title: Humanization of an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor monoclonal antibody for the therapy of solid tumors and other disorders.
abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major mediator of angiogenesis associated with tumors and other pathological conditions, including proliferative diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. The murine anti-human VEGF monoclonal antibody (muMAb VEGF) A.4.6.1 has been shown to potently suppress angiogenesis and growth in a variety of human tumor cells lines transplanted in nude mice and also to inhibit neovascularization in a primate model of ischemic retinal disease. In this report, we describe the humanization of muMAb VEGF A.4.6.1. by site-directed mutagenesis of a human framework. Not only the residues involved in the six complementarity-determining regions but also several framework residues were changed from human to murine. Humanized anti-VEGF F(ab) and IgG1 variants bind VEGF with affinity very similar to that of the original murine antibody. Furthermore, recombinant humanized MAb VEGF inhibits VEGF-induced proliferation of endothelial cells in vitro and tumor growth in vivo with potency and efficacy very similar to those of muMAb VEGF A.4.6.1. Therefore, recombinant humanized MAb VEGF is suitable to test the hypothesis that inhibition of VEGF-induced angiogenesis is a valid strategy for the treatment of solid tumors and other disorders in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California 94080, USA.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Presta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chisholm
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krummen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ferrara
mesh_terms: D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000098:blood supply; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002196:Capillaries; D002417:Cattle; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000276:immunology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000737:chemistry; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000737:chemistry; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000737:chemistry; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008961:Models, Structural; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D051381:Rats; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000098:blood supply / Q000628:therapy*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D008222:Lymphokines; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors