Structural and In Vitro Functional Analyses of Novel Plant-Produced Anti-Human PD1 Antibody

Sci Rep. 2019 Oct 23;9(1):15205. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51656-1.

Abstract

Immunotherapy has emerged as a promising and effective treatment for cancer. The frequently used immunotherapy agents are immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as antibodies specific to PD1, PD-L1, or CTLA-4. However, these drugs are highly expensive, and most people in the world cannot access the treatment. The development of recombinant protein production platforms that are cost-effective, scalable, and safe is needed. Plant platforms are attractive because of their low production cost, speed, scalability, lack of human and animal pathogens, and post-translational modifications that enable them to produce effective monoclonal antibodies. In this study, an anti-PD1 IgG4 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was transiently produced in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The plant-produced anti-PD1 mAb was compared to the commercial nivolumab produced in CHO cells. Our results showed that both antibodies have similar protein structures, and the N-glycans on the plant-produced antibody lacks plant-specific structures. The PD1 binding affinity of the plant-produced and commercial nivolumab, determined by two different techniques, that is, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), are also comparable. Plant-produced nivolumab binds to human PD1 protein with high affinity and specificity, blocks the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction, and enhances T cell function, comparable to commercial nivolumab. These results confirmed that plant-produced anti-PD1 antibody has the potential to be effective agent for cancer immunotherapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / chemistry
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / genetics*
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology*
  • Biotechnology
  • CHO Cells
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Cricetulus
  • Gene Expression
  • Genetic Vectors / genetics
  • Humans
  • Nicotiana / genetics*
  • Nicotiana / immunology
  • Nivolumab / chemistry
  • Nivolumab / genetics
  • Nivolumab / immunology
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / immunology*
  • Protein Conformation

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • PDCD1 protein, human
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor
  • Nivolumab