ANTI-CD30 ANTIBODIES THAT BIND TO INTACT CD30 BUT NOT SOLUBLE CD30

摘要

Because CD30 is highly expressed on Hodgkin's lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, it is a promising target for immunotherapy. The extracellular portion of CD30 is cleaved, releasing a form known as soluble CD30 ("sCD30"), which can reduce the effects of CD30-targeting agents by competitive binding. The invention relates in part to the discovery of two epitopes on membrane-associated CD30 that are missing on soluble CD30 due to a conformational change upon shedding that a conformational change occurs when CD30 is cleaved, making these epitopes unavailable for binding. Ligands that bind to these epitopes can be used to target cells with intact CD30 without competition from sCD30.