Targeting ErbB3 Receptor in Cancer with Inhibitory Antibodies from Llama

HER3 in cancer: from the bench to the bedside

The HER3 protein, that belongs to the ErbB/HER receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family, is expressed in several types of tumors. That fact, together with the role of HER3 in promoting cell proliferation, implicate that targeting HER3 may have therapeutic relevance. Furthermore, expression and activation of HER3 has been linked to resistance to drugs that target other HER receptors such as agents that act on EGFR or HER2. In addition, HER3 has been associated to resistance to some chemotherapeutic drugs. Because of those circumstances, efforts to develop and test agents targeting HER3 have been carried out. Two types of agents targeting HER3 have been developed. The most abundant are antibodies or engineered antibody derivatives that specifically recognize the extracellular region of HER3. In addition, the use of aptamers specifically interacting with HER3, vaccines or HER3-targeting siRNAs have also been developed. Here we discuss the state of the art of the preclinical and clinical development of drugs aimed at targeting HER3 with therapeutic purposes.

Antibody variable region engineering for improving cancer immunotherapy

The efficacy and specificity of conventional monoclonal antibody (mAb) drugs in the clinic require further improvement. Currently, the development and application of novel antibody formats for improving cancer immunotherapy have attracted much attention. Variable region-retaining antibody fragments, such as antigen-binding fragment (Fab), single-chain variable fragment (scFv), bispecific antibody, and bi/trispecific cell engagers, are engineered with humanization, multivalent antibody construction, affinity optimization and antibody masking for targeting tumor cells and killer cells to improve antibody-based therapy potency, efficacy and specificity. In this review, we summarize the application of antibody variable region engineering and discuss the future direction of antibody engineering for improving cancer therapies.

The Role of ERBB Signaling Pathway-Related Genes in Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma and Establishing a Prognostic Risk Assessment Model for Patients

Objective: We aimed to investigate the potential role of ERBB signaling pathway–related genes in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) and establish a new predictive risk model using various bioinformatics methods.

Methods: We downloaded the KIRC dataset and clinicopathological information from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Univariate Cox analysis was used to identify essential genes significantly associated with KIRC progression. Next, we used the STRING website to construct a protein–protein interaction network of ERBB signaling pathway–related molecules. We then used the least the absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis to build a predictive risk model for KIRC patients. Next, we used multiple bioinformatics methods to analyze the copy number variation, single-nucleotide variation, and overall survival of these risk model genes in pan-cancer. At last, we used the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer to investigate the correlation between the mRNA expression of genes associated with this risk model gene and drug sensitivity.

Results: Through the LASSO regression analysis, we constructed a novel KIRC prognosis–related risk model using 12 genes: SHC1, GAB1, SOS2, SRC, AKT3, EREG, EIF4EBP1, ERBB3, MAPK3, transforming growth factor-alpha, CDKN1A, and PIK3CD. Based on this risk model, the overall survival rate of KIRC patients in the low-risk group was significantly higher than that in the high-risk group (p = 1.221 × 10⁻¹⁵). Furthermore, this risk model was associated with cancer metastasis, tumor size, node, stage, grade, sex, and fustat in KIRC patients. The receiver operating characteristic curve results showed that the model had better prediction accuracy. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the model’s risk score was an independent risk factor for KIRC. The Human Protein Atlas database was used to validate the protein expression of risk model–associated molecules in tumors and adjacent normal tissues. The validation results were consistent with our previous findings.

Conclusions: We successfully established a prognostic-related risk model for KIRC, which will provide clinicians with a helpful reference for future disease diagnosis and treatment.

BeStSel: webserver for secondary structure and fold prediction for protein CD spectroscopy

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is widely used to characterize the secondary structure composition of proteins. To derive accurate and detailed structural information from the CD spectra, we have developed the Beta Structure Selection (BeStSel) method (PNAS, 112, E3095), which can handle the spectral diversity of β-structured proteins. The BeStSel webserver provides this method with useful accessories to the community with the main goal to analyze single or multiple protein CD spectra. Uniquely, BeStSel provides information on eight secondary structure components including parallel β-structure and antiparallel β-sheets with three different groups of twist. It overperforms any available method in accuracy and information content, moreover, it is capable of predicting the protein fold down to the topology/homology level of the CATH classification. A new module of the webserver helps to distinguish intrinsically disordered proteins by their CD spectrum. Secondary structure calculation for uploaded PDB files will help the experimental verification of protein MD and in silico modelling using CD spectroscopy. The server also calculates extinction coefficients from the primary sequence for CD users to determine the accurate protein concentrations which is a prerequisite for reliable secondary structure determination. The BeStSel server can be freely accessed at https://bestsel.elte.hu.

Editorial of the Special Issue “Targeted Therapies for Cancer”

Cancer, the second leading cause of death worldwide, continues to represent an impressive challenge for researchers and clinicians [...]