title: Use of trifunctional bispecific antibodies to prevent graft versus host disease induced by allogeneic lymphocytes.
abstract: A trifunctional bispecific antibody (BiLu) directed against murine CD3 and human epithelial-cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) was tested for its ability to improve cell-mediated adoptive immunotherapy in a murine model of B16 melanoma cells transfected with human EpCAM. Intraperitoneal inoculation of naive C57BL/6 (C57) splenocytes induced lethal graft versus host disease (GVHD) in 85% to 97% of sublethally irradiated (BALB/c x C57BL/6) F1 (F1) hosts inoculated intraperitoneally with a sublethal or lethal dose of melanoma cells. BiLu antibodies given intraperitoneally concomitantly with alloreactive C57 cells effectively prevented GVHD-related and tumor-related death in 16 of 25 F1 mice inoculated with a sublethal tumor-cell dose and in 10 of 20 mice inoculated with a lethal tumor-cell dose over a follow-up period of more than 200 days. BiLu treatment also efficiently prevented severe GVHD, which was induced by high doses of BALB/c-derived splenocytes. Trifunctional bispecific antibodies (TbsAbs) capable of cross-linking T lymphocytes, natural killer, and other FcgammaR-positive effector cells, via their Fc region, to the tumor cells may be applied together with adoptive allogeneic-cell therapy to maximize antitumor responses while acting on GVHD in patients with minimal residual disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cancer Immunotherapy, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel. morecki@hadassah.org.il
authors.forename: Shoshana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morecki
authors.forename: Horst
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lindhofer
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yacovlev
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gelfand
authors.forename: Shimon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Slavin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018033:Antibodies, Bispecific / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D017710:Lymphocyte Transfusion; D008546:Melanoma, Experimental / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018033:Antibodies, Bispecific; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules