Abstract 5287: Aggregation of HER2 receptors on the tumor cell surface induced by a novel anti-HER2 bispecific antibody led to enhanced tumor cell growth inhibition

Abstract

Abstract Trastuzumab, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody developed by Roche, is now a standard of care for treating HER2 overexpressing cancers. However, patients treated with trastuzumab generally develop resistance to the drug within a year after initiation of the treatment. Pertuzumab, another anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody developed by Roche, targets the domain 2 of the HER2 excellular domain (ECD) instead of the domain 4 to which trastuzumab binds and demonstrates enhanced antitumor activities when combined with trastuzumab. Here, we developed a tetravalent bispecific antibody (BsAb) which targets the domain 2 and 4 of the HER2 ECD simultaneously. Using time-lapse microscopy, we showed that the BsAb induced aggregation of HER2 on NCI-N87 tumor cells, possibly indicating that the receptors could be crosslinked by the BsAb intermolecularly. Furthermore, the tetravalent BsAb induced aggregation faster than did the bivalent BsAb. Importantly, the tetravalent BsAbs exhibited superior tumor cell growth inhibition to that of the two parental monoclonal antibodies alone or combined. In line with the aggregation rates, the tetravalent BsAb was also more potent in inhibiting tumor cell growth than that of the bivalent BsAb. Thus we provide a piece of evidence that the BsAbs targeting two distinct domains of HER2 simultaneously might induce the receptor aggregation which might associate with the enhanced inhibition of tumor cell growth. Citation Format: Lan Deng, Jie Zhao, Xiaoqing Meng, Aotian Xiao, Zhenping Zhu, Haomin Huang. Aggregation of HER2 receptors on the tumor cell surface induced by a novel anti-HER2 bispecific antibody led to enhanced tumor cell growth inhibition [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5287.