Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY 10591.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Apr 8;111(14):5153-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1324022111. Epub 2014 Mar 25.
Mice genetically engineered to be humanized for their Ig genes allow for human antibody responses within a mouse background (HumAb mice), providing a valuable platform for the generation of fully human therapeutic antibodies. Unfortunately, existing HumAb mice do not have fully functional immune systems, perhaps because of the manner in which their genetic humanization was carried out. Heretofore, HumAb mice have been generated by disrupting the endogenous mouse Ig genes and simultaneously introducing human Ig transgenes at a different and random location; KO-plus-transgenic humanization. As we describe in the companion paper, we attempted to make mice that more efficiently use human variable region segments in their humoral responses by precisely replacing 6 Mb of mouse Ig heavy and kappa light variable region germ-line gene segments with their human counterparts while leaving the mouse constant regions intact, using a unique in situ humanization approach. We reasoned the introduced human variable region gene segments would function indistinguishably in their new genetic location, whereas the retained mouse constant regions would allow for optimal interactions and selection of the resulting antibodies within the mouse environment. We show that these mice, termed VelocImmune mice because they were generated using VelociGene technology, efficiently produce human:mouse hybrid antibodies (that are rapidly convertible to fully human antibodies) and have fully functional humoral immune systems indistinguishable from those of WT mice. The efficiency of the VelocImmune approach is confirmed by the rapid progression of 10 different fully human antibodies into human clinical trials.
经过基因改造可产生人源化免疫球蛋白基因的小鼠(HumAb 小鼠)可在小鼠背景下产生人源抗体反应,为生成全人源治疗性抗体提供了有价值的平台。不幸的是,现有的 HumAb 小鼠没有完全功能的免疫系统,这可能是由于对其进行基因人源化的方式所致。迄今为止,HumAb 小鼠是通过破坏内源性小鼠 Ig 基因并同时在不同的随机位置引入人 Ig 转基因而产生的;KO-Plus-转基因人源化。正如我们在相关论文中所述,我们试图通过一种独特的原位人源化方法,精确地用人类对应物替换 6 Mb 的小鼠 Ig 重链和κ轻链可变区种系基因片段,同时保持小鼠恒定区完整,从而使小鼠在其体液反应中更有效地利用人类可变区片段。我们推断,引入的人类可变区基因片段在其新的遗传位置上会以相同的方式发挥作用,而保留的小鼠恒定区将允许在小鼠环境中对产生的抗体进行最佳的相互作用和选择。我们表明,这些被称为 VelocImmune 小鼠的小鼠,因其使用 VelociGene 技术而生成,可有效地产生人源化:鼠杂交抗体(可迅速转化为全人源抗体),并且具有与 WT 小鼠相同的完全功能的体液免疫系统。VelocImmune 方法的效率通过 10 种不同的全人源抗体迅速进入人体临床试验得到证实。