A single-chain IL-12 IgG3 antibody fusion protein retains antibody specificity and IL-12 bioactivity and demonstrates antitumor activity.

IL-12 is a heterodimeric cytokine with many actions on innate and cellular immunity that may have antitumor and antimetastatic effects. However, systemic administration of IL-12 can be toxic. Tumor-specific Abs provide a means to selectively target a metastatic/residual nodule and deliver therapeutic quantities of an immunostimulatory molecule like IL-12 with lower systemic levels and ideally, toxicity. We report the construction and characterization of an Ab fusion protein in which single-chain murine IL-12 is fused to an anti-Her2/neu Ab at the amino terminus (mscIL-12.her2.IgG3). The use of single-chain IL-12 in the fusion protein simplifies vector construction, ensures equimolar concentrations of the two IL-12 subunits, and may confer greater stability to the fusion protein. SDS-PAGE analysis shows this 320-kDa protein is secreted and correctly assembled. FACS analysis demonstrates that this fusion protein binds to cells transfected with the Her2/neu Ag, thus retaining Ab specificity; this fusion protein also binds to a cell line and to PHA-activated PBMC that express the IL-12R, thus demonstrating cytokine receptor specificity. T cell proliferation assays and NK cytotoxicity assays demonstrate that this fusion protein exhibits IL-12 bioactivity comparable to recombinant murine IL-12. In vivo studies demonstrate that this fusion protein has antitumor activity. These results are significant and suggest that this IL-12 Ab fusion protein can effectively combine the therapeutic potential of IL-12 with the tumor-targeting ability of the Ab and may provide a viable alternative to systemic administration of IL-12.