Myeloid cell-mediated killing of B-ALL by CD38 and CD20IgA antibody variants is enhanced by CD47/SIRPα interference

Kowol, M.; Lustig, M.; Hartmann, A. M.; van der Peet, I. C.; Jansen, M.; Winterberg, D.; Krohn, S.; Baumann, N.; Roesner, T.; Bendig, S.; Wurm, A. A.; Brueggemann, M.; Burger, R.; Schmitt, K.; Valerius, O.; Stoelzel, F.; Bastian, L.; Baldus, C. D.; Peipp, M.; Leusen, J. H. W.; Schewe, D. M.; Valerius, T.

doi:10.1101/2025.08.13.669665

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.08.13.669665

Myeloid cell-mediated killing of B-ALL by CD38 and CD20IgA antibody variants is enhanced by CD47/SIRPα interference

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Abstract

Enhancing myeloid effector cell recruitment may improve immunotherapy by monoclonal antibodies - including that against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To assess expression of target antigens in B-ALL, we compared mRNA profiling of 559 patient leukemia samples across 18 molecular subtypes with that of representative cell lines. The latter served as target cells to compare human IgG1 or IgA2 variants against CD19, CD20 or CD38 in antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) by macrophages and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). Interestingly, antibodies against broadly expressed CD19 were negligibly effective in mediating ADCP or ADCC. Antibodies against CD20 or CD38, the former variably expressed across subtypes, triggered ADCP by macrophages both as IgG1 and IgA2. However, PMN mediated ADCC against CD20 or CD38 was only observed with IgA2 variants, but not with respective IgG1 antibodies. Blocking the myeloid checkpoint molecule CD47 with a CD47 antibody or a soluble SIRP-Fc fusion protein enhanced ADCP and ADCC by IgA2 antibodies. The binding site for SIRP on CD47 contains an N-terminal pyroglutamate (pGlu), whose formation is catalyzed by glutaminyl-peptide cyclotransferase like (QPCTL). The direct involvement of pGlu in CD47/SIRP interactions was shown by using engineered CD47 variants. Both CD47 and QPCTL were broadly expressed across BCP-ALL subtypes, indicating QPCTL inhibitors as additional therapeutic option. Importantly, the combination of anti-CD38 IgA2 and CD47 blockade was effective against xenografted B-ALL cells in human FcRI (CD89) transgenic (tg) NXG mice. Together, these studies support the combination of anti-CD38 IgA2 with CD47 interference to improve myeloid effector cell recruitment for immunotherapy of B-ALL. Data sharing statementRNA-Seq data from BCP-ALL patients and B cells from healthy donors are available in the European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA) accession numbers EGAS00001006107 and EGAS00001007305, respectively. Mass spectrometry data of analyzed proteins will be made available after manuscript acceptance on PRIDE - PRoteomics IDEntifications Database. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=174 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/669665v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (36K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15220daorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@eace04org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@17b87daorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1142822_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG Key pointsO_LIIgG1 and IgA2 antibodies against CD38 or CD20 were effective in recruiting macrophages for ADCP, but only IgA2 triggered ADCC by PMN C_LIO_LIMyeloid effector cell activation was enhanced by interfering with the CD47/SIRP axis, especially when IgA2 antibodies were applied C_LI

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Kowol, M., Lustig, M., Hartmann, A. M., van der Peet, I. C., Jansen, M., Winterberg, D., Krohn, S., Baumann, N., Roesner, T., Bendig, S., Wurm, A. A., Brueggemann, M., Burger, R., Schmitt, K., Valerius, O., Stoelzel, F., Bastian, L., Baldus, C. D., Peipp, M., Leusen, J. H. W., Schewe, D. M., Valerius, T.. 2025-08-13. Myeloid cell-mediated killing of B-ALL by CD38 and CD20IgA antibody variants is enhanced by CD47/SIRPα interference. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.13.669665

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