Abstract C050: Leveraging ECM deposition by CAF-like Ewing sarcoma tumor cells to target micrometastases with matrix-binding VHHs
Authors: Wrenn Emma D. , Price Jason P. , Ruff Raymond O. , Garcia Nicolas M. , Olson James M. , Lawlor Elizabeth R. 
Published: November 2024

Ewing sarcoma (EwS) is an aggressive bone and soft tissue tumor and EwS patients often succumb to their disease years after initial treatment due to relapses at metastatic sites. Novel therapeutic strategies are needed that can successfully eliminate microscopic residual disease foci that persist at the end of primary therapy. Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the tumor microenvironment (TME) provide critical pro-survival and pro-invasion signals to tumor cells. Our published and unpublished data show that the glycoprotein tenascin-C (TNC) is enriched in EwS metastases and that TNC and other pro-tumorigenic ECM proteins are deposited by subpopulations of CAF-like tumor cells that are activated in response to tumor and TME-derived TGF-beta ligands. TNC is abundantly produced by multiple human tumors of epithelial and non-epithelial lineage but is otherwise rarely expressed outside of development and wound healing. Importantly, TNC is specifically enriched in metastatic lesions where it has been implicated as a mediator of metastatic competence and treatment resistance. In the current work we have tested whether the TNC-rich TME of disseminated EwS tumor foci could be leveraged to direct therapies to sites of residual micrometastatic disease. To achieve this, we generated monovalent and bivalent anti-human TNC VHHs (hTNC-VHH) using a mammalian expression platform. Camelid-derived hTNC-VHH sequences were sourced from published literature. VHHs are single domain heavy chain only antibody fragments with higher stability and tissue penetration than conventional monoclonal antibodies. Using EwS tumor spheroids in collagen-rich 3D culture, hTNC-VHH penetrated dense ECM matrices and bound through multiple cell layers in under 10 minutes. hTNC-VHH accumulated in TNC-positive but not TNC-knockout EwS spheroids and were retained beyond 96 hours. To assess their potential to drive protein and immune therapies to TNC-rich TMEs, we fused hTNC-VHH to immune modulating CD3- and CD28-activating VHHs. These hTNC-VHH-CD3/CD28-conjugates promoted immune cell activation and tumor cell death in PBMC-tumor co-culture assays as determined by CD25 flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, respectively. To assess in vivo localization, fluorescently-tagged hTNC-VHH were intravenously injected into mice that had been xenografted with EwS cells. Tissue microscopy confirmed selective binding of hTNC-VHH to small lung and liver EwS micrometastases in less than 4 hours. VHHs were not retained in non-tumor bearing organs including the brain and heart or in tumor-free lung and liver regions. Experiments are ongoing to assess anti-tumor efficacy and pharmacodynamics of hTNC-VHH conjugates in EwS xenografts. Together these findings suggest that the ECM-remodeling properties of CAF-like EwS cells can be exploited to recruit novel ECM-targeting protein therapeutics to micrometastases. If successful, this innovative approach could eradicate microscopic residual disease and prevent metastatic EwS recurrence.

Citation Format: Emma D. Wrenn, Jason P. Price, Raymond O. Ruff, Nicolas M. Garcia, James M. Olson, Elizabeth R. Lawlor. Leveraging ECM deposition by CAF-like Ewing sarcoma tumor cells to target micrometastases with matrix-binding VHHs [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Tumor-body Interactions: The Roles of Micro- and Macroenvironment in Cancer; 2024 Nov 17-20; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(22_Suppl):Abstract nr C050.