Diabetic retinopathy (DR) affects approximately one-third of diabetic patients and, if left untreated, progresses to proliferative DR (PDR) with associated vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, iris neovascularization, glaucoma and irreversible blindness. In vitreous samples of human patients with PDR, we found elevated levels of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1α). HIFs are transcription factors that promote hypoxia adaptation and have important functional roles in a wide range of ischemic and inflammatory diseases. To recreate the human PDR phenotype for a preclinical animal model, we generated a mouse with neuroretinal-specific loss of the von Hippel Lindau tumor suppressor protein, a protein that targets HIF1α for ubiquitination. We found that the neuroretinal cells in these mice overexpressed HIF1α and developed severe, irreversible ischemic retinopathy that has features of human PDR. Rapid progression of retinopathy in these mutant mice should facilitate the evaluation of therapeutic agents for ischemic and inflammatory blinding disorders. In addition, this model system can be used to manipulate the modulation of the hypoxia signaling pathways, for the treatment of non-ocular ischemic and inflammatory disorders.

DNA alkylation and crosslinking remains a common and effective strategy for anticancer chemotherapy despite its infamous lack of specificity. Coupling a reactive group to a sequence-directing component has the potential to enhance target selectivity but may suffer from premature degradation or the need for an external signal for activation. Alternatively, quinone methide conjugates may be employed if they form covalent but reversible adducts with their sequence directing component. The resulting self-adducts transfer their quinone methide to a chosen target without an external signal and avoid off-target reactions by alternative intramolecular self-trapping. Efficient transfer is shown to depend on the nature of the quinone methide and the sequence-directing ligand in applications involving alkylation of duplex DNA through a triplex recognition motif. Success required an electron-rich derivative that enhanced the stability of the transient quinone methide intermediate and a polypyrimidine strand of DNA to associate with its cognate polypurine/polypyrimidine target. Related quinone methide conjugates with peptide nucleic acids were capable of quinone methide transfer from their initial precursor but not from their corresponding self-adduct. The active peptide nucleic acid derivatives were highly selective for their complementary target.

Human intravenous immune globulin (IVIg), a purified IgG fraction composed of ~ 60% IgG1 and obtained from the pooled plasma of thousands of donors, is clinically used for a wide range of diseases. The biological actions of IVIg are incompletely understood and have been attributed both to the polyclonal antibodies therein and also to their IgG (IgG) Fc regions. Recently, we demonstrated that multiple therapeutic human IgG1 antibodies suppress angiogenesis in a target-independent manner via FcγRI, a high-affinity receptor for IgG1. Here we show that IVIg possesses similar anti-angiogenic activity and inhibited blood vessel growth in five different mouse models of prevalent human diseases, namely, neovascular age-related macular degeneration, corneal neovascularization, colorectal cancer, fibrosarcoma and peripheral arterial ischemic disease. Angioinhibition was mediated by the Fc region of IVIg, required FcγRI and had similar potency in transgenic mice expressing human FcγRs. Finally, IVIg therapy administered to humans for the treatment of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases reduced kidney and muscle blood vessel densities. These data place IVIg, an agent approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, as a novel angioinhibitory drug in doses that are currently administered in the clinical setting. In addition, they raise the possibility of an unintended effect of IVIg on blood vessels.

Aberrant angiogenesis is implicated in diseases affecting nearly 10% of the world's population. The most widely used anti-angiogenic drug is bevacizumab, a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets human VEGFA. Although bevacizumab does not recognize mouse Vegfa, it inhibits angiogenesis in mice. Here we show bevacizumab suppressed angiogenesis in three mouse models not via Vegfa blockade but rather Fc-mediated signaling through FcγRI (CD64) and c-Cbl, impairing macrophage migration. Other approved humanized or human IgG1 antibodies without mouse targets (adalimumab, alemtuzumab, ofatumumab, omalizumab, palivizumab and tocilizumab), mouse IgG2a, and overexpression of human IgG1-Fc or mouse IgG2a-Fc, also inhibited angiogenesis in wild-type and FcγR humanized mice. This anti-angiogenic effect was abolished by Fcgr1 ablation or knockdown, Fc cleavage, IgG-Fc inhibition, disruption of Fc-FcγR interaction, or elimination of FcRγ-initated signaling. Furthermore, bevacizumab's Fc region potentiated its anti-angiogenic activity in humanized VEGFA mice. Finally, mice deficient in FcγRI exhibited increased developmental and pathological angiogenesis. These findings reveal an unexpected anti-angiogenic function for FcγRI and a potentially concerning off-target effect of hIgG1 therapies.