Patent Application: US-201414785058-A

Abstract:
the inventions describe here cover therapeutic compositions , and methods of use , for neutralizing type i interferons in a mammal . the compositions contain a soluble orthopoxvirus ifn - binding protein that is modified to remove the cell - binding region , and that specifically binds to type i ifns , and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient . another variation of the invention entails a novel ifn - binding protein that is modified to remove the cell - binding region and the signal sequence .

Description:
orthopoxviruses encode a type i ifn - binding protein ( ibp )— sometimes referred to as the ifn binding molecule or ibm — of which the vaccinia virus ortholog is called b18r or b19r depending on the strain of vaccinia virus . this molecule is secreted from infected cells whereupon it can interact and block type i ifn activity ( 1 , 2 , 12 ). however , a unique capability of the orthopoxviruses ibm is its ability to bind to the cell surface of uninfected cells surrounding the infected cells to prevent the development of an type i ifn induced antiviral state in the uninfected cells ( 2 ). in doing so , this molecule helps the virus spread to nearby cells , where it replicates and spreads to respective nearby cells — thus enabling viral dissemination . this molecule can be critically important for some orthopoxviruses infections , for example it is essential for infection by ectromelia virus infection ( the orthologs of vaccinia ibm is called ecv 166 ) and vaccines targeting this molecule are 100 % protective ( 14 ). the full - length poxvirus ifn - binding protein is sold as a research reagent . to investigate the ifn - binding protein as a vaccine target , the separate domains involved in ifn neutralization and cell binding have been identified in golden and hooper , 2010 ( clinical and vaccine immunology , 2010 , vol . 17 , no . 11 , p . 1656 - 1665 ). it was found that the type i ifn - neutralizing region and the cell - binding region maintain respective activity independent of each other . we theorized that the ifn - binding domain / region would be an effective component in a vaccine against vaccinia virus ( and its orthologs ). the ifn - binding domain is touted for its capacity to neutralize type i ifns at the cell - surface and in the extracellular milieu (( 4 ) and also for example see ebioscience catalogue # 34 - 8185 b18r full - length protein -“ unique in that it exists as a soluble extracellular , as well as cell - surface protein , enabling blockage of both autocrine and paracrine ifn functions ”). we thought that as a vaccine target , targeting the cbp or the ifn - neutralization regions may enhance the vaccine targeting of the molecule by focusing the immune response onto those domains . what we found , however , was that vaccines containing the ifn - binding region and targeting the vaccinia virus ortholog ibm ( b18r / b19r ) failed to protect animals from lethal vaccinia virus infection . this was true even though the molecules are immunogenic and generate antibodies that neutralize ifn function . further , the level of the immune response did not seem to inhibit the function of the ibm as it still was able to neutralize type i ifn in the presence of serum antibodies produced in the vaccinate animals , but to a slightly reduced level . however , when b18 / b19 was combined with other targets there was some improvement in the combination vaccine ( see ref . 15 , fig2 ) in terms of weight loss and survival in vaccinated and virus challenge animals . given that we saw limited improvement in our vaccine when this molecule was included , its usefulness as a vaccine target to protect against human pathogenic poxviruses is doubtful . subsequent to those experiments and results , we pursued a completely different route — therapeutic compositions and uses . we found , unexpectedly , that in vivo experiments showed successful therapeutic use in mice ( data below ). we postulate that this is because the immune response against did not completely disrupt function of our modified ifn - binding protein , and our protein was not itself targeted by the immune response by antibodies — although it turned out to be a poor antigen ( for vaccine use ). in our earlier paper ( golden and hooper , 2010 , clinical and vaccine immunology ), the data show that antibodies targeting the molecule impact the neutralizing ability of the molecule . however , subsequently we tested our modified ifn - binding protein in vivo as a therapeutic and discovered that it protected mice in a model of shock . we did not expect the modified ifn - binding region to spread systemically , we only expected it would create an immune response that would not only target the molecule but prevent the virus from infecting . that immune response would be reasonably expected to target this viral effector molecule in a way that prevented its function , in addition to potentially targeting infected cells expressing this molecule . we theorized that the cell - binding domain was actually a hindrance to the power of this broadly neutralizing molecule . if a therapeutic composition had a cell - binding domain , which the ifn - binding protein naturally does , those skilled in the art would understand that the ability of the molecule to diffuse systemically when injected into a host would be limited . when we removed the cell binding region in the orthopoxvirus ( vaccinia b19 ) ifn - binding protein , we discovered unexpectedly that this creates a fully soluble ( in cell tissues and matrices ) peptide molecule having potent capability to bind to and neutralize type 1 ifn - alpha and - beta , and presumably - kappa and - epsilon , from multiple species including humans . to our knowledge , this is a novel broad spectrum drug to prevent pathology caused by the activity of ifn . it is therapeutically useful to reduce and neutralize type i ifn in a subject or patient , or otherwise block the ifns in vitro and in vivo ( see fig4 and 6 ). in addition , the use of a viral protein , rather than a human protein , is advantageous because there is less chance of inducing auto - immunity . type i ifns are critical in the daily defense of the host from a variety of insults , including infectious disease . the use of type i ifn targeting molecules that are derived from the host ( i . e . receptors ) is the possibility that antibodies targeting these molecules will be produced in the host during treatment . these auto - antibodies may disrupt natural signaling in the host and cause them to be more susceptible to infection due to a dis - regulated type i ifn response . because type i ifn is involved in systemic inflammatory response syndrome ( sirs ), one utility of this molecule is to inject it into a host whereby it will diffuse systemically ( as it lacks the cell binding domain ). it would then neutralize type i ifn and reduce the pathology associated with sirs . one embodiment of the invention , therefore , is a method to treat or alleviate the symptoms of sirs . ( see fig4 , where following injection of the therapeutic composition into a host , the composition will diffuse systemically .) recent studies indicate the neutralization of type i ifn in the treatment of various disorders , including sepsis and viral hemorrhagic fevers , might be an effective means of abating their pathology . molecules that can broadly neutralize many type i ifns , as opposed to just ifn - a or ifn - b subclasses , would be very useful . our invention has the capacity to bind both type i ifn classes ( alpha and beta ). furthermore , our molecule binds type i ifns from a wide variety of species making it useful in treatment of human and animal diseases . the invention can be used in broad spectrum drugs , as a medicament for treating or preventing a number of disorders or syndromes . one example is sepsis , and other systemic inflammatory disorders and as a therapeutic to treat inflammatory disorders caused by , or perpetuated by , ifna / b ( e . g ., lupus , and other autoimmune diseases ). our compositions are useful to neutralize the over - production of interferon , and relieve symptoms . essentially any malady that is exacerbated by over - production of interferon could be targeted by our modified ifn - binding protein . other examples of the types of medical conditions or issues that are caused by , or exacerbated by , increased type i ifn ( inflammation ), our therapeutic compositions may be useful to treat include : cardiovascular disease , cardiomyopathy , atherosclerosis , hypertension , congenital heart defects , aortic stenosis , atrial septal defect ( asd ), atrioventricular ( a - v ) canal defect , ductus arteriosus , pulmonary stenosis , subaortic stenosis , ventricular septal defect ( vsd ), valve diseases , hypercoagulation , hemophilia , ulcers , wounds , lesions , cuts , abrasions , oxidative damage , age - related tissue degeneration , surgically related lesions , burns , muscle weakness , muscle atrophy , connective tissue disorders , idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura , heart failure , secondary pathologies caused by heart failure and hypertension , hypotension , angina pectoris , myocardial infarction , tuberous sclerosis , scleroderma , transplantation , inflammation , chronic and acute conditions , including chronic prostatitis , granulomatous prostatitis and malacoplakia , inflammation associated with infection ( e . g ., septic shock , sepsis , or systemic inflammatory response syndrome ( sirs )), ischemia - reperfusion injury , endotoxin lethality , arthritis , complement - mediated hyperacute rejection , nephritis , cytokine or chemokine induced lung injury , inflammatory bowel disease , crohn &# 39 ; s disease , or resulting from over production of cytokines ( e . g ., tnf or il - 1 .) hyperproliferative disorders , neoplasms , autoimmune disease , cystic fibrosis , allergic reactions and conditions , such as asthma ( particularly allergic asthma ) or other respiratory problems , hemolytic anemia , antiphospholipid syndrome , rheumatoid arthritis , dermatitis , allergic encephalomyelitis , glomerulonephritis , goodpasture &# 39 ; s syndrome , graves &# 39 ; disease , multiple sclerosis , myasthenia gravis , neuritis , ophthalmia , bullous pemphigoid , pemphigus , polyendocrinopathies , purpura , reiter &# 39 ; s disease , stiff - man syndrome , autoimmune thyroiditis , autoimmune pulmonary inflammation , guillain - barre syndrome , insulin dependent diabetes mellitis , and autoimmune inflammatory eye disease , naphylaxis , hypersensitivity to an antigenic molecule , or blood group incompatibility , graft versus host disease ( gvhd ), lupus erythematosus , viral / bacterial / parasitic infections , multiple sclerosis , autoimmune disease , allergies , immunodeficiencies , graft versus host disease , asthma , emphysema , ards , inflammation and modulation of the immune response , viral pathogenesis , aging - related disorders , th1 inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis , multiple sclerosis , inflammatory bowel diseases , aids , wound repair , heart attacks , heart failure , muscular dystrophy , bed sores , diabetic ulcers , oxidative damage , and tissue damage such as sinusitis or mucositis , wrinkles , eczema or dermatitis , dry skin , obesity , diabetes , endocrine disorders , anorexia , bulimia , renal artery stenosis , interstitial nephritis , glomerulonephritis , polycystic kidney disease , systemic , renal tubular acidosis , iga nephropathy , nephrological disesases , hypercalceimia , lesch - nyhan syndrome , von hippel - lindau ( vhl ) syndrome , trauma , regeneration ( in vitro and in vivo ), hirschsprung &# 39 ; s disease , crohn &# 39 ; s disease , appendicitis , endometriosis , laryngitis , psoriasis , actinic keratosis , acne , hair growth / loss , allopecia , pigmentation disorders , myasthenia gravis , alpha - mannosidosis , beta - mannosidosis , other storage disorders , peroxisomal disorders such as zellweger syndrome , infantile refsum disease , rhizomelic chondrodysplasia ( chondrodysplasia punctata , rhizomelic ), and hyperpipecolic acidemia , osteoporosis , muscle disorders , urinary retention , albright hereditary ostoeodystrophy , ulcers , alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease , stroke , parkinson &# 39 ; s disease , huntington &# 39 ; s disease , cerebral palsy , epilepsy , lesch - nyhan syndrome , multiple sclerosis , ataxia - telangiectasia , behavioral disorders , addiction , anxiety , pain , neuroprotection , stroke , aphakia , neurodegenerative disorders , neurologic disorders , developmental defects , conditions associated with the role of grk2 in brain and in the regulation of chemokine receptors , encephalomyelitis , anxiety , schizophrenia , manic depression , delirium , dementia , severe mental retardation and dyskinesias , gilles de la tourette syndrome , leukodystrophies , cancers , breast cancer , cns cancer , colon cancer , gastric cancer , lung cancer , melanoma , ovarian cancer , pancreatic cancer , kidney cancer , colon cancer , prostate cancer , neuroblastoma , and cervical cancer , neoplasm ; adenocarcinoma , lymphoma ; uterus cancer , benign prostatic hypertrophy , fertility , control of growth and development / differentiation related functions such as but not limited maturation , lactation and puberty , reproductive malfunction , and / or other pathologies and disorders of the like . other investigators have used human interferons as drugs and candidate drugs . to our knowledge , though , proteins or peptides that bind to and neutralize interferons have not been developed as drugs , especially therapeutic drugs . in another embodiment , the therapeutic compositions could be used for animal model development . the soluble modified ifn - binding protein can be used to create transient interferon alpha / beta deficient animals . treated animals would be susceptible to viruses and other pathogens that must circumvent the innate immune response ( e . g ., type 1 interferon ) to establish infection and cause disease . in another embodiment , a monoclonal antibody would be produced to inactivate and remove the soluble modified ifn - binding protein . this antibody could be used in combination with the modified protein as a means for clinicians to regulate levels of active ifn . in a different embodiment , we have a different composition of the modified ifn - binding protein . as described above , this modified protein has neither the cell - binding region nor the signal sequence — it only contains the interferon binding region ( ibr ; or interferon binding region ). preferably , this embodiment of the modified ifn - binding protein has the amino acid sequence of seq id no : 2 , which corresponds to the ibr in the vaccinia virus b19 protein . this modified ifn - binding protein without the signal sequence , when expressed in e . coli , resulted in a weaker binding of type i ifn than the embodiment containing the signal sequence — e . g ., about 10 - fold less . fig5 shows bacterial expression of the modified ifn - binding region of this embodiment . however , this molecule has the advantageous capacity to be expressed in a variety of expression systems — e . g ., bacterial ( such as e . coli ), insect , yeast , and mammalian cells . as shown , expression was less than a mammalian expression system , but still produced enough to generate sufficient quantities of modified ifn - binding protein to be useful for many applications . expressing this modified ifn - binding protein in an e . coli expression system resulted in a product that is not as specifically binding as the ibr with the signal sequence expressed in mammalian cells , but is effective in binding ifns in a mammalian subject . because of the efficiency of protein expression in e . coli , the decrease in efficacy we observed may be overshadowed by the ability to produce a lot of protein . this may mean that more recombinant protein expressed from e . coli would be required for treatment , but there are potential advantages of using such a non - mammalian expression system , including cost savings . in a preferred embodiment , the modified ifn - binding protein has the following sequence , which does not contain the cell - binding region but does contain the signal sequence . this is designated as sequence id no : 1 . ( note 1 - 52 contains the predicted secretion signal and not ifn - binding region ) in another embodiment , the modified ifn - binding protein has the following sequence of the vaccinia virus b19 ifn - binding protein , which contains neither the cell - binding region nor the signal sequence . this is designated as sequence id no : 2 . ( sequence id no : 2 ) a m was added to the start and is the requisite start codon , the raw sequence starts with the p . the following is the amino acid sequence for the signal sequence of the vaccinia virus b19 ifn - binding protein . this is designated as sequence id no : 3 . the following is the dna sequence for the modified ifn - binding protein of the vaccinia virus b19 ifn - binding protein , which does not contain the cell - binding region but does contain the signal sequence . the initial atg is the start codon . this encodes sequence id no : 1 . this is designated as sequence id no : 4 . the following is the dna sequence for the modified ifn - binding protein of the vaccinia virus b19 ifn - binding protein , which contains neither the cell - binding region nor the signal sequence . this encodes sequence id no : 2 . this is designated as sequence id no : 5 . ( the atg is the start codon needed for expression ) the following is the dna sequence for the signal sequence of the vaccinia virus b19 ifn - binding protein . the initial atg is the start codon . this encodes sequence id no : 3 . this is designated as sequence id no : 6 . the following is the dna sequence for the cell binding region of the vaccinia virus b19 ifn - binding protein . the initial atg is the start codon . this contains the secretion signal sequence . the following is the amino acid sequence for the cell binding region of the vaccinia virus b19 ifn - binding protein , also including the signal sequence at positions 1 - 52 . the contents of all cited references ( including literature references , issued patents , published patent applications , and co - pending patent applications ) cited throughout this application are hereby expressly incorporated by reference . other features of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following descriptions of exemplary embodiments which are given for illustration of the invention and are not intended to be limiting thereof . we hypothesized that removal of the cell - binding region of the ibm ( interferon binding molecule , or interferon binding protein ) would generate a novel molecule lacking cell binding function , but retaining the capacity to bind type i ifns . the pragmatic value of this modification is that the molecule would be better suited for diffusion within a host upon injection , as in its natural context , the cell - binding domain would limit dissemination through the host because the molecule would bind cells near the injection site . tnf - alpha is a potent mediator of inflammation and recent reports have indicated that this cytokine induces sirs in a type i ifn - dependent fashion ( 11 ). in fig6 , we used a tnf - alpha toxemia mouse model to determine if neutralizing of type i ifn using b19 and the modified b19 without the cell - binding region had a positive impact on animals treated with an otherwise lethal dose of that cytokine . in this model , injection of tnf - alpha causes sirs and unprotected mice succumb rapidly . mice unable to utilize type i ifn due to genetic mutation ( type i ifn receptor knockout or ifn - beta knockout ) do not succumb to treatment ( 11 ). by using the orthopoxvirues type ifn neutralizing molecules , we hypothesized that similar to knockout mice , b19 - treated animals will produce significantly lower levels of cytokines and have a better survival curve versus mice treated with the negative control . at − 24 h , three groups of 10 mice / group were injected by the intraperitoneal route with 2 ml of mammalian cell culture medium containing b19 , the b19 molecule without the cell - binding domain ( 700 ), an antibody mab - mar that blocks the type i ifn receptor or the negative control consisting of cell culture medium without any additives . at 0 h , mice were administered another i . p . dose of type i ifn - neutralizing molecules in a bolus that also contained 30 micrograms of murine tnf - alpha . as shown in fig6 , control mice rapidly succumbed to tnf - alpha and by 8 h these mice were dead . in addition , half of the mice receiving a signal dose of the mab - mar had to be euthanized due to severe inflammation . in marked contrast , mice receiving either b19 or the b19 without the cell - binding region did not begin to succumb to inflammation until 24 h after challenge . in addition , over half the mice in each group survived challenge with tnf - alpha up to 72 h , the time at which all remaining mice where euthanized . this experiment provides the first proof - of - concept data indicating the b19 molecule and the non - cell binding version of this molecule ( 700 ) are effective in combating sirs mediated by tnf - alpha . it suggests this molecule will have therapeutic value ( anti - type i ifn ) despite our interest in making it a vaccine target . a modified ifn - binding protein lacking the signal sequence and the cell - binding domain was synthesized de novo and optimized for expression in e . coli cells . this modified molecule also contain 6 histidine residues on the n - terminal end . histidine residues are used to purify the molecule on a ni +- column . the gene was cloned into pet21a vector , a commercially available vector used to express gene and make protein in e . coli . bl21 ( de3 ) cells e . coli where then transformed with the plasmid containing the modified b19 gene . a 250 ml culture was grown in expression of the gene induced by a commercially available medium called of magic medium . after 24 h , the culture was pelleted by centrifugation . the pellet was then dissolved in 8m urea solution ( 8m urea , 500 mm nacl , 50 mm tris - hcl [ ph 8 . 0 ]) for 3 hrs at 37 dc after having been frozen and thawed three times . the solution was pelleted and the liquid ( solubilized protein ) was run over a ni +- column and the purified protein eluted off . this protein was then dialyzed against decreasing concentrations of urea ( 6m , 4m , 2m and then 1m and then straight pbs ). protein was dialyzed at 4 dc or room temperature . the resultant protein was run on an sds - page gel and revealed a protein of the estimated size . this protein was then used to neutralize type i ifn in the 293 : ifn assay . we found the purified protein from e . coli was less effective against neutralizing both ifn - alpha and beta compared to mammalian cell expressed , yet nonetheless , the purified protein could neutralize type i ifn and was considered to have value . here , we removed the cell - binding domain from the ifn - binding protein , and discovered that the ifn neutralization domain of the orthopoxvirus ibm is soluble in cell tissues and maintains independent utility . the ifn neutralizing domain , relieved of its cell - binding function , is a novel invention constituting a fully soluble broad - based inhibitor of type i ifns from a wide variety of species with in vitro and in vivo utility centered on uses where inhibition of type i ifn is important . we unexpectedly found that the ifn - binding region , without either the cell - binding region or the signal sequence , was able to fold sufficiently properly , and that there was still ifn neutralizing activity . as is well known , proteins fold in a very specific manner such that removing one of the ig - like domains may have disrupted binding and ifn neutralization . however , our modified inf - binding protein functioned in vitro and in vivo . the publications cited below are incorporated by reference and in their entirety into this patent application . 1 . alcami , a ., and g . l . smith . 1992 . a soluble receptor for interleukin - 1 beta encoded by vaccinia virus : a novel mechanism of virus modulation of the host response to infection . cell 71 : 153 - 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