After the era of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, a new type, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), have opened the era of the fourth-stage drug therapy for oncology with remarkable success. Technological advances have also led to a collision of old and new concepts in conjugate drugs, resulting in the emergence of various novel methods. What are the cutting-edge advances in these drugs? Are they safe and effective? This article will introduce new developments in conjugate technology, using antibody cell conjugate (ACC) as an example.
Conjugation simply consists of the attachment of one molecule to another molecule, often through covalent bonds, to produce a complex of two molecules joined together. Conjugation technology is a promising research area for the development of novel research on specific target-derived proteins, DNA, RNA, and carbohydrates, such as ligand discovery, disease diagnosis, and screening.
ACC has recently been receiving more attention. This antibody-cell drug works similarly to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, serving to provide a target for cellular therapies. The difference is that ACC only requires chemical reactions to complete the conjugation and does not require genetic modification like CAR T cells. This powerful new approach to cell therapy development has the potential to significantly enhance the ability of NK cells and γδ T cells to recognize tumors by unlocking multiple receptor signaling pathways, which may overcome the challenges that prevent cellular therapies from effectively targeting solid tumors.
In 2020, researchers have tried to direct cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells to a specific tumor antigen by a newly developed method for affixing antibodies directly to cell surface proteins. They evaluated the anti-tumor potential of CIK cells after affixing tumor-antigen targeting monoclonal antibodies and found that affixing rituximab or daratumumab to CIK cells enhances cytotoxic killing of multiple lymphoma cell lines in vitro. The surface proteome analysis indicated that CIK cells display enhanced protein signatures indicative of immune responses, cellular activation, and leukocyte migration.
In late 2021, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are working to validate the ACC technology platform and advance Antibody Cell Effector (ACE) therapies for cancer patients with limited treatment options. The therapy uses ACC technology to couple antibodies targeting tumors to immune cells, such as natural killer (NK) cells or gamma delta T cells. This technology uses chemical coupling technology to give NK cells the ability to target specific antigens, combining the precision targeting of monoclonal antibodies and immune cells that kill cancer cells into one potent cell therapy.
Cell-based therapies have revealed distinctive therapeutic potential in the field of cancer immunotherapy. Therefore, modifying cells and manipulating their functions to achieve the desired treatment has become a major interest in the field of biomedical research.
Creative Biolabs has developed an innovative method, CellFace™ conjugate technology, the most advanced cell surface engineering technology. This fast and simple technology allows for a stable conjugation of any biomolecule, especially macromolecules (proteins, antibodies) on the cell surface, while maintaining the cell viability. The end-to-end cell-antibody conjugate service package covers project design, fucosyltransferases (Fuc T) conjugation method, as well as cell-antibody conjugate characterization services including antibody labeling efficiency analysis, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) analysis, and antibody-antigen binding analysis.
