SBIR-STTR Award

This proposal is in response to PA-15-270, the parent announcement for STTR (R41) grant applications. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has become a preferred treatment for hematological malignancies and certain genetic disorders. The use of umbilical cord blood cells as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for bone marrow transplantation has increased steadily over the last decade. Due to a less stringent HLA match requirement, cord blood transplant has allowed patients to be treated that otherwise could not find a suitable donor. Unfortunately, there are fewer stem cells in these preparations which results in delayed rates of immunological reconstitution. This can lead to a higher incidence of opportunistic infections which increases the rate of graft failures and transplant related mortalities. Finding a means to improve the rate of immune reconstitution with cord blood transplants would translate to improved outcomes as well as broader applicability to adult patients. Efforts to improve the rate of engraftment of cord blood cells include targeting the cell adhesion cascade which mediates cell homing, extravasation and retention in the bone marrow. This process is coordinated through the function of chemokines as well as the selectin and integrin families of cell adhesion molecules. Promising results have been generated by treating the cells ex-vivo to improve the function of the selectin- and chemokine-mediated processes. A drawback to these preconditioning steps is they require additional time, expertise and expense. As yet the integrins have not been targeted due to a lack of suitable reagents. We have developed a unique small molecule that can activate integrins on cord blood cells, facilitating their interaction with their counter-receptors in the bone marrow. This compound can enhance all phases of the adhesion cascade including cell rolling, firm adhesion, and migration. It binds to the integrin directly and activation takes place instantaneously. As a result, no extensive preconditioning of the cells is necessary. This proposal outlines proof-of-concept studies to evaluate the compound in xenogeneic animal models to determine its effect on cord blood cell homing and engraftment in the bone marrow following transplant.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
The growing use of umbilical cord blood cells for bone marrow transplantation has allowed patients to be treated that otherwise could not find a suitable donor. Finding a means to improve the rate of immune reconstitution is critical to fully realize the potential of cord blood transplant and expanding its use to adult patients. The studies proposed describe the use of a small molecule cell adhesion activator to facilitate the engraftment rate of cord blood cells and thus decrease the time to immune reconstitution.

Project Terms:
Adhesions; Adult; Agonist; Allogenic; analog; analytical method; Animal Model; Applications Grants; Binding; Biological Assay; Blood Cells; Bone Marrow; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Brain; C57BL/6 Mouse; Cell Adhesion; Cell Adhesion Molecules; Cell Transplants; Cells; Chemicals; chemokine; Childhood; Clinical Trials; Collecting Cell; Data; Development Plans; Disadvantaged; Dose; Drug Kinetics; Endothelium; Engraftment; Event; Extravasation; Family; Female; Flow Cytometry; Future; graft failure; Graft-vs-Host Disease; Heart; Hematologic Neoplasms; Hematopoietic; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; Hematopoietic stem cells; hematopoietic tissue; Hematoxylin and Eosin Staining Method; Hereditary Disease; Homing; Human; Human cord blood CD34+ cell; Immune; improved; improved functioning; improved outcome; in vivo; Incidence; Inflammatory Infiltrate; Injection of therapeutic agent; Institutes; Integrin alpha4beta1; Integrins; Investigational New Drug Application; Kidney; Lead; Leukocyte Trafficking; Licensing; Ligands; Liver; Lung; male; Mediating; method development; Methods; migration; Modeling; mortality; Mus; nonhuman primate; Opportunistic Infections; Parents; Patients; peripheral blood; Phase; phase 2 study; Pilot Projects; Plasma; Population; preconditioning; Preparation; Process; Production; Prostaglandins I; Protease Inhibitor; PTPRC gene; public health relevance; Quality Control; Reagent; receptor; reconstitution; Reporting; response; Risk; Role; Route; Safety; safety study; Schedule; Selectins; Series; Siblings; Small Business Technology Transfer Research; small molecule; Source; Spleen; Staging; Staining method; Stains; stem; Stem cells; Stromal Cell-Derived Factor 1; Surface; Testing; Texas; Time; Tissues; Translating; Transplantation; Umbilical Cord Blood; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; Work

This proposal is in response to the parent announcement for Phase II STTR (R42) grant applications. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has become a preferred treatment for hematological malignancies and certain genetic disorders. Umbilical cord blood has become an appealing alternative to bone marrow or peripheral blood as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplant. Due to a less stringent HLA match requirement, cord blood transplant has allowed patients to be treated that otherwise could not find a suitable donor. Unfortunately, there are fewer stem cells in these preparations which results in delayed rates of immunological reconstitution. This can lead to a higher incidence of opportunistic infections which increases the rate of graft failures and transplant related mortalities. Finding a means to improve the rate of immune reconstitution with cord blood transplants would translate to improved outcomes as well as broader applicability to adult patients. Efforts to improve the rate of engraftment of cord blood cells include targeting the cell adhesion cascade which mediates cell homing, extravasation and retention in the bone marrow. This process is coordinated through the function of chemokines as well as the selectin and integrin families of cell adhesion molecules. Promising results have been generated by treating the cells ex-vivo to improve the function of the selectin- and chemokine-mediated processes. A drawback to these preconditioning steps is they require additional time, expertise and expense. As yet the integrins have not been targeted due to a lack of suitable reagents. We have developed a unique small molecule that can activate integrins on cord blood cells, facilitating their interaction with their counter-receptors in the bone marrow. This compound can enhance all phases of the adhesion cascade including cell rolling, firm adhesion, and migration. It can be dosed independently of the cells and is inexpensive to synthesize on a large-scale. This would have an advantage over other technologies as no preconditioning or manipulations of the cells would be required meaning a more affordable and universally translatable therapy. We have demonstrated proof-of-concept in our phase I studies that dosing 7HP349 following transplant of human CD34+ cord blood cells into NOD-SCID mice leads to increased engraftment of CD34+ cells in the bone marrow and increased CD45+ cell counts in peripheral blood. Our phase II proposal includes aims to refine the dosing schedule and preclinical formulation and toxicity studies required to file an Investigational New Drug application with the Food and Drug Administration.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
PROJECT NARRATIVE The growing use of umbilical cord blood cells for bone marrow transplantation has allowed patients to be treated that otherwise could not find a suitable donor. Finding a means to improve the rate of immune reconstitution is critical to fully realize the potential of cord blood transplant and expanding its use to adult patients. The studies proposed describe the use of a small molecule cell adhesion activator to facilitate the engraftment rate of cord blood cells and thus decrease the time to immune reconstitution.

Project Terms:
adhesion receptor; Adhesions; Adult; Antifungal Agents; Applications Grants; base; Biodistribution; Biological Assay; Biological Availability; Blood Cells; Blood specimen; bone cell; Bone Marrow; Bone Marrow Cells; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Canis familiaris; capsule; carcinogenicity; CD34 gene; Cell Adhesion; Cell Adhesion Molecules; Cell Count; Cell Transplantation; Cells; chemokine; Clinical; Clinical Research; Clinical Trials; cost; Cyclic GMP; CYP3A4 gene; design; Development; Disadvantaged; Dose; Drug Interactions; Drug Kinetics; Engraftment; Enzymes; Extravasation; Family; Food; Formulation; Funding; Future; Genetic Diseases; genotoxicity; graft failure; graft vs host disease; Hematologic Neoplasms; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; Hematopoietic stem cells; Homing; Homologous Transplantation; Hospitalization; human cord blood CD34+ cell; immune reconstitution; improved; improved functioning; improved outcome; Incidence; infection risk; inhibitor/antagonist; Integrin alpha4beta1; Integrins; Investigational Drugs; Investigational New Drug Application; Ketoconazole; Lead; leukemia/lymphoma; Leukocytes; Lipids; Liver; liver function; Mediating; meetings; migration; Modeling; mortality; Multiple Myeloma; Mus; new technology; NOD/SCID mouse; Opportunistic Infections; Oral; Parents; Patients; peripheral blood; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Pharmacology; Phase; phase 1 study; pre-clinical; preconditioning; Preparation; Procedures; Process; Production; PTPRC gene; Rattus; Reagent; receptor; reconstitution; Regimen; Research Design; response; Risk; Running; Safety; safety study; Schedule; Selectins; Small Business Technology Transfer Research; small molecule; Source; stability testing; Stem cell transplant; stem cells; Subgroup; Technology; Testing; Thyroid Function Tests; Thyroid Hormones; Thyroxine; Time; Toxic effect; Toxicology; trafficking; Translating; transplant model; Transplantation; Triiodothyronine; Umbilical Cord Blood; Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation; United States Food and Drug Administration