Abstract 4567: Polyubiquitin K63-related CD137 signalsomes in T cells stimulated with agonist anti-CD137 monoclonal antibodies

Abstract Agonist anti-CD137 monoclonal antibodies are employed to enhance CD8-mediated antitumor immunity both in mouse models and in clinical trials. A panel of agonist anti-human CD137 mAb was prepared recognizing three different epitopes on the CD137 surface glycoprotein. All mAb costimulated T cell activation irrespectively of interference or not with natural ligand-binding. Interestingly, CD137 perturbation with agonist mAb results in internalization towards a vesicular endosomal compartment derived from the plasma membrane. Such internalization was observed on CD137 transfectants in 293 cellsas well as on primary activated T cells from humans and mice. In vivo treatment with anti-CD137 mAb of immunodeficient mice harboring activated human or mouse T cells results in internalization of CD137 to this vesicular compartment. CD137 is known to associate with TRAF2 at the plasma membrane. TRAF-2 is an adaptor protein endowed with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity that synthesizes k63-polyubiquitin chains. K63 polyubiquitin, as opposed to K48 polyubiquitin, constitute a docking site for downtream signaling proteins that lead to NF-kB and AP-1 activation. CD137 vesicles are decorated with k63-polyubiquitin and CD137 stimulation leads to the formation of K63-polyub containing complexes. Therefore CD137 stimulation under therapy like conditions with mAbs leads to the assembly of an intracellular signaling compartment that we term as CD137 -signalsomes Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4567. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4567