Characterization of murine anti-human Fab antibodies for use in an immunoassay for generic quantification of human Fab fragments in non-human serum samples including cynomolgus monkey samples.

Generic immunoassay formats in animal serum have been described for pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis of human full-length antibodies, but not of human antigen binding fragment (Fab) proteins. Here we characterize two murine monoclonal antibodies (mAb) raised against human immunoglobulin G (IgG) which bind to unique epitopes in the Fab region of human IgG. mAb M-1.7.10 is directed against the constant domain of the kappa light chain and mAb M-1.19.31 binds to the constant domain 1 (CH1) of the heavy chain. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that mAb M-1.7.10 does not cross-react with sera from mouse, rat, rabbit, dog, marmoset, rhesus macaque, baboon and cynomolgus monkey, but binds to human and chimpanzee serum (dissociation constant K(D) of 6.8 × 10(-12) and 3.1 × 10(-11)M, respectively). mAb M-1.19.31 shows a higher K(D) for human and chimpanzee IgG (2.0 × 10(-9)M and 5.8 × 10(-10)M, respectively), but also does not bind to serum of the other species. Therefore, mAb M-1.7.10 was used as capture and mAb M-1.19.31 as detection reagent in a generic enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify the human anti-IGF-1R Fab in mouse serum. The generic human Fab assay showed a limit of detection of 31.5 ng/mL anti-IGF-1R Fab. Intra- and inter-assay precision was less than 12% and the accuracy range for all controls was within ±20% of the target concentration. The generic human Fab ELISA was applied to determine serum levels of human anti-IGF-1R Fab after intravenous (iv) administration of 10mg/kg to mice. The resulting concentration-time profile was nearly identical to that obtained by analysis with a validated specific ELISA for anti-IGF-1R Fab. The mean relative concentration of anti-IGF-1R Fab analyzed by the generic assay was 82-118% of that of the specific assay. This equivalence was confirmed in a cynomolgus monkey study with the full length human mAb anti-TROP-2 IgG. Both specific ELISAs used mAb M-1.7.10 as detection reagent and their targets for capturing. In conclusion, the two murine anti-human Fabs are versatile tools as capture and detection reagents for human antibodies in generic and specific PK ELISA formats for animal studies. Their use in specific ELISAs as detection reagents allows the usage of Fc-fusion proteins as capture reagents.