Therapeutically targeting type I interferon directly to XCR1+ dendritic cells reveals the role of cDC1s in anti-drug antibodies

Abstract

Conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) are superior in antigen cross-presentation and priming CD8⁺ T cell anti-tumor immunity and thus, are a target of high interest for cancer immunotherapy. Type I interferon (IFN) is a potent inducer of antigen cross-presentation, but, unfortunately, shows only modest results in the clinic given the short half-life and high toxicity of current type I IFN therapies, which limit IFN exposure in the tumor. CD8⁺ T cell immunity is dependent on IFN signaling in cDC1s and preclinical studies suggest targeting IFN directly to cDC1s may be sufficient to drive anti-tumor immunity. Here, we engineered an anti-XCR1 antibody (Ab) and IFN mutein (IFN^mut) fusion protein (XCR1Ab-IFN^mut) to determine whether systemic delivery could drive selective and sustained type I IFN signaling in cDC1s leading to anti-tumor activity and, in parallel, reduced systemic toxicity. We found that the XCR1Ab-IFN^mut fusion specifically enhanced cDC1 activation in the tumor and spleen compared to an untargeted control IFN. However, multiple treatments with the XCR1Ab-IFN^mut fusion resulted in robust anti-drug antibodies (ADA) and loss of drug exposure. Using other cDC1-targeting Ab-IFN^mut fusions, we found that localizing IFN directly to cDC1s activates their ability to promote ADA responses, regardless of the cDC1 targeting antigen. The development of ADA remains a major hurdle in immunotherapy drug development and the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing the development of ADA responses in humans is not well understood. Our results reveal a role of cDC1s in ADA generation and highlight the potential ADA challenges with targeting immunostimulatory agents to this cellular compartment.

Keywords: antibody IFN fusion; conventional type I DCs; dendritic cells; immunogenicity; immunotherapy; interferon; pharmacokinetics.