This application relates to the discovery of a novel heregulin polypeptide called gamma-heregulin (xcex3-HRG) secreted by human breast cancer MDA-MB-175 cells, which has a unique N-terminal domain not present in hitherto-identified heregulins.
Transduction of signals that regulate cell growth and differentiation is regulated in part by phosphorylation of various cellular proteins. Protein tyrosine kinases are enzymes that catalyze this process. Receptor protein tyrosine kinases are believed to direct cellular growth via ligand-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of intracellular substrates. Growth factor receptor protein tyrosine kinases of the class I subfamily include the 170 kDa epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) encoded by the erbB1 gene. erbB1 has been causally implicated in human malignancy. In particular, increased expression of this gene has been observed in more aggressive carcinomas of the breast, bladder, lung and stomach.
The second member of the class I subfamily, p185neu, was originally identified as the product of the transforming gene from neuroblastomas of chemically treated rats. The neu gene (also called erbB2 and HER2) encodes a 185 kDa receptor protein tyrosine kinase. Amplification and/or overexpression of the human HER2 gene correlates with a poor prognosis in breast and ovarian cancers (Slamon et al., Science 235:177-182 (1987); and Slamon et al., Science 244:707-712 (1989)). Overexpression of HER2 has been correlated with other carcinomas including carcinomas of the stomach, endometrium, salivary gland, lung, kidney, colon and bladder. Accordingly, Slamon et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,603 describe and claim various diagnostic assays for determining HER2 gene amplification or expression in tumor cells. Slamon et al. discovered that the presence of multiple gene copies of HER2 oncogene in tumor cells indicates that the disease is more likely to spread beyond the primary tumor site, and that the disease may therefore require more aggressive treatment than might otherwise be indicated by other diagnostic factors. Slamon et al. conclude that the HER2 gene amplification test, together with the determination of lymph node status, provides greatly improved prognostic utility.
A further related gene, called erbB3 or HER3, has also been described. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,884; Kraus et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:9193-9197 (1989); EP Pat Appln No 444,961A1; and Kraus et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:2900-2904 (1993). Kraus et al. (1989) discovered that markedly elevated levels of erbB3 mRNA were present in certain human mammary tumor cell lines indicating that erbB3, like erbB1 and erbB2, may play a role in human malignancies. Also, Kraus et al. (1993) showed that EGF-dependent activation of the ErbB3 catalytic domain of a chimeric EGFR/ErbB3 receptor resulted in a proliferative response in transfected NIH-3T3 cells. Furthermore, these researchers demonstrated that some human mammary tumor cell lines display a significant elevation of steady-state ErbB3 tyrosine phosphorylation further indicating that this receptor may play a role in human malignancies. The role of erbB3 in cancer has been explored by others. It has been found to be overexpressed in breast (Lemoine et al., Br. J. Cancer 66:1116-1121 (1992)), gastrointestinal (Poller et al., J. Pathol. 168:275-280 (1992), Rajkumar et al., J. Pathol. 170:271-278 (1993), and Sanidas et al., Int. J. Cancer 54:935-940 (1993)), and pancreatic cancers (Lemoine et al., J. Pathol. 168:269-273 (1992), and Friess et al., Clinical Cancer Research 1:1413-1420 (1995)).
The class I subfamily of growth factor receptor protein tyrosine kinases has been further extended to include the HER4/Erb4 receptor. See EP Pat Appln No 599,274; Plowman et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:1746-1750 (1993); and Plowman et al., Nature 366:473-475 (1993). Plowman et al. found that increased HER4 expression closely correlated with certain carcinomas of epithelial origin, including breast adenocarcinomas. Diagnostic methods for detection of human neoplastic conditions (especially breast cancers) which evaluate HER4 expression are described in EP Pat Appln No. 599,274.
The quest for the activator of the HER2 oncogene has lead to the discovery of a family of heregulin polypeptides. These proteins appear to result from alternate splicing of a single gene which was mapped to the short arm of human chromosome 8 by Orr-Urtreger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:1867-1871 (1993).
Holmes et al. isolated and cloned a family of polypeptide activators for the HER2 receptor which they called heregulin-xcex1 (HRG-xcex1), heregulin-xcex21 (HRG-xcex21), heregulin-xcex22 (HRG-xcex22), heregulin-xcex22-like (HRG-xcex22-like), and heregulin-xcex23 (HRG-xcex23). See Holmes et al., Science 256:1205-1210 (1992); WO 92/20798; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,060. The 45 kDa polypeptide, HRG-xcex1, was purified from the conditioned medium of the MDA-MB231 human breast cancer cell line. These researchers demonstrated the ability of the purified heregulin polypeptides to activate tyrosine phosphorylation of the HER2 receptor in MCF7 breast tumor cells. Furthermore, the mitogenic activity of the heregulin polypeptides on SK-SR-3 cells (which express high levels of the HER2 receptor) was illustrated. Like other growth factors which belong to the EGF family, soluble HRG polypeptides appear to be derived from a membrane bound precursor (called pro-HRG) which is proteolytically processed to release the 45 kDa soluble form. These pro-HRGs lack a N-terminal signal peptide.
While heregulins are substantially identical in the first 213 amino acid residues, they are classified into two major types, xcex1 and xcex2, based on two variant EGF-like domains which differ in their C-terminal portions. Nevertheless, these EGF-like domains are identical in the spacing of six cysteine residues contained therein. Based on an amino acid sequence comparison, Holmes et al. found that between the first and sixth cysteines in the EGF-like domain, HRGs were 45% similar to heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF), 35% identical to amphiregulin (AR), 32% identical to TGF-xcex1, and 27% identical to EGF.
The 44 kDa neu differentiation factor (NDF), which is the rat equivalent of human HRG, was first described by Peles et al., Cell, 69:205-216 (1992); and Wen et al., Cell, 69:559-572 (1992). Like the HRG polypeptides, NDF has an immunoglobulin (Ig) homology domain followed by an EGF-like domain and lacks a N-terminal signal peptide. Subsequently, Wen et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 14(3): 1909-20 1919 (1994) carried out xe2x80x9cexhaustive cloningxe2x80x9d to extend the family of NDFs. This work revealed six distinct fibroblastic pro-NDFs. Adopting the nomenclature of Holmes et al., the NDFs are classified as either xcex1 or xcex2 polypeptides based on the sequences of the EGF-like domains. Isoforms 1 to 4 are characterized on the basis of the variable justamembrane stretch (between the EGF-like domain and transmembrane domain). Also, isoforms a, b and c are described which have variable length cytoplasmic domains. These researchers conclude that different NDF isoforms are generated by alternative splicing and perform distinct tissue-specific functions. See also EP 505 148; WO 93/22424; and WO 94/28133 concerning NDF.
Falls et al., Cell, 72:801-815 (1993) describe another member of the heregulin family which they call acetylcholine receptor inducing activity (ARIA) polypeptide. The chicken-derived ARIA polypeptide stimulates synthesis of muscle acetylcholine receptors. See also WO 94/08007. ARIA is a xcex2-type heregulin and lacks the entire spacer region rich in glycosylation sites between the Ig-like domain and EGF-like domain of HRG-xcex1, and HRGxcex21-xcex23.
Marchionni et al., Nature, 362:312-318 (1993) identified several bovine-derived proteins which they call glial growth factors (GGFs). These GGFs share the Ig-like domain and EGF-like domain with the other heregulin proteins described above, but also have an amino-terminal kringle domain. GGFs generally do not have the complete glycosylated spacer region between the Ig-like domain and EGF-like domain. Only one of the GGFs, GGFII, possessed a N-terminal signal peptide. See also WO 92/18627; WO 94/00140; WO 94/04560; WO 94/26298; and WO 95/32724 which refer to GGFs and uses thereof.
Ho et al. in J. Biol Chem. 270 (24):14523-14532 (1995) describe another member of the heregulin family called sensory and motor neuron-derived factor (SMDF). This protein has an EGF-like domain characteristic of all other heregulin polypeptides but a distinct N-terminal domain. The major structural difference between SMDF and the other heregulin polypeptides is the lack in SMDF of the Ig-like domain and the xe2x80x9cglycoxe2x80x9d spacer characteristic of all the other heregulin polypeptides. Another feature of SMDF is the presence of two stretches of hydrophobic amino acids near the N-terminus.
While the heregulin polypeptides were first identified based on their ability to activate the HER2 receptor (see Holmes et al., supra), it was discovered that certain ovarian cells expressing neu and neu-transfected fibroblasts, did not bind or crosslink to NDF, nor did they respond to NDF to undergo tyrosine phosphorylation (Peles et al., EMBO J. 12:961-971 (1993)). This indicated another cellular component was necessary for conferring full heregulin responsiveness. Carraway et al. subsequently demonstrated that 125I-rHRGxcex21177-244 bound to NIH-3T3 fibroblasts stably transfected with bovine erbB3 but not to non-transfected parental cells. Accordingly, they conclude that ErbB3 is a receptor for HRG and mediates phosphorylation of intrinsic tyrosine residues as well as phosphorylation of ErbB2 receptor in cells which express both receptors. Carraway et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269(19):14303-14306 (1994). Sliwkowski et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269(20):14661-14665 (1994) found that cells transfected with HER3 alone show low affinities for heregulin, whereas cells transfected with both HER2 and HER3 show higher affinities.
This observation correlates with the xe2x80x9creceptor cross-talkingxe2x80x9d described previously by Kokai et al., Cell 58:287-292 (1989); Stem et al., EMBO J. 7:995-1001 (1988); and King et al. on cc gene 4:13-18 (1989). These researchers found that binding of EGF to the EGFR resulted in activation of the EGFR kinase domain and cross-phosphorylation of p185HER2. This is believed to be a result of ligand-induced receptor heterodimerization and the concomitant cross-phosphorylation of the receptors within the heterodimer (Wada et al., Cell 61:1339-1347 (1990)).
Plowman and his colleagues have similarly studied p185HER4/p185HER2 activation. They expressed p185HER2 alone, p185HER4 alone, or the two receptors together in human T lymphocytes and demonstrated that heregulin is capable of stimulating tyrosine phosphorylation of p185HER4, but could only stimulate p185HER2 phosphorylation in cells expressing both receptors. Plowman et al., Nature 366:473-475 (1993). Thus, heregulin is the only known example of a member of the EGF growth factor family that can interact with several receptors. Carraway and Cantley, Cell 78:5-8 (1994).
The biological role of heregulin has been investigated by several groups. For example, Falls et al., (discussed above) found that ARIA plays a role in myotube differentiation, namely affecting the synthesis and concentration of neurotransmitter receptors in the postsynaptic muscle cells of motor neurons. Corfas and Fischbach demonstrated that ARIA also increases the number of sodium channels in chick muscle. Corfas and Fischbach, J. Neuroscience, 13(5): 2118-2125 (1993). It has also been shown that GGFII is mitogenic, for subconfluent quiescent human myoblasts and that differentiation of clonal human myoblasts in the continuous presence of GGFII results in greater numbers of myotubes after six days of differentiation (Sklar et al., J. Cell Biochem., Abst. W462, 18D, 540 (1994)). See also WO 94/26298 published Nov. 24, 1994.
Holmes et al., supra, found that HRG exerted a mitogenic effect on mammary cell lines (such as SK-BR-3 and MCF-7). The mitogenic activity of GGFs on Schwann cells has also been reported. See, e.g., Brockes et al., J. Biol. Chem. 255(18):8374-8377 (1980); Lemke and Brockes, J. Neurosci. 4:75-83 (1984); Brockes et al., Ann. Neurol. 20(3):317-322 (1986); Brockes, J., Methods in Enzym., 147: 217-225 (1987) and Marchionni et al., supra. Schwann cells constitute important glial cells which provide myelin sheathing around the axons of neurons, thereby forming individual nerve fibers. Thus, it is apparent that Schwann cells play an important role in the development, function and regeneration of peripheral nerves. The implications of this from a therapeutic standpoint have been addressed by Levi et al., J. Neuroscience 14(3):1309-1319 (1994). Levi et al. discuss the potential for construction of a cellular prosthesis comprising human Schwann cells which could be transplanted into areas of damaged spinal cord. Methods for culturing Schwann cells ex vivo have been described. See WO 94/00140 and Li et al., J. Neuroscience 16(6):2012-2019 (1996).
Pinkas-Kramarski et al. found that NDF seems to be expressed in neurons and glial cells in embryonic and adult rat brain and primary cultures of rat brain cells, and suggested that it may act as a survival and maturation factor for astrocytes (Pinkas-Kramarski et al., PNAS, USA 91:9387-9391 (1994)). Meyer and Birchmeier, PNAS, USA 91:1064-1068 (1994) analyzed expression of heregulin during mouse embryogenesis and in the perinatal animal using in situ hybridization and RNase protection experiments. These authors conclude that, based on expression of this molecule, heregulin plays a role in vivo as a mesenchymal and neuronal factor. Also, their findings imply that heregulin functions in the development of epithelia. Similarly, Danilenko et al., Abstract 3101, FASEB 8(4-5):A535 (1994), found that the interaction of NDF and the HER2 receptor is important in directing epidermal migration and differentiation during wound repair.
The invention relates to the discovery of the novel xcex3-HRG polypeptide and nucleic acid. This molecule, secreted by human breast cancer MDA-MB-175 cells, leads to the formation of a constitutive active receptor complex and stimulates the growth of these cells in an autocrine manner.
Accordingly, the invention provides isolated xcex3-HRG polypeptide. This xcex3-HRG polypeptide is preferably substantially homogeneous and may be selected from the group consisting of a native sequence polypeptide (such as human xcex3-HRG of FIG. 1) and variant xcex3-HRG (e.g. chimeric xcex3-HRG). Additionally, the xcex3-HRG polypeptide may be selected from the group consisting of the polypeptide that is isolated from a mammal (e.g. a human), the polypeptide that is made by recombinant means, and the polypeptide that is made by synthetic means. Accordingly, the polypeptide may be unassociated with native glycosylation or may be completely unglycosylated. In preferred embodiments, the isolated xcex3-HRG possesses an effector function of human xcex3-HRG of SEQ ID NO:2 and comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) the amino acid sequence for mature human xcex3-HRG in SEQ ID NO:2; (b) the naturally occurring amino acid sequence for mature xcex3-HRG from an animal species other than the sequence of (a); (c) naturally occurring allelic variants or isoforms of (a) or (b); and (d) the amino acid sequence of (a), (b) or (c) which has only one or two amino acid substitutions.
The invention further provides a composition (preferably one which is sterile) comprising xcex3-HRG and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The composition may be used in a method for activating an ErbB receptor which comprises the step of contacting a cell which expresses an ErbB receptor (which may be the same or different from the ErbB receptor to be activated) with the xcex3-HRG polypeptide. This method may be an in vitro one, e.g. where the cell is in cell culture or an in vivo method where the cell is present in a mammal (e.g. a human patient who could benefit from ErbB receptor activation). In another embodiment, the invention provides an in vitro or in vivo method for enhancing proliferation, differentiation or survival of a cell (especially where the cell expresses an ErbB receptor at its cell surface) comprising the step of contacting the cell with the xcex3-HRG polypeptide. The cell may, for example, be a glial cell or muscle cell. Furthermore, the invention provides a method for detecting an ErbB receptor which comprises the step of contacting a sample suspected of containing the ErbB receptor with the xcex3-HRG polypeptide (e.g. labelled xcex3-HRG) and. detecting if binding has occurred. In this manner, an assay for determining a prognosis in patients suffering from carcinoma (e.g. breast or ovarian carcinoma) is provided.
xcex3-HRG has a unique N-terminal domain (NTD) which is not present in other heregulins. This NTD and fragments thereof (as well the nucleic acid encoding NTD or fragments thereof) is thought to be particularly useful for the production of xcex3-HRG-specific reagents, e.g. anti-NTD antibodies for detecting and purifying xcex3-HRG as well as nucleic acid probes. Accordingly, the invention provides an isolated polypeptide comprising a consecutive sequence of at least thirty amino acids of the xcex3-HRG N-terminal domain (NTD) of SEQ ID NO:4 or one which comprises the amino acid sequence for mature xcex3-HRG N-terminal domain (NTD) in SEQ ID NO:4.
The NTD-specific antibodies may be used, among other things, in a method for detecting xcex3-HRG which comprises the step of contacting a sample suspected of containing xcex3-HRG with the antibody (which is optionally labelled) and detecting if binding has occurred. The antibody may also be used in a method for purifying xcex3-HRG which comprises the step of passing a mixture containing xcex3-HRG over a solid phase to which is bound the antibody and recovering the fraction containing xcex3-HRG.
The nucleic acid encoding the NTD of xcex3-HRG may be used to determine the presence of a nucleic acid molecule encoding xcex3-HRG in a test sample (e.g. from a mammal suspected of having, or being predisposed to cancer), comprising contacting the test sample with the isolated nucleic acid and determining whether the isolated nucleic acid hybridizes to a nucleic acid molecule in the test sample. Nucleic acid encoding the NTD of xcex3-HRG may also be used in hybridization assays to identify and isolate nucleic acids sharing substantial sequence identity to xcex3-HRG. In further embodiments, this NTD-encoding nucleic acid can be used as a primer in a polymerase chain reaction for amplifying a nucleic acid molecule encoding xcex3-HRG in a test sample.
The invention also provides xcex3-HRG-specific antagonists for use in methods where it is desirable to block xcex3-HRG production and/or biological activity either in vitro or in vivo. One type of antagonist is a neutralizing antibody which binds specifically to the NTD of xcex3-HRG. Another type of antagonist is an antisense nucleic acid molecule, e.g. one which is complementary to the nucleic acid sequence encoding the NTD and which is able to reduce production of xcex3-HRG polypeptide by MDA-MB-175 cells.
In other aspects, the invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding xcex3-HRG (and isolated antisense nucleic acid molecules; see above). For example, the nucleic acid molecule may be selected from the group consisting of: (a) nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence of the coding region of the mature xcex3-HRG gene in SEQ ID NO:1; (b) nucleic acid corresponding to the sequence of (a) within the scope of degeneracy of the genetic code; and (c) nucleic acid which hybridizes to DNA complementary to DNA encoding the N-terminal domain (NTD) of human xcex3-HRG of SEQ ID NO:2 under moderately stringent conditions and which encodes a polypeptide possessing an effector function of human xcex3-HRG of SEQ ID NO:2. The isolated nucleic acid molecule optionally further comprises a promoter operably linked thereto.
In other embodiments, the invention provides a vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule (e.g. an expression vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule operably linked to control sequences recognized by a host cell transformed With the vector); a host cell comprising the nucleic acid molecule; and a method of using a nucleic acid molecule encoding xcex3-HRG to effect production of xcex3-HRG which comprises the step of culturing the host cell and recovering xcex3-HRG from the cell culture.
The isolated nucleic acid may also be used for in vivo or ex vivo gene therapy,
As an alternative to production of the xcex3-HRG in a transformed host cell, the invention provides a method for producing xcex3-HRG comprising: (a) transforming a cell containing an endogenous xcex3-HRG gene with a homologous DNA comprising an amplificable gene and a flanking sequence of at least about 150 base pairs that is homologous with a DNA sequence within or in proximity to the endogenous xcex3-HRG gene, whereby the homologous DNA integrates into the cell genome by recombination; (b) culturing the cell under conditions that select for amplification of the amplifiable gene, whereby the xcex3-HRG gene is also amplified; and thereafter (c) recovering xcex3-HRG from the cell.
The invention further provides a method for treating a mammal comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of xcex3-HRG to the mammal. For example, the mammal may be suffering from a neurological or muscular disorder. Conversely, the invention provides a method for treating a mammal comprising administering to a therapeutically effective amount of a xcex3-HRG antagonist to the mammal. The mammal in this latter case is one which could benefit from a reduction in xcex3-HRG levels/biological activity (e.g. in cancer).
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description.
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