Bispecific antibody-mediated destruction of Hodgkin's lymphoma cells

CD30 is a molecule that is overexpressed on the surface of Hodgkin's lymphoma cells. Therefore, CD30 represents a potential candidate for immunotherapy. In this study, we report the in vitro results of two bispecific molecules (BSMs) that target CD30 to trigger molecules expressed on myeloid effector cells. The first BSM is composed of the Fab' fragment of a CD30-specific antibody, Ki-4, chemically linked to the Fab' fragment of the humanized CD64 (FcgammaRI)-specific antibody, H22 (H22xKi-4). In the second BSM, the H22 Fab' is replaced with the Fab' fragment of the CD89 (FcalphaR)-specific, antibody, A77 (A77xKi-4). Both BSMs were able to bind specifically to lymphoma cell lines expressing CD30. In addition, the H22xKi-4 and A77xKi-4 BSMs were shown to bind cells expressing CD64 and CD89, respectively. Both BSMs mediated potent, dose-dependent antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) of CD30-expressing tumor cell lines when human monocytes were used as effector cells. In addition, freshly prepared polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and effector cells in whole blood were able to mediate the ADCC of targets in conjunction with the A77xKi-4 BSM in some, but not all, experiments. Furthermore, we examined the ability of monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) to phagocytose CD30-expressing tumor cell lines in conjunction with the BSM. MDM-mediated phagocytosis was significantly enhanced in the presence of both BSMs. These results demonstrate that targeting lymphoma cells via CD30 to the myeloid high affinity Fc receptor for IgG and to the Fc receptor for IgA results in potent in vitro anti-tumor activity.