Castrignano Chiara, Di Scipio Federica, Franco Francesco, Mognetti Barbara, Berta Giovanni Nicolao
Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043 Orbassano, Italy.
Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin, Italy.
Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2023 May 26;16(6):794. doi: 10.3390/ph16060794.
The serendipitous discovery of nanobodies (NBs) around two decades ago opened the door to new possibilities for innovative strategies, particularly in cancer treatment. These antigen-binding fragments are derived from heavy-chain-only antibodies naturally found in the serum of camelids and sharks. NBs are an appealing agent for the progress of innovative therapeutic strategies because they combine the advantageous assets of smaller molecules and conventional monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Moreover, the possibility to produce NBs using bacterial systems reduces manufacturing expenses and speeds up the production process, making them a feasible option for the development of new bio-drugs. Several NBs have been developed over the past 10 years and are currently being tested in clinical trials for various human targets. Here, we provide an overview of the notable structural and biochemical characteristics of NBs, particularly in their application against HER2, an extracellular receptor that often gets aberrantly activated during breast cancer tumorigenesis. The focus is on the recent advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic research up to the present date.
大约二十年前，纳米抗体（NBs）的意外发现为创新策略打开了新的可能性之门，尤其是在癌症治疗方面。这些抗原结合片段源自骆驼科动物和鲨鱼血清中天然存在的仅重链抗体。纳米抗体是创新治疗策略发展的一种有吸引力的药物，因为它们结合了小分子和传统单克隆抗体（mAb）的优势。此外，利用细菌系统生产纳米抗体的可能性降低了制造成本并加快了生产过程，使其成为开发新型生物药物的可行选择。在过去十年中已经开发了几种纳米抗体，目前正在针对各种人类靶点进行临床试验。在此，我们概述了纳米抗体显著的结构和生化特征，特别是它们在针对HER2的应用中的特征，HER2是一种细胞外受体，在乳腺癌肿瘤发生过程中经常异常激活。重点是截至目前诊断和治疗研究的最新进展。
