Development of a novel recombinant biotherapeutic with applications in targeted therapy of human arthritis

Panagiotis Kamperidis, Tahereh Kamalati, Mathieu Ferrari, Margaret Jones, Toby Garrood, Malcolm D. Smith, Soraya Diez-Posada, Chris Hughes, Ciara Finucane, Stephen Mather, Ahuva Nissim, Andrew J.T. George, Costantino Pitzalis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective To isolate recombinant antibodies with specificity for human arthritic synovium and to develop targeting reagents with joint-specific delivery capacity for therapeutic and/or diagnostic applications. Methods In vivo single-chain Fv (scFv) antibody phage display screening using a human synovial xenograft model was used to isolate antibodies specific to the microvasculature of human arthritic synovium. Single-chain Fv antibody tissue-specific reactivity was assessed by immunostaining of synovial tissues from normal controls and from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, normal human tissue arrays, and tissues from other patients with inflammatory diseases displaying neovasculogenesis. In vivo scFv antibody tissue-specific targeting capacity was examined in the human synovial xenograft model using both 125I-labeled and biotinylated antibody. Results We isolated a novel recombinant human antibody, scFv A7, with specificity for the microvasculature of human arthritic synovium. We showed that in vivo, this antibody could efficiently target human synovial microvasculature in SCID mice transplanted with human arthritic synovial xenografts. Our results demonstrated that scFv A7 antibody had no reactivity with the microvasculature or with other cellular components found in a comprehensive range of normal human tissues including normal human synovium. Further, we showed that the reactivity of the scFv A7 antibody was not a common feature of neovasculogenesis associated with chronic inflammatory conditions. Conclusion Here we report for the first time the identification of an scFv antibody, A7, that specifically recognizes an epitope expressed in the microvasculature of human arthritic synovium and that has the potential to be developed as a joint-specific pharmaceutical.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3758-3767
Number of pages10
JournalArthritis and Rheumatism
Volume63
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2011
Externally publishedYes

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