IMMUNE-STIMULATING MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AGAINST HUMAN INTERLEUKIN-2

Abstract

The invention relates to a human lnterieuldn-2 (hIL-2) specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), or antigen binding fragment thereof, the binding of which to hlL-2 inhibits binding of hlL-2 to CD25 and the antibody is characterized by any of the parameters: the variable chain of the mAb comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 005 or SEQ ID NO 006; the binding to hIL-2 is characterized by a dissociation constant (K.sub.D)≤7.5 nmol/L; the binding to hIL-2 is characterized by an off-rate (K.sub.off)≤1×10.sup.−4 s.sup.−1 and/or the antibody displays no measurable cross-reactivity to murine IL-2.

Claims

1-19. (canceled)

20. A fusion protein comprising: a) a VH domain fragment, wherein said VH domain fragment comprises amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: 007, 008 and 009; b) a VL domain fragment, wherein said VL domain fragment comprises amino acid sequences SEQ ID NOs: 010, 011, and 012; and c) a human interleukin 2 (hIL-2) polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80% sequence identify to SEQ ID NO:001 or SEQ ID NO:002, wherein said hIL-2 polypeptide has hIL-2 activity.

21. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said VH domain fragment is fused to the hIL-2 polypeptide to produce a single polypeptide chain.

22. The fusion protein of claim 21, wherein the VH domain fragment is fused to the hIL-2 polypeptide by an amino acid linker, wherein said amino acid linker is 1 to 50 amino acids.

23. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said VH domain fragment comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 70% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 019.

24. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said VH domain fragment comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 70% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 005.

25. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said fusion protein comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 70% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 023.

26. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said VL domain fragment is fused to the hIL-2 polypeptide to produce a single polypeptide chain.

27. The fusion protein of claim 26, wherein said VL domain fragment is fused to the hIL-2 polypeptide by an amino acid linker, wherein said amino acid linker is between 1 and 50 amino acids.

28. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said VL domain fragment comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 70% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 020.

29. The fusion protein of claim 28, wherein VL domain fragment is fused to the hIL-2 polypeptide by an amino acid linker to produce a single polypeptide chain.

30. The fusion protein of claim 29, wherein said amino acid linker is between 1 and 50 amino acids.

31. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said fusion protein comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 70% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 006.

32. The fusion protein of claim 31, wherein said amino acid sequence is fused to the hIL-2 polypeptide by an amino acid linker to produce a single polypeptide chain.

33. The fusion protein of claim 32, wherein said amino acid linker is between 1 and 50 amino acids.

34. The fusion protein of claim 20, wherein said VH domain fragment comprises a first polypeptide at least 70% identical to SEQ ID NO: 19 and said VL domain fragment comprises second polypeptide at least 70% identity to SEQ ID NO:20.

35. The fusion protein of claim 34, wherein said hIL-2 polypeptide is fused to the VL domain fragment to produce a single polypeptide chain.

36. The fusion protein of claim 35, wherein said amino acid linker is between 1 and 50 amino acids.

37. A pharmaceutical composition comprising the fusion protein of claim 20.

38. A nucleic acid molecule encoding the fusion protein according to claim 20.

39. A vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule of claim 38.

40. A cell comprising the nucleic acid molecule of claim 38 or expressing the nucleic acid molecule according of claim 38

41. The cell of claim 40 expressing the fusion protein.

42. The fusion protein expressed from the cell of claim 41.

43. A method of treating cancer or viral infection by (1) selecting a patient having cancer or viral infection and (2) administering a therapeutically effective amount of the fusion protein of claim 20.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] FIG. 1 shows anti-human IL-2 binders. Supernatants of B cell clones obtained after B cell hybridoma fusion were added to a plate previously coated with human IL-2. The anti-human IL-2 mAbs were detected using a biotinylated anti-mouse IgG antibody.

[0070] FIG. 2 shows screening of anti-human IL-2 mAbs for binding to presumed specific human IL-2 epitope. Plates were coated with 5344 (a hIL-2 mAb without the herein targeted superagonistic behaviour) and blocked, followed by addition of human IL-2 in order to allow the cytokine to bind to 5344, thus covering a specific epitope of the IL-2. Then the supernatants giving a positive signal in the first screening (see FIG. 1) were added. After allowing the mAbs in the supernatants to bind to the IL-2-5344 complex, a biotinylated MAB602 antibody was added to the plate in order to assess whether the tested mAbs of the supernatants bound to the same (so-called “competitors”) or to a different region than MAB602. The competitor mAbs led to an absorbance (OD450) that is two-fold lower than the absorbance obtained with MAB602 alone (in this case OD=1.1, as shown in H11).

[0071] FIG. 3 shows concentration-dependent competition of B cell hybridomas. The supernatants of 8 competitor B cell hybridoma clones of the first screening (see FIG. 2) were expanded and concentrated before use in this assay. The supernatants of these 8 competitor B cell hybridoma clones (labeled 1 to 8) were added in increasing quantities. Competent competitor B cell hybridoma clones reduced the OD450 as much as MAB602 or even more, which is evident for clones 1 and 2. MAB602 at different concentrations (green open circles) served as a control.

[0072] FIG. 4 shows in vivo proliferation of CD8+ T cells. Carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE)-labeled CD8+ T cells of CD45.1-congenic IL-7 transgenic mice were transferred to CD45.2-congenic WT recipient mice, followed by daily injections of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), IL-2, IL-2 plus MAB602 (IL-2/MAB602), IL-2 plus 5344 (IL-2/5344), IL-2 plus hybridoma 1 (IL-2/Hyb #1), or IL-2 plus hybridoma 2 (IL-2/Hyb #2) for 4 days. On day 5, lymph nodes and spleens were analyzed for CFSE profiles of donor CD45.1+ CD8+ T cells. Shown are the results obtained with the lymph nodes, similar results were obtained in the spleens.

[0073] FIG. 5 includes FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIG. 5A shows phenotypic characterisation of endogenous CD8+ T cells and FIG. 5B shows NK cells following in vivo treatment using IL-2 plus hybridoma 1 and 2. Mice were treated as in FIG. 4, followed by assessment by flow cytometry of endogenous CD8+ T cell subsets and NK cells in the lymph nodes and spleen. Shown are (A) CD8 vs. CD3 profiles of total lymph node cells (left graphs) and CD44 (activated or memory T cells) vs. CD122 (IL-2 receptor β-subunit, present on activated or memory T cells) profiles of CD3+ CD8+ lymph node cells, or (B) NK1.1 vs. CD3 profiles of mice receiving the indicated treatment. Activated/memory CD8+ T cells are high for CD44 and intermediate to high for CD122. NK cells are CD3 negative and NK1.1 positive. Similar results were obtained using spleen cells.

[0074] FIG. 6 includes FIGS. 6A and 6B. FIG. 6A shows total cell counts of activated/memory CD8+ T cells and FIG. 6B shows NK cells in lymph nodes and spleens. Animals were treated and analyzed as in FIG. 5. Shown are absolute cell counts of CD44high CD8+ T cells (so-called memory phenotype, MP CD8+) and of CD3 negative NK1.1+ NK cells in lymph nodes (top panel) and spleen (lower panel).

[0075] FIG. 7 shows surface plasmon resonance binding curves of the commercially available monoclonal antibody MAB602 (left graph) and the monoclonal antibody NARA1 (right graph), which is the subject of this invention, to human IL-2. For this experiment an amine coupling GLM chip was used. The activation of the carboxylic acid groups in the chip was done using a mix of 1-ethyl-3-3-dimethylaminopropyl carbodiimide hydrochlorid (EDC at 0.2 M) and sulfo N-hydroxysulfosuccinimids (s_NHS at 0.05M) at 30 ml/min for 420 seconds (s). The antibodies NARA1 and MAB602 were coated in the chip at 100 mg/ml in a sodium acetate buffer (10 mM pH 4.5). Deactivation was followed adding ethanolamine HCl at 30 ml/min for 300 s. Finally human IL-2 was added at different concentrations (starting from 100 nM and followed by three-fold dilutions) at 100 ml/min, 600 s association, and 240 s dissociation.

[0076] FIG. 8 shows surface plasmon resonance binding curves of human IL-2 bound to the monoclonal antibody NARA1 with the IL-2 receptors subunits CD25 (used here as an Fc fusion of CD25-Fc), CD122, the monoclonal antibody MAB602 or an anti-hIL-2 antibody binding to a different human IL-2 epitope than NARA1 and MAB602. The chip described in FIG. 7 coated with NARA1 and MAB602 was re-used. Regeneration of the chip was done using 10 mM glycine, pH 2.5, 30 ml/min, 60 s. Human IL-2 was added at saturating concentration (1 mM), at 100 ml/min, 120 s association, and 0 s dissociation. Immediately after IL-2 association to the antibodies, the second analytes were added at 100 ml/min, 120 s association, and 240 s dissociation. The concentration used for the cross-binding were: MAB602: 50 nM; NARA1: 50 nM; positive control: 50 nM; CD25-Fc: 500 nM; CD122: 138 nM. When hIL-2 is bound to NARA1, an anti-hIL-2 antibody that recognizes a different hIL-2 epitope (here termed ‘positive control’) binds strongly to the hIL-2/NARA1 complex as expected (green line in FIG. 8). Alternatively, IL-2Ra (in the form of CD25-Fc) cannot bind to hIL-2 when hIL-2 is already bound to NARA1 (pink line, FIG. 8), however, IL-2RP (CD122) still binds to hIL-2 when hIL-2 is already bound to NARA1 (orange line, FIG. 8).

[0077] FIG. 9 shows surface plasmon resonance binding curves of the monoclonal antibodies MAB602 (top graph) and NARA1 (lower graph) to murine IL-2. The same chip used for the generation of the data in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 was re-used. Regeneration of the chip was done with 10 mM glycine, pH 2.5, 30 ml/min, 60 s. Mouse IL-2 (mL-2) or human IL-2 (hIL-2) starting at 10 nM and then doing a three-fold dilution was injected at 100 ml/min, 120 s association, 5 and 240 s dissociation. In the top graph MAB602 shows cross-reactivity by binding to mouse IL-2. Especially, with higher concentrations of murine interleukin-2 (>1 nM) the binding curves differ significantly from background levels with response units 10 (RU) well above 10. Whereas NARA1 (lower graph) displays no measurable cross-reactivity to murine IL-2 at all concentrations tested.

[0078] FIG. 10 provides the overview of the three-dimension structure of Proleukin/Fab-NARA1 complex as obtained in Example 1.

[0079] FIG. 11 provides further analysis of epitope residues. The X-axis lists the amino acid sequence and numbering according to SEQ ID No 1. The upper side of Y-axis shows the total number of atoms of NARA1-Fab that are within 4 Å from corresponding residue from Proleukin and the lower side of Y-axis shows the reduced solvent-accessible area (Å.sup.2) of corresponding residue from Proleukin as a consequence of binding to NARA1-Fab.

[0080] FIG. 12 illustrates the most critical epitope residue recognized by the NARA1-Fab.

[0081] FIG. 13 shows the overlay of Proleukin/NARA1-Fab complex with IL-2/CD25/CD122/CD132 quaternary complex.

[0082] FIG. 14 displays the overlay of C helices from IL-2_C145A (PDB: 3NK), Superkine (PDB: 3QB1), IL-2/CD25/CD122/CD132 (PDB: 2B51), and Proleukin/NARA1-Fab.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0083] Until now, no monoclonal antibodies suitable for the disclosed invention have been available. The inventors disclose their anti-human IL-2 mAbs that allow the following crucial steps towards the use and commercialization of this technology in clinical applications: [0084] Further sequencing and fine characterization of the anti-human IL-2 mAbs. [0085] Humanization of the anti-human IL-2 mAbs, which is essential to avoid (or minimize) immunogenicity in patients. [0086] Generation of different formats of anti-human IL-2 mAbs, such as IgG, IgG1, IgG4, Fab, and single-chain Fv (scFv). [0087] Generation of a fusion protein consisting of human IL-2 and an anti-human IL-2 mAb (or a fragment of the anti-human IL-2 mAb): such a construct has the advantage of consisting of one component only, instead of two as in IL-2 bound to an anti-human IL-2 mAb.

[0088] The inventors have generated and characterized specific anti-human IL-2 mAbs that are able to bind human IL-2 and, when tested in mice, are able to exert specific and potent stimulation of cytotoxic lymphocytes, including CD8.sup.+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. Towards these ends several difficulties had to be overcome. [0089] Human IL-2 shows high similarity with mouse and rat IL-2, thus human IL-2 is able to stimulate mouse lymphocytes in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, IL-2 is present at high concentrations in the primary immune organs (such as the bone marrow), which is the reason why IL-2 is somewhat a “forbidden” antigen, meaning it is very difficult to generate B cell responses leading to neutralizing antibodies against IL-2. Nevertheless, the inventors were able to elicit polyclonal anti-human IL-2 antibody responses, following immunization of C57BL/6 mice using purified recombinant human IL-2 plus adjuvant. [0090] Of the generated antibody responses, only some mAbs efficiently bound to IL-2 (socalled “binders”) and of those only about 0.35% interacted with the presumed active site of IL-2. [0091] Finally, of these anti-human IL-2 mAbs some showed the desired specific and potent in vivo activity as assessed by specialized in vivo assays in mice that are not replaceable by in vitro experiments.

[0092] The inventors have developed specific screening assays that allow detection of specific antihuman IL-2 antibodies (so-called “binders”) in the serum of immunized animals and in the supernatant of the B cell clones obtained after B cell hybridoma fusion. In a second step it was discriminated between standard binders and those targeting a presumed specific epitope of the human IL-2 molecule. One example of such an in vitro enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) performed with different B cell clones, is shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.

[0093] After the in vitro screening of the anti-human IL-2 mAbs, these mAbs were characterised in vivo. To this end and in order to obtain sufficient amounts of mAbs, the mAbs were concentrated from the supernatant of the hybridomas, the amount was estimated using an ELISA and finally the anti-human IL-2 mAbs was tested in mice. The results obtained on proliferation and expansion of CD8+ T cells and NK cells is shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6.

[0094] In order to characterize the binding properties of the anti-human IL-2 mAbs the binding to human interleukin-2 was tested with surface plasmon resonance binding assays. The commercially available anti-human IL-2 mAb MAB602 was measured as a comparison. In FIG. 7 binding curves of MAB602 (left graph) and NARA1 (an antibody according to this invention; right graph) to human interleukin-2 at varying concentrations are shown. The dissociation constant (K.sub.D) as well as the rate constants K.sub.on and K.sub.off measured for MAB602 and NARA1 are shown in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Binding properties of anti-human IL-2 mAbs to human IL-2 K.sub.on (M*s.sup.−1) K.sub.off (s.sup.−1) K.sub.D (nM) MAB602  5.8 × 10.sup.4 4.94 × 10.sup.−4 9.7 NARA1 1.78 × 10.sup.4 2.08 × 10.sup.−5 1.2

EXAMPLES

[0095] Antibodies of the invention include the antibody NARA1, which was derived, isolated and structurally characterized by its full length heavy chain according to SEQ ID NO: 5 and its full length light chain amino acid sequences according to SEQ ID NO: 6.

[0096] The corresponding variable regions, V.sub.H and V.sub.L amino acid sequences of NARA1 are. SEQ ID NO: 19 (variable heavy) and SEQ ID NO: 20 (variable light).

[0097] Full length light and heavy chains nucleotide coding sequences of NARA1 are SEQ ID NO: 3 (heavy chain coding sequence, including leader sequence) and SEQ ID NO: 4 (light chain coding sequence, including leader sequence).

[0098] Variable light and heavy chains nucleotide coding sequences of NARA1 are SEQ ID NO: 21 (variable heavy coding sequence) and SEQ ID NO: 22 (variable light coding sequence).

[0099] The CDR regions of NARA1 are delineated using the Kabat system (Kabat, E. A., et al. 1991, Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, Fifth Edition, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH Publication No. 91-3242, see also Zhao&Lu 2009, Molecular Immunology 47:694-700). For the ease of reading, when CDR regions are delineated according to Kabat definition, they are called hereafter HCDR1, HCDR2, HCDR3, LCDR1, LCDR2, LCDR3 respectively. The CDR regions of NARA1 are: HCDR1 according to SEQ ID NO: 7, HCDR2 according to SEQ ID NO: 8, HCDR3 according to SEQ ID NO: 9, LCDR1 according to SEQ ID NO: 10, LCDR2 according to SEQ ID NO: 11, LCDR3 according to SEQ ID NO: 12.

[0100] Nucleotide coding sequences for the CDR regions of NARA1 are: HCDR1 coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 13, HCDR2 coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 14, HCDR3 coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 15, LCDR1 coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 16, LCDR2 coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 17, LCDR3 coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 18.

[0101] Fusion proteins are also provided according to SEQ ID NO: 23 and SEQ ID NO: 24. SEQ ID NO: 23 is a fusion protein comprising the variable heavy chain of NARA1 with its N-terminus fused to the C-terminus of hIL-2 via a G×S linker. SEQ ID NO: 24 is a fusion protein comprising the variable light chain of NARA1 with its N-terminus fused to the C-terminus of hIL-2 via a G×S linker.

(a) Example 1. Crystal Structure of NARA1

[0102] (i) Material and Methods

[0103] The complex structure of a human Interleukin 2 mutant (SEQ ID NO:2), called “Proleukin”, bound to the Fab fragment of antibody “NARA 1” (SEQ ID NO: 5 and 6) was determined. The resulting numbering of residues on Proleukin is given according to the numbering of wt IL-2.

[0104] As will be discussed in detail below, the differences in sequence between Proleukin and wt hIL-2 are irrelevant and Proleukin is a valid model for structural analysis of hIL-2.

[0105] To define the epitope, X-ray crystallography was used to solve the atomic-resolution structure of the complex mentioned above. X-ray crystallography is a technology that has become routinely and widely used to generate structural data for biomolecules including antibodies and their complexes with antigens (Adms et al, (2013) Annual Review Biophysics 42:265-287; Garman, (2014) Science 343:1102-1108; Joachimiak, (2009) Current Opinio Structural Biology 19:573-584.)

[0106] The antigen, Proleukin, is commercially available as lyophilyzed powder together with excipients (every 1 mg Proleukin is mixed with approximately 50 mg mannitol, 0.18 mg sodium dodecyl sulfate, 0.173 mg sodium dihydrogen phosphate, and 0.89 mg disodium hydrogen phosphate). Before used for complex formation, Proleukin was purified by reverse-phase HPLC to remove the excipients.

[0107] The Fab fragment of NARA1 (NARA1-Fab) was generated by papain cleavage of the full-length antibody followed by Protein A chromatography. Briefly, 6.5 ml full-length NARA1 (9 mg/ml in 50 mM citrate buffer with 90 mM sodium chloride at pH 7.0) was mixed with 5 mM DTT and 590 ug Papain (Roche). The cleavage reaction was kept at room temperature for 16 h and stopped by addition of 15 ul 56 mM E64 solution (Roche). The cleavage solution was then diluted 10 times with 25 mM Tris, 25 mM NaCl, pH 8.0 and loaded onto a 5 ml Protein A column (GE Healthcare) equilibrate with 5 column volume of 25 mM Tris, 25 mM NaCl, pH 8.0 and Fab fragment was in the loading-through fraction and Fc fragment was bound to the Protein A column.

[0108] To form complex, Proleukin powder after HPLC was dissolved in H.sub.2O at the concentration of 5.5 mg/ml. 6.6 mg Proleukin, in excess, was added to 11.5 mg NARA1 Fab fragment solution drop by drop. Centrifugation was used to remove the excess Proleukin that was precipitated under current condition. The complex was then purified by gel filtration with Superdex 200 10×300 (GE Healthcare) with running buffer of 25 mM Tris, 25 mM NaCl, pH 7.4.

[0109] Proleukin/NARA1-Fab complex after gel filtration was concentrated to 14 mg/ml and was screened by vapour diffusion method as sitting drops. The protein solution was mixed 1:1 with reservoir buffer to a total size of 0.4 ul. The experiments were set up with Phoenix robotic system (Art Robbins Instruments), stored in a RockImager hotel (Formulatrix) at 19° C., and imaged automatically. Crystals were harvested 4 days after screening under condition of 20% w/v polyethylene Glycol 3350 and 0.2M sodium nitrate. Crystals were cryo-protected with reservoir buffer containing 10% glycerol and flashed frozen in liquid nitrogen prior to data collection. Diffraction data were collected at the Swiss Light Source (Villigen, Switzerland) at beam-line PX-II with a Pilatus pixel detector using x-ray radiation wavelength of 0.99998 Å.

[0110] The dataset was processed with XDS and XSCALE (version Dec. 6, 2010) and the structure was resolved with molecular replacement method with the program PHASERby using Protein Data Bank entry “3INK” as search model for IL-2 and Protein Data Bank entry “3TTI” as search model for Fab fragment. Iterative model building and refinement were performed with the programs Coot (Crystallographic Object-Oriented Toolkit) and AUTOBUSTER (Bricogne et al., 2011). All figures were generated with the program PyMOL (Molecular Graphics System; DeLano Scientific: Palo Alto, Calif.; www.pymol.org).

[0111] Epitope residues are defined as those residues from Proleukin that are within 4 Å distance from any atom in Fab fragment of NARA1 and are further confirmed by CCP4 program CONTACT and AREAIMOL (Collaborative Computational Project, Number 4, version 6.4.0). Similarly paratope residues are defined as those residues from NARA1-Fab that are within 4 Å distance from any atom in Proleukin.

[0112] (ii) Results

[0113] The Proleukin/NARA1-Fab complex was solved to 1.95 Å in space group C 1 2 1 with unit cell dimension a=201.8 Å, b=36.2 Å, c=88.7 Å, alpha=90°, beta=102.9°, gamma=90°. Please refer to Table 2 for detailed structure statistics. In each asymmetric unit, there is one complex molecule.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Structure statistics for Proleukin/NARA1-Fab complex Data collection Space group C1 2 1 Cell dimensions a, b, c (Å) 201.757, 36.233, 88.707 a, b, g (°) 90, 102.93, 90 Resolution (Å) 58.74-1.95 R.sub.merge 0.066 (0.472) //σ/ 14.18 (2.59) Completeness (%) 84.8(96) Redundancy 3.19 Refinement Resolution (Å) 58.74-1.95 No. reflections 34750 R.sub.work/R.sub.free 0.2052/0.2872 Ramachandran plot Outliners 0.0162 Allowed 0.0378 Favored 0.9459 R.m.s. deviations Bond lengths (Å) 0.01 Bond angles (°) 1.7

[0114] 1) Epitope and Paratope Analysis

[0115] FIG. 10 provides the overview of the three-dimension structure of Proleukin/Fab-NARA1 complex as obtained in Example 1. Light chain of Fab fragment of NARA1 is designated A, heavy chain of Fab fragment of NARA1 is shown as B, epitope residues recognized by NARA1-Fab are designated D, and Proleukin is designated C and the mutation, C145S, is highlighted.

[0116] FIG. 11 provides further analysis of epitope residues. The X-axis lists the amino acid sequence and numbering according to SEQ ID No 1. The upper side of Y-axis demonstrates the total number of atoms of NARA1-Fab that are within 4 Å from corresponding residue from Proleukin and the lower side of Y-axis demonstrates the reduced solvent-accessible area (Å.sup.2) after binding to NARA1-Fab.

[0117] Proleukin used in Example 1 contains mutation of C145S. As shown in FIG. 10, C145S is far away from the epitope region. In addition the superposition of Cα atoms between Proleukin in Example 1 with Cα atoms from wt hIL-2 in complex with CD25, CD122, and CD132 (PDB: 2B51) shows r.m.s.d of 0.447 Å, which indicates that the mutation does not disturb the over-all structure. Hence Proleukin with C145S mutation is a valid model for structural analysis for wt hIL-2.

[0118] hIL-2 is 4-helix bundle protein and the 4 helices are named from N-terminus to C-terminus as A, B, C, and D, respectively. The epitope recognized by NARA1-Fab as shown in FIG. 10 is a conformational epitope and spans two regions as shown in FIG. 11: one region (N50-K63) comprises a loop and a short helix and connects helix A and B, and the other region (N91-N97) comprises a loop and connects helix B and C.

[0119] The epitope residues together with interacting paratope residues from NARA1-Fab are summarized in Table 3. Among all the epitope residues, Arg58 as shown in FIG. 11 is the most critical epitope residue for binding with NARA1-Fab, as this residue alone has 42 interacting atoms from NARA1-Fab and accounts for 17.7% of total reduced solvent-accessible surface area as a consequence of binding to NARA1-Fab. Furthermore Arg58, as shown in FIG. 12, forms two strong salt-bridges with Glu35 in HCDR1 and with Asp100 from LCDR3, respectively. Arg58 also makes Tr-action interaction with the aromatic ring of Try100 from LCDR3. Residues K52, P54, K55, T57, T61, F62, K63, Q94, and K96 are also considered important for the binding to NARA1-Fab, since they all show equal to/more than 5 interacting atoms from NARA1-Fab and larger than 30 Å.sup.2 reduced solvent-accessible area as shown in FIG. 11.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Epitope and paratope summary Light chain residue Epitope residue Heavy chain residue Y31 N50 Y31 K52 Y31 N53 Y31, Y36, S95, N96 P54 K55 W99, G101, G103, Y105 D98 T57 D98, Y100 R58 L33, E35, W47, W99 T61 N52, S55, N59 F62 L33, N52 K63 S55 N91 G101, D102, G103 L92 W99, G101 A93 G101 Q94 D102, G103, Y104 D32, D34 K96 Y104 D32 N97

[0120] FIG. 12 illustrates Arg58 as the most critical epitope residue recognized the NARA1-Fab. A represents Proleukin, B represents heavy chain, and C represents light chain. The involved residues are shown as sticks.

[0121] 2) NARA1-Fab Binding Properties

[0122] FIG. 13 shows the overlay of Proleukin/NARA1-Fab complex with IL-2/CD25/CD122/CD132 quaternary complex. The quaternary complex structure comes from PDB entry “2B51” with cartoon D in pale cyan representing wt hIL-2, cartoon B in red representing CD122, cartoon C in blue representing CD132, and surface A in green representing CD25. In the Proleukin/NARA1-Fab complex structure, cyan cartoon D overlayed with wt hIL-2 represents Proleukin, cartoon E in magenta represents heavy chain, and cartoon F in yellow represents the light chain.

[0123] The structure overlay of the two complexes as shown in FIG. 13 clearly shows that NARA1-Fab forms direct competition against CD25 but not against CD122/CD132, which is consistent with the observation that IL-2/NARA1 complex demonstrates mainly pro-Teffector cell activity rather than pro-Treg activity.

[0124] 3) C Helix of Proleukin in Complex with NARA1-Fab Adopts Conformation that is Similar to that in Quaternary Complex

[0125] FIG. 14 displays the overlay of C helices from IL-2_C145A (PDB: 3NK), Superkine (PDB: 3QB1), IL-2/CD25/CD122/CD132 (PDB: 2B51), and Proleukin/NARA1-Fab.

[0126] The polar interface between helix C in IL-2 and CD122 plays an important role in binding between the two parts (Wang et al (2005) Science 310:1159-1163). In 2012 Levin, et al have demonstrated that superkine, an IL-2 mutant, alone has a Helix C adopting confirmation similar to that in the quaternary complex and superkine showed ˜215 times higher binding affinity towards CD122 than wtL-2 (Levin et al, (2012) Nature 484:529-533). It was observed that such a conformational change in helix C is associated with conformational stabilization, which then reduces the energetic penalties for binding to CD122. As shown in FIG. 14, The conformation of helix C from Proleukin in complex with NARA1-Fab is also similar to that observed in Superkine as well as in IL-2/CD25/CD122/CD132 quaternary complex, therefore it is possible that Proleukin/NARA1-Fab complex may demonstrate higher binding affinity towards CD122 than wt hIL-2 does.

(b) Example 2. Linear Peptide Mapping of NARA1 and MAB602

[0127] In order to map the epitope of the NARA1 and MAB602 antibodies, a first library of 15-mer peptides was generated based on the sequence of human IL2. A second library of selected 15-mer peptides was also generated based on the mutation of 3 specific residues F(62), Y(65) and L(92). The latter mutations were done based on the Roche/Glycart IL2 mutein, as disclosed in WO2012/107417A1 which has these 3 mutations. Previous work done in lab Boyman (unpublished) showed that the commercial mouse anti-human IL2 mAb 602 with analogous function as A1 has strongly reduced binding to the F42A mutant of IL2 (one of the IL2 docking sites to CD25).

[0128] (i) Material and Methods

[0129] Accordingly, each peptide in the first library has 15 amino acids and the sequence is derived by scanning the sequence of interest (see Table 4, reference peptides 1 to 41) with a step of 3 residues, starting from the N-terminus. Therefore a ladder is generated and each peptide contains 12 overlapping residues with the previous peptide and 12 overlapping residues with the following peptide in the ladder. In total, 41 peptides were generated from the expressed human IL2 sequence.

[0130] A second library of peptides was generated by mutating F(62), Y(65) and L(92) to alanine in all corresponding peptides in the first library generated as described above (see Table 4, reference peptides no 42 to 60).

[0131] For both libraries, the parental cysteines have been replaced by a serine (underlined residues) to avoid unspecific binding.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Library of reference peptides Sequence Residue in bold are the Alanine (A) replacing specific residues. Residue are the serine (S) Reference Peptide replacing No. cysteines (C) SEQ ID NO: 1 APTSSSTKKTQLQLE 25 2 SSSTKKTQLQLEHLL 26 3 TKKTQLQLEHLLLDL 27 4 TQLQLEHLLLDLQMI 28 5 QLEHLLLDLQMILNG 29 6 HLLLDLQMILNGINN 30 7 LDLQMILNGINNYKN 31 8 QMILNGINNYKNPKL 32 9 LNGINNYKNPKLTRM 33 10 INNYKNPKLTRMLTF 34 11 YKNPKLTRMLTFKFY 35 12 PKLTRMLTFKFYMPK 36 13 TRMLTFKFYMPKKAT 37 14 LTFKFYMPKKATELK 38 15 KFYMPKKATELKHLQ 39 16 MPKKATELKHLQSLE 40 17 KATELKHLQSLEEEL 41 18 ELKHLQSLEEELKPL 42 19 HLQSLEEELKPLEEV 43 20 SLEEELKPLEEVLNL 44 21 EELKPLEEVLNLAQS 45 22 KPLEEVLNLAQSKNF 46 23 EEVLNLAQSKNFHLR 47 24 LNLAQSKNFHLRPRD 48 25 AQSKNFHLRPRDLIS 49 26 KNFHLRPRDLISNIN 50 27 HLRPRDLISNINVIV 51 28 PRDLISNINVIVLEL 52 29 LISNINVIVLELKGS 53 30 NINVIVLELKGSETT 54 31 VIVLELKGSETTFMS 55 32 LELKGSETTFMSEYA 56 33 KGSETTFMSEYADET 57 34 ETTFMSEYADETATI 58 35 FMSEYADETATIVEF 59 36 EYADETATIVEFLNR 60 37 DETATIVEFLNRWIT 61 38 ATIVEFLNRWITFSQ 62 39 VEFLNRWITFSQSII 63 40 LNRWITFSQSIISTL 64 41 NRWITFSQSIISTLT 65 42 INNYKNPKLTRMLTA 66 43 YKNPKLTRMLTAKFY 67 47 YKNPKLTRMLTFKFA 68 52 YKNPKLTRMLTAKFA 69 44 PKLTRMLTAKFYMPK 70 48 PKLTRMLTFKFAMPK 71 53 PKLTRMLTAKFAMPK 72 45 TRMLTAKFYMPKKAT 73 49 TRMLTFKFAMPKKAT 74 54 TRMLTAKFAMPKKAT 75 46 LTAKFYMPKKATELK 76 50 LTFKFAMPKKATELK 77 55 LTAKFAMPKKATELK 78 51 KFAMPKKATELKHLQ 79 56 SLEEELKPLEEVLNA 80 57 EELKPLEEVLNAAQS 81 58 KPLEEVLNAAQSKNF 82 59 EEVLNAAQSKNFHLR 83 60 ANLAQSKNFHLRPRD 84

[0132] Both set of peptides were printed on microarray slides in triplicate, incubated with the antibodies of interest (MAb602 and NARA1) and control antibodies. Additional incubations are with unrelated antibodies from the same isotype (mouse control IgG2a/lambda and mouse control IgG2a/kappa), and secondary antibodies (anti-mouse IgG (Thermo 84545, label DL650) or anti-mouse IgG (JIR 115-175-072, Label Cy5)) to assess unspecific binding due to the detection antibody. The experiments are performed essentially as described in Maksimov P, et al. 2012, PLoS One 7:e34212. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0034212.

[0133] The determination of peptide-antibody binding was performed by RepliTope-analysis where the peptide microarray (triplicate) was incubated with the primary antibody followed by a fluorescently labelled secondary antibody directed against the Fc-part of the primary one. All steps were performed on a TECAN microarray processing station enabling highly reliable and reproducible washing and incubation steps. After performing the incubation steps and subsequent to the final washing steps (to remove the unbound secondary antibodies) the microarrays were dried using a nitrogen stream and scanned in a high resolution microarray scanning system with appropriate wavelength settings. Control incubations were performed with an unrelated antibody having the same isotype to exclude false positive signals.

[0134] The resulting images were analyzed und quantified using spot-recognition software GenePix (Molecular Devices). For each spot, the mean signal intensity was extracted (between 0 and 65535 arbitrary units). For further data evaluation, the MMC2 values were determined. The MMC2 equals the mean value of all three instances on the microarray. Except the coefficient of variation (CV)—standard-deviation divided by the mean value—is larger 0.5, in this case the mean of the two closest values (MC2) is assigned to MMC2.

[0135] (ii) Results

[0136] The data are summarized in Table 5.

[0137] The anti-IL2 (NARA1) antibody did not show any significant reactivity towards the immobilized peptides. Only peptide 10 exhibited a weak response, however, this peptide was also weakly recognized by the mouse control antibodies.

[0138] The commercial antibody MAB602 (mIgG2a) provided some weak signals on peptide 22 to 26 and some strong for peptides 10 to 13.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Result of Linear Epitope Mapping Signal Signal intensity for  intensity for  MAB602 after NARA1 after Reference subtraction of subtraction of peptide control signal control signal SEQ ID no. Sequence (AU) (AU) NO: 10 INNYKNPKLTRMLTF 45954 20883 34 11    YKNPKLTRMLTFKFY 49726 1189 35 12       PKLTRMLTFKFYMPK 28849 1127 36 13          TRMLTFKFYMPKKAT 5250 224 37 22 KPLEEVLNLAQSKNF 4998 0 46 23    EEVLNLAQSKNFHLR 13287 32 47 24       LNLAQSKNFHLRPRD 3289 282 48 25          AQSKNFHLRPRDLIS 5220 0 49 26             KNFHLRPRDLISNIN 7509 0 50

[0139] The overlapping sequences within both set of peptides are considered as containing the binding amino acid to the target antibody (Table 5). One stretch is a strong binder to MAB62 whereas the other is rather a weak binder to MAB602:

Strong: (57) TRMLTF (62) (amino acids 57-62 of SEQ ID NO:24)

Weaker: (96) KNF (98)

[0140] Ala mutation on specific residues F42(62), Y45(65), L72(92) showed that residue F42(62) is clearly an important residue for the binding to antibody MAB62(Table 6).

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Mutagenesis characterization Signal intensity Signal for MAB602 intensity for Sequence after NARA1 after Residue in bold are the subtraction of subtraction of Reference Alanine (A) which are control signal control signal SEQ ID Peptide No. replacing specific residues (AU) (AU) NO: 10 INNYKNPKLTRMLTF 45954 20883 34 42 INNYKNPKLTRMLTA 246 162 66 11 YKNPKLTRMLTFKFY 49726 1189 35 43 YKNPKLTRMLTAKFY 42784 507 67 47 YKNPKLTRMLTFKFA 21382 251 68 52 YKNPKLTRMLTAKFA 13089 238 69 12 PKLTRMLTFKFYMPK 28849 1127 36 44 PKLTRMLTAKFYMPK 5027 432 70 48 PKLTRMLTFKFAMPK 13394 6205 71 53 PKLTRMLTAKFAMPK 0 24 72 13 TRMLTFKFYMPKKAT 5250 224 37 45 TRMLTAKFYMPKKAT 0 0 73 49 TRMLTFKFAMPKKAT 3018 1492 74 54 TRMLTAKFAMPKKAT 0 0 75

Sequence List

[0141] Useful amino acids and nucleotide sequences for practicing the invention are found in Table 7.

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Sequence list SEQ ID Ab NUMBER region Sequence SEQ ID NO: 1 Human MYRMQLLSCIALSLALVTNSAPTSSSTKKTQLQLEHL IL-2 LLDLQMILNGINNYKNPKLTRMLTFKFYMPKKATELK HLQCLEEELKPLEEVLNLAQSKNFHLRPRDLISNINV IVLELKGSETTFMCEYADETATIVEFLNRWITFCQSI ISTLT SEQ ID NO: 2 Proleukin MAPTSSSTKKTQLQLEHLLLDLQMILNGINNYKNPKL TRMLTFKFYMPKKATELKHLQCLEEELKPLEEVLNLA QSKNFHLRPRDLISNINVIVLELKGSETTFMCEYADE TATIVEFLNRWITFSQSIISTLT Antibody 1 SEQ ID NO: 3 DNA ATGGAATGGAGCGGAGTCTTTATCTTTCTCCTGTCAG Heavy TAACTGCAGGTGTTCACTCCCAGGTCCAGCTGCAGCA Chain GTCTGGAGCTGAGCTGGTAAGGCCTGGGACTTCAGTG AAGGTGTCCTGCAAGGCTTCTGGATACGCCTTCACTA ATTACTTGATAGAGTGGGTAAAGCAGAGGCCTGGACA GGGCCTTGAGTGGATTGGAGTGATTAATCCTGGAAGT GGTGGTACTAACTACAATGAGAAGTTCAAGGGCAAGG CAACACTGACTGCAGACAAATCCTCCAGCACTGCCTA CATGCAGCTCAGCAGCCTGACATCTGATGACTCTGCG GTCTATTTCTGTGCAAGATGGAGGGGGGATGGTTACT ACGCGTACTTCGATGTCTGGGGCGCAGGGACCACGGT CACCGTCTCCTCAGCCAAAACAACAGCCCCATCGGTC TATCCACTGGCCCCTGTGTGTGGAGATACAACTGGCT CCTCGGTGACTCTAGGATGCCTGGTCAAGGGTTATTT CCCTGAGCCAGTGACCTTGACCTGGAACTCTGGATCC CTGTCCAGTGGTGTGCACACCTTCCCAGCTGTCCTGC AGTCTGACCTCTACACCCTCAGCAGCTCAGTGACTGT AACCTCGAGCACCTGGCCCAGCCAGTCCATCACCTGC AATGTGGCCCACCCGGCAAGCAGCACCAAGGTGGACA AGAAAATTGAGCCCAGAGGGCCCACAATCAAGCCCTG TCCTCCATGCAAATGCCCAGCACCTAACCTCTTGGGT GGACCATCCGTCTTCATCTTCCCTCCAAAGATCAAGG ATGTACTCATGATCTCCCTGAGCCCCATAGTCACATG TGTGGTGGTGGATGTGAGCGAGGATGACCCAGATGTC CAGATCAGCTGGTTTGTGAACAACGTGGAAGTACACA CAGCTCAGACACAAACCCATAGAGAGGATTACAACAG TACTCTCCGGGTGGTCAGTGCCCTCCCCATCCAGCAC CAGGACTGGATGAGTGGCAAGGAGTTCAAATGCAAGG TCAACAACAAAGACCTCCCAGCGCCCATCGAGAGAAC CATCTCAAAACCCAAAGGGTCAGTAAGAGCTCCACAG GTATATGTCTTGCCTCCACCAGAAGAAGAGATGACTA AGAAACAGGTCACTCTGACCTGCATGGTCACAGACTT CATGCCTGAAGACATTTACGTGGAGTGGACCAACAAC GGGAAAACAGAGCTAAACTACAAGAACACTGAACCAG TCCTGGACTCTGATGGTTCTTACITCATGTACAGCAA GCTGAGAGTGGAAAAGAAGAACTGGGTGGAAAGAAAT AGCTACTCCTGTTCAGTGGTCCACGAGGGTCTGCACA ATCACCACACGACTAAGAGCTTCTCCCGGACTCCGGG TAAATGA SEQ ID NO: 4 DNA ATGGAGACAGACACAATCCTGCTATGGGTGCTGCTGC Light TCTGGGTTCCAGGCTCCACTGGTGACATTGTGCTGAC Chain CCAATCTCCAGCTTCTTTGGCTGTGTCTCTAGGGCAG AGGGCCACCATCTCCTGCAAGGCCAGCCAAAGTGTTG ATTATGATGGTGATAGTTATATGAACTGGTACCAACA GAAACCAGGACAGCCACCCAAACTCCTCATCTATGCT GCATCCAATCTAGAATCTGGGATCCCAGCCAGGTTTA GTGGCAGTGGGICTGGGACAGACTTCACCCTCAACAT CCATCCTGTGGAGGAGGAGGATGCTGCAACCTATTAC TGTCAGCAAAGTAATGAGGATCCGTACACGTTCGGAG GGGGGACCAAGCTGGAAATAAAACGGGCTGATGCTGC ACCAACTGTATCCATCTTCCCACCATCCAGTGAGCAG TTAACATCTGGAGGTGCCTCAGTCGTGTGCTTCTTGA ACAACTTCTACCCCAAAGACATCAATGTCAAGTGGAA GATTGATGGCAGTGAACGACAAAATGGCGTCCTGAAC AGITGGACTGATCAGGACAGCAAAGACAGCACCTACA GCATGAGCAGCACCCTCACGTTGACCAAGGACGAGTA TGAACGACATAACAGCTATACCTGTGAGGCCACTCAC AAGACATCAACTTCACCCATTGTCAAGAGCTTCAACA GGAATGAGTGTTAG SEQ ID NO: 5 Heavy MEWSGVFIFLLSVTAGVHSQVQLQQSGAELVRPGTSV Chain KVSCKASGYAFTNYLIEWVKQRPGQGLEWIGVINPGS GGTNYNEKFKGKATLTADKSSSTAYMQLSSLTSDDSA VYFCARWRGDGYYAYFDVWGAGTTVTVSSAKTTAPSV YPLAPVCGDTTGSSVTLGCLVKGYFPEPVTLTWNSGS LSSGVHTFPAVLQSDLYTLSSSVTVTSSTWPSQSITC NVAHPASSTKVDKKIEPRGPTIKPCPPCKCPAPNLLG GPSVFIFPPKIKDVLMISLSPIVTCVVVDVSEDDPDV QISWFVNNVEVHTAQTQTHREDYNSTLRVVSALPIQH QDWMSGKEFKCKVNNKDLPAPIERTISKPKGSVRAPQ VYVLPPPEEEMTKKQVTLTCMVTDFMPEDIYVEWTNN GKTELNYKNTEPVLDSDGSYFMYSKLRVEKKNWVERN SYSCSVVHEGLHNHHTTKSFSRTPGK SEQ ID NO: 6 Light METDTILLWVLLLWVPGSTGDIVLTQSPASLAVSLGQ Chain RATISCKASQSVDYDGDSYMNWYQQKPGQPPKLLIYA ASNLESGIPARFSGSGSGTDFTLNIHPVEEEDAATYY CQQSNEDPYTFGGGTKLEIKRADAAPTVSIFPPSSEQ LTSGGASVVCFLNNFYPKDINVKWKIDGSERQNGVLN SWTDQDSKDSTYSMSSTLTLTKDEYERHNSYTCEATH KTSTSPIVKSFNRNEC SEQ ID NO: 7 HCDR1 NYLIE (Kabat) SEQ ID NO: 8 HCDR2 VINPGSGGTNYNEKFKG (Kabat) SEQ ID NO: 9 HCDR3 WRGDGYYAYFDV (Kabat) SEQ ID NO: 10 LCDR1 KASQSVDYDGDSYMN (Kabat) SEQ ID NO: 11 LCDR2 AASNLES (Kabat) SEQ ID NO: 12 LCDR3 QQSNEDPYT (Kabat) SEQ ID NO: 13 HCDR1 AATTACTTGATAGAG DNA SEQ ID NO: 14 HCDR2 GTGATTAATCCTGGAAGTGGTGGTACTAACTACAATG DNA AGAAGTTCAAGGGC SEQ ID NO: 15 HCDR3 TGGAGGGGGGATGGTTACTACGCGTACTTCGATGTC DNA SEQ ID NO: 16 LCDR1 AAGGCCAGCCAAAGTGTTGATTATGATGGTGATAGTT DNA ATATGAAC SEQ ID NO: 17 LCDR2 GCTGCATCCAATCTAGAATCT DNA SEQ ID NO: 18 LCDR3 CAGCAAAGTAATGAGGATCCGTACACG DNA SEQ ID NO: 19 VH QVQLQQSGAELVRPGTSVKVSCKASGYAFTNYLIEWV KQRPGQGLEWIGVINPGSGGTNYNEKFKGKATLTADK SSSTAYMQLSSLTSDDSAVYFCARWRGDGYYAYFDVW GAGTTVTVSS SEQ ID NO: 20 VL DIVLTQSPASLAVSLGQRATISCKASQSVDYDGDSYM NWYQQKPGQPPKLLIYAASNLESGIPARFSGSGSGTD FTLNIHPVEEEDAATYYCQQSNEDPYTFGGGTKLEIK SEQ ID NO: 21 DNA VH CAGGTCCAGCTGCAGCAGTCTGGAGCTGAGCTGGTAA GGCCTGGGACTTCAGTGAAGGTGTCCTGCAAGGCTTC TGGATACGCCTTCACTAATTACTTGATAGAGTGGGTA AAGCAGAGGCCTGGACAGGGCCTTGAGTGGATTGGAG TGATTAATCCTGGAAGTGGTGGTACTAACTACAATGA GAAGTTCAAGGGCAAGGCAACACTGACTGCAGACAAA TCCTCCAGCACTGCCTACATGCAGCTCAGCAGCCTGA CATCTGATGACTCTGCGGTCTATTTCTGTGCAAGATG GAGGGGGGATGGTTACTACGCGTACTTCGATGTCTGG GGCGCAGGGACCACGGTCACCGTCTCCTCA SEQ ID NO: 22 DNA VL GACATTGTGCTGACCCAATCTCCAGCTTCTTTGGCTG TGTCTCTAGGGCAGAGGGCCACCATCTCCTGCAAGGC CAGCCAAAGTGTTGATTATGATGGTGATAGTTATATG AACTGGTACCAACAGAAACCAGGACAGCCACCCAAAC TCCTCATCTATGCTGCATCCAATCTAGAATCTGGGAT CCCAGCCAGGTTTAGTGGCAGTGGGTCTGGGACAGAC TTCACCCTCAACATCCATCCTGTGGAGGAGGAGGATG CTGCAACCTATTACTGTCAGCAAAGTAATGAGGATCC GTACACGTTCGGAGGGGGGACCAAGCTGGAAATAAAA SEQ ID NO: 23 Heavy MYRMQLLSCIALSLALVTNSAPTSSSTKKTQLQLEHL chain LLDLQMILNGINNYKNPKLTRMLTFKFYMPKKATELK fusion HLQCLEEELKPLEEVLNLAQSKNFHLRPRDLISNINV IVLELKGSETTFMCEYADETATIVEFLNRWITFCQSI ISTLTGGGGSGGGGSGGGGSGGQVQLQQSGAELVRPG TSVKVSCKASGYAFTNYLIEWVKQRPGQGLEWIGVIN PGSGGTNYNEKFKGKATLTADKSSSTAYMQLSSLTSD DSAVYFCARWRGDGYYAYFDVWGAGTTVTVSSAKTTA PSVYPLAPVCGDTTGSSVTLGCLVKGYFPEPVTLTWN SGSLSSGVHTFPAVLQSDLYTLSSSVTVTSSTWPSQS ITCNVAHPASSTKVDKKIEPRGPTIKPCPPCKCPAPN LLGGPSVFIFPPKIKDVLMISLSPIVTCVVVDVSEDD PDVQISWFVNNVEVHTAQTQTHREDYNSTLRVVSALP IQHQDWMSGKEFKCKVNNKDLPAPIERTISKPKGSVR APQVYVLPPPEEEMTKKQVTLTCMVTDFMPEDIYVEW TNNGKTELNYKNTEPVLDSDGSYFMYSKLRVEKKNWV ERNSYSCSVVHEGLHNHHTTKSFSRTPGK SEQ ID NO: 24 Light MYRMQLLSCIALSLALVTNSAPTSSSTKKTQLQLEHL chain LLDLQMILNGINNYKNPKLTRMLTFKFYMPKKATELK fusion HLQCLEEELKPLEEVLNLAQSKNFHLRPRDLISNINV IVLELKGSETTFMCEYADETATIVEFLNRWITFCQSI ISTLTGGGGSGGGGSGGGGSGGDIVLTQSPASLAVSL GQRATISCKASQSVDYDGDSYMNWYQQKPGQPPKLLI YAASNLESGIPARFSGSGSGTDFTLNIHPVEEEDAAT YYCQQSNEDPYTFGGGTKLEIKRADAAPTVSIFPPSS EQLTSGGASVVCFLNNFYPKDINVKWKIDGSERQNGV LNSWTDQDSKDSTYSMSSTLTLTKDEYERHNSYTCEA THKTSTSPIVKSFNRNEC