ANTIBODIES THAT BIND HUMAN CD27 AND USES THEREOF

1 . An isolated human or humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to human CD27, wherein the antibody exhibits at least one of the following properties:

(a) blocks binding of sCD70 to CD27 by at least about 70% at an antibody concentration of 10 μg/ml;

(b) binds to human CD27 with an equilibrium dissociation constant Kd of 10 −9 M or less, or alternatively, an equilibrium association constant Ka of 10 +9 M −1 or greater;

(c) induces specific complement mediated cytotoxicity (CDC) of CD27 expressing cells of at least 10% at an antibody concentration of 3 μg/ml and approximately 6% rabbit serum complement;

(d) induces antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) specific lysis of CD27 expressing cells of at least 10% at an antibody concentration of 3 μg/ml and ratio of effector:target cells of 75:1;

(e) improves median survival by at least 20% in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice post tumor cell inoculation in vivo (5×10 5 Raji cells, Namalwa cells or CCRF-CEM cells or 1×10 6 Daudi cells) or reduces tumor volume by at least 30% (5×10 5 Namalwa or CCRF-CEM cells) when administered at 0.3 mg (i.p.) at least twice a week for 3 weeks compared to mice to which antibody is not administered;

(f) induces or enhances antigen-specific immune responses in combination with a vaccine or endogenous antigen;

(g) induces or enhances antigen-specific TH1 immune responses in combination with a vaccine or endogenous antigen;

(h) induces or enhances antigen-specific T-cell proliferation or activation in combination with a vaccine or endogenous antigen;

(i) reduces or inhibits T-cell proliferation or activation;

(j) induces or enhances T-cell activity when combined with simultaneous, separate or sequential TCR activation;

(k) blocks binding of sCD70 to CD27 by at least about 70% at an antibody concentration of 10 μg/ml and reduces or inhibits T-cell activity when not capable of binding to, or having reduced binding to Fc receptors;

(l) results in less than 50% depletion of CD3+ T-cells (other than NK cells) in macaques when administered at 3 mg/kg (i.v.) over the period of 29 days immediately following administration; or

(m) results in less than 50% depletion of memory B-cells in macaques when administered at 3 mg/kg (i.v.) over the period of 29 days immediately following administration.

2 . An isolated monoclonal antibody that binds to human CD27 and induces or enhances an immune response against an antigen.

3 . (canceled)

4 . An isolated monoclonal antibody that binds to human CD27 and induces or enhances an immune response against an antigen, wherein the antibody induces or enhances T-cell proliferation or activation.

5 - 10 . (canceled)

11 . A bispecific molecule comprising the antibody of claim 2 linked to a second molecule having a binding specificity which is different from the antibody.

12 - 15 . (canceled)

16 . An isolated monoclonal antibody that binds to human CD27 and inhibits the binding of CD70 to CD27 on cells, wherein the antibody inhibits binding of sCD70 to CD27 expressing cells by at least about 70% at an antibody concentration of 10 μg/ml and inhibits or reduces an immune response to an antigen.

17 - 22 . (canceled)

23 . An isolated monoclonal antibody that binds to human CD27 and induces or enhances effector cell function, wherein the antibody induces at least about 40% ADCC specific lysis of CD27 expressing cells at a concentration of at an antibody concentration of 10 μg/ml or induces at least about 40% complement mediated cytotoxicity (CDC) of CD27 expressing cells at a concentration of 10 μg/ml.

24 - 40 . (canceled)

41 . An isolated monoclonal antibody which binds to human CD27, wherein the antibody comprises a heavy chain variable region comprising CDR1, CDR2, and CDR3 sequences and a light chain variable region comprising CDR1, CDR2, and CDR3 sequences, wherein, the heavy chain variable region CDR3 sequence comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the consensus sequence: R (G,E,D) (S,L,G,-) (G,L,T,W, -) (N,A,T,H,-) (V,T,-) (M,P,-) (G,V,-) (R, -) (G,M, -) (D,H,L,T,W) (A,G,N,W) (D,F,V,Y) (F,L) (D,E) (H,I,L,Y) (SEQ ID NO: 113), wherein “-” denotes the option of no amino acid residue being present at that consensus position.

42 - 44 . (canceled)

45 . An isolated monoclonal antibody which binds to human CD27 and comprises heavy and light chain variable region CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 sequences selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the consensus sequence: G F (T,S) (F,L) (S,N) (I,S,H) (Y,H) (SEQ ID NO: 117);

(ii) a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the consensus sequence: I (K,W) (Y,N,Q) D G S (E,N) (K,Q) (SEQ ID NO: 115);

(iii) a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the consensus sequence: R (G,E,D) (S,L,G,-) (G,L,T,W, -) (N,A,T,H,-) (V,T,-) (M,P,-) (G,V,-) (R, -) (G,M, -) (D,H,L,T,W) (A,G,N,W) (D,F,V,Y) (F,L) (D,E) (H,I,L,Y) (SEQ ID NO113);

(iv) a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the consensus sequence: Q (D,G,S) (I,V) (D,S) (R,S) (A,W,Y) (SEQ ID NO: 118);

(v) a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the consensus sequence: (A,D) A S (SEQ ID NO: 116);

(vi) a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the consensus sequence: Q (F,R,Y) (N,S) (N,T,S) (Y,W) P (F,L,P,R) T (SEQ ID NO: 114); wherein “-” denotes the option of no amino acid residue being present at that consensus position.

46 - 48 . (canceled)

49 . An isolated monoclonal antibody which binds to human CD27, wherein the antibody comprises:

(i) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 38;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 39;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 40;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 44;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 45; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 46;

(ii) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 50;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 51;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 52;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 56;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 57; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 58;

(iii) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 104;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 105;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 106;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 110;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 111; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 112;

(iv) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 86;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 87;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 88;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 92 or 98;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 93 or 99; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 94 or 100;

(v) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 26;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 27;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 28;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 32;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 33; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 34;

(vi) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 74;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 75;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 76;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 80;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 81; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 82;

(vii) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 8;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 9;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 10;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 14 or 20;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 15 or 21; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 16 or 22; or

(viii) a heavy chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 62;

a heavy chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 63;

a heavy chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 64;

a light chain variable region CDR1 comprising SEQ ID NO: 68;

a light chain variable region CDR2 comprising SEQ ID NO: 69; and

a light chain variable region CDR3 comprising SEQ ID NO: 70.

50 . An isolated monoclonal antibody which binds to human CD27 and comprises a heavy chain variable region selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 6, 7, 24, 25, 36, 37, 48, 49, 60, 61, 72, 73, 84, 85, 102, and 103.

51 . An isolated monoclonal antibody which binds to human CD27 and comprises a light chain variable region selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 12, 13, 18, 19, 30, 31, 42, 43, 54, 55, 66, 67, 78, 79, 90, 91, 96, 97, 108, and 109.

52 . An isolated monoclonal antibody which binds to human CD27 and comprises a heavy chain variable region and a light chain variable region selected from the group consisting of:

(a) SEQ ID NOs: 37 and 43, respectively;

(b) SEQ ID NOs: 49 and 55, respectively;

(c) SEQ ID NOs: 103 and 109, respectively;

(d) SEQ ID NOs: 85 and 91, respectively;

(e) SEQ ID NOs: 85 and 97, respectively;

(f) SEQ ID NOs: 25 and 31, respectively;

(g) SEQ ID NOs: 73 and 79, respectively;

(h) SEQ ID NOs: 7 and 13, respectively;

(i) SEQ ID NOs: 7 and 19, respectively; and

(j) SEQ ID NOs: 61 and 67, respectively.

53 . (canceled)

54 . An isolated antibody that competes for binding to human CD27 with the antibody of claim 52 .

55 . An isolated antibody which binds to an epitope bound by the antibody of claim 52 .

56 - 58 . (canceled)

59 . An isolated monoclonal antibody that binds human CD27, wherein the antibody comprises a heavy chain variable region and a light chain variable region encoded by nucleic acid sequences selected from the group consisting of:

(a) SEQ ID NOs: 5 and 11, respectively;

(b) SEQ ID NOs: 5 and 17, respectively;

(c) SEQ ID NOs: 23 and 29, respectively;

(d) SEQ ID NOs: 35 and 41, respectively;

(e) SEQ ID NOs: 47 and 53, respectively;

(f) SEQ ID NOs: 59 and 65, respectively;

(g) SEQ ID NOs: 71 and 77, respectively;

(h) SEQ ID NOs: 83 and 89, respectively

(i) SEQ ID NOs: 83 and 95; respectively and

(j) SEQ ID NOs: 101 and 107, respectively;

or nucleic acid sequences having at least 90% identity to the nucleic acid sequences of (a)-(j).

60 . An expression vector comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of a light chain, heavy chain, or both light and heavy chains of an antibody which binds human CD27 as claimed in claim 50 or 51 .

61 . A cell transformed with an expression vector of claim 60 .

62 - 63 . (canceled)

64 . A composition comprising the antibody of claim 52 and a carrier.

65 - 75 . (canceled)

76 . A method for inducing or enhancing an immune response against an antigen in a subject comprising administering to the subject the antibody of claim 52 , in an amount effective to induce or enhance an immune response against an antigen.

77 - 81 . (canceled)

82 . A method of inhibiting growth of CD27 expressing cells comprising contacting the cells with the antibody of claim 52 , in an amount effective to inhibit growth of CD27 expressing cells.

83 - 97 . (canceled)

98 . A method inhibiting the binding of CD70 to CD27 on cells in a subject having a disorder by administering to the subject the antibody of claim 52 .

99 . A method of down-regulating a T cell response in an individual having a disorder by administering to a subject the antibody of claim 52 .

100 - 105 . (canceled)

106 . A method for detecting the presence or absence of CD27 in a biological sample, comprising:

(a) contacting a biological sample with an antibody of claim 52 , wherein the antibody is labeled with a detectable substance; and

(b) detecting the antibody bound to CD27 to thereby detect the presence or absence of CD27 in the biological sample.

107 . A method for enhancing an immune response against an antigen in a subject in need thereof by administering to the subject: i) a human or humanized anti-CD27 antibody and ii) the antigen, wherein the anti-CD27 antibody is administered separately from and before the antigen is administered.

108 - 113 . (canceled)

114 . A method for enhancing an immune response against an antigen in a subject in need thereof by simultanously, separately or sequentially administering to the subject: i) a human or humanized anti-CD27 antibody; ii) a TLR agonist; and iii) optionally, the antigen.

115 - 116 . (canceled)