Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for quantification of MMAE-conjugated ADCs and total antibodies in cynomolgus monkey sera

Antibody-drug conjugates(ADCs)are commonly heterogeneous and require extensive assessment of exposure-efficacy and exposure-safety relationships in preclinical and clinical studies.In this study,we report the generation of a monoclonal antibody against monomethyl auristatin E(MMAE)and the development,validation,and application of sensitive and high-throughput enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays(ELISA)to measure the concentrations of MMAE-conjugated ADCs and total antibodies(tAb,antibodies in ADC plus unconjugated antibodies)in cynomolgus monkey sera.These assays were successfully applied to in vitro plasma stability and pharmacokinetic(PK)studies of SMADC001,an MMAE-conjugated ADC against trophoblast cell surface antigen 2(TROP-2).The plasma stability of SMADC001 was better than that of similar ADCs coupled with PEG4-Val-Cit,Lys(m-dPEG24)-Cit,and Val-Cit linkers.The developed ELISA methods for the calibration standards of ADC and tAb revealed a correlation between serum concentrations and the OD450 values,with R2 at 1.000,and the dynamic range was 0.3-35.0 ng/mL and 0.2-22.0 ng/mL,respectively;the intra-and inter-assay accuracy bias%ranged from -12.2% to -5.2%,precision ranged from -12.4% to -1.4%,and the relative standard deviation(RSD)was less than 6.6% and 8.7%,respectively.The total error was less than 20.4%.The development and validation steps of these two assays met the acceptance criteria for all addressed validation parameters,which suggested that these can be applied to quantify MMAE-conjugated ADCs,as well as in PK studies.Furthermore,these assays can be easily adopted for development of other similar immunoassays.

Protective effect of DNA-mediated immunization with a combination of SAG1 and IL-2 gene adjuvant against infection of Toxoplasma gondii in mice

To characterize the immune response induced by SAG1 encoding plasmid combined with IL 2 gene adjuvant in mice and to assess the protective effect of this vaccination against toxoplasmosis Methods Mice were co injected intramuscularly with plasmid encoding Toxoplasma gondii SAG1 plus murine IL 2 expression vector at a dose of 100 μg Booster immunizations were employed 2 more times at 3 week interval As controls, mice were inoculated with PBS or empty plasmid pcDNA3 Humoral and cellular responses were assayed using ELISA for the determination of Ab, Ab isotype and IFN γ, as well as IL 4 To detect the integration and dissemination of DNA in the injected mice, PCR and in situ hybridization were performed All mice were then infected with highly virulent RH tachyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii intraperitoneally Results Significant increases in specific IgG levels were observed in mice after immunization three times with SAG1 expression plasmid With respect to the IgG isotype, co inoculation of IL 2 expression plasmid enhanced the level of IgG2a and the production of IFN γ Challenging mice by vaccinating with combined plasmids with RH tachyzoites resulted in prolonged survival Conclusion Humoral and cytokine responses elicited by SAG1 DNA immunization can be modulated by co inoculation with IL 2 expression plasmid The use of DNA vaccine in combination with an appropriate cytokine gene to prevent T gondii infection warrants further investigation