variety of well-established techniques. Such isolation techniques include affinity chromatography with Protein-A Sepharose, size-exclusion chromatography, and ion- exchange chromatography. See, for example, Coligan at pages 2.7.1-2.7.12 and pages 2.9.1- 2.9.3. Also, see Baines et al., "Purification of Immunoglobulin G (IgG)," in METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, VOL. 10, pages 79-104 (The Humana Press, Inc. 1992). After the initial raising of antibodies to the target protein, the antibodies can be sequenced and subsequently prepared by recombinant techniques. Humanization and chimerization of murine antibodies and antibody fragments are well known to those skilled in the art. See, for example, Leung et al. Hybridoma 13:469 (1994); US20140099254 Al.
• Human antibodies can be produced using transgenic mice that have been genetically engineered to produce specific human antibodies in response to antigenic challenge using the target protein. See Green et al., Nature Genet. 7: 13 (1994), Lonberg et al., Nature 368:856 (1994). Human antibodies against the target protein can also be constructed by genetic or chromosomal transfection methods, phage display technology, or by in vitro activated B cells. See e.g., McCafferty et al., 1990, Nature 348: 552-553; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5, 567,610 and 5, 229,275.
• the GIA is an anti-Gal3 antibody. In some embodiments, the GIA binds to a peptide having the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, 6, 7 or 8. In some embodiments, the GIA is an antibody that is capable of binding to Gal3 and interfering with the interaction between TIM-3 and Gal3. In some embodiments, the GIA is an antibody that is capable of binding to a peptide comprising a sequence selected from any of SEQ ID NOs: 5-8 and interfering with the interaction between TIM-3 and Gal3. In some embodiments, the GIA is an antibody that is capable of blocking a known GIA from binding to Gal3 and interfering with the interaction between TIM-3 and Gal3.
• the administration of a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor as disclosed herein, e.g., an Gal3 inhibitor antibody may reduce tumor burden by at least 20%, e.g., at least 30%, at least 40%, or at least 46% in a mouse model over the treatment period, e.g., a period of three to twelve weeks.
• the GIA is an anti-Gal3 antibody.
• the anti-Gal3 antibody is of lgG4 isotype.
• the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises a heavy chain variable region complementarity-determining regions CD s 1, 2, and 3 (CDR HI, CDR H2, and CDR H3), wherein the CDR HI comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9, the CDR H2 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10, and/or the CDR H3 comprises SEQ ID NO: 11.
• the heavy chain variable region of the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises framework regions 1-4 (FR HI, FR H2, FR H3, and FR H4), wherein the FR HI comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12, the FR H2 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13, the FR H3 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14, and/or the FR H4 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 15. In some embodiments, the heavy chain of the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16.
• the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises a light chain variable region complementarity-determining regions CDRs 1, 2, and 3 (CDR LI, CDR L2, and CDR L3), wherein CDR LI comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17, a CDR L2 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 18, and/or a CDR L3 comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.
• CDR LI comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17
• CDR L2 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 18
• a CDR L3 comprises SEQ ID NO: 19.
• the heavy chain variable region of the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises frame regions 1-4 (F LI, FR L2, FR L3, and FR L4), wherein the FR LI comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20, the FR L2 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21, the FR L3 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 22, and/or the FR L4 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23.
• the light chain of the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 24.
• the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises a heavy chain variable region comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 25. In some embodiments, the anti-Gal3 antibody comprises a light chain variable region comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26.
• GIAs may also be produced by introducing conservative modifications relative to the existing GIAs.
• a modifed GIA may comprise heavy and light chain variable regions, and/or a Fc region that are homologous to the counterparts of an antibody produced above.
• the modified GIA that can be used for the method disclosed herein must retain the desired functional properties of being able to block the Gal3:TIM-3 signaling pathway.
• GIAs described herein can be linked to another functional molecule, e.g., another peptide or protein (albumin, another antibody, etc.), toxin, radioisotope, cytotoxic or cytostatic agents.
• the antibodies can be linked by chemical cross-linking or by recombinant methods.
• the antibodies may also be linked to one of a variety of nonproteinaceous polymers, e.g., polyethylene glycol, 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.
• the antibodies can be chemically modified by covalent conjugation to a polymer, for example, to increase their circulating half-life.
• exemplary polymers and methods to attach them are also shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,766,106; 4,179,337; 4,495,285; and 4,609,546.
• GIAs may also be produced by altering protein modification sites. For example, sites of glycosylation of the antibody can be altered to produce an antibody lacking glycosylation and the so modified GIAs typically have increased affinity of the antibody for antigen.
• Antibodies can also be pegylated by reacting with polyethylene glycol (PEG) under conditions in which one or more PEG groups become attached to the antibody. Pegylation can increase the biological half-life of the antibody.
• Antibodies having such modifications can also be used to treat the Gal3-overexpressing tumors so long as it retains the desired functional properties of blocking the TIM3-Gal3 pathways.
• the antibodies may also be tagged with a detectable, or functional, label.
• Detectable labels include radiolabels such as 131 l or "Tc, which may also be attached to antibodies using conventional chemistry.
• Detectable labels also include enzyme labels such as horseradish peroxidase or alkaline phosphatase.
• Detectable labels further include chemical moieties such as biotin, which may be detected via binding to a specific cognate detectable moiety, e.g., labeled avidin.
• the present invention features bispecific molecules comprising an anti-Gal3 or anti-TIM-3 antibody, or a fragment thereof, of the invention.
• An antibody of the invention, or antigen-binding portions thereof can be derivatized or linked to another functional molecule, e.g., another peptide or protein (e.g., another antibody or ligand for a receptor) to generate a bispecific molecule that binds to at least two different binding sites or target molecules.
• the antibody of the invention may in fact be derivatized or linked to more than one other functional molecule to generate multispecific molecules that bind to more than two different binding sites and/or target molecules; such multispecific molecules are also intended to be encompassed by the term "bispecific molecule" as used herein.
• an antibody of the invention can be functionally linked (e.g., by chemical coupling, genetic fusion, noncovalent association or otherwise) to one or more other binding molecules, such as another antibody, antibody fragment, peptide or binding mimetic, such that a bispecific molecule results.
• the bispecific antibody can be created using the knobs-into-holes strategy. The strategy typicaly involves first creating a first half of the antibody that recognizes a first antigen, e.g., Gal3, and a second half of the antibody that recognizes a second antigen and then joining the two halves to create the bispecific antibody.
• the present invention includes bispecific molecules comprising at least one first binding specificity for Gal3 or TIM-3 and a second binding specificity for a second target.
• the second target is a known cancer target, for example, PD- Ll.
• the second target epitope is TIM-3 or Gal3 and the bispecific molecule is capable of binding to TIM-3 and Gal3 simultaneously.
• the second target is an Fc receptor, e.g., human Fc.gamma. I (CD64) or a human Fc.alpha. receptor (CD89). Therefore, the invention includes bispecific molecules capable of binding both to Fc.gamma.R or Fc.alpha.
• effector cells e.g., monocytes, macrophages or polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs)
• PMNs polymorphonuclear cells
• These bispecific molecules target Gal3 expressing cells to effector cell and trigger Fc receptor-mediated effector cell activities, such as phagocytosis of an PD-1 expressing cells, antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), cytokine release, or generation of superoxide anion.
• ADCC antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity
• cytokine release or generation of superoxide anion.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor disclosed herein is a small molecule, non-protein compound that interferes with the interaction between Gal3 and TIM- 3 and thus antagonizes a TIM-3's immune suppression function.
• These small molecules typically are organic molecules having a molecular weight between 50 daltons to 2500 daltons.
• the compounds can also be identified using any of the numerous approaches in combinatorial library methods known in the art and disclosed in, e.g., European patent application EP2360254.
• the cominatorial libraries include: biological libraries; spatially addressable parallel solid phase or solution phase libraries; synthetic library methods requiring deconvolution; the 'one-bead one-compound' library method; and synthetic library methods using affinity chromatography selection.
• a number of well-known assays can be used to assess whether a candidate, e.g., an antibody generated by immunizing an animal with an antigen comprising a Gal3 protein or a test compound from combinatorial libraries, can block interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3.
• a candidate e.g., an antibody generated by immunizing an animal with an antigen comprising a Gal3 protein or a test compound from combinatorial libraries.
• the target protein i.e., Gal3 or TIM-3
• blocking assays to test whether the candidate can block the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3
• cell-based functional assays to test whether the candidate, by blocking the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3, can activate T cells
• in vivo efficacy assays to test whether the candidate can reduce tumor load.
• any of the assays that are used to evaluate interaction of two molecules can be used to determine whether the candidate can bind to the target protein.
• Non-limiting exemplar assays include binding assays -- such as Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs), radioimmunoassays ( IA) -, Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) analysis.
• ELISAs Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays
• IA radioimmunoassays
• FACS Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting
• the target protein i.e., Gal3 or TIM-3 protein
• the target protein i.e., Gal3 or TIM-3 protein
• the target protein can be labeled with 125 l, 35 S, 14 C, or 3 H, either directly or indirectly, and the radioisotope detected by direct counting of radio-emission or by scintillation counting.
• the target protein molecules can be enzymatically labeled with, for example, horseradish peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, or luciferase, and binding of the candidates to the target protein is determined by conversion of an appropriate substrate to product.
• immunoassays such as Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can be used to evaluate a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor candidate's binding specificity to its target protein.
• samples comprising the candidate are added to the plates that are pre-coated with the target protein and incubated for a period of time.
• a labeled secondary antibody that recognizes the candidate can be added and signal from the labeled secondary antibody are detected.
• the secondary antibody is conjugated to an enzyme and the binding can be assessed by addition of substrate specific for the enzyme and read at appropriate wavelength according to manufacturer's instructions.
• enzymes that can be used include horseradish peroxidase and alkaline phosphatase.
• the ABTS substrate can be used and readings at 415-490 nm can be taken to evaluate the capability of the candidate's binding to Gal3 or TIM-3.
• the ELISA can also be performed by coating the candidate on the plate, adding the target protein to the plate and detecting the binding as described above.
• the binding kinetics (e.g., binding affinity) of the candidates also can be assessed by standard assays known in the art, such as by Biacore analysis (Biacore AB, Uppsala, Sweden).
• Biacore analysis Biacore AB, Uppsala, Sweden.
• the target protein is covalently linked to a chip, e.g., a carboxy methyl dextran coated chip using standard amine coupling chemistry and kit provided by Biacore. Binding is measured by flowing the candidates in buffers (provided by Biacore AB) at appropriate concentrations a flow rate that is recommended by the manufacturer.
• association kinetics and dissociate kinetics are recorded and the association kinetics and dissociate curves are fitted to a binding model using BIA evaluation software (Biacore AB).
• the KD, K on and Rvalues of the interaction can be measured.
• Preferred Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitors can bind to their target protein with a Kd of lxlO "7 M or less, e.g., 5xl0 "7 M or less or lxlO "8 M or less.
• Candidates that have demonstrated the ability to bind the target protein are then evaluated for their ability to block the interaction between TIM-3 and Gal3 in a blocking assay.
• the blocking assay is an immunoassay, e.g., an ELISA.
• the method of determining if the candidate blocks the interaction between the TIM-3 and Gal3 involves coating the plates with one of the target protein, TIM-3 or Gal3, and adding a mixture of the candidate and the other target protein, i.e., Gal3 or TIM-3, to the coated plates, and detecting the signal corresponding to the binding of TIM-3 and Gal3. A decrease in signal as compared to control reactions, in which no candidate is added, indicates the candidate is capable of the blocking the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3.
• the blocking assay is a flow cytometry assay.
• the candidate is mixed with one of the target proteins, TIM-3 or Gal3, and the mixture is added to cells overexpressing the other target protein, Gal3 or TIM-3.
• the binding of the TIM-3 and Gal3 on the cell surface can be detected by fluorescently labeled antibodies.
• a decrease in signal in reactions containing the candidate as compared to control indicates that the candidate can block the interaction between TIM-3 and Gal3.
• Exemplary blocking assays that can be used to determine whether a candidate can block the interaction between the TIM-3 and Gal3 are described in Example 2.
• MLR Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction
• APC antigen presenting cells
• the levels of IFN-gamma and other cytokines can be measured. Methods for measuring cytokine production are well known and commercial kits are readily available, e.g., OptEIA ELISA kits (BD Biosciences).
• cells are cultured in the presence of 3 H-thymidine for a period of between 12 to 24 hours, e.g., 18 hours, and analyzed for amount of incorporation of 3 H-thymidine in the cells, which is positively correlated to cell proliferation. Results showing that, as compared to control, the culture containing the candidate shows increased T cell proliferation, increased production of IL-2, and/or IFN- gamma indicate the candidate is effective in activating T cells by blocking the interaction of TIM-3 and Gal3.
• MLR One exemplary assay of MLR that can be used for evaluating the candidate's capability in activating T cells is disclosed in Example 11.
• an in vivo assay is used to evaluate whether a candidate is effective in treating cancer.
• In vivo assays can be done in tumor models, such as mouse tumor models, according to well-established procedures.
• the animals e.g., mice
• the candidate is administered to the mice at a predetermined frequency at appropriate dosages.
• the candidate can be administered by a number of routes, such as intraperitoneal injection or intravenous injection.
• the animals are monitored once or twice weekly for tumor growth for period of time which usually lasts 4 to 8 weeks.
• the tumors are measured three dimensionally (heightxwidthxlength) and tumor volumes are calculated. Mice are typically euthanized at the end of the experiment, when the tumors reach tumor end point, e.g., 1500 mm 3 , or the mice show significant weight loss, e.g., greater than 15%, greater than 20%, or greater than 25% weight loss.
• a result showing that a slower tumor growth in the candidate treated group as compared to controls, or a longer mean time to reach the tumor end point volume is an indication that the candidate has activity in inhibiting cancer growth.
• One exemplary assay of in vivo efficacy assay that can be used for evaluating the candidate's capability in treating tumor is disclosed in Example 4.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor therapy disclosed herein can reduce the tumor load and confer beneficial, clinical outcome to cancer patients, especially those having Gal3- overexpressing cancer.
• Methods for measuring these responses are well-known to skilled artisans in the field of cancer therapy, e.g., as described in the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors ("RECIST”) guidelines, available at:
• the tumor load is measured by assaying expression of tumor- specific biomarkers.
• This approach is especially useful for metastatic tumors.
• a tumor- specific biomarker is a protein or other molecule that is unique to cancer cells or is much more abundant in them as compared to non-cancer cells.
• tumor-specific genetic markers include, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for liver cancer, beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) for multiple myeloma; beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) for choriocarcinoma and germ cell tumors; CA19-9 for pancreatic cancer, gall bladder cancer, bile duct cancer, and gastric cancer; CA-125 and H E4 for ovarian cancer; carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for colorectal cancer; chromogranin A (CgA) for neuroendocrine tumor; fibrin/fibrinogen for bladder cancer; prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer; and thyroglobulin for thyroid cancer. See, www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/diagnosis-staging/diagnosis/tumor-markers-fact-sheet.
• AFP alpha-fetoprotein
• B2M beta-2-microglobulin
• beta-hCG
• RNA of the genentic marker is isolated from the blood sample or a tumor tissue and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) is performed to quantify expression of the genetic marker.
• RT- PCR real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction
• western blots, immunohistochemistry, or flow cytometry analysis are performed to evaluate the protein expression of the tumor-specific genetic marker.
• levels of the tumor- specific genetic marker are measured in multiple samples taken over time of the therapy of the invention, and a decrease in levels correlates with a reduction in tumor load.
• the reduction of tumor load by the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor therapy disclosed herein is shown by a reduction in tumor size or a reduction of amount of cancer in the body.
• Measuring tumor size is typically achieved by imaging-based techniques. For example, computed tomography (CT) scan can provide accurate and reliable anatomic information about not only tumor shrinkage or growth but also progression of disease by identifying either growth in existing lesions or the development of new lesions or tumor metastasis.
• CT computed tomography
• a reduction of tumor load can be assessed by functional and metabolic imaging techniques. These techniques can provide earlier assessment of therapy response by observing alterations in perfusion, oxygenation and metabolism.
• 18 F-FDG PET uses radiolabeled glucose analogue molecules to assess tissue metabolism. Tumors typically have an elevated uptake of glucose, a change in value corresponding to a decrease in tumor tissue metabolism indicates a reduction in tumor load. Similar imaging techniques are disclosed in Kang et al., Korean J. Radiol. (2012) 13(4) 371-390.
• a patient receiving the therapy disclosed herein may exhibit varying degrees of tumor load reduction.
• a patient can exhibit a Complete Response (CR), also referred to as "no evidence of disease (NED)".
• CR means all detectable tumor has disappeared as indicated by tests, physical exams and scans.
• a patient receiving the combination therapy disclosed herein can experience a Partial Response (PR), which roughly corresponds to at least a 50% decrease in the total tumor volume but with evidence of some residual disease still remaining.
• PR Partial Response
• the residual disease in a deep partial response may actually be dead tumor or scar so that a few patients classified as having a PR may actually have a CR.
• many patients who show shrinkage during treatment show further shrinkage with continued treatment and may achieve a CR.
• a patient receiving the therapy can experience a Minor Response (MR), which roughtly means a small amount of shrinkage that is more than 25% of total tumor volume but less than the 50% that would make it a PR.
• MR Minor Response
• a patient receiving the therapy can exhibit Stable Disease (SD), which means the tumors stay roughly the same size, but can include either a small amount of growth (typically less than 20 or 25%) or a small amount of shrinkage (Anything less than a PR unless minor responses are broken out. If so, then SD is defined as typically less 25%).
• Desired beneficial or desired clinical results from the therapy may also include e.
• the administration of a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor as disclosed herein may reduce tumor burden by at least 20%, at least 30%, at least 40%, or at least 46% within the treatment period.
• combinations of a Gal3:TI M-3 inhibitor and one or more second anti-cancer agents may be employed to reduce the tumor load in the patient.
• second agents second anti-cancer agents
• combination therapy or “in combination with”, it is not intended to imply that the therapeutic agents must be administered at the same time and/or formulated for delivery together, although these methods of delivery are within the scope described herein.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor and the second agent can be administered following the same or different dosing regimen.
• the Gal3:TI M-3 inhibitor and the second agent are administered sequentially in any order during the entire or portions of the treatment period.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor and the second anticancer agent is administered simultaneously or approximately simultaneously (e.g., within about 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes of each other).
• combination therapies are as follows, with administration of the Gal3 and the second anti-cancer agent for example, Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor is "A" and the second anti-cancer agent or compound, is "B":
• the second anti-cancer agent is a targeted therapeutic agent, i. e., includes agent is against specific molecular or genetic targets, such as those associated with receptor tyrosine kinases. ii. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy
• Chemotherapeutic agents suitable for use in combination with the Gal3:TI M-3 inhibitors of the invention include agents that have the property of killing cancer cells or inhibiting cancer cell growth. As compared to targeted therapies as described above, chemotherapies function in a non-specific manner, for example, inhibiting the process of cell division known as mitosis, and generally excludes agents that more selectively block extracellular growth signals (i.e. blockers of signal transduction).
• agents include, but are not limited to anti-microtubule agents (e.g., taxanes and vinca alkaloids), topoisomerase inhibitors and antimetabolites (e.g., nucleoside analogs acting as such, for example, Gemcitabine), mitotic inhibitors, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, anti-tumor antibiotics, mitotic inhibitors, anthracyclines, intercalating agents, agents capable of interfering with a signal transduction pathway, agents that promote apoptosis, proteosome inhibitors, and alike.
• anti-microtubule agents e.g., taxanes and vinca alkaloids
• antimetabolites e.g., nucleoside analogs acting as such, for example, Gemcitabine
• mitotic inhibitors e.g., alkylating agents, antimetabolites, anti-tumor antibiotics, mitotic inhibitors, anthracyclines, intercalating agents, agents capable of interfering with a signal transduction pathway, agents that promote
• Alkylating agents are most active in the resting phase of the cell. These types of drugs are cell-cycle non-specific.
• Exemplary alkylating agents that can be used in combination with the GAL3:TIM-3 I NH IBITOR of the invention include, without limitation, nitrogen mustards, ethylenimine derivatives, alkyl sulfonates, nitrosoureas and triazenes): uracil mustard (Aminouracil Mustard ® , Chlorethaminacil ® , Demethyldopan ® , Desmethyldopan ® , Haemanthamine ® , Nordopan ® , Uracil nitrogen Mustard ® , Uracillost ® , Uracilmostaza ® , Uramustin ® , Uramustine ® ), chlormethine (Mustargen ® ), cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan ® , Neosar ® , Clafen ®
• Additional exemplary alkylating agents include, without limitation, Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin ® ); Temozolomide (Temodar ® and Temodal ® ); Dactinomycin (also known as actinomycin-D, Cosmegen ® ); Melphalan (also known as L-PAM, L-sarcolysin, and phenylalanine mustard, Alkeran ® ); Altretamine (also known as hexamethylmelamine (HMM), Hexalen ® ); Carmustine (BiCNU ® ); Bendamustine (Treanda ® ); Busulfan (Busulfex ® and Myleran ® ); Carboplatin (Paraplatin ® ); Lomustine (also known as CCNU, CeeNU ® ); Cisplatin (also known as CDDP, Platinol ® and Platinol ® -AQ); Chlorambucil (Leukeran ® ); Cyclo
• Antitumor antibiotics are chemo agents obtained from natural products produced by species of the soil fungus Streptomyces. These drugs act during multiple phases of the cell cycle and are considered cell-cycle specific. There are several types of antitumor antibiotics, including but are not limited to Anthracyclines (e.g., Doxorubicin, Daunorubicin, Epirubicin, Mitoxantrone, and Idarubicin), Chromomycins (e.g., Dactinomycin and Plicamycin), Mitomycin and Bleomycin.
• Anthracyclines e.g., Doxorubicin, Daunorubicin, Epirubicin, Mitoxantrone, and Idarubicin
• Chromomycins e.g., Dactinomycin and Plicamycin
• Mitomycin and Bleomycin e.g., Mitomycin and Bleomycin.
• Antimetabolites are types of chemotherapy treatments that are cell-cycle specific. When the cells incorporate these antimetabolite substances into the cellular metabolism, they are unable to divide.
• These class of chemotherapy agents include folic acid antagonists such as Methotrexate; pyrimidine antagonists such as 5-Fluorouracil, Foxuridine, Cytarabine, Capecitabine, and Gemcitabine; purine antagonists such as 6-Mercaptopurine and 6- Thioguanine; Adenosine deaminase inhibitors such as Cladribine, Fludarabine, Nelarabine and Pentostatin.
• doxorubicin Adriamycin ® and Rubex ®
• Antimicrotubule agents include vinca alkaloids and taxanes.
• Exemplary vinca alkaloids that can be used in combination with the GAL3:TIM-3 I NHIBITOR of the invention include, but are not limited to, vinorelbine tartrate (Navelbine ® ), Vincristine (Oncovin ® ), and Vindesine (Eldisine ® )); vinblastine (also known as vinblastine sulfate, vincaleukoblastine and VLB, Alkaban-AQ ® and Velban ® ); and vinorelbine (Navelbine ® ).
• Exemplary taxanes that can be used in combination with the GAL3:TIM-3 inhibitor of the invention include, but are not limited to paclitaxel and docetaxel.
• paclitaxel agents include nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (ABRAXANE, marketed by Abraxis Bioscience), docosahexaenoic acid bound-paclitaxel (DHA-paclitaxel, Taxoprexin, marketed by Protarga), polyglutamate bound-paclitaxel (PG-paclitaxel, paclitaxel poliglumex, CT-2103, XYOTAX, marketed by Cell Therapeutic), the tumor-activated prodrug (TAP), ANG105 (Angiopep-2 bound to three molecules of paclitaxel, marketed by ImmunoGen), paclitaxel-EC-1 (paclitaxel bound to the erbB2-recognizing peptide EC-1; see Li et al., Biopolymers (2007) 87:225-230
• Exemplary proteosome inhibitors that can be used in combination with the GAL3:TIM-3 inhibitor of the invention, include, but are not limited to, Bortezomib (Velcade.RTM.); Carfilzomib (PX-171-007, (S)-4-Methyl-N--((S)-l-(((S)-4-methyl-l-((R)-2- methyloxiran-2-yl)-l-oxope- ntan-2-yl)amino)-l-oxo-3-phenylpropan-2-yl)-2-((S)-2-(2- morpholinoacetamid- o)-4-phenylbutanamido)-pentanamide); marizomib (NPI-0052); ixazomib citrate (MLN-9708); delanzomib (CEP-18770); and 0-Methyl-N-[(2-methyl-5- thiazolyl)carbon
• the chemotherapeutic agent is selected from the group consisting of chlorambucil, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, melphalan, streptozocin, carmustine, lomustine, bendamustine, uramustine, estramustine, carmustine, nimustine, ranimustine, mannosulfan busulfan, dacarbazine, temozolomide, thiotepa, altretamine, 5- fluorouracil (5-FU), 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), capecitabine, cytarabine, floxuridine, fludarabine, gemcitabine, hydroxyurea, methotrexate, pemetrexed, daunorubicin, doxorubicin, epirubicin, idarubicin, SN-38, ARC, NPC, campothecin, topotecan, 9- nitrocamptothecin, 9-amino
• the chemotherapeutic agent is administered at a dose and a schedule that may be guided by doses and schedules approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other regulatory body, subject to empirical optimization.
• FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• more than one chemotherapeutic agent may be administered simultaneously, or sequentially in any order during the entire or portions of the treatment period.
• the two agents may be administered following the same or different dosing regimens.
• Radiotherapy requires maximized exposure of the affected tissues while sparing normal surrounding tissues.
• Interstitial therapy where needles containing a radioactive source are embedded in the tumor, has become a valuable new approach. In this way, large doses of radiation can be delivered locally while sparing the surrounding normal structures.
• Intraoperative radiotherapy where the beam is placed directly onto the tumor during surgery while normal structures are moved safely away from the beam, is another specialized radiation technique. Again, this achieves effective irradiation of the tumor while limiting exposure to surrounding structures. Despite the obvious advantage of approaches predicated upon local control of the irradiation, patient survival rate is still very low. iii. Others therapies
• Gal3:TI M-3 inhibitor can be combined with other means of treatment such as surgery, radiation, and/or hormonal therapy.
• Hormonal therapies can inhibit growth-promoting signals coming from classic endocrine hormones, for example, primarily estrogens for breast cancer and androgens for prostate cancer.
• Gal3:TI M-3 inhibitors disclosed herein are useful in the manufacture of a pharmaceutical composition or a medicament for treating inflammatory diseases as described above.
• Pharmaceutical compositions or medicaments for use in the present invention can be formulated by standard techniques using one or more physiologically acceptable carriers or excipients. Suitable pharmaceutical carriers are described herein and in, e.g., "Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences” by E.W. Martin.
• Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor of the present invention and their physiologically acceptable salts and solvates can be formulated for administration by any suitable route, including, but not limited to, orally, topically, nasally, rectally, parenterally [e.g., intravenously, subcutaneously, intramuscularly, etc. ), and combinations thereof.
• the therapeutic agent is dissolved in a liquid, for example, water.
• a pharmaceutical composition or a medicament disclosed herein can take the form of, e.g., a tablet or a capsule prepared by conventional means.
• Liquid preparations for oral administration can take the form of, for example, solutions, syrups, or suspensions, or they can be presented as a dry product for constitution with water or other suitable vehicle before use.
• Such liquid preparations can be prepared by conventional means with pharmaceutically acceptable additives, for example, suspending agents, for example, sorbitol syrup, cellulose derivatives, or hydrogenated edible fats; emulsifying agents, for example, lecithin or acacia; non-aqueous vehicles, for example, almond oil, oily esters, ethyl alcohol, or fractionated vegetable oils; and preservatives, for example, methyl or propyl-p-hydroxybenzoates or sorbic acid.
• the preparations can also contain buffer salts, flavoring, coloring, and/or sweetening agents as appropriate. If desired, preparations for oral administration can be suitably formulated to give controlled release of the active compound.
• compositions of the present invention can be in the form of emulsions, lotions, gels, creams, jellies, solutions, suspensions, ointments, and transdermal patches.
• the composition can be delivered as a dry powder or in liquid form via a nebulizer.
• the compositions can be in the form of sterile injectable solutions and sterile packaged powders.
• injectable solutions are formulated at a pH of about 4.5 to about 7.5.
• compositions of the present invention can also be provided in a lyophilized form.
• Such compositions may include a buffer, e.g., bicarbonate, for reconstitution prior to administration, or the buffer may be included in the lyophilized composition for reconstitution with, e.g., water.
• the lyophilized composition may further comprise a suitable vasoconstrictor, e.g., epinephrine.
• the lyophilized composition can be provided in a syringe, optionally packaged in combination with the buffer for reconstitution, such that the reconstituted composition can be immediately administered to a patient.
• the compounds can be encapsulated in a controlled drug-delivery system such as a pressure controlled delivery capsule (see, e.g., Takaya et al., J. Control Rel., 50:111-122 (1998)), a colon targeted delivery system, a osmotic controlled drug delivery system, and the like.
• the pressure controlled delivery capsule can contain an ethylcellulose membrane.
• the colon target delivery system can contain a tablet core containing lactulose which is overcoated with an acid soluble material, e.g., Eudragit E ® , and then overcoated with an enteric material, e.g., Eudragit L * .
• the osmotic controlled drug delivery system can be a single or more osmotic unit encapsulated with a hard gelatin capsule [e.g., capsule osmotic pump; commercially available from, e.g., Alzet, Cupertino, CA).
• a hard gelatin capsule e.g., capsule osmotic pump; commercially available from, e.g., Alzet, Cupertino, CA.
• the osmotic unit contains an osmotic push layer and a drug layer, both surrounded by a semipermeable membrane.
• compositions or medicaments can be administered to a subject at a therapeutically effective dose to treat the cancers as described herein.
• the pharmaceutical composition or medicament is administered to a subject in an amount sufficient to elicit an effective therapeutic response in the subject.
• Dose administered will vary depending on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the subject's body weight, age, individual condition, surface area or volume of the area to be treated, and/or on the form of administration.
• the size of the dose also will be determined by the existence, nature, and extent of any adverse effects that accompany the administration of a particular compound in a particular subject. Preferably, the smallest dose and concentration required to produce the desired result should be used. Dosage should be appropriately adjusted for children, the elderly, debilitated patients, and patients with cardiac and/or liver disease. Further guidance can be obtained from studies known in the art using experimental animal models for evaluating dosage.
• Dosage regimens are adjusted to provide the optimum desired response, e.g., a therapeutic response or minimal adverse effects.
• the dosage ranges from about 0.0001 to about 100 mg/kg, usually from about 0.001 to about 20 mg/kg, or about 0.01 to about 40 mg/kg, and more usually from about 0.01 to about 10 mg/kg, of the subject's body weight.
• the dosage is within the range of 0.1-10 mg/kg body weight.
• dosages can be 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 5 or 10 mg/kg body weight, and more preferably, 0.3, 1, 3, or 10 mg/kg body weight.
• the dosing schedule is typically designed to achieve exposures that result in sustained receptor occupancy ( O) based on typical pharmacokinetic properties of an Ab.
• An exemplary treatment regime entails administration once per week, once every two weeks, once every three weeks, once every four weeks, once a month, once every 3 months or once every three to 6 months.
• the dosage and scheduling may change during a course of treatment.
• dosing schedule may comprise administering the Ab: (i) every two weeks in 6-week cycles; (ii) every four weeks for six dosages, then every three months; (iii) every three weeks; (iv) 3-10 mg/kg body weight once followed by 1 mg/kg body weight every 2-3 weeks.
• a preferred dosage regimen for a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor of the invention comprises 0.3-10 mg/kg body weight, preferably 3-10 mg/kg body weight, more preferably 3 mg/kg body weight via intravenous administration, with the Ab being given every 14 days in up to 6-week or 12-week cycles until complete response or confirmed progressive disease.
• two or more antibodies with different binding specificities are administered simultaneously, in which case the dosage of each Ab administered falls within the ranges indicated.
• Antibody is usually administered on multiple occasions. Intervals between single dosages can be, for example, weekly, every 2 weeks, every 3 weeks, monthly, every three months or yearly. Intervals can also be irregular as indicated by measuring blood levels of Ab to the target antigen in the patient. In some methods, dosage is adjusted to achieve a plasma Ab concentration of about 1-1000 mg/ml and in some methods about 25- 300 mg/ml.
• the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor is a compound and may be administered for multiple days at the therapeutically effective daily dose and the treatment may continue for a period ranging from three days to two weeks or longer. While consecutive daily doses are a preferred route to achieve a therapeutically effective dose, a therapeutically beneficial effect can be achieved even if the agents are not administered daily, so long as the administration is repeated frequently enough to maintain a therapeutically effective concentration of the agents in the subject. For example, one can administer the agents every day, every other day, or, if higher dose ranges are employed and tolerated by the subject, twice a week.
• the disclosure provides a unit dosage for oral administration to an individual of about 50 to 70 kg may contain between about 20 and 300 mg of the active ingredient.
• a dosage of the Gal3:TIM-3 is a dosage that is sufficient to achieve the desired effect.
• Optimal dosing schedules can be calculated from measurements of agent accumulation in the body of a subject. In general, dosage may be given once or more daily, weekly, or monthly. Persons of ordinary skill in the art can easily determine optimum dosages, dosing methodologies, and repetition rates.
• the pharmaceutical composition provided herein is a sterile solution comprising an antibody that is able to interfere with the interaction between the Gal3 and TIM-3 on T cells in a cancer patient, the solution comprising 10 ⁇ g-100 mg, e.g., 10 ⁇ g-40 mg, 100 ⁇ g-40 mg, or 1 mg-10 mg of antibody per kilogram of patient body weight in a solution of 100 ml suitable for intravenous delivery over a time period, e.g., 1-4 hour period.
• the antibody in the sterile solution can be an anti-Gal3 antibody or an anti-TIM-3 antibody.
• the sterile solution further comprises one or more the targeted therapy agents, e.g., one or more check point inhibitor therapy agents as described above.
• the sterile solution further comprises one or more nanoparticles having a diameter between 10 and 100 nm, e.g., between 40 and 100 nm, or between 50 and 80 nm.
• compositions of the invention are administered for one or more weeks, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or more weeks.
• the compounds are administered for one or more months, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or more months.
• the Ab can be administered as a sustained release formulation, in which case less frequent administration is required. Dosage and frequency vary depending on the half-life of the Ab in the patient. In general, human Abs shows the longest half-life, followed by humanized Abs, chimeric Abs, and nonhuman Abs. The dosage and frequency of administration can vary depending on whether the treatment is prophylactic or therapeutic. In prophylactic applications, a relatively low dosage is administered at relatively infrequent intervals over a long period of time. Some patients continue to receive treatment for the rest of their lives. In therapeutic applications, a relatively high dosage at relatively short intervals is sometimes required until progression of the disease is reduced or terminated, and preferably until the patient shows partial or complete amelioration of symptoms of disease. Thereafter, the patient can be administered a prophylactic regime.
• composition of the present invention can be monitored and adjusted throughout treatment, depending on severity of symptoms, frequency of recurrence, and/or the physiological response to the therapeutic regimen. Those of skill in the art commonly engage in such adjustments in therapeutic regimens.
• a method of activating immune response in a patient comprising administering to the patient a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor that interferes with the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 in the patient, where said inhibitor is administered in an amount sufficient to activate immune response.
• the microenvironment and the Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor is administered in an amount sufficient to decrease the cancer load of the patient.
• a method of activating immune response in a patient hosting a cancer comprising cells in a tumor microenvironment, wherein the cells overexpress Gal3 on the their surface, the method comprising administering to the patient a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor that interferes with the interaction between the Gal3 and TIM-3 on the immune cells in the tumor microenvironment wherein said inhibitor is administered in an amount sufficient to decrease the cancer load of the patient by activating the immune response.
• immune cells are T cells and/or NK cells.
• the one or more other therapies are selected from the group consisting of a chemotherapy, a radiotherapy, a checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
• checkpoint inhibitor therapy is selected from the group consisting of an anti-PD-1 therapy and an anti-CTLA4 therapy.
• the administration of the inhibitor is administered a dose of between 100 ⁇ g/kg to 40 mg/kg body weight every other week.
• a method for determining if a patient's cancer is suitable for treatment with a Gal3:TIM-3 inhibitor comprising:
• determining the patient's cancer as suitable for treatment step further comprises determining if the level of Gal3 on the surface of the cells obtained from the tumor microenvironment is 25% or greater as compared to a second threshold activity value of Gal3, wherein the second threshold activity value is derived from samples comprising corresponding cells from healthy patients.
• the cells obtained from the tumor microenvironment comprises at least cancer cells and/or tumor-associated macrophages.
• the determining the patient's cancer as suitable for treatment step further comprises determining if the level of Gal3 on the surface of the cells obtained from the tumor microenvironment is 75% or greater as compared to the second threshold activity value.
• a sterile solution that is able to interfere with the interaction between the Gal3 and TIM-3 on T-cells in a cancer patient, where the solution comprises between 10 ⁇ g and 100 mg of antibody per kilogram of patient body weight in a solution of 100 ml suitable for intravenous delivery over a 1-4 hour period, wherein the antibody can interfere with the interaction between the Gal3 and TIM-3 on the T-cells.
• the sterile solution of embodiment 23, wherein the antibody is an anti-Gal3 antibody.29.
• the sterile solution of embodiment 23, wherein the antibody is an anti-TIM-3 antibody.
• a method of producing an anti-Gal3 antibody that can interfere with the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 comprising: introducing a peptide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 5-8 to an animal, wherein the animal produces the Gal3 antibody.
• a humanized or chimeric anti-Gal3 antibody wherein the antibody comprises
• a light chain variable region comprising a complementary determining region (CDR) LI, a CDR L2, and a CDR L3 and (2) a heavy chain variable region comprising a CDR HI, a CDR H2, and a CDR H3, wherein the CDR LI comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:17,
• the CDR L2 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:18
• the CD L3 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:19
• the CDR HI comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:9
• the CDR H2 comprises the amino acid of SEQ ID NO:10, and
• the CDR H3 comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:ll.
• a method of selecting compounds that can block interaction between Gal3 and TIM- 3, activating immune response and/or treating cancer in a patient comprising
• step (c) contacting the one or more candidate compounds selected from step (b) with a mixture comprising T cells, and allogeneic antigen presenting cells, and identifying one or more compounds that are capable of stimulating the T cells, and/or
• a method of activating immune response in a patient comprising administering to the patient an antibody, wherein the antibody includes a means for inhibiting the interaction between Gal3 and TI M-3.
• EXAM PLE 1 GENERATION OF GAL3-OVE EXP ESSI NG CELL LIN ES
• A20 a mouse B lymphoma cell line, obtained from American Tissue and cell culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, VA), was transfected with nucleic acid construct encoding a Flag- tagged human Gal3 protein or a Flag-tagged human PDLl protein.
• the constructs additionally contain an antibiotics-resistant marker.
• the transformed cells were selected based on the antibiotics resistance to create A20 cells stably expressing the Flag-tagged human Gal3 protein (A20 Gal3 cells) or A20 cells stably expressing the Flag-tagged human PDLl protein (A20 hPDLl cells).
• This example describes various assays that have been conducted to evaluate the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3. Binding assays-Co-immunoprecipitation
• lanes 1-3 represents the results from lysate produced from the cells co-transfected with a plasmid encoding HA-tagged TIM-3 and a plasmid encoding Flag-tagged Gal3; cells co-transfected with a plasmid encoding HA-tagged TIM-3 and a plasmid encoding Flag-tagged Gal9, or cells co-transfected with a plasmid encoding HA-tagged TIM-3 and a plasmid encoding Flag-tagged CEACAM 1, respectively.
• Protein G beads was added to the supernatant formed after the centrifugation and incubated by rotating at 4°C for 4 hours. The beads were then washed 3x with lysis buffer, followed by addition of lx SDS PAGE sample buffer. The samples containing the beads were boiled and separated on SDS-PAGE, transferred onto membrane. The membrane was then probed with ant-Flag antibodies. As shown in FIG. 2, human TIM-3 specifically pulled down Flag-tagged Gal3. In contrast, neither human Fc nor human PDl Fc was able to pull down TIM-3. This shows that Gal3 does not bind to Fc or PDl Fc and that the binding between Gal3 and TIM-3 is specific.
• the plates were slowly flipped 180 degrees and kept at the flipped position for 30 min. After plates were flipped back and removed from PBS, 200 ⁇ solution from each well was removed and discarded and the remaining solution, about 100 ⁇ in volume, was transfer into a 96-well plate. The cells were counted by flow cytometry analysis.
• Flow cytometry analysis was performed to evaluate the binding between TIM-3 and Gal3 using A20 cells.
• A20 Gal3 cells were incubated with 10% FBS H BSS solution that contains with or without mouse TI M-3 Fc on ice for 20 minutes.
• cells were incubated with 10% FBS H BSS containing mentioned antibodies, then were added with 10% FBS HBSS containing mTI M-3 Fc for 20 min. Samples were centrifuged and pellet were added 10% FBS H BSS containing APC conjugated anti-hFc antibodies (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA) for 20 min. After spinning, live/dead cells were stained with Violet dead cell stain kit (Life Technologies). Stained cells were subjected to flow analysis.
• FIG. 4 shows that mTIM-3 was able to bind to dead cells and the Gal 3 protein on live cells and that Gal3 and dead cells bind different epitopes on TI M-3.
• TIM-3 Fc binds both dead cells (FIG. 4C, row 2) and Gal3 expressed on live cells (FIG. 4B, row 2).
• mTI M-3 monoclonal antibody RMT3-23 blocked the binding of TI M-3 to dead cells (FIG. 4C, row 4), but not to Gal3 expressed on live cells (FIG. 4B, row 4). This shows that the Gal3 and dead cells bind to different epitopes on TI M-3.
• ELISA assays were also performed to test the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3.
• 96 well ELISA plates (ThermoFisher Scientific) were coated with mouse Gal3 protein (BioLegend, San Diego, CA) in PBS or human Gal9 protein (R&D systems) in PBS or phosphatidylserine (PS) (Sigma) in ethanol and incubated at 4 °C for overnight.
• the plate was washed three times with TBST and then blocked with PBS buffer containing 2% BSA at room temperature for 1 hour.
• different anti Gal3 antibodies i.e.
• mGal3 polyclonal antibody (R&D sytems), mAb IMT001, mAb M3/38 (Thermofisher Scientific) (FIG. 5A), were added to well that has been coated with Gal3.
• the antibodies were incubated for 10 minutes and mouse TIM-3 Fc were then added to the plates and incubated for an additional one-hour incubation. Plates were then washed for three times and followed by incubation with anti human-lgG-HRP (Jackson ImmunoResearch) for 1 h at room temperature.
• the color was developed with TMB subtract (GeneTex, Irvine, CA) after three time washes with TBST and the reaction was terminated with IN HCI.
• the optical density (OD) was read at 450 nm.
• results were expressed as the average OD of duplicates ⁇ SD.
• the results in FIG. 5A showed that among all antibodies tested, mouse Gal3 polyclonal antibody and monoclonal antibody IMT001 blocked the interaction between Gal3 and TIM-3 (FIG. 5A).
• mouse Gal3 protein (BioLegend) in PBS (groups 1 and 2) or PS (Sigma- Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) in ethanol (groups 3 and 4) were coated on the plates and incubated at 4 °C overnight.
• Anti mTIM-3 mouse antibodies, mAb RMT3-23 (Bio X cell) was added to the coated plates for groups 2 and 4 only.
• Secondary anti human-lgG-HRP antibody and substrates were added as described above to detect the binding of the mTIM-3 to mGal3 or PS.
• ELISA plates were coated with either mGal3 (groups 1 and 2, or hGal9 (groups 3 and 4).
• Mouse TIM-3 Fc protein R&D systems
• Secondary anti human-lgG-HRP antibody and substrates were added as described above to detect the binding of mTIM-3-Fc to mGal3 or hGal9.
• FIG. 6A shows results of flow cytometry analysis that shows hGal3 expression level in these clones.
• Cells of A20 or the A20 Gal3 clones were mixed with mouse DO11.10 T cells. The mixture was placed to each well of flat 96-well plates and OVA323-339 peptide (Invivogen, San Diego, CA) was then added to the plates. After overnight incubation, supernatant was used for measuring IL-2 production of the T cells by ELISA (Thermo Fisher Scientific).
• FIG. 6B the IL-2 production by the mouse DO11.10 T cells were significantly reduced when mixed with any of the three mouse A20 cell clones as compared to when the T cells were mixed with parental A20 cells (FIG. 6B).
• B16F10 cells (2 x 10 5 in 0.1 mL PBS) were washed and resuspended in PBS before injection into the tail veins of mice using a syringe with a 27-ga needle.
• the animals were administrated intraperitoneally with 10 mg/Kg of mouse lgG2b (Bio X Cell, West Riverside, NH) on day 0, 3, 7 and 10, mPDl antibody (Bio X Cell, West Lebanon, NH) on day 0, 3 and 7 or Gal3 antibody IMT001 on day 0, 3, 7, 10 and 15.
• the animals were humanely sacrificed and lung tissues were removed and fixed in a 10% buffered formaldehyde solution. The number of black metastatic colonies on one surface of the left lobes in the lungs were counted (FIG. 7B). Results were expressed as mean ⁇ SEM. The statistical analysis was performed in comparison with IgG control group using one-way ANOVA.
• FIG. 7A shows that the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of B16F10 cells stained with anti mGAL3 antibody is nearly ten-fold higher than that of cells stained with isotype control antibody.
• B16F10 cells were incubated with 10% FBS HBSS solution that contains control rat IgG PE or rat anti mouse Gal3 PE antibody (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) on ice for 20 minutes. After spinning, live/dead cells were stained with Violet dead cell stain kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA). Stained cells were subjected to flow analysis.
• FIG. 7B shows representative images of the whole lung from three treated groups.
• FIG. 7C shows numbers of metastatic colonies on surface of the left lung lobe (Mean ⁇ SEM).
• FIG. 7D and FIG. 7E shows lung weight and body weight of different treatment groups (Mean ⁇ SEM).
• the Gal3 antibody treated group showed significant (about 46%) reduction of tumor number (p ⁇ 0.01) as indicated by the number of black metastatic colonies.
• anti mouse PD1 antibody 29F did not show significant anti-tumor effect in this lung metastasis model (p>0.05).
• mice were humanely sacrificed and lung tissues were inflated with 30% sucrose, removed and fixed in Bouin's solution (Sigma-Aldrich). The number of metastatic colonies on one surface of the left lobes in the lungs were counted. Results were expressed as mean ⁇ SEM. The statistical analysis was performed in comparison with IgG control group using unpaired T test.
• FIG 8A shows representative images of the whole lung from the treated groups.
• FIG. 8B shows body weight of different treatment groups (Mean ⁇ SEM).
• FIG. 8C shows numbers of metastatic colonies on one surface of the left lung lobe (Mean ⁇ SEM).
• animals treated with the monoclonal anti-human Gal3 antibody showed significant reduction of lung metastatic number (p ⁇ 0.05).
• mice were i.p. administrated with either 10 mg/Kg of mouse lgG2b (Bio X Cell) or mPDl antibody (BioXCeli) on day 0, 3 and 7 or Gal3 antibody IMT001 antibody on day 0, 3, 7, 10 and 14.
• the animals were humanely sacrificed when tumor volume in the control group reached between 2000-2500 mm 3 . Results were expressed as mean ⁇ SEM. The statistical analysis was performed in comparison with SgG2b control group using unpaired t test.
• the results show the anti-tumor activity of Gal3 antibody (IMTOOl) in a renal carcinoma model.
• the anti-Gal3 antibody treated group showed significant (about 35%) reduction of tumor growth (p ⁇ 0.05), while anti-PD-1 antibody had no effect (FIG. 9).
• mice were placed in a facility accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care upon arrival.
• MC38 murine colon adenocarcinoma cells were collected, washed and resuspended in PBS.
• Mice were anesthetized by inhalation anesthetic (3 to 5 % Isoflurane in medical grade air).
• 5 x 10 5 cells in 0.1 mL PBS were subcutaneously injected into the right flank of mice by using a syringe with a 25-ga needle.
• mice were randomly assigned into two groups (n 8).
• FIG. 10 shows that IMTOOl antibody has anti-tumor activity in the MC38 colon cancer model. As compared to mice that were treated with the isotype control antibody, IMTOOl antibody treated mice showed significant reduction (about 33%) of tumor burden on day 24 (p ⁇ 0.05).
• EXAMPLE 8 EPITOPE BINDING OF GAL3 ANTIBODY CLONE IMT-001
• a peptide array containing 24 20 amino acid peptides overlapping by 10 amino acid and covering the whole human Gal3 protein sequence was synthesized (Genscript,
• FIG. 11A 20 ⁇ g of each peptide was dot blotted onto a membrane. After blocking with 5% milk in PBS, the membrane was incubated with lug/ml IMTOOl antibody at 4C for overnight. After three times of washes, the membrane was incubated with 1:8000 diluted anti mlgG H P antibody (Southern Biotech, Birmingham, AL) for one hour. After three times of washes, the membrane was incubated with Western ECL blotting substrates (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) and developed (FIG. 11B). Peptides 5 and 6 showed good signal, indicating the epitope on hGal3 to which IMT001 binds is
• the plate was washed for three times and followed by incubation with 1:8000 dilution of anti-mouse-lgG-HRP for 1 h at room temperature.
• the color was developed with 100 ⁇ of TMB subtract (GeneTex) after three time washes with TBST and stopped by 50 ⁇ of 1 N HCI.
• the optical density (OD) was read at 450 nm. The results were expressed as the average OD of duplicates ⁇ SD.
• Pep-2 showed good signal, indicating the binding epitope of IMT001 on human Gal3 is GQAPPGAYPG (SEQ ID NO: 8).
• mice were implanted with 1 million B16F10 cells I.V. Mice were then treated with IMT001 or isotype control (lOmg/kg LP.) on Day 0, 1, 3 and 7 and sacrificed on day 8 for lung immune cell isolation and phenotyping. Cells were isolated from the lungs, and then stained with fluorescently labeled antibodies against lymphocyte markers CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, DX5 and analyzed by flow cytometry. The results in FIG.
• Immunohistochemistry (IHC) experiment was conducted to detect Gal3 expression in human lung cancers.
• the frozen tissue slides of human lung cancers (US Biomax Inc.) were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin (Fisher Scientific) at room temperature for 10 min and washed twice for 5 min in PBS. Endogenous peroxidase was blocked by immersing slides in 3% H2O2 at room temperature for 10 min. After washing twice in PBS for 5 min, the slides were incubated in streptavidin reagent (Molecular Probes) for 15 min at room temperature, followed by rinse thoroughly with PBS, incubation in biotin reagent (Molecular Probes) for 15 min and another rinse in PBS to block the endogenous biotin background.
• streptavidin reagent Molecular Probes
• the slides were blocked with 10% FBS, 200 ⁇ g/mL mlgG and 200 ⁇ g/mL hlgG for 1 h, incubated with 1 st antibody IMTOOl-biotin (5 ⁇ g/mL) at 4 °C for overnight, washed three times, then followed by incubation with 2 nd antibody HRP avidin (BioLegend) at 1:100 for 1 h and washes for three time.
• the staining was developed by incubating with DAB substrate (Vector Laboratories) and stopped by immersing slides in distilled water.
• Results in FIG. 13 shows that the canopy shaped tumor associated macrophages in those human lung cancer slides (squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma) express Gal3, as evidenced by their positive staining by IMT001.
• First Human CD14 monocytes were isolated from perpheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with a CD14 cell positive selection kit (Miltenyi, Auburn, CA) and differentiated into dendritic cells (DC), or into Ml macrophages, or into M2 macrophages in the presence of GM- CSF plus IL-4, or GM-CSF, or M-CSF (Rocky Hill, NJ), respectively. Then flow cytometry analysis was performed to detect Gal3 expression on human dendritic cells (DC), Ml and M2 macrophage cells.
• DC dendritic cells
• MFI mean fluorescence intensity
• Gal3 The expression of Gal3 on mouse macrophages was detected by both IHC and Flow cytometry analysis. In the details of IHC, 100,000 cells per well were seeded overnight. On the second day, cells were washed once with PBS, fixed with 3% formaldehyde at room temperature for 10 min, then washed twice with PBS and blocked in PBS containing 10% FBS and 200 ⁇ g/mL for 1 h at room temperature.
• MLR Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction
• RAW mouse macrophage cells were mixed with DOll mouse T cells at 1:1 ratio, treated with OVA peptide, and cultured in the presence of mlgG (BD Biosciences), anti mPDl antibody 29F (BioXCell) or IMT001 at 10 ⁇ g/ml for overnight 37° C. 50 ⁇ of the culture medium was taken for mlL-2 measurement. The mlL-2 production was measured according to the commercial kit mouse IL-2 Elisa eady-SET-Go from eBioscience.
• FIG 15D shows that in comparison of mlgG or mPDl antibody treated cells, IMT001 antibody, but not mouse PD-1 antibody 29F, enhanced the production of IL-2, indicating the reversion of macrophage induced T-cell inactivation.
• SEQ I D NO: 1 the Mus musculus Gal3 nucleic acid (cDNA) sequence (the start and stop codons are underlined.)
• SEQ ID NO:2 the Mus musculus Gal3 polypeptide sequence
• SEQ I D N0:3 the Homo sapiens Gal3 nucleic acid (cDNA) sequence (the start and stop codons are underlined.)
• SEQ ID NO:4 the Homo sapiens Gal3 polypeptide sequence
• SEQ ID NO:8 hGal3 epitope, corresponding to Pep-2 in FIG. 11C GQAPPGAYPG
• SEQ I D NO: 25 heavy chain variable region
• SEQ ID NO: 26 light chain variable region
• SEQ ID NO: 27 peptide_l, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 28 peptide_2, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 29 peptide_3, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 30 peptide_4, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 31 peptide_7, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 32 peptide_8, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 33 peptide_9, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 35 peptide_ll, as disclosed in FIG. 11A PATGPYGAPAGPLIVPYNLP
• SEQ ID NO: 36 peptide_12, as disclosed in FIG. 11A GPLIVPYNLPLPGGVVP ML
• SEQ ID NO: 37 peptide_13, as disclosed in FIG. 11A LPGGVVPRMLITILGTVKPN
• SEQ ID NO: 38 peptide_14, as disclosed in FIG. 11A ITILGTVKPNANRIALDFQR
• SEQ ID NO: 40 peptide_16, as disclosed in FIG. 11A GNDVAFHFNPRFNENNRRVI
• SEQ ID NO: 41 peptide_17, as disclosed in FIG. 11A RFNENNRRVIVCNTKLDNNW
• SEQ ID NO: 42 peptide_18, as disclosed in FIG. 11A VCNTKLDNNWGREERQSVFP
• SEQ ID NO: 43 peptide_19, as disclosed in FIG. 11A GREERQSVFPFESGKPFKIQ
• SEQ ID NO: 44 peptide_20, as disclosed in FIG. 11A FESGKPFKIQVLVEPDHFKV
• SEQ ID NO: 45 peptide_21, as disclosed in FIG. 11A VLVEPDHFKVAVNDAHLLQY
• SEQ ID NO: 46 peptide_22, as disclosed in FIG. 11A AVNDAHLLQYNHRVKKLNEI
• SEQ ID NO: 47 peptide_23, as disclosed in FIG. 11A NHRVKKLNEISKLGISGDID
• SEQ ID NO: 48 peptide_24, as disclosed in FIG. 11A
• SEQ ID NO: 49 Pep-1, as disclosed in FIG. 11C
• SEQ ID NO: 50 Pep-3, as disclosed in FIG. 11C GAYPGQAPPGA
• SEQ ID NO: 52 Pep-5, as disclosed in FIG. 11C YPGAPGAYP
• SEQ ID NO: 53 Pep-6, as disclosed in FIG. 11C APPGAY
• SEQ ID NO: 54 Pep-7, as disclosed in FIG. 11C GAYPGQ
• SEQ ID NO: 55 Pep-8, as disclosed in FIG. 11C PGQAPP

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