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Tofacitinib enhances delivery of antibody-based therapeutics to tumor cells through modulation of inflammatory cells
Nathan Simon, Antonella Antignani, Stephen M. Hewitt, Massimo Gadina, Christine Alewine, David FitzGerald
Nathan Simon, Antonella Antignani, Stephen M. Hewitt, Massimo Gadina, Christine Alewine, David FitzGerald
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Research Article Oncology Therapeutics

Tofacitinib enhances delivery of antibody-based therapeutics to tumor cells through modulation of inflammatory cells

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Abstract

The routes by which antibody-based therapeutics reach malignant cells are poorly defined. Tofacitinib, an FDA-approved JAK inhibitor, reduced tumor-associated inflammatory cells and allowed increased delivery of antibody-based agents to malignant cells. Alone, tofacitinib exhibited no antitumor activity, but combinations with immunotoxins or an antibody-drug conjugate resulted in increased antitumor responses. Quantification using flow cytometry revealed that antibody-based agents accumulated in malignant cells at higher percentages following tofacitinib treatment. Profiling of tofacitinib-treated tumor-bearing mice indicated that cytokine transcripts and various proteins involved in chemotaxis were reduced compared with vehicle-treated mice. Histological analysis revealed significant changes to the composition of the tumor microenvironment, with reductions in monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils. Tumor-associated inflammatory cells contributed to non-target uptake of antibody-based therapeutics, with mice treated with tofacitinib showing decreased accumulation of therapeutics in intratumoral inflammatory cells and increased delivery to malignant cells. The present findings serve as a rationale for conducting trials where short-term treatments with tofacitinib could be administered in combination with antibody-based therapies.

Authors

Nathan Simon, Antonella Antignani, Stephen M. Hewitt, Massimo Gadina, Christine Alewine, David FitzGerald

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Figure 6

Immunotoxin metabolism with and without tofacitinib treatments.

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Immunotoxin metabolism with and without tofacitinib treatments.
(A) Mice...
(A) Mice bearing KLM-1 tumors were treated with vehicle or tofacitinib at t = –48 and –24 hours. At t = 0, mice were injected with LMB-100 and blood was harvested at t = 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes. Circulating LMB-100 was detected by ELISA and normalized to a standard curve for purified LMB-100. The half-life and area under the curve were calculated from best-fit regression analysis. Results are averaged from 2 biological replicates. (B) Naive mice were treated with vehicle or tofacitinib at t = –48 and –24 hours. At t = 0, mice were injected with LMB-100 and blood was harvested at t = 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes. Circulating LMB-100 was detected by ELISA and normalized to a standard curve for purified LMB-100. The half-life and area under the curve were calculated from best-fit regression analysis. Results are averaged from 4 biological replicates. (C) Mice bearing KLM-1 xenografts were pretreated with either vehicle or tofacitinib, then administered 50 μg LMB-100–A647 for 3 hours. Dissociated tumors were scored for the presence of LMB-100–A647 in malignant cells and inflammatory populations. Tumor cells were identified by staining with anti-huEGFR, and tumor-associated inflammatory cell populations were identified by staining with anti-mCD11b. The percentage of huEGFR or mCD11b cells containing immunotoxin in vehicle or tofacitinib-treated mice is shown. n = 4 biological replicates. (D) CD11b+ cells containing LMB-100–A647 were further discriminated into CD68+ (macrophage) or LY6G+ (neutrophil) populations. The percentage of tumor-associated LMB-100–A647+ cells displaying each cell marker is shown. n = 4 biological replicates. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 by unpaired 2-tailed t test (A–D). ns, not significant.

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