Engineered antibodies that stabilize drug-modified KRASG12C neoantigens enable selective and potent cross-HLA immunotherapy

Covalent inhibitors of oncoprotein KRAS have initial efficacy, but responses lack durability. Covalently modified oncoproteins are presented as MHC-restricted hapten-peptides (p*MHC) on the cancer cell surface, enabling combination of targeted therapy with immunotherapy to overcome drug resistance. Building on indirect evidence of KRAS<sup>G12C</sup>-derived p*MHCs, we use immunopeptidomics to identify and directly quantify these synthetic neoantigens. To address challenges by their low copy number, we develop AETX-R114, a T cell engaging bispecific antibody with picomolar affinity for MHC-restricted sotorasib-modified KRAS<sup>G12C</sup> peptides presented by three HLA-A3 supertype alleles. AETX-R114 dramatically increases the half-life and thereby the number of presented p*MHCs, enabling selective and potent killing of resistant cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. To broaden the therapeutic potential of creating and targeting synthetic neoantigens, we further develop AETX-R302, which recognizes divarasib-modified KRAS<sup>G12C</sup> peptides presented on alleles from the HLA-A2 and A3 supertypes. Cryo-EM structure determination reveals the molecular basis for breaking HLA supertype restriction. Collectively, our study illustrates how engineered antibodies can transform synthetic neoantigens into actionable cancer immunotherapy targets.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-12-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66132-w
Primary Topic
Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research
Type
article
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article

Engineered antibodies that stabilize drug-modified KRASG12C neoantigens enable selective and potent cross-HLA immunotherapy

Lauren Stopfer, Sarah A. Mosure, Lorenzo Maso, Sergio A. Rodriguez‐Aponte et al.
Nature Communications
Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research
article

Engineered antibodies that stabilize drug-modified KRASG12C neoantigens enable selective and potent cross-HLA immunotherapy

Lauren Stopfer, Sarah A. Mosure, Lorenzo Maso, Sergio A. Rodriguez‐Aponte, Epsa Rajak, Angelina Pizzo, Shohei Koide, Takamitsu Hattori, Rajesh Chopra, Sean T. Toenjes, Matthew C. Southard, Benjamin G. Neel, Christoph Rader, Akiko Koide, Brian Vash, Weifeng Liu, Tanvir Ahmed, Samantha Sze, Paul Da Silva Jardine, Diamond N. Mensah
article en

Abstract

Covalent inhibitors of oncoprotein KRAS have initial efficacy, but responses lack durability. Covalently modified oncoproteins are presented as MHC-restricted hapten-peptides (p*MHC) on the cancer cell surface, enabling combination of targeted therapy with immunotherapy to overcome drug resistance. Building on indirect evidence of KRAS<sup>G12C</sup>-derived p*MHCs, we use immunopeptidomics to identify and directly quantify these synthetic neoantigens. To address challenges by their low copy number, we develop AETX-R114, a T cell engaging bispecific antibody with picomolar affinity for MHC-restricted sotorasib-modified KRAS<sup>G12C</sup> peptides presented by three HLA-A3 supertype alleles. AETX-R114 dramatically increases the half-life and thereby the number of presented p*MHCs, enabling selective and potent killing of resistant cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. To broaden the therapeutic potential of creating and targeting synthetic neoantigens, we further develop AETX-R302, which recognizes divarasib-modified KRAS<sup>G12C</sup> peptides presented on alleles from the HLA-A2 and A3 supertypes. Cryo-EM structure determination reveals the molecular basis for breaking HLA supertype restriction. Collectively, our study illustrates how engineered antibodies can transform synthetic neoantigens into actionable cancer immunotherapy targets.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Goethe-Institute United Kingdom (GB), Aletheia University (TW), NYU Langone Health (US), Io Therapeutics (United States) (US), Apple (United States) (US), New York University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 45%
Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research
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