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de Roode KE, Joosten L, Behe M. Towards the Magic Radioactive Bullet: Improving Targeted Radionuclide Therapy by Reducing the Renal Retention of Radioligands. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2024; 17:256. [PMID: 38399470 PMCID: PMC10892921 DOI: 10.3390/ph17020256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) is an emerging field and has the potential to become a major pillar in effective cancer treatment. Several pharmaceuticals are already in routine use for treating cancer, and there is still a high potential for new compounds for this application. But, a major issue for many radiolabeled low-to-moderate-molecular-weight molecules is their clearance via the kidneys and their subsequent reuptake. High renal accumulation of radioactive compounds may lead to nephrotoxicity, and therefore, the kidneys are often the dose-limiting organs in TRT with these radioligands. Over the years, different strategies have been developed aiming for reduced kidney retention and enhanced therapeutic efficacy of radioligands. In this review, we will give an overview of the efforts and achievements of the used strategies, with focus on the therapeutic potential of low-to-moderate-molecular-weight molecules. Among the strategies discussed here is coadministration of compounds that compete for binding to the endocytic receptors in the proximal tubuli. In addition, the influence of altering the molecular design of radiolabeled ligands on pharmacokinetics is discussed, which includes changes in their physicochemical properties and implementation of cleavable linkers or albumin-binding moieties. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of chelator and radionuclide choice on reabsorption of radioligands by the kidneys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim E. de Roode
- Department of Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands;
- Tagworks Pharmaceuticals, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Lieke Joosten
- Department of Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands;
| | - Martin Behe
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences ETH-PSI-USZ, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
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Lu C, Li K, Xi H, Hua D, Li H, Gao F, Qiu L, Lin J. Dual-Targeting PET Tracers Enable Enzyme-Mediated Self-Assembly for the PET Imaging of Legumain Activity. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2023; 15:44654-44664. [PMID: 37704192 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c07479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
Legumain, a lysosomal cysteine protease overexpressed in a variety of tumors, has been considered a promising biomarker for various cancers. Precise detection of legumain activity in the lysosome represents an important strategy for early diagnosis and prognosis of tumors. Small-molecule probes with the property of target-enabled self-assembly hold great potential for molecular imaging. In this study, we reported two dual-targeting radiotracers ([18F]SF-AAN-M and [18F]SF-AAN-HEM) with a property of legumain-mediated self-assembly for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Both the radiotracers were synthesized with high labeling yield (>50%) and the radiochemical purity was over 99% via one-step straightforward 18F-labeling. Both tracers were efficiently activated by the reducing agent and legumain to self-assemble into aggregates and showed enhanced retention in legumain-overexpressed MDA-MB-468 cells and tumors, indicating that the introduction of lysosome-targeting morpholine increased the tumor uptake and extended the retention of radiotracers in legumain-overexpressed tumors. In addition, [18F]SF-AAN-HEM with a hydrophilic (histidine-glutamate)3 tag displayed significantly reduced liver uptake with no conspicuous reduction in tumor uptake, affording high signal-to-noise ratios (tumor/liver and tumor/muscle). All of these results suggest that dual-targeting tracer [18F]SF-AAN-HEM could provide a promising tool for in vivo monitoring legumain activity in tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunmei Lu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Ke Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Hongjie Xi
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Di Hua
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Huirong Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Feng Gao
- Laboratory for Experimental Teratology of the Ministry of Education and Biomedical Isotope Research Center School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China
| | - Ling Qiu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Jianguo Lin
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
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She T, Yang F, Chen S, Yang H, Tao Z, Xing H, Chen J, Chang H, Lu H, Su T, Jin Y, Zhong Y, Cheng J, Zhu H, Lu X. Snoopligase-catalyzed molecular glue enables efficient generation of hyperoligomerized TRAIL variant with enhanced antitumor effect. J Control Release 2023; 361:856-870. [PMID: 37516318 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.07.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
Clinical application of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is predominantly limited by its inefficient apoptosis induction in tumor cells, which might be improved by using molecular superglue-mediated hyperoligomerization to increase its valency. Here, the minimal superglue peptide pairs, including Snoopligase-catalyzed SnoopTagJr/SnoopDogTag and SpyStapler-catalyzed SpyTag/SpyBDTag, were individually fused at the N- or C-terminus of the TRAIL promoter to produce superglue-fusion TRAIL variants. Similar to native trivalent TRAIL, these superglue-fusion TRAIL variants were highly expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and spontaneously trimerized. In the presence of Snoopligase or SpyStapler, the trivalent superglue-fusion TRAIL variants were predominantly crosslinked into hexavalent TRAIL variants. Nevertheless, Snoopligase was more efficient than SpyStapler in the production of hexavalent TRAIL variants. In particular, Snoopligase-catalyzed trivalent TRAIL variants with N-terminal fusion of SnoopTagJr/SnoopDogTag produced hexavalent SnHexaTR with the highest yield (∼70%). The in vitro cytotoxicity of SnHexaTR was 10-40 times greater than that of TRAIL in several tumor cells. In addition, compared to trivalent TRAIL, hexavalent SnHexaTR showed a longer serum half-life and greater tumor uptake, which resulted in eradication of 50% of tumor xenografts of TRAIL-sensitive COLO 205. In mice bearing TRAIL-resistant HT-29 tumor xenografts, hexavalent SnHexaTR combined with bortezomib encapsulated in liposomes also showed robust tumor growth suppression, indicating that hyperoligomerization mediated by minimal molecular superglue significantly increased the cytotoxicity and antitumor effect of TRAIL. As a novel anticancer agent candidate, the hexavalent SnHexaTR has great potential for clinical application in cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianshan She
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Fen Yang
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Shiyuan Chen
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Hao Yang
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Sichuan Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Pathology in Clinical Application, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Ze Tao
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Sichuan Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Pathology in Clinical Application, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Huimin Xing
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Jie Chen
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Huansheng Chang
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Hongyu Lu
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Tao Su
- Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Youmei Jin
- Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yi Zhong
- Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Jingqiu Cheng
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Sichuan Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Pathology in Clinical Application, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Hong Zhu
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
| | - Xiaofeng Lu
- Division of Abdominal Tumor Multimodality Treatment, Cancer Center, NHC Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Sichuan Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Pathology in Clinical Application, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
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Yin W, Xu T, Ding H, Zhang J, Bodenko V, Tretyakova MS, Belousov MV, Liu Y, Oroujeni M, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Gräslund T, Vorobyeva A. Comparison of HER2-targeted affibody conjugates loaded with auristatin- and maytansine-derived drugs. J Control Release 2023; 355:515-27. [PMID: 36773960 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
Abstract
Treatment with antibody drug conjugates targeting receptors over-expressed on cancer cells is well established for clinical use in several types of cancer, however, resistance often occurs motivating the development of novel drugs. We have recently investigated a drug conjugate consisting of an affibody molecule targeting the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), fused to an albumin-binding domain (ABD) for half-life extension, loaded with the cytotoxic maytansine derivative DM1. In this study, we investigated the impact of the cytotoxic payload on binding properties, cytotoxicity and biodistribution by comparing DM1 with the auristatins MMAE and MMAF, as part of the drug conjugate. All constructs had specific and high affinity binding to HER2, human and mouse albumins with values in the low- to sub-nM range. ZHER2-ABD-mcMMAF demonstrated the most potent cytotoxic effect on several HER2-over-expressing cell lines. In an experimental therapy study, the MMAF-based conjugate provided complete tumor regression in 50% of BALB/c nu/nu mice bearing HER2-over-expressing SKOV3 tumors at a 2.9 mg/kg dose, while the same dose of ZHER2-ABD-mcDM1 provided only a moderate anti-tumor effect. A comparison with the non-targeting ZTaq-ABD-mcMMAF control demonstrated HER2-targeting specificity. In conclusion, a combination of potent cytotoxicity in vitro, with minimal uptake in normal organs in vivo, and efficient delivery to tumors provided a superior anti-tumor effect of ZHER2-ABD-mcMMAF, while maintaining a favorable toxicity profile with no observed adverse effects.
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Ehsasatvatan M, Kohnehrouz BB, Gholizadeh A, Ofoghi H, Shanehbandi D. The production of the first functional antibody mimetic in higher plants: the chloroplast makes the DARPin G3 for HER2 imaging in oncology. Biol Res 2022; 55:32. [PMID: 36274167 PMCID: PMC9590205 DOI: 10.1186/s40659-022-00400-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Designed mimetic molecules are attractive tools in biopharmaceuticals and synthetic biology. They require mass and functional production for the assessment of upcoming challenges in the near future. The DARPin family is considered a mimetic pharmaceutical peptide group with high affinity binding to specific targets. DARPin G3 is designed to bind to the HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) tyrosine kinase receptor. Overexpression of HER2 is common in some cancers, including breast cancer, and can be used as a prognostic and predictive tool for cancer. The chloroplasts are cost-effective alternatives, equal to, and sometimes better than, bacterial, yeast, or mammalian expression systems. This research examined the possibility of the production of the first antibody mimetic, DARPin G3, in tobacco chloroplasts for HER2 imaging in oncology. Results The chloroplast specific DARPin G3 expression cassette was constructed and transformed into N. tabacum chloroplasts. PCR and Southern blot analysis confirmed integration of transgenes as well as chloroplastic and cellular homoplasmy. The Western blot analysis and ELISA confirmed the production of DARPin G3 at the commercial scale and high dose with the rate of 20.2% in leaf TSP and 33.7% in chloroplast TSP. The functional analysis by ELISA confirmed the binding of IMAC purified chloroplast-made DARPin G3 to the extracellular domain of the HER2 receptor with highly effective picomolar affinities. The carcinoma cellular studies by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed the correct functioning by the specific binding of the chloroplast-made DARPin G3 to the HER2 receptor on the surface of HER2-positive cancer cell lines. Conclusion The efficient functional bioactive production of DARPin G3 in chloroplasts led us to introduce plant chloroplasts as the site of efficient production of the first antibody mimetic molecules. This report, as the first case of the cost-effective production of mimetic molecules, enables researchers in pharmaceuticals, synthetic biology, and bio-molecular engineering to develop tool boxes by producing new molecular substitutes for diverse purposes.
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Liu Y, Yu S, Xu T, Bodenko V, Orlova A, Oroujeni M, Rinne SS, Tolmachev V, Vorobyeva A, Gräslund T. Preclinical Evaluation of a New Format of 68Ga- and 111In-Labeled Affibody Molecule Z IGF-1R:4551 for the Visualization of IGF-1R Expression in Malignant Tumors Using PET and SPECT. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14071475. [PMID: 35890370 PMCID: PMC9320461 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14071475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is a molecular target for several monoclonal antibodies undergoing clinical evaluation as anticancer therapeutics. The non-invasive detection of IGF-1R expression in tumors might enable stratification of patients for specific treatment and improve the outcome of both clinical trials and routine treatment. The affibody molecule ZIGF-1R:4551 binds specifically to IGF-1R with subnanomolar affinity. The goal of this study was to evaluate the 68Ga and 111In-labeled affibody construct NODAGA-(HE)3-ZIGF-1R:4551 for the imaging of IGF-1R expression, using PET and SPECT. The labeling was efficient and provided stable coupling of both radionuclides. The two imaging probes, [68Ga]Ga-NODAGA-(HE)3-ZIGF-1R:4551 and [111In]In-NODAGA-(HE)3-ZIGF-1R:4551, demonstrated specific binding to IGF-1R-expressing human cancer cell lines in vitro and to IGF-1R-expressing xenografts in mice. Preclinical PET and SPECT/CT imaging demonstrated visualization of IGF-1R-expressing xenografts already one hour after injection. The tumor-to-blood ratios at 3 h after injection were 7.8 ± 0.2 and 8.0 ± 0.6 for [68Ga]Ga-NODAGA-(HE)3-ZIGF-1R:4551 and [111In]In-NODAGA-(HE)3-ZIGF-1R:4551, respectively. In conclusion, a molecular design of the ZIGF-1R:4551 affibody molecule, including placement of a (HE)3-tag on the N-terminus and site-specific coupling of a NODAGA chelator on the C-terminus, provides a tracer with improved imaging properties for visualization of IGF-1R in malignant tumors, using PET and SPECT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongsheng Liu
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden; (Y.L.); (T.X.); (M.O.); (A.V.)
| | - Shengze Yu
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 10044 Stockholm, Sweden;
| | - Tianqi Xu
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden; (Y.L.); (T.X.); (M.O.); (A.V.)
| | - Vitalina Bodenko
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia; (V.B.); (A.O.)
| | - Anna Orlova
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia; (V.B.); (A.O.)
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden;
| | - Maryam Oroujeni
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden; (Y.L.); (T.X.); (M.O.); (A.V.)
- Affibody AB, 17165 Solna, Sweden
| | - Sara S. Rinne
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden;
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden; (Y.L.); (T.X.); (M.O.); (A.V.)
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia; (V.B.); (A.O.)
- Correspondence: (V.T.); (T.G.); Tel.: +46-704-250782 (V.T.); +46-8790-9627 (T.G.)
| | - Anzhelika Vorobyeva
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden; (Y.L.); (T.X.); (M.O.); (A.V.)
| | - Torbjörn Gräslund
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 10044 Stockholm, Sweden;
- Correspondence: (V.T.); (T.G.); Tel.: +46-704-250782 (V.T.); +46-8790-9627 (T.G.)
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Rinne SS, Yin W, Borras AM, Abouzayed A, Leitao CD, Vorobyeva A, Löfblom J, Ståhl S, Orlova A, Gräslund T. Targeting Tumor Cells Overexpressing the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 3 with Potent Drug Conjugates Based on Affibody Molecules. Biomedicines 2022; 10:1293. [PMID: 35740315 PMCID: PMC9219639 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10061293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests that therapy targeting the human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3) could be a viable route for targeted cancer therapy. Here, we studied a novel drug conjugate, ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1, consisting of a HER3-targeting affibody molecule, coupled to the cytotoxic tubulin polymerization inhibitor DM1, and an albumin-binding domain for in vivo half-life extension. ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1 showed a strong affinity to the extracellular domain of HER3 (KD 6 nM), and an even stronger affinity (KD 0.2 nM) to the HER3-overexpressing pancreatic carcinoma cell line, BxPC-3. The drug conjugate showed a potent cytotoxic effect on BxPC-3 cells with an IC50 value of 7 nM. Evaluation of a radiolabeled version, [99mTc]Tc-ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1, showed a relatively high rate of internalization, with a 27% internalized fraction after 8 h. Further in vivo evaluation showed that it could target BxPC-3 (pancreatic carcinoma) and DU145 (prostate carcinoma) xenografts in mice, with an uptake peaking at 6.3 ± 0.4% IA/g at 6 h post-injection for the BxPC-3 xenografts. The general biodistribution showed uptake in the liver, lung, salivary gland, stomach, and small intestine, organs known to express murine ErbB3 naturally. The results from the study show that ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1 is a highly potent and selective drug conjugate with the ability to specifically target HER3 overexpressing cells. Further pre-clinical and clinical development is discussed.
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Yang J, Fan D, Zhao F, Lin Y, Zheng S, Han S. Characterization of D-Allulose-3-Epimerase From Ruminiclostridium papyrosolvens and Immobilization Within Metal-Organic Frameworks. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:869536. [PMID: 35497354 PMCID: PMC9047997 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.869536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
D-allulose is one sort of C-3 epimer of D-fructose with the low calorie (0.4 kcal/g) and high sweetness (70% of the relative sweetness of sucrose), which can be biosynthesized by D-allulose-3-epimerase (DAE). In this work, we report the characterization of a novel DAE from Ruminiclostridium papyrosolvens (RpDAE) by genome mining approach. The activity of RpDAE reached maximum at pH 7.5 and 60°C, supplemented with 1 mM Co2+. Using D-fructose (500 g/L) as the substrate for epimerization reaction, RpDAE produced D-allulose (149.5 g/L). In addition, RpDAE was immobilized within the microporous zeolite imidazolate framework, ZIF67, by in situ encapsulation at room temperature. The synthesized bio-composites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. RpDAE-ZIF67 maintained 56% of residual activity after five reaction cycles. This study provides helpful guidance for further engineering applications and industrial production of D-allulose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaming Yang
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Fermentation and Enzyme Engineering, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
| | - Dexun Fan
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Fermentation and Enzyme Engineering, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fengguang Zhao
- School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ying Lin
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Fermentation and Enzyme Engineering, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
| | - Suiping Zheng
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Fermentation and Enzyme Engineering, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shuangyan Han
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Fermentation and Enzyme Engineering, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Shuangyan Han,
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Hagemans IM, Wierstra PJ, Steuten K, Molkenboer-Kuenen JDM, van Dalen D, Ter Beest M, van der Schoot JMS, Ilina O, Gotthardt M, Figdor CG, Scheeren FA, Heskamp S, Verdoes M. Multiscale imaging of therapeutic anti-PD-L1 antibody localization using molecularly defined imaging agents. J Nanobiotechnology 2022; 20:64. [PMID: 35109860 PMCID: PMC8811974 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-022-01272-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND While immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-L1 antibodies have revolutionized cancer treatment, only subgroups of patients show durable responses. Insight in the relation between clinical response, PD-L1 expression and intratumoral localization of PD-L1 therapeutics could improve patient stratification. Therefore, we present the modular synthesis of multimodal antibody-based imaging tools for multiscale imaging of PD-L1 to study intratumoral distribution of PD-L1 therapeutics. RESULTS To introduce imaging modalities, a peptide containing a near-infrared dye (sulfo-Cy5), a chelator (DTPA), an azide, and a sortase-recognition motif was synthesized. This peptide and a non-fluorescent intermediate were used for site-specific functionalization of c-terminally sortaggable mouse IgG1 (mIgG1) and Fab anti-PD-L1. To increase the half-life of the Fab fragment, a 20 kDa PEG chain was attached via strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC). Biodistribution and imaging studies were performed with 111In-labeled constructs in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. Comparing our site-specific antibody-conjugates with randomly conjugated antibodies, we found that antibody clone, isotype and method of DTPA conjugation did not change tumor uptake. Furthermore, addition of sulfo-Cy5 did not affect the biodistribution. PEGylated Fab fragment displayed a significantly longer half-life compared to unPEGylated Fab and demonstrated the highest overall tumor uptake of all constructs. PD-L1 in tumors was clearly visualized by SPECT/CT, as well as whole body fluorescence imaging. Immunohistochemistry staining of tumor sections demonstrated that PD-L1 co-localized with the fluorescent and autoradiographic signal. Intratumoral localization of the imaging agent could be determined with cellular resolution using fluorescent microscopy. CONCLUSIONS A set of molecularly defined multimodal antibody-based PD-L1 imaging agents were synthesized and validated for multiscale monitoring of PD-L1 expression and localization. Our modular approach for site-specific functionalization could easily be adapted to other targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris M Hagemans
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Institute for Chemical Immunology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Peter J Wierstra
- Department of Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Kas Steuten
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Institute for Chemical Immunology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Janneke D M Molkenboer-Kuenen
- Department of Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Duco van Dalen
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Institute for Chemical Immunology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Ter Beest
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Johan M S van der Schoot
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Olga Ilina
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Institute for Chemical Immunology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Gotthardt
- Department of Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Carl G Figdor
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Institute for Chemical Immunology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Division of Immunotherapy, Oncode Institute, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ferenc A Scheeren
- Department of Dermatology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Sandra Heskamp
- Department of Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Martijn Verdoes
- Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Institute for Chemical Immunology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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10
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Narayanam MK, Lai BT, Loredo JM, Wilson JA, Eliasen AM, LaBerge NA, Nason M, Cantu AL, Luton BK, Xu S, Agnew HD, Murphy JM. Positron Emission Tomography Tracer Design of Targeted Synthetic Peptides via 18F-Sydnone Alkyne Cycloaddition. Bioconjug Chem 2021; 32:2073-2082. [PMID: 34415731 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.1c00379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Chemically synthesized, small peptides that bind with high affinity and specificity to CD8-expressing (CD8+) tumor-infiltrating T cells, yet retain the desirable characteristics of small molecules, hold valuable potential for diagnostic molecular imaging of immune response. Here, we report the development of 18F-labeled peptides targeting human CD8α with nanomolar affinity via the strain-promoted sydnone-alkyne cycloaddition with 4-[18F]fluorophenyl sydnone. The 18F-sydnone is produced in one step, in high radiochemical yield, and the peptide labeling proceeds rapidly. A hydrophilic chemical linker results in a tracer with favorable pharmacokinetic properties and improved image contrast, as demonstrated by in vivo PET imaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maruthi Kumar Narayanam
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Bert T Lai
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Jacquie Malette Loredo
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Jeré A Wilson
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Anders M Eliasen
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Nicole A LaBerge
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Malley Nason
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Annabelle L Cantu
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Breanna K Luton
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Shili Xu
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Heather D Agnew
- Indi Molecular, Inc., 6162 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, California 90230, United States
| | - Jennifer M Murphy
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
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11
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López-Laguna H, Voltà-Durán E, Parladé E, Villaverde A, Vázquez E, Unzueta U. Insights on the emerging biotechnology of histidine-rich peptides. Biotechnol Adv 2021; 54:107817. [PMID: 34418503 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2021.107817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2021] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
In the late 70's, the discovery of the restriction enzymes made possible the biological production of functional proteins by recombinant DNA technologies, a fact that largely empowered both biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries. Short peptides or small protein domains, with specific molecular affinities, were developed as purification tags in downstream processes to separate the target protein from the culture media or cell debris, upon breaking the producing cells. Among these tags, and by exploiting the interactivity of the imidazole ring of histidine residues, the hexahistidine peptide (H6) became a gold standard. Although initially used almost exclusively in protein production, H6 and related His-rich peptides are progressively proving a broad applicability in novel utilities including enzymatic processes, advanced drug delivery systems and diagnosis, through a so far unsuspected adaptation of their binding capabilities. In this context, the coordination of histidine residues and metals confers intriguing functionalities to His-rich sequences useable in the forward-thinking design of protein-based nano- and micro-materials and devices, through strategies that are comprehensively presented here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hèctor López-Laguna
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Spain
| | - Eric Voltà-Durán
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Spain
| | - Eloi Parladé
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Spain
| | - Antonio Villaverde
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Spain.
| | - Esther Vázquez
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Spain.
| | - Ugutz Unzueta
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Spain; Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain.
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12
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Eder AC, Schaefer M, Schmidt J, Bauder-Wuest U, Roscher M, Leotta K, Haberkorn U, Kopka K, Eder M. Rational Linker Design to Accelerate Excretion and Reduce Background Uptake of Peptidomimetic PSMA-Targeting Hybrid Molecules. J Nucl Med 2021; 62:1461-1467. [PMID: 33741642 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.120.248443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of peptidomimetic hybrid molecules for preoperative imaging and guided surgery targeting the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) significantly progressed over the past years and some approaches are currently evaluated for further clinical translation. However, accumulation in non-malignant tissue such as kidney, bladder, spleen or liver might limit tumor-to-background contrast for precise lesion delineation particularly in a surgical setting. To overcome these limitations a rational linker design aims at the development of a second generation of PSMA-11 based hybrid molecules with enhanced pharmacokinetic profile and improved imaging contrasts. Methods: A selection of rational designed linkers was introduced to the PSMA-targeting hybrid molecule Glu-urea-Lys-HBED-CC-IRDye800CW resulting in a second generation peptidomimetic hybrid molecule library. The biological properties were investigated in cell-based assays. In a preclinical proof-of-concept study with the radionuclide 68Ga, the impact of the modifications was evaluated by determination of specific tumor uptake, pharmacokinetics and fluorescence-imaging in tumor-bearing mice. Results: The modified hybrid molecules carrying various selected linkers revealed high PSMA-specific binding affinity and effective internalization. The highest tumor-to-background contrast of all modifications investigated was identified for the introduction of a histidine (H) and glutamic acid (E) containing linker ((HE)3-linker) between PSMA-binding motif and chelator. In comparison to the parental core structure, uptake in non-malignant tissue was significantly reduced to a minimum exemplified by an 11-fold reduced spleen uptake from 38.12±14.62 %ID/g to 3.47±1.39 %ID/g (1 h p.i.). The specific tumor uptake of this compound (7.59±0.95 %ID/g, 1 h p.i.) was detected to be significantly higher as compared to the parental tracer PSMA-11. These findings confirmed by PET and fluorescence imaging are accompanied by an enhanced pharmacokinetic profile with accelerated background clearance at early time points post injection. Conclusion: The novel generation of PSMA-targeting hybrid molecules reveal fast elimination, reduced background organ enrichment and high PSMA-specific tumor uptake meeting the key demands for potent tracers in Nuclear Medicine and fluorescence-guided surgery. The approach's efficacy of improving the pharmacokinetic profile highlights the strengths of rational linker design as a powerful tool in strategic hybrid molecule development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann-Christin Eder
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, Division of Radiopharmaceutical Development, German Cancer Consortium, partner site Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany, Germany
| | - Martin Schaefer
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, Germany
| | - Jana Schmidt
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, Germany
| | - Ulrike Bauder-Wuest
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, Germany
| | - Mareike Roscher
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, Germany
| | - Karin Leotta
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Nuclear Medicine, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
| | | | - Klaus Kopka
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, Germany
| | - Matthias Eder
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, Division of Radiopharmaceutical Development, German Cancer Consortium, partner site Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany, Germany
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13
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Williams JD, Kampmeier F, Badar A, Howland K, Cooper MS, Mullen GED, Blower PJ. Optimal His-Tag Design for Efficient [ 99mTc(CO) 3] + and [ 188Re(CO) 3] + Labeling of Proteins for Molecular Imaging and Radionuclide Therapy by Analysis of Peptide Arrays. Bioconjug Chem 2020; 32:1242-1254. [PMID: 33241692 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Hexahistidine tags (His-tags), incorporated into recombinant proteins to facilitate purification using metal-affinity chromatography, are useful binding sites for radiolabeling with [99mTc(CO)3]+ and [188Re(CO)3]+ for molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy. Labeling efficiencies vary unpredictably, and the method is therefore not universally useful. To overcome this, we have made quantitative comparisons of radiolabeling of a bespoke Celluspots array library of 382 His-tag-containing peptide sequences with [99mTc(CO)3]+ and [188Re(CO)3]+ to identify key features that enhance labeling. A selected sequence with 10-fold enhanced labeling efficiency compared to the most effective literature-reported sequences was incorporated into an exemplar protein and compared biologically with non-optimized analogues, in vitro and in vivo. Optimal labeling with either [99mTc(CO)3]+ or [188Re(CO)3]+ required six consecutive His residues in the protein sequence, surrounded by several positively charged residues (Arg or Lys), and the presence of phosphate in the buffer. Cys or Met residues in the sequence were beneficial, to a lesser extent. Negatively charged residues were deleterious to labeling. His-tags with adjacent positively charged residues could be labeled as much as 40 times more efficiently than those with adjacent negatively charged residues. 31P NMR of [Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+ and electrophoresis of solutions of [99mTc(CO)3(H2O)3]+ suggest that phosphate bridges form between cationic residues and the cationic metal synthon during labeling. The trial optimized protein, a scFv targeted to the PSMA antigen expressed in prostate cancer, was readily labeled in >95% radiochemical yield, without the need for subsequent purification. Labeling occurred more quickly and to higher specific activity than comparable non-optimized proteins, while retaining specific binding to PSMA and prostate cancer in vivo. Thus, optimized His-tags greatly simplify radiolabeling of recombinant proteins making them potentially more widely and economically available for imaging and treating patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer D Williams
- King's College London, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, 4th Floor Lambeth Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
| | - Florian Kampmeier
- King's College London, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, 4th Floor Lambeth Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Badar
- King's College London, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, 4th Floor Lambeth Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
| | - Kevin Howland
- Biomolecular Science Facility, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NJ, United Kingdom
| | - Margaret S Cooper
- King's College London, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, 4th Floor Lambeth Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
| | - Gregory E D Mullen
- King's College London, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, 4th Floor Lambeth Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
| | - Philip J Blower
- King's College London, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, 4th Floor Lambeth Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
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14
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Qiu L, Li X, Lv G, Seimbille Y, Li K, Peng Y, Liu Q, Xie M, Lin J. Radiofluorinated Smart Probes for Noninvasive PET Imaging of Legumain Activity in Living Subjects. Anal Chem 2020; 92:11627-11634. [PMID: 32867490 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c01253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Overexpression of legumain is closely associated with tumor proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Because of its intrinsic properties, such as high sensitivity and resolution, positron emission tomography (PET) has become an effective imaging technique for early diagnosis, treatment response prediction, and monitoring. Herein, two legumain-targeting radiofluorinated smart probes (18F-2 and 18F-3) as well as a control probe (18F-1) were specifically designed for PET imaging of legumain activity in tumors. 18F-1, 18F-2, and 18F-3 were obtained with high radiochemical yield (RCY > 60%) and radiochemical purity (RCP > 99%) using a convenient "one-step" 18F-labeling method. The probes 18F-2 and 18F-3 exhibited high response to legumain activity and reductive environment and revealed comparable uptake in HCT116 cells (4.22% ± 0.14% and 4.64% ± 0.32% for 18F-2 and 18F-3, respectively; 8.46% ± 0.33% and 9.05% ± 0.24% for co-treatment of 18F-2 + 2 and 18F-3 + 3 at 1 h), while the control probe 18F-1 showed no response. PET imaging of tumor-bearing mice showed that the co-injection strategy (18F-2 + 2 and 18F-3 + 3) resulted in higher tumor uptake (3.57% ± 0.37% and 3.72% ± 0.19% ID/g at 10 min, respectively) than the single injection strategy (2.59% ± 0.19% and 2.60% ± 0.46% ID/g for 18F-2 and 18F-3, respectively). In addition, introduction of the trimeric histidine-glutamate (HEHEHE) tag to 18F-3 reduced the liver uptake by almost two-fold without any noticeable effect on the tumor uptake. All the results indicate that 18F-3 holds great potential applications in clinics for sensitive and specific PET imaging of legumain activity in tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Qiu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China.,Department of Radiopharmaceuticals, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
| | - Xi Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Gaochao Lv
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Yann Seimbille
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Life Sciences Division, TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T2A3, Canada
| | - Ke Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Ying Peng
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Qingzhu Liu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China
| | - Minhao Xie
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China.,Department of Radiopharmaceuticals, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
| | - Jianguo Lin
- NHC Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi 214063, China.,Department of Radiopharmaceuticals, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
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15
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Larenkov A, Rakhimov M, Lunyova K, Klementyeva O, Maruk A, Machulkin A. Pharmacokinetic Properties of 68Ga-labelled Folic Acid Conjugates: Improvement Using HEHE Tag. Molecules 2020; 25:molecules25112712. [PMID: 32545327 PMCID: PMC7321154 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25112712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The folate receptor (FR) is a promising cell membrane-associated target for molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy of cancer (FR-α) and potentially also inflammatory diseases (FR-β) through use of folic acid-based radioconjugate. FR is often overexpressed by cells of epithelial tumors, including tumors of ovary, cervix, endometrium, lungs, kidneys, etc. In healthy tissues, FR can be found in small numbers by the epithelial cells, mainly in the kidneys. Extremely high undesired accumulation of the folate radioconjugates in the renal tissue is a main drawback of FR-targeting concept. In the course of this work, we aimed to reduce the undesirable accumulation of folate radioconjugates in the kidneys by introducing a histidine/glutamic acid tag into their structure. Two folic acid based compounds were synthesized: NODAGA-1,4-butanediamine-folic acid (FA-I, as control) and NODAGA-[Lys-(HE)2]-folic acid (FA-II) which contains a (His-Glu)2 fragment. In vitro studies with FR (+) cells (KB and others) showed that both compounds have specificity for FR. Introduction of (HE)2-tag does not affect FR binding ability of the conjugates. In vivo biodistribution studies with normal laboratory animals, as well as with KB tumor bearing animals, were carried out. The results showed that introduction of the (HE)2 tag into the structure of folate radioconjugates can significantly reduce the accumulation of these compounds in non-target tissues and important organs (the accumulation in the kidneys is reduced 2-4 times), leaving the accumulation in tumor at least at the same level, and even increasing it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Larenkov
- State Research Center–Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Zhivopisnaya str., bld. 46, 123098 Moscow, Russia; (M.R.); (K.L.); (O.K.); (A.M.)
- Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow, Russia;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +7-(925)821–43–21
| | - Marat Rakhimov
- State Research Center–Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Zhivopisnaya str., bld. 46, 123098 Moscow, Russia; (M.R.); (K.L.); (O.K.); (A.M.)
| | - Kristina Lunyova
- State Research Center–Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Zhivopisnaya str., bld. 46, 123098 Moscow, Russia; (M.R.); (K.L.); (O.K.); (A.M.)
| | - Olga Klementyeva
- State Research Center–Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Zhivopisnaya str., bld. 46, 123098 Moscow, Russia; (M.R.); (K.L.); (O.K.); (A.M.)
| | - Alesya Maruk
- State Research Center–Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Zhivopisnaya str., bld. 46, 123098 Moscow, Russia; (M.R.); (K.L.); (O.K.); (A.M.)
| | - Aleksei Machulkin
- Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow, Russia;
- Department of Semiconductor Electronics & the Physics of Semiconductors, National University of Science and Technology MISiS, 9 Leninskiy pr., 119049 Moscow, Russia
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16
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Deyev SM, Vorobyeva A, Schulga A, Abouzayed A, Günther T, Garousi J, Konovalova E, Ding H, Gräslund T, Orlova A, Tolmachev V. Effect of a radiolabel biochemical nature on tumor-targeting properties of EpCAM-binding engineered scaffold protein DARPin Ec1. Int J Biol Macromol 2019; 145:216-225. [PMID: 31863835 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.12.147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2019] [Revised: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Radionuclide-based imaging of molecular therapeutic targets might facilitate stratifying patients for specific biotherapeutics. New type of imaging probes, based on designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins), have demonstrated excellent contrast of imaging of human epidermal growth factor type 2 (HER2) expression in preclinical models. We hypothesized that labeling approaches, which result in lipophilic radiometabolites (non-residualizing labels), would provide the best imaging contrast for DARPins that internalize slowly after binding to cancer cells. The hypothesis was tested using DARPin Ec1 that binds to epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). EpCAM is a promising therapeutic target. Ec1 was labeled with 125I using two methods to obtain the non-residualizing labels, while residualizing labels were obtained by labeling it with 99mTc. All labeled Ec1 variants preserved target specificity and picomolar binding affinity to EpCAM-expressing pancreatic adenocarcinoma BxPC-3 cells. In murine models, all the variants provided similar tumor uptake. However, 125I-PIB-H6-Ec1 had noticeably lower retention in normal tissues, which provided appreciably higher tumor-to-organ ratios. Furthermore, 125I-PIB-H6-Ec1 demonstrated the highest imaging contrast in preclinical models than any other EpCAM-imaging agent tested so far. In conclusion, DARPin Ec1 in combination with a non-residualizing label is a promising probe for imaging EpCAM expression a few hours after injection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey M Deyev
- Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia; Center of Biomedical Engineering, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anzhelika Vorobyeva
- Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia; Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alexey Schulga
- Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Ayman Abouzayed
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tyran Günther
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Javad Garousi
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Elena Konovalova
- Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Haozhong Ding
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Torbjörn Gräslund
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia; Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
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Garousi J, Huizing FJ, Vorobyeva A, Mitran B, Andersson KG, Leitao CD, Frejd FY, Löfblom J, Bussink J, Orlova A, Heskamp S, Tolmachev V. Comparative evaluation of affibody- and antibody fragments-based CAIX imaging probes in mice bearing renal cell carcinoma xenografts. Sci Rep 2019; 9:14907. [PMID: 31624303 PMCID: PMC6797765 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51445-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is a cancer-associated molecular target for several classes of therapeutics. CAIX is overexpressed in a large fraction of renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Radionuclide molecular imaging of CAIX-expression might offer a non-invasive methodology for stratification of patients with disseminated RCC for CAIX-targeting therapeutics. Radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies and their fragments are actively investigated for imaging of CAIX expression. Promising alternatives are small non-immunoglobulin scaffold proteins, such as affibody molecules. A CAIX-targeting affibody ZCAIX:2 was re-designed with the aim to decrease off-target interactions and increase imaging contrast. The new tracer, DOTA-HE3-ZCAIX:2, was labeled with 111In and characterized in vitro. Tumor-targeting properties of [111In]In-DOTA-HE3-ZCAIX:2 were compared head-to-head with properties of the parental variant, [99mTc]Tc(CO)3-HE3-ZCAIX:2, and the most promising antibody fragment-based tracer, [111In]In-DTPA-G250(Fab’)2, in the same batch of nude mice bearing CAIX-expressing RCC xenografts. Compared to the 99mTc-labeled parental variant, [111In]In-DOTA-HE3-ZCAIX:2 provides significantly higher tumor-to-lung, tumor-to-bone and tumor-to-liver ratios, which is essential for imaging of CAIX expression in the major metastatic sites of RCC. [111In]In-DOTA-HE3-ZCAIX:2 offers significantly higher tumor-to-organ ratios compared with [111In]In-G250(Fab’)2. In conclusion, [111In]In-DOTA-HE3-ZCAIX:2 can be considered as a highly promising tracer for imaging of CAIX expression in RCC metastases based on our results and literature data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javad Garousi
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Fokko J Huizing
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Anzhelika Vorobyeva
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Bogdan Mitran
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ken G Andersson
- Department of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Charles Dahlsson Leitao
- Department of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Y Frejd
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - John Löfblom
- Department of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johan Bussink
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Anna Orlova
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sandra Heskamp
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
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Ding H, Altai M, Rinne SS, Vorobyeva A, Tolmachev V, Gräslund T, Orlova A. Incorporation of a Hydrophilic Spacer Reduces Hepatic Uptake of HER2-Targeting Affibody-DM1 Drug Conjugates. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:E1168. [PMID: 31416167 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11081168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Affibody molecules are small affinity-engineered scaffold proteins which can be engineered to bind to desired targets. The therapeutic potential of using an affibody molecule targeting HER2, fused to an albumin-binding domain (ABD) and conjugated with the cytotoxic maytansine derivate MC-DM1 (AffiDC), has been validated. Biodistribution studies in mice revealed an elevated hepatic uptake of the AffiDC, but histopathological examination of livers showed no major signs of toxicity. However, previous clinical experience with antibody drug conjugates have revealed a moderate- to high-grade hepatotoxicity in treated patients, which merits efforts to also minimize hepatic uptake of the AffiDCs. In this study, the aim was to reduce the hepatic uptake of AffiDCs and optimize their in vivo targeting properties. We have investigated if incorporation of hydrophilic glutamate-based spacers adjacent to MC-DM1 in the AffiDC, (ZHER2:2891)2-ABD-MC-DM1, would counteract the hydrophobic nature of MC-DM1 and, hence, reduce hepatic uptake. Two new AffiDCs including either a triglutamate-spacer-, (ZHER2:2891)2-ABD-E3-MC-DM1, or a hexaglutamate-spacer-, (ZHER2:2891)2-ABD-E6-MC-DM1 next to the site of MC-DM1 conjugation were designed. We radiolabeled the hydrophilized AffiDCs and compared them, both in vitro and in vivo, with the previously investigated (ZHER2:2891)2-ABD-MC-DM1 drug conjugate containing no glutamate spacer. All three AffiDCs demonstrated specific binding to HER2 and comparable in vitro cytotoxicity. A comparative biodistribution study of the three radiolabeled AffiDCs showed that the addition of glutamates reduced drug accumulation in the liver while preserving the tumor uptake. These results confirmed the relation between DM1 hydrophobicity and liver accumulation. We believe that the drug development approach described here may also be useful for other affinity protein-based drug conjugates to further improve their in vivo properties and facilitate their clinical translatability.
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von Witting E, Garousi J, Lindbo S, Vorobyeva A, Altai M, Oroujeni M, Mitran B, Orlova A, Hober S, Tolmachev V. Selection of the optimal macrocyclic chelators for labeling with 111In and 68Ga improves contrast of HER2 imaging using engineered scaffold protein ADAPT6. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2019; 140:109-120. [PMID: 31082509 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2019.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Revised: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Radionuclide molecular imaging is a promising tool that becomes increasingly important as targeted cancer therapies are developed. To ensure an effective treatment, a molecular stratification of the cancer is a necessity. To accomplish this, visualization of cancer associated molecular abnormalities in vivo by molecular imaging is the method of choice. ADAPTs, a novel type of small protein scaffold, have been utilized to select and develop high affinity binders to different proteinaceous targets. One of these binders, ADAPT6 selectively interacts with human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) with low nanomolar affinity and can therefore be used for its in vivo visualization. Molecular design and optimization of labeled anti-HER2 ADAPT has been explored in several earlier studies, showing that small changes in the scaffold affect the biodistribution of the domain. In this study, we evaluate how the biodistribution properties of ADAPT6 is affected by the commonly used maleimido derivatives of the macrocyclic chelators NOTA, NODAGA, DOTA and DOTAGA with the aim to select the best variants for SPECT and PET imaging. The different conjugates were labeled with 111In for SPECT and 68Ga for PET. The acquired data show that the combination of a radionuclide and a chelator for its conjugation has a strong influence on the uptake of ADAPT6 in normal tissues and thereby gives a significant variation in tumor-to-organ ratios. Hence, it was concluded that the best variant for SPECT imaging is 111In-(HE)3DANS-ADAPT6-GSSC-DOTA while the best variant for PET imaging is 68Ga-(HE)3DANS-ADAPT6-GSSC-NODAGA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma von Witting
- Department of Protein Science, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Javad Garousi
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sarah Lindbo
- Department of Protein Science, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anzhelika Vorobyeva
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mohamed Altai
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Maryam Oroujeni
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Bogdan Mitran
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sophia Hober
- Department of Protein Science, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
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Dahlsson Leitao C, Rinne SS, Mitran B, Vorobyeva A, Andersson KG, Tolmachev V, Ståhl S, Löfblom J, Orlova A. Molecular Design of HER3-Targeting Affibody Molecules: Influence of Chelator and Presence of HEHEHE-Tag on Biodistribution of 68Ga-Labeled Tracers. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E1080. [PMID: 30832342 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20051080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2019] [Revised: 02/13/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Affibody-based imaging of HER3 is a promising approach for patient stratification. We investigated the influence of a hydrophilic HEHEHE-tag ((HE)3-tag) and two different gallium-68/chelator-complexes on the biodistribution of Z08698 with the aim to improve the tracer for PET imaging. Affibody molecules (HE)3-Z08698-X and Z08698-X (X = NOTA, NODAGA) were produced and labeled with gallium-68. Binding specificity and cellular processing were studied in HER3-expressing human cancer cell lines BxPC-3 and DU145. Biodistribution was studied 3 h p.i. in Balb/c nu/nu mice bearing BxPC-3 xenografts. Mice were imaged 3 h p.i. using microPET/CT. Conjugates were stably labeled with gallium-68 and bound specifically to HER3 in vitro and in vivo. Association to cells was rapid but internalization was slow. Uptake in tissues, including tumors, was lower for (HE)3-Z08698-X than for non-tagged variants. The neutral [68Ga]Ga-NODAGA complex reduced the hepatic uptake of Z08698 compared to positively charged [68Ga]Ga-NOTA-conjugated variants. The influence of the chelator was more pronounced in variants without (HE)3-tag. In conclusion, hydrophilic (HE)3-tag and neutral charge of the [68Ga]Ga-NODAGA complex promoted blood clearance and lowered hepatic uptake of Z08698. [68Ga]Ga-(HE)3-Z08698-NODAGA was considered most promising, providing the lowest blood and hepatic uptake and the best imaging contrast among the tested variants.
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21
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Solomon VR, Gonzalez C, Alizadeh E, Bernhard W, Hartimath SV, Barreto K, Geyer CR, Fonge H. 99mTc(CO) 3+ labeled domain I/II-specific anti-EGFR (scFv) 2 antibody fragment for imaging EGFR expression. Eur J Med Chem 2018; 157:437-446. [PMID: 30103192 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2018] [Revised: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 08/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Bifunctional chelators (BFCs) are covalently linked to biologically active targeting molecules and radiolabeled with radiometals. Technetium-99 m (99mTc) is the most widely used isotope in nuclear medicine because of its excellent physical properties. The objective of this study was to synthesize and characterize a novel BFC that allows for the labeling of antibodies and antibody fragments using the 99mTc(CO)3+ core which forms a very stable complex with 99mTc in the +1 oxidation sate. This study reports the synthesis of a BFC 1-pyrrolidinyl-2,5-dione-11-(bis((1-(carboxymethyl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl)methyl)amino)undecanoic acid (SAAC-CIM NHS ester), and the in vitro and in vivo evaluation of 99mTc(CO)3-SAAC-CIM-DLO6-(scFv)2 (99mTc(CO)3-DLO6-(scFv)2), a domain I/II-specific anti-epidermal growth factor receptor I (anti-EGFR) antibody fragment. The chelator allowed radiolabeling the (scFv)2 antibody fragment in very mild conditions with no significant decrease in binding to EGFR. Radiochemical yields of >50% (radiochemical purity > 95%) of the resulting anti-EGFR (scFv)2 immunoconjugate 99mTc(CO)3-DLO6-(scFv)2 was obtained. The radioimmunoconjugate was stable in histidine challenge experiments with less than 20% transchelation at 24 h after challenge in the presence of a 1500-fold excess of histidine. In vivo biodistribution of 99mTc(CO)3-DLO6-(scFv)2 indicates that the tracer was mainly cleared via renal excretion and to a lesser extent via the hepatobiliary pathway. The microSPECT imaging studies performed in mice confirmed the in vitro affinity results. The 99mTc(CO)3-DLO6-(scFv)2 shows some promising properties and warrants further investigation for imaging EGFR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viswas Raja Solomon
- Department of Medical Imaging, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences (SCCS), The Fedoruk Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Carolina Gonzalez
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Elahe Alizadeh
- Department of Medical Imaging, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences (SCCS), The Fedoruk Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Wendy Bernhard
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Siddesh V Hartimath
- Department of Medical Imaging, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences (SCCS), The Fedoruk Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Kris Barreto
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Clarence Ronald Geyer
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
| | - Humphrey Fonge
- Department of Medical Imaging, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences (SCCS), The Fedoruk Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Department of Medical Imaging, Royal University Hospital Saskatoon, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
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22
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Yang H, Feng Y, Cai H, Jia D, Li H, Tao Z, Zhong Y, Li Z, Shi Q, Wan L, Li L, Lu X. Endogenous IgG-based affinity-controlled release of TRAIL exerts superior antitumor effects. Am J Cancer Res 2018; 8:2459-2476. [PMID: 29721092 PMCID: PMC5928902 DOI: 10.7150/thno.23880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2017] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The inefficiency of recombinant tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-based clinical regimens has been dominantly attributed to the short half-life of TRAIL. Affinity-controlled release using endogenous long-acting proteins, such as IgG and albumin, as carriers is extremely attractive for improving the pharmacokinetics of TRAIL. Up to now, it is unclear whether IgG-binding is efficient for affinity-controlled release of TRAIL. Methods: An IgG-binding affibody, IgBD, was genetically fused to the N-terminus of TRAIL to produce IgBD-TRAIL.The IgG-binding ability, cytotoxicity, serum half-life, and in vivo antitumor effect of IgBD-TRAIL were compared with that of TRAIL. In addition, an albumin-binding affibody, ABD, was fused to TRAIL to produce ABD-TRAIL. The cytototoxicity, serum half-life, and antitumor effect of IgBD-TRAIL and ABD-TRAIL were compared. Results: IgBD fusion endowed TRAIL with high affinity (nM) for IgG without interference with its cytotoxicity. The serum half-life of IgBD-TRAIL is 50-60 times longer than that of TRAIL and the tumor uptake of IgBD-TRAIL at 8-24 h post-injection was 4-7-fold that of TRAIL. In vivo antitumor effect of IgBD-TRAIL was at least 10 times greater than that of TRAIL. Owing to the high affinity (nM) for albumin, the serum half-life of ABD-TRAIL was 80-90 times greater than that of TRAIL. However, after binding to albumin, the cytotoxicity of ABD-TRAIL was reduced more than 10 times. In contrast, binding to IgG had little impact on the cytotoxicity of IgBD-TRAIL. Consequently, intravenously injected IgBD-TRAIL showed antitumor effects superior to those of ABD-TRAIL. Conclusions: Endogenous long-acting proteins, particularly IgG-based affinity-controlled release, prolonged the serum half-life as well as significantly enhanced the antitumor effect of TRAIL. IgBD-mediated endogenous IgG binding might be a novel approach for the affinity-controlled release of other protein drugs.
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23
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Garousi J, Lindbo S, Mitran B, Buijs J, Vorobyeva A, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Hober S. Comparative evaluation of tumor targeting using the anti-HER2 ADAPT scaffold protein labeled at the C-terminus with indium-111 or technetium-99m. Sci Rep 2017; 7:14780. [PMID: 29116215 PMCID: PMC5676751 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15366-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
ABD-Derived Affinity Proteins (ADAPTs) is a novel class of engineered scaffold proteins derived from an albumin-binding domain of protein G. The use of ADAPT6 derivatives as targeting moiety have provided excellent preclinical radionuclide imaging of human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) tumor xenografts. Previous studies have demonstrated that selection of nuclide and chelator for its conjugation has an appreciable effect on imaging properties of scaffold proteins. In this study we performed a comparative evaluation of the anti-HER2 ADAPT having an aspartate-glutamate-alanine-valine-aspartate-alanine-asparagine-serine (DEAVDANS) N-terminal sequence and labeled at C-terminus with 99mTc using a cysteine-containing peptide based chelator, glycine-serine-serine-cysteine (GSSC), and a similar variant labeled with 111In using a maleimido derivative of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) chelator. Both 99mTc-DEAVDANS-ADAPT6-GSSC and 111In-DEAVDANS-ADAPT6-GSSC-DOTA accumulated specifically in HER2-expressing SKOV3 xenografts. The tumor uptake of both variants did not differ significantly and average values were in the range of 19–21%ID/g. However, there was an appreciable variation in uptake of conjugates in normal tissues that resulted in a notable difference in the tumor-to-organ ratios. The 111In-DOTA label provided 2–6 fold higher tumor-to-organ ratios than 99mTc-GSSC and is therefore the preferable label for ADAPTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javad Garousi
- Institute for Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sarah Lindbo
- School of Biotechnology, Division of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Bogdan Mitran
- Division of Molecular Imaging, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jos Buijs
- Institute for Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anzhelika Vorobyeva
- Institute for Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Division of Molecular Imaging, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Institute for Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Sophia Hober
- School of Biotechnology, Division of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
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Shi Q, Tao Z, Yang H, Fan Q, Wei D, Wan L, Lu X. PDGFRβ-specific affibody-directed delivery of a photosensitizer, IR700, is efficient for vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy of colorectal cancer. Drug Deliv 2017; 24:1818-1830. [PMID: 29182023 PMCID: PMC8240977 DOI: 10.1080/10717544.2017.1407011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2017] [Revised: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an important strategy for cancer therapy. Conventional vascular-targeted PDT has been achieved by passive photosensitizer (PS) delivery, which involves a high risk of adverse effects. Active PS delivery is urgently required for vascular-targeted PDT. Although endothelial cells and pericytes are major cellular components of tumor blood vessels, little attention has been paid to pericyte-targeted PDT for cancer therapy. PDGFRβ is abundantly expressed in the pericytes of various tumors. In this experiment, a dimeric ZPDGFRβ affibody with a 0.9 nM affinity for PDGFRβ was produced. The ZPDGFRβ affibody showed PDGFRβ-dependent pericyte binding. Intravenously injected ZPDGFRβ affibody was predominantly distributed on pericytes and thus accumulated in LS174T tumor grafts. The conjugate of the ZPDGFRβ affibody and IR700 dye, i.e. ZIR700, bound to PDGFRβ+ pericytes but not to PDGFRβ- LS174T tumor cells. Accordingly, ZIR700-mediated PDT in vitro induced the death of pericytes but not of LS174T tumor cells. In mice bearing LS174T tumor grafts, ZIR700-mediated PDT damaged tumor blood vessels, thus inducing tumor destruction by intensifying tissue hypoxia. The average mass of tumor grafts administered with ZIR700-mediated PDT was approximately 20-30% of that of the control, indicating that pericyte-targeted PDT is efficient for cancer therapy. In addition, ZIR700-mediated PDT increased the tumor uptake of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) injected post-illumination. Consequently, combination therapy of ZIR700-mediated PDT and TRAIL showed greater tumor suppression than ZIR700-mediated PDT- or TRAIL-based monotherapy. These results demonstrated that active vascular-targeted PDT could be achieved by using ZPDGFRβ affibody-directed delivery of PS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuxiao Shi
- Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Regenerative Medical Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Ze Tao
- Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Hao Yang
- Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Qing Fan
- Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Regenerative Medical Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Danfeng Wei
- Medical Research Center, the Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, The Second Affiliated Chengdu Clinical College of Chongqing Medical University, Chengdu, China
| | - Lin Wan
- Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xiaofeng Lu
- Key Lab of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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25
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Papagiannopoulou D. Technetium-99m radiochemistry for pharmaceutical applications. J Labelled Comp Radiopharm 2017; 60:502-520. [PMID: 28618064 DOI: 10.1002/jlcr.3531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Revised: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Technetium-99m (99m Tc) is a widely used radionuclide, and the development of 99m Tc imaging agents continues to be in demand. This overview discusses basic principles of 99m Tc radiopharmaceutical preparation and design and focuses on the 99m Tc radiochemistry relevant to its pharmaceutical applications. The 99m Tc complexes are described based on the most typical examples in each category, keeping up with the state-of-the-art in the field. In addition, the main current strategies to develop targeted 99m Tc radiopharmaceuticals are summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dionysia Papagiannopoulou
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
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26
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Baranski AC, Schäfer M, Bauder-Wüst U, Wacker A, Schmidt J, Liolios C, Mier W, Haberkorn U, Eisenhut M, Kopka K, Eder M. Improving the Imaging Contrast of 68Ga-PSMA-11 by Targeted Linker Design: Charged Spacer Moieties Enhance the Pharmacokinetic Properties. Bioconjug Chem 2017; 28:2485-2492. [PMID: 28787147 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.7b00458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
68Ga-Glu-urea-Lys-(Ahx)-HBED-CC (68Ga-PSMA-11) represents a successful radiopharmaceutical for PET/CT imaging of prostate cancer. Further optimization of the tumor-to-background contrast might significantly enhance the sensitivity of PET/CT imaging and the probability of detecting recurrent prostate cancer at low PSA values. This study describes the advantage of histidine (H)/glutamic acid (E) and tryptophan (W)/glutamic acid (E) containing linkers on the pharmacokinetic properties of 68Ga-PSMA-11. The tracers were obtained by a combination of standard Fmoc-based solid-phase synthesis and copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Their 68Ga complexes were compared to the clinical reference 68Ga-PSMA-11 with respect to cell binding, effective internalization, and tumor targeting properties in LNCaP-bearing balb/c nu/nu mice. The introduction of (HE)i (i = 1-3) or (WE)i (i = 1-3) into PSMA-11 resulted in a significantly changed biodistribution profile. The uptake values in kidneys, spleen, liver, and other background organs were reduced for (HE)3 while the tumor uptake was not affected. For (HE)1 the tumor uptake was significantly increased. The introduction of tryptophan-containing linkers also modulated the organ distribution profile. The results clearly indicate that histidine is of essential impact in order to improve the tumor-to-organ contrast. Hence, the histidine/glutamic acid linker modifications considerably improved the pharmacokinetic properties of 68Ga-PSMA-11 leading to a reduced uptake in dose limiting organs and a significantly enhanced tumor-to-background contrast. Glu-urea-Lys-(HE)3-HBED-CC represents a promising 68Ga complex ligand for PET/CT-imaging of prostate cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Walter Mier
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Heidelberg , Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Uwe Haberkorn
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Heidelberg , Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | | | - Matthias Eder
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Development, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Freiburg, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center - University of Freiburg , Hugstetter Straße 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
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Garousi J, Lindbo S, Honarvar H, Velletta J, Mitran B, Altai M, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Hober S. Influence of the N-Terminal Composition on Targeting Properties of Radiometal-Labeled Anti-HER2 Scaffold Protein ADAPT6. Bioconjug Chem 2016; 27:2678-2688. [PMID: 27740752 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.6b00465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Radionuclide-imaging-based stratification of patients to targeted therapies makes cancer treatment more personalized and therefore more efficient. Albumin-binding domain derived affinity proteins (ADAPTs) constitute a novel group of imaging probes based on the scaffold of an albumin-binding domain (ABD). To evaluate how different compositions of the N-terminal sequence of ADAPTs influence their biodistribution, a series of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-binding ADAPT6 derivatives with different N-terminal sequences were created: GCH6DANS (2), GC(HE)3DANS (3), GCDEAVDANS (4), and GCVDANS(5). These were compared with the parental variant: GCSS(HE)3DEAVDANS (1). All variants were site-specifically conjugated with a maleimido-derivative of a DOTA chelator and labeled with 111In. Binding to HER2-expressing cells in vitro, in vivo biodistribution as well as targeting properties of the new variants were compared with properties of the 111In-labeled parental ADAPT variant 1 (111In-DOTA-1). The composition of the N-terminal sequence had an apparent influence on biodistribution of ADAPT6 in mice. The use of a hexahistidine tag in 111In-DOTA-2 was associated with elevated hepatic uptake compared to the (HE)3-containing counterpart, 111In-DOTA-3. All new variants without a hexahistidine tag demonstrated lower uptake in blood, lung, spleen, and muscle compared to uptake in the parental variant. The best new variants, 111In-DOTA-3 and 111In-DOTA-5, provided tumor uptakes of 14.6 ± 2.4 and 12.5 ± 1.3% ID/g at 4 h after injection, respectively. The tumor uptake of 111In-DOTA-3 was significantly higher than the uptake of the parental 111In-DOTA-1 (9.1 ± 2.0% ID/g). The tumor-to-blood ratios of 395 ± 75 and 419 ± 91 at 4 h after injection were obtained for 111In-DOTA-5 and 111In-DOTA-3, respectively. In conclusion, the N-terminal sequence composition affects the biodistribution and targeting properties of ADAPT-based imaging probes, and its optimization may improve imaging contrast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javad Garousi
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sarah Lindbo
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology , SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Hadis Honarvar
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Justin Velletta
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Bogdan Mitran
- Division of Molecular Imaging, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University , SE-75181 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mohamed Altai
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Division of Molecular Imaging, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University , SE-75181 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sophia Hober
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology , SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
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Westerlund K, Honarvar H, Norrström E, Strand J, Mitran B, Orlova A, Eriksson Karlström A, Tolmachev V. Increasing the Net Negative Charge by Replacement of DOTA Chelator with DOTAGA Improves the Biodistribution of Radiolabeled Second-Generation Synthetic Affibody Molecules. Mol Pharm 2016; 13:1668-78. [PMID: 27010700 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.6b00089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
A promising strategy to enable patient stratification for targeted therapies is to monitor the target expression in a tumor by radionuclide molecular imaging. Affibody molecules (7 kDa) are nonimmunoglobulin scaffold proteins with a 25-fold smaller size than intact antibodies. They have shown an apparent potential as molecular imaging probes both in preclinical and clinical studies. Earlier, we found that hepatic uptake can be reduced by the incorporation of negatively charged purification tags at the N-terminus of Affibody molecules. We hypothesized that liver uptake might similarly be reduced by positioning the chelator at the N-terminus, where the chelator-radionuclide complex will provide negative charges. To test this hypothesis, a second generation synthetic anti-HER2 ZHER2:2891 Affibody molecule was synthesized and labeled with (111)In and (68)Ga using DOTAGA and DOTA chelators. The chelators were manually coupled to the N-terminus of ZHER2:2891 forming an amide bond. Labeling DOTAGA-ZHER2:2891 and DOTA-ZHER2:2891 with (68)Ga and (111)In resulted in stable radioconjugates. The tumor-targeting and biodistribution properties of the (111)In- and (68)Ga-labeled conjugates were compared in SKOV-3 tumor-bearing nude mice at 2 h postinjection. The HER2-specific binding of the radioconjugates was verified both in vitro and in vivo. Using the DOTAGA chelator gave significantly lower radioactivity in liver and blood for both radionuclides. The (111)In-labeled conjugates showed more rapid blood clearance than the (68)Ga-labeled conjugates. The most pronounced influence of the chelators was found when they were labeled with (68)Ga. The DOTAGA chelator gave significantly higher tumor-to-blood (61 ± 6 vs 23 ± 5, p < 0.05) and tumor-to-liver (10.4 ± 0.6 vs 4.5 ± 0.5, p < 0.05) ratios than the DOTA chelator. This study demonstrated that chelators may be used to alter the uptake of Affibody molecules, and most likely other scaffold-based imaging probes, for improvement of imaging contrast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Westerlund
- Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center , 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Hadis Honarvar
- Institute for Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Emily Norrström
- Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center , 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Joanna Strand
- Institute for Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Bogdan Mitran
- Preclinical PET Platform, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University , 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Preclinical PET Platform, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University , 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Amelie Eriksson Karlström
- Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center , 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Institute for Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University , 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
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Lindbo S, Garousi J, Åstrand M, Honarvar H, Orlova A, Hober S, Tolmachev V. Influence of Histidine-Containing Tags on the Biodistribution of ADAPT Scaffold Proteins. Bioconjug Chem 2016; 27:716-26. [PMID: 26781756 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Engineered scaffold proteins (ESP) are high-affinity binders that can be used as probes for radionuclide imaging. Histidine-containing tags enable both efficient purification of ESP and radiolabeling with (99m)Tc(CO)3. Earlier studies demonstrated that the use of a histidine-glutamate-histidine-glutamate-histidine-glutamate (HE)3-tag instead of the commonly used hexahistidine (H6)-tag reduces hepatic uptake of radiolabeled ESP and short peptides. Here, we investigated the influence of histidine-containing tags on the biodistribution of a novel type of ESP, ADAPTs. A series of anti-HER2 ADAPT probes having H6- or (HE)3-tags in the N-termini were prepared. The constructs, (HE)3-ADAPT6 and H6-ADAPT6, were labeled with two different nuclides, (99m)Tc or (111)In. The labeling with (99m)Tc(CO)3 utilized the histidine-containing tags, while (111)In was attached through a maleimido derivative of DOTA conjugated to the N-terminus. For (111)In-labeled ADAPTs, the use of (HE)3 provided a significantly (p < 0.05) lower hepatic uptake at 1 h after injection, but there was no significant difference in hepatic uptake of (111)In-(HE)3-ADAPT6 and H6-ADAPT6 at later time points. Interestingly, in the case of (99m)Tc, (99m)Tc(CO)3-H6-ADAPT6 provided significantly (p < 0.05) lower uptake in a number of normal tissues and was more suitable as an imaging probe. Thus, the influence of histidine-containing tags on the biodistribution of the novel ADAPT scaffold proteins was different compared to its influence on other ESPs studied so far. Apparently, the effect of a histidine-containing tag on the biodistribution is highly dependent on the scaffold composition of the ESP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Lindbo
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology , SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Mikael Åstrand
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology , SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | | | - Sophia Hober
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology , SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
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Liolios C, Schäfer M, Haberkorn U, Eder M, Kopka K. Novel Bispecific PSMA/GRPr Targeting Radioligands with Optimized Pharmacokinetics for Improved PET Imaging of Prostate Cancer. Bioconjug Chem 2016; 27:737-51. [PMID: 26726823 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A new series of bispecific radioligands (BRLs) targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and gastrin releasing peptide receptor (GRPr), both expressed on prostate cancer cells, was developed. Their design was based on the bombesin (BN) analogue, H2N-PEG2-[D-Tyr(6),β-Ala(11),Thi(13),Nle(14)]BN(6-14), which binds to GRPr with high affinity and specificity, and the peptidomimetic urea-based pseudoirreversible inhibitor of PSMA, Glu-ureido-Lys. The two pharmacophores were coupled through copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition to the bis(tetrafluorophenyl) ester of the chelating agent HBED-CC via amino acid linkers made of positively charged His (H) and negatively charged Glu (E): -(HE)n- (n = 0-3). The BRLs were labeled with (68)Ga, and their preliminary pharmacological properties were evaluated in vitro (competitive and time kinetic binding assays) on prostate cancer (PC-3, LNCaP) and rat pancreatic (AR42J) cell lines and in vivo by biodistribution and small animal PET imaging studies in both normal and tumor-bearing mice. The IC50/Ki values determined for all BRLs essentially matched those of the respective monomers. The maximal cellular uptake of the BLRs was observed between 20 and 30 min. The BRLs showed a synergistic ability in vivo by targeting both PSMA (LNCaP) and GRPr (PC-3) positive tumors, whereas the charged -(HE)n- (n = 1-3) linkers significantly reduced the kidney and spleen uptake. The bispecific (PSMA and GRPr) targeting ability and optimized pharmacokinetics of the compounds developed in this study could lead to their future application in clinical practice as more sensitive radiotracers for noninvasive imaging of prostate cancer (PCa) by PET/CT and PET/MRI.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Liolios
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) , 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - M Schäfer
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) , 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - U Haberkorn
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Nuclear Medicine, University of Heidelberg , 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.,German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) , 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - M Eder
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) , 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - K Kopka
- Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) , 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.,German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) , 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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Garousi J, Lindbo S, Nilvebrant J, Åstrand M, Buijs J, Sandström M, Honarvar H, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Hober S. ADAPT, a Novel Scaffold Protein-Based Probe for Radionuclide Imaging of Molecular Targets That Are Expressed in Disseminated Cancers. Cancer Res 2015; 75:4364-71. [PMID: 26297736 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-14-3497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2014] [Accepted: 07/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Small engineered scaffold proteins have attracted attention as probes for radionuclide-based molecular imaging. One class of these imaging probes, termed ABD-Derived Affinity Proteins (ADAPT), has been created using the albumin-binding domain (ABD) of streptococcal protein G as a stable protein scaffold. In this study, we report the development of a clinical lead probe termed ADAPT6 that binds HER2, an oncoprotein overexpressed in many breast cancers that serves as a theranostic biomarker for several approved targeting therapies. Surface-exposed amino acids of ABD were randomized to create a combinatorial library enabling selection of high-affinity binders to various proteins. Furthermore, ABD was engineered to enable rapid purification, to eradicate its binding to albumin, and to enable rapid blood clearance. Incorporation of a unique cysteine allowed site-specific conjugation to a maleimido derivative of a DOTA chelator, enabling radionuclide labeling, ¹¹¹In for SPECT imaging and ⁶⁸Ga for PET imaging. Pharmacologic studies in mice demonstrated that the fully engineered molecule (111)In/⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-(HE)3-ADAPT6 was specifically bound and taken up by HER2-expressing tumors, with a high tumor-to-normal tissue ratio in xenograft models of human cancer. Unbound tracer underwent rapid renal clearance followed by high renal reabsorption. HER2-expressing xenografts were visualized by gamma-camera or PET at 1 hour after infusion. PET experiments demonstrated feasibility for discrimination of xenografts with high or low HER2 expression. Our results offer a preclinical proof of concept for the use of ADAPT probes for noninvasive in vivo imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javad Garousi
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sarah Lindbo
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johan Nilvebrant
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mikael Åstrand
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jos Buijs
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mattias Sandström
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Hadis Honarvar
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Preclinical PET Platform, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Sophia Hober
- Department of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
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32
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Andersson KG, Rosestedt M, Varasteh Z, Malm M, Sandström M, Tolmachev V, Löfblom J, Ståhl S, Orlova A. Comparative evaluation of 111In-labeled NOTA‑conjugated affibody molecules for visualization of HER3 expression in malignant tumors. Oncol Rep 2015; 34:1042-8. [PMID: 26059265 DOI: 10.3892/or.2015.4046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 3 (HER3) in malignant tumors has been associated with resistance to a variety of anticancer therapies. Several anti-HER3 monoclonal antibodies are currently under pre-clinical and clinical development aiming to overcome HER3-mediated resistance. Radionuclide molecular imaging of HER3 expression may improve treatment by allowing the selection of suitable patients for HER3-targeted therapy. Affibody molecules are a class of small (7 kDa) high-affinity targeting proteins with appreciable potential as molecular imaging probes. In a recent study, we selected affibody molecules with affinity to HER3 at a low picomolar range. The aim of the present study was to develop an anti-HER3 affibody molecule suitable for labeling with radiometals. The HEHEHE-Z08698-NOTA and HEHEHE-Z08699-NOTA HER3-specific affibody molecules were labeled with indium-111 (111In) and assessed in vitro and in vivo for imaging properties using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Labeling of HEHEHE-Z08698-NOTA and HEHEHE-Z08699-NOTA with 111In provided stable conjugates. In vitro cell tests demonstrated specific binding of the two conjugates to HER3-expressing BT-474 breast carcinoma cells. In mice bearing BT-474 xenografts, the tumor uptake of the two conjugates was receptor-specific. Direct in vivo comparison of 111In-HEHEHE-Z08698-NOTA and 111In-HEHEHE-Z08699‑NOTA demonstrated that the two conjugates provided equal radioactivity uptake in tumors, although the tumor-to-blood ratio was improved for 111In-HEHEHE-Z08698-NOTA [12 ± 3 vs. 8 ± 1, 4 h post injection (p.i.)] due to more efficient blood clearance. 111In-HEHEHE-Z08698-NOTA is a promising candidate for imaging of HER3-expression in malignant tumors using SPECT. Results of the present study indicate that this conjugate could be used for patient stratification for anti-HER3 therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken G Andersson
- Division of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Maria Rosestedt
- Preclinical PET Platform, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Zohreh Varasteh
- Preclinical PET Platform, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Magdalena Malm
- Division of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Institute of Immunology, Genetic and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - John Löfblom
- Division of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Stefan Ståhl
- Division of Protein Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Preclinical PET Platform, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Goldstein R, Sosabowski J, Livanos M, Leyton J, Vigor K, Bhavsar G, Nagy-Davidescu G, Rashid M, Miranda E, Yeung J, Tolner B, Plückthun A, Mather S, Meyer T, Chester K. Development of the designed ankyrin repeat protein (DARPin) G3 for HER2 molecular imaging. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2015; 42:288-301. [PMID: 25391547 PMCID: PMC4315530 DOI: 10.1007/s00259-014-2940-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2014] [Accepted: 10/09/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) overexpression is a predictor of response to anti-HER2 therapy in breast and gastric cancer. Currently, HER2 status is assessed by tumour biopsy, but this may not be representative of the larger tumour mass or other metastatic sites, risking misclassification and selection of suboptimal therapy. The designed ankyrin repeat protein (DARPin) G3 binds HER2 with high affinity at an epitope that does not overlap with trastuzumab and is biologically inert. We hypothesized that radiolabelled DARPin G3 would be capable of selectively imaging HER2-positive tumours, and aimed to identify a suitable format for clinical application. METHODS G3 DARPins tagged with hexahistidine (His6) or with histidine glutamate (HE)3 and untagged G3 DARPins were manufactured using a GMP-compatible Pichia pastoris protocol and radiolabelled with (125)I, or with (111)In via DOTA linked to a C-terminal cysteine. BALB/c mice were injected with radiolabelled G3 and tissue biodistribution was evaluated by gamma counting. The lead construct ((HE)3-G3) was assessed in mice bearing HER2-positive human breast tumour (BT474) xenografts. RESULTS For both isotopes, (HE)3-G3 had significantly lower liver uptake than His6-G3 and untagged G3 counterparts in non-tumour-bearing mice, and there was no significantly different liver uptake between His6-G3 and untagged G3. (HE)3-G3 was taken forward for evaluation in mice bearing HER2-positive tumour xenografts. The results demonstrated that radioactivity from (111)In-(HE)3-G3 was better maintained in tumours and cleared faster from serum than radioactivity from (125)I-(HE)3-G3, achieving superior tumour-to-blood ratios (343.7 ± 161.3 vs. 22.0 ± 11.3 at 24 h, respectively). On microSPECT/CT, (111)In-labelled and (125)I-labelled (HE)3-G3 could image HER2-positive tumours at 4 h after administration, but there was less normal tissue uptake of radioactivity with (111)In-(HE)3-G3. Preadministration of trastuzumab did not affect the uptake of (HE)3-G3 by HER2-positive tumours. CONCLUSION Radiolabelled DARPin (HE)3-G3 is a versatile radioligand with potential to allow the acquisition of whole-body HER2 scans on the day of administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Goldstein
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
| | - Jane Sosabowski
- Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ UK
| | - Maria Livanos
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
| | - Julius Leyton
- Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ UK
| | - Kim Vigor
- Biotherapeutics Development Unit, Cancer Research UK, Clare Hall Laboratories, Blanche Lane, South Mimms, EN6 3LD UK
| | - Gaurav Bhavsar
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
| | | | - Mohammed Rashid
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
| | - Enrique Miranda
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
| | - Jenny Yeung
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
- UCL Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH UK
| | - Berend Tolner
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
| | - Andreas Plückthun
- Biochemisches Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Stephen Mather
- Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ UK
| | - Tim Meyer
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
| | - Kerry Chester
- UCL Cancer Institute, Paul O’Gorman Building, 72 Huntley St, WC1E 6DD London, UK
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Mitran B, Altai M, Hofström C, Honarvar H, Sandström M, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Gräslund T. Evaluation of 99mTc-Z IGF1R:4551-GGGC affibody molecule, a new probe for imaging of insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor expression. Amino Acids 2014; 47:303-15. [PMID: 25425114 PMCID: PMC4302241 DOI: 10.1007/s00726-014-1859-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2014] [Accepted: 10/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Overexpression of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) in several cancers is associated with resistance to therapy. Radionuclide molecular imaging of IGF-1R expression in tumors may help in selecting the patients that will potentially respond to IGF-1R-targeted therapy. Affibody molecules are small (7 kDa) non-immunoglobulin-based scaffold proteins that are well-suited probes for radionuclide imaging. The aim of this study was the evaluation of an anti-IGF-1R affibody molecule labeled with technetium-99m using cysteine-containing peptide-based chelator GGGC at C-terminus. ZIGF1R:4551-GGGC was efficiently and stably labeled with technetium-99m (radiochemical yield 97 ± 3 %). 99mTc-ZIGF1R:4551-GGGC demonstrated specific binding to IGF-1R-expressing DU-145 (prostate cancer) and MCF-7 (breast cancer) cell lines and slow internalization in vitro. The tumor-targeting properties were studied in BALB/c nu/nu mice bearing DU-145 and MCF-7 xenografts. [99mTc(CO)3]+-(HE)3-ZIGF1R:4551 was used for comparison. The biodistribution study demonstrated high tumor-to-blood ratios (6.2 ± 0.9 and 6.9 ± 1.0, for DU-145 and MCF-7, respectively, at 4 h after injection). Renal radioactivity concentration was 16-fold lower for 99mTc-ZIGF1R:4551-GGGC than for [99mTc(CO)3]+-(HE)3-ZIGF1R:4551 at 4 h after injection. However, the liver uptake of 99mTc-ZIGF1R:4551-GGGC was 1.2- to 2-fold higher in comparison with [99mTc(CO)3]+-(HE)3-ZIGF1R:4551. A possible reason for the elevated hepatic uptake of 99mTc-ZIGF1R:4551-GGGC is a high lipophilicity of amino acids in the binding site of ZIGF1R:4551, which is not compensated in 99mTc-ZIGF1R:4551-GGGC. In conclusion, 99mTc-ZIGF1R:4551-GGGC can visualize the IGF-1R expression in human tumor xenografts and provides low retention of radioactivity in kidneys. Further development of this imaging agent should include molecular design aimed at reducing the hepatic uptake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bogdan Mitran
- Preclinical PET Platform, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Huang SS, Wang X, Zhang Y, Doke A, DiFilippo FP, Heston WD. Improving the biodistribution of PSMA-targeting tracers with a highly negatively charged linker. Prostate 2014; 74:702-13. [PMID: 24615708 DOI: 10.1002/pros.22789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2013] [Accepted: 01/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is overexpressed in prostate cancer and in tumor vasculature. Small molecule based inhibitors of PSMA have promised to provide sensitive detection of primary and metastatic prostate tumors. Although significant progress has been made, many of the radiolabeled imaging agents exhibit non-specific background binding. Prevailing tracer designs focus on high affinity urea-based inhibitors with strategically placed hydrophobic patches that interact favorably with the substrate tunnel of PSMA. We hypothesized that a novel PSMA inhibitor design incorporating highly negatively charged linkers may minimize non-specific binding and decrease overall background. METHODS Through iterative redesign, we generated a series of PSMA inhibitors with highly negatively charged linkers that connect to urea inhibitors and bulky radionuclide chelates. We then performed in vivo imaging and biodistribution studies with the radiolabeled tracers. RESULTS The tracers derived from our iterative redesign have affinities for PSMA comparable to the "parent" urea ligand Cys-C(O)-Glu. Using a fluorine-18 labeled PSMA targeting tracer, we found that these highly negatively charged molecules exhibit rapid renal excretion with minimal non-specific binding. The biodistribution data at 2 hr showed 4.6%ID/g PC3-PIP tumor uptake with spleen, liver, bone, and blood background levels of 0.1%, 0.17%, 0.1%, and 0.04%, respectively. CONCLUSION Placement of multiple negative charges in the linker region of PSMA tracers significantly reduced the non-specific background binding without significant reduction of binding affinity. This increased tumor/background contrast in positron emission tomography promises to provide more sensitive tumor detection while decreasing the overall radiation exposure to patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steve S Huang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; Department of Cancer Biology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
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Badar A, Williams J, de Rosales RTM, Tavaré R, Kampmeier F, Blower PJ, Mullen GED. Optimising the radiolabelling properties of technetium tricarbonyl and His-tagged proteins. EJNMMI Res 2014; 4:14. [PMID: 24606843 PMCID: PMC4015829 DOI: 10.1186/2191-219x-4-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2014] [Accepted: 02/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To date, the majority of protein-based radiopharmaceuticals have been radiolabelled using non-site-specific conjugation methods, with little or no control to ensure retained protein function post-labelling. The incorporation of a hexahistidine sequence (His-tag) in a recombinant protein can be used to site-specifically radiolabel with 99mTc-tricarbonyl ([99mTc(CO)3]+). This chemistry has been made accessible via a technetium tricarbonyl kit; however, reports of radiolabelling efficiencies and specific activities have varied greatly from one protein to another. Here, we aim to optimise the technetium tricarbonyl radiolabelling method to produce consistently >95% radiolabelling efficiencies with high specific activities suitable for in vivo imaging. METHODS Four different recombinant His-tagged proteins (recombinant complement receptor 2 (rCR2) and three single chain antibodies, α-CD33 scFv, α-VCAM-1 scFv and α-PSMA scFv), were used to study the effect of kit volume, ionic strength, pH and temperature on radiolabelling of four proteins. RESULTS We used 260 and 350 μL [99mTc(CO)3]+ kits enabling us to radiolabel at higher [99mTc(CO)3]+ and protein concentrations in a smaller volume and thus increase the rate at which maximum labelling efficiency and specific activity were reached. We also demonstrated that increasing the ionic strength of the reaction medium by increasing [Na+] from 0.25 to 0.63 M significantly increases the rate at which all four proteins reach a >95% labelling efficiency by at least fourfold, as compared to the conventional IsoLink® kit (Covidien, Petten, The Netherlands) and 0.25 M [Na+]. CONCLUSION We have found optimised kit and protein radiolabelling conditions suitable for the reproducible, fast, efficient radiolabelling of proteins without the need for post-labelling purification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Badar
- Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, 4th Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
- Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, Division of Medicine, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Jennifer Williams
- Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, 4th Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
| | - Rafael TM de Rosales
- Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, 4th Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
| | - Richard Tavaré
- Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, 4th Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1735, USA
| | - Florian Kampmeier
- Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, 4th Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
| | - Philip J Blower
- Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, 4th Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
| | - Gregory ED Mullen
- Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, 4th Floor, Lambeth Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK
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Goldstein R, Sosabowski J, Vigor K, Chester K, Meyer T. Developments in single photon emission computed tomography and PET-based HER2 molecular imaging for breast cancer. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther 2014; 13:359-73. [DOI: 10.1586/era.13.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Strand J, Honarvar H, Perols A, Orlova A, Selvaraju RK, Karlström AE, Tolmachev V. Influence of macrocyclic chelators on the targeting properties of (68)Ga-labeled synthetic affibody molecules: comparison with (111)In-labeled counterparts. PLoS One 2013; 8:e70028. [PMID: 23936372 PMCID: PMC3731330 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2013] [Accepted: 06/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Affibody molecules are a class of small (7 kDa) non-immunoglobulin scaffold-based affinity proteins, which have demonstrated substantial potential as probes for radionuclide molecular imaging. The use of positron emission tomography (PET) would further increase the resolution and quantification accuracy of Affibody-based imaging. The rapid in vivo kinetics of Affibody molecules permit the use of the generator-produced radionuclide 68Ga (T1/2 = 67.6 min). Earlier studies have demonstrated that the chemical nature of chelators has a substantial influence on the biodistribution properties of Affibody molecules. To determine an optimal labeling approach, the macrocyclic chelators 1,4,7,10-tetraazacylododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA), 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-N,N,N-triacetic acid (NOTA) and 1-(1,3-carboxypropyl)-1,4,7- triazacyclononane-4,7-diacetic acid (NODAGA) were conjugated to the N-terminus of the synthetic Affibody molecule ZHER2:S1 targeting HER2. Affibody molecules were labeled with 68Ga, and their binding specificity and cellular processing were evaluated. The biodistribution of 68Ga-DOTA-ZHER2:S1,68Ga-NOTA-ZHER2:S1 and 68Ga-NODAGA-ZHER2:S1, as well as that of their 111In-labeled counterparts, was evaluated in BALB/C nu/nu mice bearing HER2-expressing SKOV3 xenografts. The tumor uptake for 68Ga-DOTA-ZHER2:S1 (17.9±0.7%IA/g) was significantly higher than for both 68Ga-NODAGA-ZHER2:S1(16.13±0.67%IA/g) and 68Ga-NOTA-ZHER2:S1 (13±3%IA/g) at 2 h after injection. 68Ga-NODAGA-ZHER2:S1 had the highest tumor-to-blood ratio (60±10) in comparison with both 68Ga-DOTA-ZHER2:S1 (28±4) and 68Ga-NOTA-ZHER2:S1 (42±11). The tumor-to-liver ratio was also higher for 68Ga-NODAGA-ZHER2:S1 (7±2) than the DOTA and NOTA conjugates (5.5±0.6 vs.3.3±0.6). The influence of chelator on the biodistribution and targeting properties was less pronounced for 68Ga than for 111In. The results of this study demonstrate that macrocyclic chelators conjugated to the N-terminus have a substantial influence on the biodistribution of HER2-targeting Affibody molecules labeled with 68Ga.This can be utilized to enhance the imaging contrast of PET imaging using Affibody molecules and improve the sensitivity of molecular imaging. The study demonstrated an appreciable difference of chelator influence for 68Ga and 111In.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Strand
- Unit of Biomedical Radiation Sciences, Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Hadis Honarvar
- Unit of Biomedical Radiation Sciences, Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Perols
- Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna Orlova
- Preclinical PET Platform, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ram Kumar Selvaraju
- Preclinical PET Platform, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Amelie Eriksson Karlström
- Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Unit of Biomedical Radiation Sciences, Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- * E-mail:
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Eder M, Löhr T, Bauder-Wüst U, Reber M, Mier W, Schäfer M, Haberkorn U, Eisenhut M. Pharmacokinetic properties of peptidic radiopharmaceuticals: reduced uptake of (EH)3-conjugates in important organs. J Nucl Med 2013; 54:1327-30. [PMID: 23804326 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.112.114512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED The translation of radiolabeled tumor-targeting peptides into clinical routine is often hampered by an enhanced accumulation into the excreting organs. It has recently been reported that the (EH)3 purification tag is able to improve the biodistribution of Affibody molecules. Therefore, the aim of this study was to prove the positive influence of (EH)3 on the biodistribution of 2 peptidic radiopharmaceuticals, Glu-urea-Lys(Ahx)-HBED-CC and TATE-PEG2-HBED-CC (HBED-CC is N,N'-bis [2-hydroxy-5(carboxyethyl)benzyl] ethylenediamine-N,N'- diacetic acid, TATE is octreotate, and PEG2 is 8-amino-3,6-dioxaoctanoic acid spacer). METHODS Both compounds were compared with their respective (EH)3-conjugated variants in cell-based in vitro assays and organ distribution. RESULTS The introduction of (EH)3 to HBED-CC significantly changed the biodistribution profiles. In both cases, the uptake in several organs was reduced whereas tumor uptake was not affected. Most importantly, (EH)3 lowered the kidney and liver uptake of the prostate-specific membrane antigen inhibitor each by a factor of 2.8 and, in the case of octreotate, the liver accumulation by a factor of 51. CONCLUSION The biodistribution data suggest that (EH)3 is able to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of peptidic radiopharmaceuticals, leading to reduced uptake in organs such as the liver, an important site of metastatic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Eder
- Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
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Hofström C, Altai M, Honarvar H, Strand J, Malmberg J, Hosseinimehr SJ, Orlova A, Gräslund T, Tolmachev V. HAHAHA, HEHEHE, HIHIHI, or HKHKHK: influence of position and composition of histidine containing tags on biodistribution of [(99m)Tc(CO)3](+)-labeled affibody molecules. J Med Chem 2013; 56:4966-74. [PMID: 23692562 DOI: 10.1021/jm400218y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Engineered affibody molecules can be used for high contrast in vivo molecular imaging. Extending a recombinantly produced HER2 binding affibody molecule with a hexa-histidine tag allows for convenient purification by immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography and labeling with [(99m)Tc(CO)3](+) but increases radioactivity uptake in the liver. To investigate the impact of charge, lipophilicity, and position on biodistribution, 10 variants of a histidine-based tag was attached to a HER2 binding affibody molecule. The biochemical properties and the HER2 binding affinity appeared to be similar for all variants. In vivo, positive charge promoted liver uptake. For N-terminally placed tags, lipophilicity promoted liver uptake and decreased kidney uptake. Kidney uptake was higher for C-terminally placed tags compared to their N-terminal counterparts. The variant with the amino acid composition HEHEHE placed in the N-terminus gave the lowest nonspecific uptake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Hofström
- Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
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Orlova A, Hofström C, Strand J, Varasteh Z, Sandstrom M, Andersson K, Tolmachev V, Gräslund T. [99mTc(CO)3]+-(HE)3-ZIGF1R:4551, a new Affibody conjugate for visualization of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor expression in malignant tumours. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2013; 40:439-49. [PMID: 23179942 DOI: 10.1007/s00259-012-2284-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Radionuclide imaging of insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor (IGF-1R) expression in tumours might be used for selection of patients who would benefit from IGF-1R-targeted therapy. We have previously shown the feasibility of IGF-1R imaging using the Affibody molecule (111)In-DOTA-His(6)-Z(IGF1R:4551). The use of (99m)Tc instead of (111)In should improve sensitivity and resolution of imaging, and reduce the dose burden to patients. We hypothesized that inclusion of a HEHEHE tag instead of a His(6) tag in Z(IGF1R:4551) would permit its convenient purification using IMAC, enable labelling with [(99m)Tc(CO)(3)](+), and improve its biodistribution. METHODS Z(IGF1R:4551) was expressed with a HEHEHE tag in the N terminus. The resulting (HE)(3)-Z(IGF1R:4551) construct was labelled with [(99m)Tc(CO)(3)](+). Targeting of IGF-1R-expressing cells using [(99m)Tc(CO)(3)](+)-(HE)(3)-Z(IGF1R:4551) was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS (HE)(3)-Z(IGF1R:4551) was stably labelled with (99m)Tc with preserved specific binding to IGF-1R-expressing DU-145 prostate cancer cells in vitro. In mice, [(99m)Tc(CO)(3)](+)-(HE)(3)-Z(IGF1R:4551) accumulated in IGF-1R-expressing organs (pancreas, stomach, lung and salivary gland). [(99m)Tc(CO)(3)](+)-(HE)(3)-Z(IGF1R:4551) demonstrated 3.6-fold lower accumulation in the liver and spleen than (111)In-DOTA-Z(IGF1R:4551). In NMRI nu/nu mice with DU-145 prostate cancer xenografts, the tumour uptake was 1.32 ± 0.11 %ID/g and the tumour-to-blood ratio was 4.4 ± 0.3 at 8 h after injection. The xenografts were visualized using a gamma camera 6 h after injection. CONCLUSION (99m)Tc(CO)(3)](+)-(HE)(3)-Z(IGF1R:4551) is a promising candidate for visualization of IGF-1R expression in malignant tumours.
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Hosseinimehr SJ, Tolmachev V, Orlova A. Liver uptake of radiolabeled targeting proteins and peptides: considerations for targeting peptide conjugate design. Drug Discov Today 2012; 17:1224-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2012.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2012] [Revised: 06/02/2012] [Accepted: 07/03/2012] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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Tolmachev V, Tran TA, Rosik D, Sjöberg A, Abrahmsén L, Orlova A. Tumor targeting using affibody molecules: interplay of affinity, target expression level, and binding site composition. J Nucl Med 2012; 53:953-60. [PMID: 22586147 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.111.101527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Radionuclide imaging of cancer-associated molecular alterations may contribute to patient stratification for targeting therapy. Scaffold high-affinity proteins, such as Affibody molecules, are a new, promising class of probes for in vivo imaging. METHODS The effects of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) affinity and binding site composition of HER2-binding Affibody molecules, and of the HER2 density on the tumor targeting, were studied in vivo. The tumor uptake and tumor-to-organ ratios of Affibody molecules with moderate (dissociation constant [K(D)] = 10(-9) M) or high (K(D) = 10(-10) M) affinity were compared between tumor xenografts with a high (SKOV-3) and low (LS174T) HER2 expression level in BALB/C nu/nu mice. Two Affibody molecules with similar affinity (K(D) = 10(-10) M) but having alternative amino acids in the binding site were compared. RESULTS In SKOV-3 xenografts, uptake was independent of affinity at 4 h after injection, but high-affinity binders provided 2-fold-higher tumor radioactivity retention at 24 h. In LS174T xenografts, uptake of high-affinity probes was already severalfold higher at 4 h after injection, and the difference was increased at 24 h. The clearance rate and tumor-to-organ ratios were influenced by the amino acid composition of the binding surface of the tracer protein. CONCLUSION The optimal affinity of HER2-binding Affibody molecules depends on the expression of a molecular target. At a high expression level (>10(6) receptors per cell), an affinity in the low-nanomolar range is sufficient. At moderate expression, subnanomolar affinity is desirable. The binding site composition can influence the imaging contrast. This information may be useful for development of imaging agents based on scaffold affinity proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Biomedical Radiation Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
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Slastnikova TA, Rosenkranz AA, Gulak PV, Schiffelers RM, Lupanova TN, Khramtsov YV, Zalutsky MR, Sobolev AS. Modular nanotransporters: a multipurpose in vivo working platform for targeted drug delivery. Int J Nanomedicine 2012; 7:467-82. [PMID: 22346349 PMCID: PMC3277434 DOI: 10.2147/ijn.s28249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Modular nanotransporters (MNT) are recombinant multifunctional polypeptides created to exploit a cascade of cellular processes, initiated with membrane receptor recognition to deliver selective short-range and highly cytotoxic therapeutics to the cell nucleus. This research was designed for in vivo concept testing for this drug delivery platform using two modular nanotransporters, one targeted to the α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (αMSH) receptor overexpressed on melanoma cells and the other to the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor overexpressed on several cancers, including glioblastoma, and head-and-neck and breast carcinoma cells. Methods In vivo targeting of the modular nanotransporter was determined by immuno-fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscopy and by accumulation of 125I-labeled modular nanotransporters. The in vivo therapeutic effects of the modular nanotransporters were assessed by photodynamic therapy studies, given that the cytotoxicity of photosensitizers is critically dependent on their delivery to the cell nucleus. Results Immunohistochemical analyses of tumor and neighboring normal tissues of mice injected with multifunctional nanotransporters demonstrated preferential uptake in tumor tissue, particularly in cell nuclei. With 125I-labeled MNT{αMSH}, optimal tumor:muscle and tumor:skin ratios of 8:1 and 9.8:1, respectively, were observed 3 hours after injection in B16-F1 melanoma-bearing mice. Treatment with bacteriochlorin p-MNT{αMSH} yielded 89%–98% tumor growth inhibition and a two-fold increase in survival for mice with B16-F1 and Cloudman S91 melanomas. Likewise, treatment of A431 human epidermoid carcinoma-bearing mice with chlorin e6- MNT{EGF} resulted in 94% tumor growth inhibition compared with free chlorin e6, with 75% of animals surviving at 3 months compared with 0% and 20% for untreated and free chlorin e6-treated groups, respectively. Conclusion The multifunctional nanotransporter approach provides a new in vivo functional platform for drug development that could, in principle, be applicable to any combination of cell surface receptor and agent (photosensitizers, oligonucleotides, radionuclides) requiring nuclear delivery to achieve maximum effectiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A Slastnikova
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Intracellular Transport, Institute of Gene Biology, Moscow, Russia
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Lindberg H, Hofström C, Altai M, Honorvar H, Wållberg H, Orlova A, Ståhl S, Gräslund T, Tolmachev V. Evaluation of a HER2-targeting affibody molecule combining an N-terminal HEHEHE-tag with a GGGC chelator for 99mTc-labelling at the C terminus. Tumour Biol 2012; 33:641-51. [PMID: 22249974 DOI: 10.1007/s13277-011-0305-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2011] [Accepted: 12/21/2011] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Affibody molecules are a class of small (ca.7 kDa) robust scaffold proteins with high potential as tracers for radionuclide molecular imaging in vivo. Incorporation of a cysteine-containing peptide-based chelator at the C terminus provides an opportunity for stable labelling with the radionuclide (99m)Tc. The use of a GGGC chelator at the C terminus has provided the lowest renal radioactivity retention of the previously investigated peptide-based chelators. Previously, it has also been demonstrated that replacement of the His(6)-tag with the negatively charged histidine-glutamate-histidine-glutamate-histidine-glutamate (HEHEHE)-tag permits purification of affibody molecules by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) and provides low hepatic accumulation of radioactivity of conjugates site-specifically labelled at the C terminus using several different nuclides. We hypothesized that the combination of a HEHEHE-tag at the N terminus and a GGGC chelator at the C terminus of an affibody molecule would be a favourable format permitting IMAC purification and providing low uptake in excretory organs. To investigate this hypothesis, a (HE)(3)-Z(HER2:342)-GGGC affibody molecule was generated. It could be efficiently purified by IMAC and stably labelled with (99m)Tc. (99m)Tc-(HE)(3)-Z(HER2:342)-GGGC preserved specific binding to HER2-expressing cells. In NMRI mice, hepatic uptake of (99m)Tc-(HE)(3)-Z(HER2:342)-GGGC was lower than the uptake of the control affibody molecules, (99m)Tc-Z(HER2:2395)-VDC and (99m)Tc-Z(HER2:342)-GGGC. At 1 and 4 h after injection, the renal uptake of (99m)Tc-(HE)(3)-Z(HER2:342)-GGGC was 2-3-fold lower than uptake of (99m)Tc-Z(HER2:2395)-VDC, but it was substantially higher than uptake of (99m)Tc-Z(HER2:342)-GGGC. Further investigation indicated that a fraction of (99m)Tc was chelated by the HEHEHE-tag which caused a higher accumulation of radioactivity in the kidneys. Thus, a combination of a HEHEHE-tag and the GGGC chelator in targeting scaffold proteins was found to be undesirable in the case of (99m)Tc labelling due to a partial loss of site-specificity of nuclide chelation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Lindberg
- Division of Molecular Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, AlbaNova University Center, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
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Ferrer-Miralles N, Corchero JL, Kumar P, Cedano JA, Gupta KC, Villaverde A, Vazquez E. Biological activities of histidine-rich peptides; merging biotechnology and nanomedicine. Microb Cell Fact 2011; 10:101. [PMID: 22136342 PMCID: PMC3339332 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2859-10-101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2011] [Accepted: 12/02/2011] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Histidine-rich peptides are commonly used in recombinant protein production as purification tags, allowing the one-step affinity separation of the His-tagged proteins from the extracellular media or cell extracts. Genetic engineering makes feasible the post-purification His-tag removal by inserting, between the tag and the main protein body, a target site for trans-acting proteases or a self-proteolytic peptide with regulatable activities. However, for technical ease, His tags are often not removed and the fusion proteins eventually used in this form. In this commentary, we revise the powerful biological properties of histidine-rich peptides as endosomolytic agents and as architectonic tags in nanoparticle formation, for which they are exploited in drug delivery and other nanomedical applications. These activities, generally unknown to biotechnologists, can unwillingly modulate the functionality and biotechnological performance of recombinant proteins in which they remain trivially attached.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neus Ferrer-Miralles
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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