Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a targeted chemotherapeutic currently at the cutting edge of oncology medicine. These hybrid molecules consist of a tumor antigen-specific antibody coupled to a chemotherapeutic small molecule. Through targeted delivery of potent cytotoxins, ADCs exhibit improved therapeutic index and enhanced efficacy relative to traditional chemotherapies and monoclonal antibody therapies. The currently FDA-approved ADCs, Kadcyla (Immunogen/Roche) and Adcetris (Seattle Genetics), are produced by conjugation to surface-exposed lysines, or partial disulfide reduction and conjugation to free cysteines, respectively. These stochastic modes of conjugation lead to heterogeneous drug products with varied numbers of drugs conjugated across several possible sites. As a consequence, the field has limited understanding of the relationships between the site and extent of drug loading and ADC attributes such as efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics, and immunogenicity. A robust platform for rapid production of ADCs with defined and uniform sites of drug conjugation would enable such studies. We have established a cell-free protein expression system for production of antibody drug conjugates through site-specific incorporation of the optimized non-natural amino acid, para-azidomethyl-l-phenylalanine (pAMF). By using our cell-free protein synthesis platform to directly screen a library of aaRS variants, we have discovered a novel variant of the Methanococcus jannaschii tyrosyl tRNA synthetase (TyrRS), with a high activity and specificity toward pAMF. We demonstrate that site-specific incorporation of pAMF facilitates near complete conjugation of a DBCO-PEG-monomethyl auristatin (DBCO-PEG-MMAF) drug to the tumor-specific, Her2-binding IgG Trastuzumab using strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) copper-free click chemistry. The resultant ADCs proved highly potent in in vitro cell cytotoxicity assays.

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To gain fundamental information regarding the molecular basis of endothelial cell adhesive interactions during vascular formation, we have cloned and characterized a unique cell adhesion molecule. This molecule, named endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule (ESAM), is a new member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. The conceptual protein encoded by cDNA clones consists of V-type and C2-type immunoglobulin domains as well as a hydrophobic signal sequence, a single transmembrane region, and a cytoplasmic domain. Northern blot analysis showed ESAM to be selectively expressed in cultured human and murine vascular endothelial cells and revealed high level expression in lung and heart and low level expression in kidney and skin. In situ hybridization analysis indicated that ESAM is primarily expressed in the developing vasculature of the embryo in an endothelial cell-restricted pattern. Epitope-tagged ESAM was shown to co-localize with cadherins and catenins in cell-cell junctions. In aggregation assays employing ESAM-expressing Chinese hamster ovary cells, this novel molecule was shown to mediate cell-cell adhesion through homophilic interactions. The endothelial cell-selective expression of this immunoglobulin-like adhesion molecule coupled with its in vitro functional profile strongly suggests a role in cell-cell interactions that is critical for vascular development or function.

(2012) Aglycosylated antibodies and antibody fragments produced in a scalable in vitro transcription-translation system, mAbs, 4:2, 217-225,