Abstract 741: Distinct functional effects of ILT family members in mediating the activity of an ILT2/ILT4/ILT5 cross-reactive monoclonal antibody in releasing the suppression on innate and adaptive anti-tumor immunity
Authors: Ye Shiming , Zhang Dong , Singh Brenal , Bankoti Jaishree , Cohen Diane , Tan Siusze , Choi Donghee , Hickson Jonathan , Wu Min-Zu , Kolhatkar Urvi , Binnewies Mikhail , Jin Wei , Hall Jason , Engelhardt John , Shoemaker Alexander 
Published: March 2024

The expression of ILT (LILRB) family members and their major ligand HLA-G within solid tumors are associated with immune suppression and poor patient survival. Blocking multiple ILT family members might be more potent than targeting individual members by overcoming compensatory resistances within tumor microenvironment. Based on this hypothesis, we developed a monoclonal antibody (mAb) LITCHI 7 which reacts to three major ILT family members, ILT2, ILT4 and ILT5, and blocks ligand binding to these receptors. LITCHI 7 exhibits a broad binding capability to a wide range of human myeloid and T cell subsets that express ILT2, ILT4, and/or ILT5. Binding to monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDC), LITCHI 7 released the inhibition on activating Fcγ receptor. On LPS-treated macrophages, LITCHI 7 enhanced inflammatory macrophage differentiation. The effect is primarily mediated by blocking ILT4 since ILT4 mono-specific mAb is as potent as cross-reactive LITHI 7 in modulating myeloid differentiation although both ILT2 and ILT5 are highly expressed by different myeloid subsets. The result was further confirmed by CRISPR Cas9 knock down of ILT2 or ILT5. In the absence of either ILT2 or ILT5, the accumulation of CD14+ monocytes and inflammatory macrophages were not changed during differentiation. While different ILT family members are generally enriched on myeloid cells, ILT2 is also expressed on NK cells and effector memory CD45RA+ T cells (Temra). Blocking ILT2 by LITCHI 7 enhanced TCR signaling when co-culturing the MART-1 specific T cell reporter line with MART-1/HLA-G positive melanoma cells. The effect of LITCHI 7 is mediated by ILT2 blockade since knocking out ILT2, but not ILT4 and ILT5, reduced accumulation of Temra in activated PBMC. To assess whether immune modulation of LITCHI 7 can be translated into anti-tumor activity by blocking different ILT family members, tumor killing assays were performed using innate and adaptive immune effector cells. LITCHI7 enhanced NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity on HLA-G+ tumor cells by blocking ILT2. Both ILT2 and ILT4 blockade play a role in macrophage phagocytosis on lymphoma cells since LITCHI 7 as well as individual anti-ILT2 or ILT-4 mAbs increased macrophage phagocytosis to a similar level. Finally, LITCHI 7 could boost in vitro T cell-mediated killing of CD19+ lymphoma by CD19 specific CAR-T cells in the presence of CD33+ myeloid cells. In summary, LITCHI 7 can enhance both innate and adaptive anti-tumor immunity through ILT2 or ILT4 blockade directly on effector cells or indirectly through myeloid cell reprogramming. As clinical trials are ongoing by targeting ILT2 and ILT4, blocking multiple ILT family members through a single cross-reactive mAb may provide broad anti-tumor effects and advantages when combining with additional oncology treatments.

Citation Format: Shiming Ye, Dong Zhang, Brenal Singh, Jaishree Bankoti, Diane Cohen, Siusze Tan, Donghee Choi, Jonathan Hickson, Min-Zu Wu, Urvi Kolhatkar, Mikhail Binnewies, Wei Jin, Jason Hall, John Engelhardt, Alexander Shoemaker. Distinct functional effects of ILT family members in mediating the activity of an ILT2/ILT4/ILT5 cross-reactive monoclonal antibody in releasing the suppression on innate and adaptive anti-tumor immunity [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 741.