Oroujeni Maryam, Westerlund Kristina, Papalanis Eleftherios, van Deventer Alexander, Liu Yongsheng, Clinton Jacob, Wang Zhengyue, Zelepukin Ivan, Orlova Anna, Tolmachev Vladimir, Eriksson Karlström Amelie
Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden; and.
J Nucl Med. 2025 May 15. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.125.269533.
Designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins) are a class of engineered scaffold proteins (ESPs) with a molecular weight of approximately 15 kDa and a picomolar affinity for tumor antigen targets. Proof-of-concept studies have demonstrated the potential of DARPin radioimmunodiagnostics in humans. However, a high accumulation of activity in the kidneys limits their use in conventional radionuclide therapy. A peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-based pretargeted approach was successfully applied to Affibody molecules, another class of ESP. We hypothesized that this method could also enable the controlled conversion of DARPins into pretargeting probes. In this proof-of-principle study, we tested this hypothesis using the human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-targeting DARPin G3 as a model. We performed site-specific coupling of PNA to the DARPin using sortase A-mediated ligation. The DARPin G3 was modified at the C-terminus with a sortase A recognition sequence. A GGG-modified hybridization probe (HP1) containing a 15-base PNA sequence was attached to G3 using sortase A, creating the primary agent G3-HP1. To evaluate cell binding specificity and biodistribution, G3-HP1 was labeled with I. The complementary PNA-based secondary probe HP2 containing the DOTA chelator was labeled with Lu. In vitro studies were performed in HER2-expressing cell lines. Biodistribution and in vivo targeting and pretargeting specificity were evaluated in mice with HER2-positive SKOV-3 and HER2-negative Ramos xenografts. In vivo pretargeting of [Lu]Lu-HP2 using G3-HP1 was head-to-head compared with Affibody molecule-mediated pretargeting using Z-HP1 and with direct targeting using [Lu]Lu-DOTA-G3. [I]I-G3-HP1 demonstrated specific binding to HER2-expressing cells with picomolar affinity. [Lu]Lu-HP2 showed HER2-specific and PNA-dependent binding to G3-HP1-pretreated cells with subnanomolar affinity. Biodistribution studies confirmed HER2-specific tumor uptake of [I]I-G3-HP1. The uptake of [Lu]Lu-HP2 in xenografts was HER2-dependent and PNA-mediated in the case of G3-HP1 preinjection. The pretargeting approach increased the tumor uptake 8-fold compared with direct targeting using [Lu]Lu-DOTA-G3. Pretargeting substantially decreased the uptake in the kidneys (∼9-fold), liver (∼370-fold), and spleen (6.5-fold). The biodistribution and the tumor uptake of [Lu]Lu-HP2 were strikingly similar in the cases of Affibody- and DARPin-based pretargeting. Sortase A-mediated coupling enables the development of a PNA-based pretargeting system for DARPin G3, expanding the application of this approach to another class of ESPs.
设计锚蛋白重复序列蛋白(DARPins)是一类工程化支架蛋白(ESPs),分子量约为15 kDa,对肿瘤抗原靶点具有皮摩尔亲和力。概念验证研究已证明DARPin放射免疫诊断在人体中的潜力。然而,肾脏中活性的高积累限制了它们在传统放射性核素治疗中的应用。基于肽核酸(PNA)的预靶向方法已成功应用于另一类ESP——亲和体分子。我们假设这种方法也可以使DARPins可控地转化为预靶向探针。在这项原理验证研究中,我们以靶向人表皮生长因子受体2(HER2)的DARPin G3为模型来验证这一假设。我们使用分选酶A介导的连接将PNA位点特异性偶联到DARPin上。DARPin G3在C末端用分选酶A识别序列进行修饰。使用分选酶A将含有15个碱基PNA序列的GGG修饰杂交探针(HP1)连接到G3上,产生初级试剂G3-HP1。为了评估细胞结合特异性和生物分布,用碘-131标记G3-HP1。含有DOTA螯合剂的基于PNA的互补二级探针HP2用镥-177标记。在表达HER2的细胞系中进行体外研究。在具有HER2阳性SKOV-3和HER2阴性Ramos异种移植瘤的小鼠中评估生物分布以及体内靶向和预靶向特异性。使用G3-HP1对[镥-177]Lu-HP2进行体内预靶向,与使用Z-HP1的亲和体分子介导的预靶向以及使用[镥-177]Lu-DOTA-G3的直接靶向进行了直接比较。[碘-131]I-G3-HP1以皮摩尔亲和力显示出与表达HER2的细胞特异性结合。[镥-177]Lu-HP2以亚纳摩尔亲和力显示出与G3-HP1预处理细胞的HER2特异性和PNA依赖性结合。生物分布研究证实了[碘-131]I-G3-HP1的HER2特异性肿瘤摄取。在预先注射G3-HP1的情况下,异种移植瘤中[镥-177]Lu-HP2的摄取是HER2依赖性的且由PNA介导。与使用[镥-177]Lu-DOTA-G3的直接靶向相比,预靶向方法使肿瘤摄取增加了8倍。预靶向显著降低了在肾脏(约9倍)、肝脏(约370倍)和脾脏(6.5倍)中的摄取。在基于亲和体和基于DARPin的预靶向情况下,[镥-177]Lu-HP2的生物分布和肿瘤摄取非常相似。分选酶A介导的偶联能够为DARPin G3开发基于PNA的预靶向系统,将这种方法的应用扩展到另一类ESPs。
Cancers (Basel). 2021-1-28