Reactivation of functionally-impaired anticancer T cells by programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death receptor ligand-1 (PD-L1)-blocking antibodies shows prominent therapeutic benefit in advanced melanoma and patients with non-small cell lung cancer. However， current PD-L1-blocking antibodies lack intrinsic tumor selectivity. Therefore， efficacy may be reduced resulting from on-target and off-tumor binding to PD-L1-expressing normal cells. This may lead to indiscriminate activation of antigen-experienced T cells， including those implicated in autoimmune-related adverse events. To direct PD-L1 blockade to chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4)-expressing cancers and to reactivate... More
Reactivation of functionally-impaired anticancer T cells by programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death receptor ligand-1 (PD-L1)-blocking antibodies shows prominent therapeutic benefit in advanced melanoma and patients with non-small cell lung cancer. However， current PD-L1-blocking antibodies lack intrinsic tumor selectivity. Therefore， efficacy may be reduced resulting from on-target and off-tumor binding to PD-L1-expressing normal cells. This may lead to indiscriminate activation of antigen-experienced T cells， including those implicated in autoimmune-related adverse events. To direct PD-L1 blockade to chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4)-expressing cancers and to reactivate anticancer T cells more selectively， we constructed bispecific antibody PD-L1xCSPG4. CSPG4 is an established target antigen that is selectively overexpressed on malignant melanoma and various other difficult-to-treat cancers. PD-L1xCSPG4 showed enhanced capacity for CSPG4-directed blockade of PD-L1 on cancer cells. Importantly， treatment of mixed cultures containing primary patient-derived CSPG4-expressing melanoma cells and autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes with PD-L1xCSPG4 significantly enhanced activation status， IFN-γ production， and cytolytic activity of anticancer T cells. In conclusion， tumor-directed blockade of PD-L1 by PD-L1xCSPG4 may improve efficacy and safety of PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade for treatment of melanoma and other CSPG4-overexpressing malignancies.
