Cell Cancer: Scientists successfully transform autoimmune drugs into anti-cancer drugs

May 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists from the Antibody and Vaccine Team at the University of Southampton have recently discovered a way to convert previously developed antibody drugs for the treatment of autoimmune into antibodies with strong anti-cancer activity through a simple molecular "switch"work, published in the journal Cancer Cell, focuses on a molecule called CD40, which is present on the surface of immune cells and controls autoimmune and cancerIn autoimmune diseases, CD40 is considered overactive, increasing the immune system's chances of attacking healthy tissueIn cancer, CD40 is thought to be insufficiently stimulating, allowing tumor cells to escape the immune systemWork is under way to target CD40 with antibody drugs to develop drugs for the treatment of autoimmune and cancer(photo source:has developed antibody drugs to activate (agonists) or inhibit (antagonists) CD40 immune pathwaysResearchers at the Southampton Cancer Immunology Centre, led by Professor Mark Cragg and Professor Martin Glennie, have now revealed that antagonist CD40 antibodies can be converted into an agonist simply by modifying the "constant" domain of the antibodyFor three different antagonists, the "trick" of the antagonist transformed by an tagline, which is driven by the hinge part of the constant domain, which controls the flexibility of the antibodyOne of these antibodies has been shown to be a "super" agonist that in preclinical models can stimulate the immune system and cure cancer more effectively than the best targeted CD40 antibodies in current clinical trials" it's really exciting to be able to switch between autoimmune and anti-cancer drugs with a simple switchDrXiaojie Yu, the study's lead author, said"We have a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of CD40 activation and are eager to apply this technology to more drug candidates(Bio Valley Bioon.com)Source:Simple 'switch' transforms s autoimmunity drugs into the powerful anti-cancer
original origin: Yu, X., et al (2020) Isotype Switching Santi-CD40 Antagonism to Agonism to Elicitent Pot Cell Cancer doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2020.04.013.