[HTML][HTML] An engineered human Fc domain that behaves like a pH-toggle switch for ultra-long circulation persistence

CH Lee, TH Kang, O Godon, M Watanabe… - Nature …, 2019 - nature.com
CH Lee, TH Kang, O Godon, M Watanabe, G Delidakis, CM Gillis, D Sterlin, D Hardy…
Nature communications, 2019nature.com
The pharmacokinetic properties of antibodies are largely dictated by the pH-dependent
binding of the IgG fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain to the human neonatal Fc receptor
(hFcRn). Engineered Fc domains that confer a longer circulation half-life by virtue of more
favorable pH-dependent binding to hFcRn are of great therapeutic interest. Here we
developed a pH Toggle switch Fc variant containing the L309D/Q311H/N434S (DHS)
substitutions, which exhibits markedly improved pharmacokinetics relative to both native …
Abstract
The pharmacokinetic properties of antibodies are largely dictated by the pH-dependent binding of the IgG fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain to the human neonatal Fc receptor (hFcRn). Engineered Fc domains that confer a longer circulation half-life by virtue of more favorable pH-dependent binding to hFcRn are of great therapeutic interest. Here we developed a pH Toggle switch Fc variant containing the L309D/Q311H/N434S (DHS) substitutions, which exhibits markedly improved pharmacokinetics relative to both native IgG1 and widely used half-life extension variants, both in conventional hFcRn transgenic mice and in new knock-in mouse strains. engineered specifically to recapitulate all the key processes relevant to human antibody persistence in circulation, namely: (i) physiological expression of hFcRn, (ii) the impact of hFcγRs on antibody clearance and (iii) the role of competing endogenous IgG. DHS-IgG retains intact effector functions, which are important for the clearance of target pathogenic cells and also has favorable developability.
nature.com