Immunogenicity and humanization of single-domain antibodies

Single-domain antibodies (sdAbs), the autonomous variable domains of camelid and shark heavy-chain antibodies, have many desirable properties as components of biologic drugs. However, their sequences may increase the risk of immunogenicity and antidrug antibody (ADA) development in humans, and thus, sdAbs are routinely humanized during development. Here, we review and summarize the available evidence regarding the factors governing immunogenicity of sdAbs and our current state of knowledge of strategies to mitigate immunogenicity risks by humanization. While several sdAb properties, including high homology of camelid V(H)Hs with human IGHV3 gene products, favor low immunogenicity in humans, epitopes absent in the human repertoire including the exposed V-H:V-L interface may be intrinsically immunogenic. While most clinical trials have demonstrated minimal sdAb immunogenicity, two notable exceptions (the tetrameric DR5-specific VHH TAS266 and the TNFR1-specific V-H GSK1995057) illustrate that special caution must be taken in identifying preexisting ADAs against highly potent sdAbs. Nonhuman sequence alone does not adequately explain sdAb immunogenicity, as some camelid V(H)Hs are nonimmunogenic while some fully human V(H)s elicit ADAs. The presence of preexisting ADAs directed against the exposed C-termini of some sdAbs in a significant proportion of individuals awaits a molecular explanation. Whether sdAb humanization reduces or promotes immunogenicity remains unclear: reduction of nonhuman sequence content at the expense of introducing low-level aggregation in humanized variants may be counterproductive. Further work will establish thresholds for VHH and V-NAR humanization to maximize human sequence content while avoiding loss of binding affinity and/or immunogenicity resulting from aggregation or decreased stability.

Automated summary

Single-domain antibodies have desirable properties as biologic drugs, but their sequences may increase immunogenicity risks. While most clinical trials show minimal immunogenicity, special caution is needed for highly potent sdAbs. Further research is needed to establish humanization thresholds to maximize human sequence content without compromising binding affinity or stability.