Immunology and Biotherapies

(2015). Macrophages are critical effectors of antibody therapies for cancer. mAbs: Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 303-310.

August 15, 2014 | Lutz Nuhn, PhD | Institute of Organic Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Duesbergweg 10-14, D-55099 Mainz (Germany)…

The comparison of antibody-polymer conjugates of different topologies (“cross-linked” versus “star-like”) demonstrated that the well-defined constructs derived from maleimide-endgroup modified HPMA copolymers prevent non-specific interaction with immune cells and guarantee antibody-mediated active delivery to the target cell type. By using aDEC205 as antibody the delivery of multifunctionalizable HPMA carrier polymers to CD8+ dendritic cells is possible enabling novel application especially for immontherapeutic purposes. [5] Considering the numerous possibilities of equipping the HPMA carriers with further tumor relevant antigens and immunostimulants, as recently shown by ligation of selective MUC1-derived glycopeptides antigens to HPMA block copolymers, [3] a combination with aDEC205 mediated delivery would guarantee antigen cross-presentation to CD8+ T cells and differentiation into specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) for selective antitumor response on a cellular level. As a result, such well-defined multifunctional HPMA-aDEC205 polymer conjugates can be considered as novel vaccine delivery platform towards antitumor immunity.