Lupus antibody-based cancer therapy [Conference Abstract]

A subset of autoantibodies produced by patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) penetrates into cell nuclei and binds DNA, and we believe that such antibodies may have applications in cancer therapy. We have discovered that the cell-penetrating, nuclear-localizing anti-DNA lupus antibody 3E10 inhibits key steps in DNA single- and double-strand break repair and has potential for development as a targeted therapy for tumors harboring deficiencies in DNA repair. 3E10 preferentially binds DNA substrates with free single-strand tails and interferes with both base excision repair and homology-directed repair (HDR) in vitro, and HDR efficiency is reduced in cells treated with 3E10 as measured in the chromosome-based DR-GFP fluorescent reporter assay. The binding of 3E10 to DNA can be directly visualized under electron microscopy (EM), and EM studies confirmed that 3E10 interferes with RAD51 filament formation, which is a critical step in HDR. The 3E10 single chain variable fragment penetrates into human tumor xenografts in nude mice, and 3E10 sensitizes cancer cells and tumors to DNA-damaging therapy. In addition, 3E10, by itself, is toxic to BRCA2-deficient cancer cells but not to repair-proficient cells, and when combined with a DNA-damaging agent, 3E10 has a very large cytotoxic effect on BRCA2-deficient cancer cells. The synthetically lethal effect of 3E10 on BRCA2-deficient cancer cells is consistent with our finding that 3E10 inhibits DNA repair, and it suggests that 3E10 has potential as a targeted therapy for tumors harboring deficiencies in DNA repair, such as certain breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers. Of note, patients with SLE have lower than expected incidence rates of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers, and it is tempting to speculate that the circulating cell-penetrating anti-DNA autoantibodies provide patients with SLE some protection against the development of DNA repair-deficient tumors. In summary, our work with the 3E10 antibody has provided proof of principle for the development of a lupus antibody as a cancer therapy and opened up new avenues for exploration into the biology of lupus antibodies.