Need

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Membrane Proteome Array Specificity Testing

Autoantibodies against desmoglein 3 (DSG3) cause painful mucosal blisters in mucosal pemphigus vulgaris (mPV). Cabaletta Bio developed DSG3-CAART (Chimeric AutoAntibody Receptor T cell) therapy to eliminate these autoantibodies by targeting the corresponding pool of antigen-specific B cells. To progress the clinical development of their novel DSG3-CAART precision cellular immunotherapy, Cabaletta Bio needed to demonstrate the specificity of DSG3-CAART and document the lack of off-target interactions for their IND applications.

The Solution

Membrane Proteome Array Specificity Testing 

Solution ChartThe Membrane Proteome Array (MPA) was used as an unbiased, high-throughput approach to assess the specificity of DSG3-CAART and identify potential off-target binding interactions. The soluble extracellular region of the DSG3-CAART was Fc-tagged and screened on the MPA. This array consists of over 5,300 unique, unfixed, native conformation membrane proteins and represents 94% of the human membrane proteome.

Cabaletta Bio’s molecule was successfully screened on the MPA and showed strong binding with Px44 (an anti-DSG3 positive control) as well as binding to an internal control FCGR1A. A marginal level of above background binding to CLEC4M was observed, however further studies showed that expression of this target did not trigger DSG3-CAART activity.

The Impact

Cabaletta Bio’s DSG3-CAART cross-reactivity screening against the MPA and follow-up studies demonstrated a lack of off-target interactions, and supported further development efforts to bring this novel approach to patients with unmet need. MPA data satisfied the FDA request for CAAR specificity screening on a broad array, without the requirement for additional tissue cross-reactivity studies

JCI

Data featured in
Lee et al., 2020

These preclinical studies supported an investigational new drug application enabling an open-label, phase I trial to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of DSG3-CAART in patients with active anti-DSG3 mucosal PV inadequately managed by standard-care therapy.”    

   -Lee et al., 2020, J Clin Invest

Clinical Development

Cabaletta Bio’s DSG3-CAART therapy is being evaluated in a Phase 1 open-label study to determine the maximum tolerated dose in mucosal-dominant PV patients (mPV) NCT04422912.

Contact Us

 Towards IND: Specificity Profiling of Antibody Therapies Using the Membrane Proteome Array 

June 10, 2021 at 11 am EST

Webinar Agenda

  • Re-examine the long-held assumption that antibodies are exquisitely specific
  • Learn what to do next if your molecule shows detectable off-target binding
  • Discover how Membrane Proteome Array specificity data is used to satisfy regulatory requirements

Live Q&A Session with Our Scientists