Isolated antibodies which bind to CXC chemokine receptor 4

1. An isolated antibody which binds to CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and which does not induce significant apoptosis of CXCR4 expressing cells, wherein by the term not inducing significant apoptosis of CXCR4 expressing cells is meant that levels of apoptosis induced in the presence of an antibody are comparable to or not significantly different from levels of apoptosis induced in the absence of an antibody, and wherein said antibody comprises at least one heavy chain variable region that comprises three CDRs and at least one light chain variable region that comprises three CDRs,

wherein said heavy chain variable region comprises:

(i) a variable heavy (VH) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of S/G Y X 3 M/I H/S (SEQ ID NO: 126), or X 1 Y X 3 M H (SEQ ID NO: 127) or S Y X 3 M H (SEQ ID NO: 128);

wherein X 1 can be S or G, preferably S;

X 3 can be G or W or Y or A, preferably W;

(ii) a VH CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of X 1 I X 3 X 4 D G S X 8 X 9 X 10 Y A D S V K G (SEQ ID NO:129);

wherein X 1 can be V or R, preferably R;

X 3 can be S or N, preferably N;

X 4 can be Y or S, preferably S;

X 8 can be N or S, preferably S;

X 9 can be K or T, preferably T; and

X 10 can be Y or S, preferably S;

or a VH CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of X 1 I X 3 P X 5 X 6 G X 8 X 9 N Y A Q K F Q G (SEQ ID NO: 131);

wherein X 1 , can be R or G, preferably R;

X 3 can be N or I, preferably N;

X 5 can be N or I, preferably N;

X 6 can be S or F, preferably S;

X 8 can be G or T, preferably G; and

X 9 can be T or A, preferably T; and

(iii) a VH CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:s 3, 9, 15 or 21.

2. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein said antibody does not induce significant apoptosis of CXCR4 expressing cells if used at a concentration of ≧0.4 μg/ml.

3. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein said antibody is capable of inhibiting the binding of a ligand to CXCR4, or is capable of inhibiting the ligand-induced migration of CXCR4 expressing cells, or is capable of inhibiting ligand-induced calcium flux in CXCR4 expressing cells.

4. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody

comprises at least one heavy chain variable region that comprises three CDRs and at least one light chain variable region that comprises three CDRs,

wherein said heavy chain variable region comprises:

(i) a variable heavy (VH) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1;

(ii) a VH CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2; and

(iii) a VH CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3; and/or

wherein said light chain variable region comprises:

(iv) a variable light (VL) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4;

(v) a VL CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5; and

(vi) a VL CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6.

5. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody

comprises at least one heavy chain variable region that comprises three CDRs and at least one light chain variable region that comprises three CDRs,

wherein said heavy chain variable region comprises:

(i) a variable heavy (VH) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7;

(ii) a VH CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8; and

(iii) a VH CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9; and/or

wherein said light chain variable region comprises:

(iv) a variable light (VL) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10;

(v) a VL CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11; and

(vi) a VL CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12.

6. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody

comprises at least one heavy chain variable region that comprises three CDRs and at least one light chain variable region that comprises three CDRs,

wherein said heavy chain variable region comprises:

(i) a variable heavy (VH) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13;

(ii) a VH CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14; and

(iii) a VH CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 15; and/or

wherein said light chain variable region comprises:

(iv) a variable light (VL) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16;

(v) a VL CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17; and

(vi) a VL CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 18.

7. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody

comprises at least one heavy chain variable region that comprises three CDRs and at least one light chain variable region that comprises three CDRs,

wherein said heavy chain variable region comprises:

(i) a variable heavy (VH) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 19;

(ii) a VH CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20; and

(iii) a VH CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21; and/or

wherein said light chain variable region comprises:

(iv) a variable light (VL) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 22;

(v) a VL CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23; and

(vi) a VL CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 24.

8. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody

comprises at least one heavy chain variable region that comprises three CDRs and at least one light chain variable region that comprises three CDRs,

wherein said heavy chain variable region comprises:

(i) a variable heavy (VH) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1;

(ii) a VH CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2; and

(iii) a VH CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3; and/or

wherein said light chain variable region comprises:

(iv) a variable light (VL) CDR1 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 88;

(v) a VL CDR2 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 89; and

(vi) a VL CDR3 that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 90.

9. An antibody according to claim 4 , comprising one of each of the VH CDR domains (i), (ii) and (iii), and one of each of the VL CDR domains (iv), (v) and (vi).

10. An antibody according to claim 5 , comprising one of each of the VH CDR domains (i), (ii) and (iii), and one of each of the VL CDR domains (iv), (v) and (vi).

11. An antibody according to claim 6 , comprising one of each of the VH CDR domains (i), (ii) and (iii), and one of each of the VL CDR domains (iv), (v) and (vi).

12. An antibody according to claim 7 , comprising one of each of the VH CDR domains (i), (ii) and (iii), and one of each of the VL CDR domains (iv), (v) and (vi).

13. An antibody according to claim 8 , comprising one of each of the VH CDR domains (i), (ii) and (iii), and one of each of the VL CDR domains (iv), (v) and (vi).

14. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody has (i) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 69, (ii) a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 70 or (iii) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 69 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 70.

15. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody has (i) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 71, (ii) a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 72 or (iii) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 71 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 72.

16. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody has (i) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 73, (ii) a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 74 or (iii) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 73 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 74.

17. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody has (i) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 75, (ii) a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 76 or (iii) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 75 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 76.

18. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody has (i) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 69, (ii) a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 103 or (iii) a VH domain of SEQ ID NO: 69 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO: 103.

19. An antibody according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody is a human antibody, preferably a fully human antibody.

20. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein said antibody comprises (i) all or a portion of an antibody heavy chain constant region, (ii) all or a portion of an antibody light chain constant region or (iii) all or a portion of an antibody heavy chain constant region and all or a portion of an antibody light chain constant region.

21. The antibody of claim 20 , wherein said antibody is an IgG antibody, preferably an IgG1 antibody.

22. The antibody of claim 20 , wherein said antibody comprises (i) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 108, (ii) a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 109 or (iii) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 108 and a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 109.

23. The antibody of claim 20 , wherein said antibody comprises (i) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 112, (ii) a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 113 or (iii) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 112 and a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 113.

24. The antibody of claim 20 , wherein said antibody comprises (i) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 116, (ii) a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 117 or (iii) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 116 and a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 117.

25. The antibody of claim 20 , wherein said antibody comprises (i) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 120, (ii) a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 121 or (iii) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 120 and a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 121.

26. The antibody of claim 20 , wherein said antibody comprises (i) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 124, (ii) a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 125 or (iii) a heavy chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 124 and a light chain that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 125.

27. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein said antibody is an antigen binding fragment of an antibody.

28. The antibody of claim 27 , wherein said antigen binding fragment of said antibody is a Fab′, Fab, F(ab′) 2 , single domain antibody, T and Abs dimer, Fv, scFv, dsFv, ds-scFv, Fd, linear antibody, minibody, diabody, bispecific antibody fragment, bibody, tribody, sc-diabody, kappa(lamda) body, BiTE, DVD-Ig, SIP, SMIP, DART or a small antibody mimetic comprising one or more CDRs.

29. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein said antibody is a first diagnostic or therapeutic agent and is attached to at least a second diagnostic or therapeutic agent.

30. The antibody of claim 29 , wherein said antibody is attached to at least a radiotherapeutic agent, chemotherapeutic agent, anti-angiogenic agent, apoptosis-inducing agent, anti-tubulin drug, anti-cellular or cytotoxic agent, steroid, cytokine antagonist, cytokine expression inhibitor, chemokine antagonist, chemokine expression inhibitor, ATPase inhibitor, anti-inflammatory agent, signalling pathway inhibitor, anti-cancer agent, other antibodies, coagulant or anti-viral agent, wherein said anti-viral agent is preferably selected from the group consisting of a nucleoside, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and a protease inhibitor.

31. An immunoconjugate comprising the antibody of claim 1 attached to at least a second therapeutic or diagnostic agent, wherein said antibody is a first therapeutic or diagnostic agent.

32. A composition comprising at least a first antibody according to claim 1 or an immunoconjugate thereof, wherein said composition is preferably a pharmaceutically acceptable composition.

33. The composition of claim 32 , wherein said composition further comprises at least a second therapeutic agent.

34. A kit comprising, in at least a first container:

(a) the antibody of claim 1 ;

(b) the immunoconjugate of claim 31 ; or

(c) the composition of claim 32 .

35. A method of binding CXCR4, comprising contacting a composition comprising CXCR4 with the antibody of claim 1 , or an immunoconjugate thereof.

36. A method of detecting CXCR4, comprising contacting a composition suspected of containing CXCR4 with the antibody of claim 1 , or an immunoconjugate thereof, under conditions effective to allow the formation of complexes between said CXCR4 and said antibody and detecting said complexes so formed.