Design of a superior cytokine antagonist for topical ophthalmic use.
Hou, J., Townson, S.A., Kovalchin, J.T., Masci, A., Kiner, O., Shu, Y., King, B.M., Schirmer, E., Golden, K., Thomas, C., Garcia, K.C., Zarbis-Papastoitsis, G., Furfine, E.S., Barnes, T.M.(2013) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110: 3913-3918
- PubMed: 23431173 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1217996110
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4GAF, 4GAI - PubMed Abstract: 
IL-1 is a key inflammatory and immune mediator in many diseases, including dry-eye disease, and its inhibition is clinically efficacious in rheumatoid arthritis and cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes. To treat ocular surface disease with a topical biotherapeutic, the uniqueness of the site necessitates consideration of the agent's size, target location, binding kinetics, and thermal stability. Here we chimerized two IL-1 receptor ligands, IL-1β and IL-1Ra, to create an optimized receptor antagonist, EBI-005, for topical ocular administration. EBI-005 binds its target, IL-1R1, 85-fold more tightly than IL-1Ra, and this increase translates to an ∼100-fold increase in potency in vivo. EBI-005 preserves the affinity bias of IL-1Ra for IL-1R1 over the decoy receptor (IL-1R2), and, surprisingly, is also more thermally stable than either parental molecule. This rationally designed antagonist represents a unique approach to therapeutic design that can potentially be exploited for other β-trefoil family proteins in the IL-1 and FGF families.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc., Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.