ZIA BC 011204 (ZIA) | |||
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Title | Preclinical development of TIMP-2 as a biologic therapy for cancer | ||
Institution | NCI, Bethesda, MD | ||
Principal Investigator | Stetler-Stevenson, William | NCI Program Director | N/A |
Cancer Activity | N/A | Division | CCR |
Funded Amount | $683,137 | Project Dates | 01/01/2008 - 00/00/0000 |
Fiscal Year | 2015 | Project Type | Intramural |
Research Topics w/ Percent Relevance | Cancer Types w/ Percent Relevance | ||
Cancer (100.0%) |
Brain (50.0%) Lung (50.0%) Nervous System (50.0%) |
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Research Type | |||
Systemic Therapies - Discovery and Development Systemic Therapies - Clinical Applications |
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Abstract | |||
Major Activities/Specific Objectives The principal goals of our current research effort are to evaluate the efficacy of exogenous, recombinant TIMP-2 therapy to inhibit tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis using murine models. To accomplish these goals we have identified three specific objectives. These are: 1) Optimize in vitro expression of recombinant TIMP-2 using mammalian expression systems; 2) Develop efficient production and purification methods for recombinant, human TIMP-2 utilizing GMP principals, as well as developing methods for quality assurance analysis (in vitro biochemical and cellular testing, endotoxin testing, etc.) of recombinant TIMP-2; 3) Develop and test therapeutic drug delivery method and dosing for recombinant TIMP-2; 4) implement in vivo testing of the angio-inhibitory, tumor growth inhibitory and anti-metastatic activity of recombinant, human TIMP-2 in murine tumor models. Significant Results. Optimization of in vitro expression of recombinant TIMP-2 using mammalian expression systems. The principal obstacle to the use of endogenous MMP inhibitors (TIMPs) as biologic therapeutics has been the inability to produce sufficient quantities of recombinant protein for testing and development. Our ongoing work is the development of an expression system for recombinant human TIMP-2 that will allow rapid and simple purification of milligram quantities using the Organization for Economic Co-operational and Development (OECD) guidelines for good laboratory practice grade proteins suitable for animal model studies. This process development can then be transferred to a GMP lab for production of recombinant TIMP-2 sufficient for feasibility trials and early Phase I trials. We envision this as the preliminary steps necessary for successful development of TIMP-2 as a biopharmaceutical. The first issue that we need to address is how to produce sufficient quantities of TIMP-2 and Ala+TIMP-2 suitable for our preclinical studies that can be readily transitioned to bioscale manufacturing. In terms of expression systems for recombinant proteins there are several options ranging from yeast, bacteria, insect and mammalian cells. However, some of these are eliminated by the eventual need for GMP grade material suitable for therapeutic development, and ability to include the appropriate post-translational modifications needed for biological activity. The choice of the expression system should also be dictated by the eventual biopharmaceutical process development, in that the early choice of the correct expression system can speed time to production and obviate regulatory problems at a later time point. Among the many mammalian cell lines that can be employed for recombinant protein production, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) and Human Embryonic Kidney-293 (HEK-293) are the most widely utilized. Large-scale transient transfection of mammalian cells for the fast production of recombinant proteins have been described. However, other parameters that need to be addressed are clonal selection of production optimized cells, the use of cell lines adapted to suspension culture, optimized expression vector constructs (i.e. codon optimization), use of serum-free culture media, control of temperature, pH and CO2 levels and selection/ optimization of bioreactors. Key outcome: Codon-optimized, synthetic TIMP-2 cDNA construct enhances recombinant TIMP-2 protein production. To develop bioprocessing methods for large-scale production of TIMP-2 (using GMP adaptable methods) we started by constructing an expression plasmid using the pcDNA expression plasmid for in frame cloning of a TIMP-2-Enterokinase cleavage site (EK)-6XHis tag (TIMP-2-EK-6XHis) cDNA containing the human wild type, human TIMP-2 cDNA sequence we originally reported in 1990 (Stetler-Stevenson, W. G., et al., JBC 1990; 265: l3933-l3938). Refinement of the expression construct was obtained by eliminating the enterokinase cleavage site and synthesis of a codon-optimized TIMP-2 c |