Pretreatment with a monoclonal antibody/interleukin-2 fusion protein directed against DNA enhances the delivery of therapeutic molecules to solid tumors.

The efficacy of molecular therapies for human malignancies is limited by inadequate accumulation within solid tumors. Our laboratory has developed a novel approach that uses monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to direct vasoactive proteins to tumor sites to increase local vascular permeability and, in turn, improve the delivery of therapeutic reagents. Previously, we demonstrated that pretreatment with immunoconjugates containing interleukin-2 (IL-2) enhances specific tumor uptake of radiolabeled MAbs without affecting normal tissues. In the present study, we describe a fusion protein consisting of a chimeric antinuclear antibody and IL-2 (chTNT-3/IL-2) and illustrate its potential for improving the delivery of both MAbs and drugs. The ability of pretreatment with chTNT-3/IL-2 to increase specific tumor uptake of the MAb B72.3 was demonstrated in LS174T colon tumor-bearing mice. Tumor accretion of B72.3 increased nearly 3-fold, with no changes in normal tissues. Abrogation of this effect with N(G)-methyl-1-arginine, a chemical inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, suggests that rapid generation of nitric oxide in the tumor is responsible for the enhanced uptake. To demonstrate that pretreatment with chTNT-3/IL-2 can improve the uptake of other clinically relevant MAbs in different tumor models, additional studies were performed in both lung and prostate xenograft models. Pretreatment with the fusion protein increased specific tumor uptake of the MAb NR-LU-10 in A427 lung tumor-bearing mice and enhanced tumor uptake of the MAb CYT-351 in LNCaP prostate tumor-bearing mice, 2.1-fold and 1.7-fold, respectively. Finally, tumor uptake of the radiolabeled thymidine analogue 125IUdR also increased approximately 3-fold after pretreatment, indicating that this approach can be extended to small molecules such as chemotherapeutic drugs. Because TNT-3 recognizes a universal nuclear antigen accessible in degenerating and necrotic cells within all solid tumors, this strategy may be applicable to the majority of human cancers.