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Title: Structural basis for cancer immunotherapy by the first-in-class checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [1]
  1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry
  2. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry and Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology
  3. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (United States). Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology
  4. Bristol–Myers Squibb, Redwood City, CA (United States)

The rational modulation of the immune response with biologics represents one of the most promising and active areas for the realization of new therapeutic strategies. In particular, the use of function blocking monoclonal antibodies targeting checkpoint inhibitors such as CTLA-4 and PD-1 have proven to be highly effective for the systemic activation of the human immune system to treat a wide range of cancers. Ipilimumab is a fully human antibody targeting CTLA-4 that received FDA approval for the treatment of metastatic melanoma in 2011. Ipilimumab is the first-in-class immunotherapeutic for blockade of CTLA-4 and significantly benefits overall survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. Understanding the chemical and physical determinants recognized by these mAbs provides direct insight into the mechanisms of pathway blockade, the organization of the antigen–antibody complexes at the cell surface, and opportunities to further engineer affinity and selectivity. Here, we report the 3.0 Å resolution X-ray crystal structure of the complex formed by ipilimumab with its human CTLA-4 target. This structure reveals that ipilimumab contacts the front β-sheet of CTLA-4 and intersects with the CTLA-4:Β7 recognition surface, indicating that direct steric overlap between ipilimumab and the B7 ligands is a major mechanistic contributor to ipilimumab function. The crystallographically observed binding interface was confirmed by a comprehensive cell-based binding assay against a library of CTLA-4 mutants and by direct biochemical approaches. This structure also highlights determinants responsible for the selectivity exhibited by ipilimumab toward CTLA-4 relative to the homologous and functionally related CD28.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
HG008325; GM094662; GM094665
OSTI ID:
1437464
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 114, Issue 21; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 103 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Anti–CTLA-4 therapy requires an Fc domain for efficacy journal March 2018
The CC′ loop of IgV domain containing immune checkpoint receptors: From a bystander to an active determinant of receptor:ligand binding posted_content May 2019
Construction, Expression, and Characterization of rSEA-EGF and In Vitro Evaluation of its Antitumor Activity Against Nasopharyngeal Cancer journal January 2018
Immune checkpoint therapy in liver cancer journal May 2018
Inhibition of autophagy potentiated the anti-tumor effects of VEGF and CD47 bispecific therapy in glioblastoma journal May 2018
Structure and Optimization of Checkpoint Inhibitors journal December 2019
CTLA-4: a moving target in immunotherapy journal January 2018
Current knowledge of Ipilimumab and its use in treating non-small cell lung cancer journal April 2019
Anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy: uncoupling toxicity and efficacy journal March 2018
Immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: recent advances and future perspectives journal January 2019
A mathematical modelling tool for unravelling the antibody-mediated effects on CTLA-4 interactions journal June 2018
Hypophysitis induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors: a 10-year assessment journal November 2019
Mathematical Prostate Cancer Evolution: Effect of Immunotherapy Based on Controlled Vaccination Strategy journal January 2020
Combination Strategies to Optimize Efficacy of Dendritic Cell-Based Immunotherapy journal December 2018
Preponderance of CTLA4 Variation Associated With Autosomal Dominant Immune Dysregulation in the MYPPPY Motif journal July 2019
A reappraisal of CTLA-4 checkpoint blockade in cancer immunotherapy journal February 2018
Molecular Interactions of Antibody Drugs Targeting PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4 in Immuno-Oncology journal March 2019
A functional antibody cross-reactive to both human and murine cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 via binding to an N-glycosylation epitope journal January 2020
CTLA-4 in Regulatory T Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy preprint February 2021
Determinants of Resistance to Checkpoint Inhibitors journal February 2020