Abstract 4057: Beyond IL-2: The promise of anti PD-1-attenuated IL-2 fusion protein in cancer immunotherapy
Authors: Amar Sarah , Liubomirski Yulia , Yeini Eilam , Monsonego Michael , Weiss Tomer , Tiram Galia , Katyal Anshika , Avramoff Opal , Krinsky Anne , Reshef Keren , Dulberg Shai , Kaminitz Ayelet , On Dana Bar , Eliezer Inbal Ben , Iancu Ortal , Taura Tetsuya , Wilson David , Ayton Paul , Satchi-Fainaro Ronit , Madi Asaf 
Published: March 2024

PD1+ CD8+ tumor-infiltrating T-cells have been at the forefront of cancer immunotherapies due to their antigen-specificity, cytotoxicity, proliferative capacity, and stem-like/memory properties. IL-2 is essential for T cell growth and proliferation, however, its systemic administration at a high dose was associated with intolerable toxicities, while low-dose treatment contradicted the intended therapeutic effect by activating regulatory T cells.To overcome the limitations of IL-2, we fused modified IL-2 sequences with reduced affinity for the murine IL-2 receptor to a PD1 antibody designed to target the PD1+ T cells found in tumors. The resulting murine PD1 antibody-attenuated-IL-2 (mAnti-PD1-IL2Att) demonstrated similar IL-2 potency on PD1+ cells as native IL-2, but diminished potency by orders of magnitude on PD1- cells. The agent was furthermore designed to bind PD1 non-competitively with known PD1-blocking antibodies, so that it could be used in combination with them to achieve effective anti-tumor response. We demonstrated that mAnti-PD1-IL2Att exhibits potent anti-tumor activity, resulting in complete tumor regression in a syngeneic MC38 colorectal cancer model, and significant anti-tumor activity in other models of different tumor types. The mechanism was evaluated by immunophenotyping and single-cell RNAseq. Shortly after the first administration of mAnti-PD1-IL2Att, CD8+ T cells, rather than Tregs, emerged as the primary responding cells; these CD8+ T cells exhibited increased proliferation and activation with reduced expression of exhaustion markers (PD1+Tim3+). Following subsequent doses, there was a notable increase in the number of effector cells, followed by a prolonged generation of effector and memory cells at a later stage. Myeloid cells exhibited increased transcriptional programs related to chemotaxis, co-stimulation, and co-inhibition, including the upregulation of the PD1-PDL1 pathway. By contrast, blockade of PD1 with a naked PD1 antibody led to distinct cellular responses and less pronounced anti-tumor activity, and a combination of the blocking antibody with PD1-attIL-2 was superior to either agent alone. Together, our findings suggest that mAnti-PD1-IL2Att potent anti-tumor activity was driven by its direct targeting of PD1+ on tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T-cells, shedding light on the specific changes in their dynamic differentiation trajectory and their impact on the tumor microenvironment.

Citation Format: Sarah Amar, Yulia Liubomirski, Eilam Yeini, Michael Monsonego, Tomer Weiss, Galia Tiram, Anshika Katyal, Opal Avramoff, Anne Krinsky, Keren Reshef, Shai Dulberg, Ayelet Kaminitz, Dana Bar On, Inbal Ben Eliezer, Ortal Iancu, Tetsuya Taura, David Wilson, Paul Ayton, Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, Asaf Madi. Beyond IL-2: The promise of anti PD-1-attenuated IL-2 fusion protein in cancer immunotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 4057.