Production of carrier-peptide conjugates using chemically reactive unnatural amino acids

1. A carrier polypeptide-target polypeptide conjugate comprising:

a carrier polypeptide domain comprising a first unnatural amino acid residue, wherein the carrier polypeptide domain comprises an antibody or antibody fragment; and,

a target polypeptide domain comprising a second unnatural amino acid residue;

wherein the carrier polypeptide domain and target polypeptide domain are conjugated together through the first and second unnatural amino acid residues;

wherein the first amino acid residue is incorporated into the antibody or antibody fragment, and/or the second unnatural amino acid residue is incorporated into the target polypeptide, in vivo in a methylotrophic yeast cell during translation using an orthogonal tRNA-synthetase/tRNA (O-RS/O-tRNA) pair derived from an Escherichia coli tyrosyl- or leucyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair;

wherein the first or second unnatural amino acid comprises an azido moiety, an alkynyl moiety, or an alkenyl moiety; and

wherein the first and second unnatural amino acid are covalently coupled via a cycloaddition reaction.

2. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the target polypeptide is a therapeutic peptide, or a peptide derivative of a therapeutic polypeptide.

3. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the cycloaddition reaction is selected from the group consisting of a 1,3-cycloaddition reaction, a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction, a 2,3 cycloaddition reaction, an alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction, and a Diels-Alder reaction.

4. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or antibody fragment is selected from the group consisting of monoclonal antibodies, chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, Fab fragments, fragments produced by an Fab expression library, and single chain antibody fragments.

5. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or antibody fragment is selected from the group consisting of a HER2 antibody, a HER2 antibody fragment, an OKT3 antibody, and an OKT3 antibody fragment.

6. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the target polypeptide domain comprises one or more of: a TSP-1, an ABT-510, a glugacon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a parathyroid hormone (PTH), a ribosome inactivating protein (RIP), an angiostatin, an Exedin-4, an apoprotein, an atrial natriuretic factor, an atrial natriuretic polypeptide, an atrial peptide, a C—X—C chemokine, a T39765, a NAP-2, an ENA-78, a gro-a, a gro-b, a gro-c, an IP-10, a GCP-2, a NAP-4, an a PF4, a MIG, a calcitonin, a c-kit ligand, a cytokine, a CC chemokine, a monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, a monocyte chemoattractant protein-2, a monocyte chemoattractant protein-3, a monocyte inflammatory protein-1 alpha, a monocyte inflammatory protein-1 beta, a RANTES, an 1309, an R83915, an R91733, a T58847, a D31065, a T64262, a CD40 ligand, a complement inhibitor, a cytokine, an epithelial neutrophil activating peptide-78, a GROα, a MGSA, a GROβ, a GROγ, a MIP1-α, a MIP1-β, an MCP-1, an epithelial neutrophil activating peptide, an erythropoietin (EPO), an exfoliating toxin, a fibroblast growth factor (FGF), an FGF21, a G-CSF, a gonadotropin, a growth factor, a Hirudin, an LFA-1, a human insulin, a human insulin-like growth factor (hIGF), an hIGF-I, an hIGF-II, a human interferon, an IFN-α, an IFN-β, an IFN-γ, an interleukin, an IL-1, an IL-2, an IL-3, an IL-4, an IL-5, an IL-6, an IL-7, an IL-8, an IL-9, an IL-10, an IL-11, an IL-12, a keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), a leukemia inhibitory factor, a neurturin, a PDGF, a peptide hormone, a pleiotropin, a pyrogenic exotoxin A, a pyrogenic exotoxin B, a pyrogenic exotoxin C, a relaxin, a somatostatin, a superoxide dismutase, a thymosin alpha 1, a human tumor necrosis factor (hTNF), a human tumor necrosis factor alpha, a human tumor necrosis factor beta, a Ras, a Tat, an inflammatory molecule, a signal transduction molecule, a bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI), or a BP320 antigen.

7. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the first unnatural amino acid is incorporated into the antibody or antibody fragment variant during translation.

8. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the second unnatural amino acid is incorporated into the target polypeptide during synthesis.

9. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the target polypeptide is a TSP-1 variant comprising the second unnatural amino acid.

10. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the target polypeptide is an ABT-510 variant comprising the second unnatural amino acid.

11. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein the carrier or target polypeptide is produced in a Candida cell, a Hansenula cell, a Pichia cell, or a Torulopsis cell.

12. A composition comprising the conjugate of claim 1 .

13. A cell comprising the conjugate of claim 1 .

14. A method of producing in a methylotrophic yeast cell at least one antibody or antibody fragment comprising at least one unnatural amino acid, the method comprising:

growing, in an appropriate medium, a methylotrophic yeast cell that comprises a nucleic acid that comprises at least one selector codon and encodes the at least one antibody or antibody fragment; wherein the medium comprises the at least one unnatural amino acid and the methylotrophic yeast cell comprises:

an orthogonal tRNA (O-tRNA) derived from an Escherichia coli tyrosyl- or leucyl-tRNA, that functions in the cell and recognizes the selector codon; and

an orthogonal aminoacyl tRNA synthetase (O-RS) derived from an Escherichia coli tyrosyl- or leucyl-tRNA synthetase, that preferentially aminoacylates the O-tRNA with the at least one unnatural amino acid; and

wherein the at least one unnatural amino acid comprises a moiety selected from the group consisting of: an azido moiety, an alkynyl moiety, and an alkenyl moiety.

15. An antibody or antibody fragment produced by the method of claim 14 .

16. A method of producing a covalently coupled antibody-target polypeptide conjugate, the method comprising:

incorporating a first unnatural amino acid residue into an antibody or antibody fragment during synthesis or translation of the antibody or antibody fragment;

incorporating a second unnatural amino acid residue into a target polypeptide during synthesis or translation of the target polypeptide, wherein the antibody or antibody fragment, and/or the target polypeptide, is produced in a methylotrophic yeast cell during translation using an orthogonal tRNA-synthetase/tRNA (O-RS/O-tRNA) pair derived from an Escherichia coli tyrosyl- or leucyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair; and,

reacting the first and second unnatural amino acid residues to produce the covalently coupled antibody-target polypeptide conjugate;

wherein the first or second unnatural amino acid comprises a moiety selected from the group consisting of: an azido moiety, an alkynyl moiety, and an alkenyl moiety; and

wherein the first and second unnatural amino acid are covalently coupled via a cycloaddition reaction.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the cycloaddition reaction is selected from the group consisting of: a 1,3-cycloaddition reaction, a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction, a 2,3 cycloaddition reaction, an alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction, and a Diels-Alder reaction.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first or second unnatural amino acid is a photoreactive or radioactive amino acid.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the carrier or target polypeptide is produced in a Candida cell, a Hansenula cell, a Pichia cell, or a Torulopsis cell.

20. An antibody conjugate produced by the method of claim 16 .

21. The antibody conjugate of claim 20 , wherein the antibody or antibody fragment is selected from the group consisting of monoclonal antibodies, chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, Fab fragments, a fragment produced by an Fab expression library, and single chain antibody fragments.