Equillium Announces Poster Presentation at the Annual Meeting of The American Association of Immunologists
Equillium, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQ) presented a poster at the annual meeting of The American Association of Immunologists showcasing the role of CD6 in cell adhesion and migration, highlighting the efficacy of itolizumab in preventing trans-endothelial migration of effector T cells. The data revealed the mechanism of action of itolizumab and its ability to modulate T cell activity and trafficking, offering insights into treating autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.
Equillium highlighted the effectiveness of itolizumab in preventing trans-endothelial migration of effector T cells, showcasing its potential in treating autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.
The data presented elucidates the mechanism of action of itolizumab, demonstrating its ability to modulate T cell activity and trafficking, which could lead to innovative therapeutic approaches.
Despite the promising results, further clinical studies are necessary to validate the efficacy and safety of itolizumab in treating severe autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.
CD6 contributes to cell adhesion/migration both through direct ligand interactions with activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) and through the stabilization of cell membrane VLA4
Blockade of CD6 through itolizumab prevents the trans-endothelial migration of effector T cells
Data supports the differentiated mechanism of action of itolizumab
“Our data demonstrates that CD6 contributes to cell adhesion/migration both through direct ligand interactions with ALCAM and through the stabilization of cell membrane VLA4, and that these functions can be abrogated by itolizumab,” said Dr. Stephen Connelly, chief scientific officer at Equillium. “We previously showed that blockade of CD6 prevents the trans-endothelial migration of effector T cells and this new data further elucidates the molecular mechanism. Moreover, our data continues to demonstrate that increased levels of CD6 facilitate the migration of pathogenic effector T cells into inflamed tissues and that itolizumab can modulate not only their activity, but trafficking too.”
Title: Surface CD6 regulates T cell adhesion and migration through direct ligand interaction and stabilization of VLA4
Lead Author: Valeria Marrocco, Senior Scientist, Equillium, Inc.
Presentation Type: Poster Session
Poster Number: P713
Abstract ID: 4364
Session Title: Migration and Adhesion in Inflammation, Cancer, and Metabolic Disorders
Key Highlights, Summaries & Conclusions from Presentation:
- Itolizumab not only blocks the binding of CD6 to ALCAM, but it also induces the stripping of the receptor on the T cells’ membrane in the presence of antigen presenting cells, generating CD6 low T cells.
- Reduction of CD6 on T cells or blocking of ALCAM on the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), prevents the adhesion of Effector T cells to the endothelial monolayer.
- Itolizumab treatment significantly reduced the trans-endothelial migration of pathogenic T cells, with high correlation of effector T cells’ migration index with the CD6 levels on the cell surface.
- Itolizumab treatments reduced the gene expression important for cell motility and downregulated VLA4 integrin levels on the cell surface and the total protein levels.
- Data identifies a new role of the CD6-ALCAM pathway in adhesion and trans-endothelial migration of effector T cells and demonstrated that CD6 expression at the membrane is required for the expression and stabilization of the integrin VLA4. This suggests a direct role of the CD6-ALCAM pathway and indirect T cell mobility regulation through downregulation of VLA4.
The poster presentation is available on the Presentations page of Equillium’s website under the “Itolizumab MOA” tab.
About Itolizumab
Itolizumab is a clinical-stage, first-in-class anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody that selectively targets the CD6-ALCAM signaling pathway to selectively downregulate pathogenic T effector cells while preserving T regulatory cells critical for maintaining a balanced immune response. This pathway plays a central role in modulating the activity and trafficking of T cells that drive a number of immuno-inflammatory diseases.
About Equillium
Equillium is a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging a deep understanding of immunobiology to develop novel therapeutics to treat severe autoimmune and inflammatory disorders with high unmet medical need. The company’s pipeline consists of the following novel first-in-class immunomodulatory assets and product platform targeting immuno-inflammatory pathways. EQ101: a selective tri-specific cytokine inhibitor targeting IL-2, IL-9, and IL-15; currently under evaluation in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical study of patients with alopecia areata being conducted in
For more information, visit www.equilliumbio.com.
Forward Looking Statements
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Investor & Media Contact
Equillium, Inc.
Michael Moore
Vice President, Investor Relations Officer & Head of Corporate Communications
619-302-4431
ir@equilliumbio.com
Source: Equillium, Inc.
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