Impact of glycoengineering and immunogenicity on the anti-cancer activity of a plant-made lectin-Fc fusion protein

Plants are an efficient production platform for manufacturing glycoengineered monoclonal antibodies and antibody-like molecules. Avaren-Fc (AvFc) is a lectin-Fc fusion protein or lectibody produced in Nicotiana benthamiana, which selectively recognizes cancer-associated high-mannose glycans. In this study, we report the generation of a glycovariant of AvFc that is devoid of plant glycans, including the core 1,3-fucose and {beta}1,2-xylose residues. The successful removal of these glycans was confirmed by glycan analysis using HPLC. This variant, AvFc{Delta}XF, has significantly higher affinity for Fc gamma receptors and induces higher levels of luciferase expression in an antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) reporter assay against B16F10 murine melanoma cells without inducing apoptosis or inhibiting proliferation. In the B16F10 flank tumor mouse model, we found that systemic administration of AvFc{Delta}XF, but not an aglycosylated AvFc variant lacking affinity for Fc receptors, significantly delayed the growth of tumors, suggesting that Fc-mediated effector functions were integral. AvFc{Delta}XF treatment also significantly reduced lung metastasis of B16F10 upon intravenous challenge whereas a sugar-binding-deficient mutant failed to show efficacy. Lastly, we determined the impact of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) on drug activity in vivo by pretreating animals with AvFc{Delta}XF before implanting tumors. Despite a significant ADA response induced by the pretreatment, we found that the activity of AvFc{Delta}XF was unaffected by the presence of these antibodies. These results demonstrate that glycoengineering is a powerful strategy to enhance AvFcs antitumor activity.