54 research outputs found

    Tumour Targeting using Radiolabelled Affibody Molecules : Influence of Labelling Chemistry

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    Affibody molecules are promising candidates for targeted radionuclide-based imaging and therapy applications. Optimisation of targeting properties would permit the in vivo visualization of cancer-specific surface receptors with high contrast. In therapy, this may increase the ratio of radioactivity uptake between tumour and normal tissues.  This thesis work is based on 5 original research articles (papers I-V) and focuses on optimisation of targeting properties of anti-HER2 affibody molecules by optimising the labelling chemistry. Paper I and II report the comparative evaluation of the anti-HER2 ZHER2:2395 affibody molecule site specifically labelled with 111In (suitable for SPECT imaging) and 68Ga (suitable for PET imaging) using the thiol reactive derivatives of DOTA and NODAGA as chelators. The incorporation of different macrocyclic chelators and labelling with different radionuclides modified the biodistribution properties of affibody molecules. This indicates that the labelling strategy may have a profound effect on the targeting properties of radiotracers and must be carefully optimized. Paper III reports the study of the mechanism of renal reabsorption of anti-HER2 ZHER2:2395 affibody molecule. An unknown receptor (not HER2) is suspected to be responsible for the high reabsorption of ZHER2:2395 molecules in the kidneys. Paper IV reports the optimization and development of in vivo targeting properties of 188Re-labelled anti-HER2 affibody molecules. By using an array of peptide based chelators, it was found that substitution of one amino acid by another or changing its position can have a dramatic effect on the biodistribution properties of 188Re-labelled affibody molecules. This permitted the selection of –GGGC chelator whichdemonstrated the lowest retention of radioactivity in kidneys compared to other variants and showed excellent tumour targeting properties. Paper V reports the preclinical evaluation of 188Re-ZHER2:V2 as a potential candidate for targeted radionuclide therapy of HER2-expressing tumours. In vivo experiments in mice along with dosimetry assessment in both murine and human models revealed that future human radiotherapy studies using 188Re-ZHER2:V2 may be feasible. It would be reasonable to believe that the results of optimisation of anti-HER2 affibody molecules summarized in this thesis can be of importance for the development of other scaffold protein-based targeting agents

    Influence of Molecular Design on the Targeting Properties of ABD-Fused Mono- and Bi-Valent Anti-HER3 Affibody Therapeutic Constructs

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    Overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 3 (HER3) is associated with tumour cell resistance to HER-targeted therapies. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting HER3 are currently being investigated for treatment of various types of cancers. Cumulative evidence suggests that affibody molecules may be appropriate alternatives to mAbs. We previously reported a fusion construct (3A3) containing two HER3-targeting affibody molecules flanking an engineered albumin-binding domain (ABD035) included for the extension of half-life in circulation. The 3A3 fusion protein (19.7 kDa) was shown to delay tumour growth in mice bearing HER3-expressing xenografts and was equipotent to the mAb seribantumab. Here, we have designed and explored a series of novel formats of anti-HER3 affibody molecules fused to the ABD in different orientations. All constructs inhibited heregulin-induced phosphorylation in HER3-expressing BxPC-3 and DU-145 cell lines. Biodistribution studies demonstrated extended the half-life of all ABD-fused constructs, although at different levels. The capacity of our ABD-fused proteins to accumulate in HER3-expressing tumours was demonstrated in nude mice bearing BxPC-3 xenografts. Formats where the ABD was located on the C-terminus of affibody binding domains (3A, 33A, and 3A3) provided the best tumour targeting properties in vivo. Further development of these promising candidates for treatment of HER3-overexpressing tumours is therefore justified

    Tumour Targeting using Radiolabelled Affibody Molecules : Influence of Labelling Chemistry

    No full text
    Affibody molecules are promising candidates for targeted radionuclide-based imaging and therapy applications. Optimisation of targeting properties would permit the in vivo visualization of cancer-specific surface receptors with high contrast. In therapy, this may increase the ratio of radioactivity uptake between tumour and normal tissues.  This thesis work is based on 5 original research articles (papers I-V) and focuses on optimisation of targeting properties of anti-HER2 affibody molecules by optimising the labelling chemistry. Paper I and II report the comparative evaluation of the anti-HER2 ZHER2:2395 affibody molecule site specifically labelled with 111In (suitable for SPECT imaging) and 68Ga (suitable for PET imaging) using the thiol reactive derivatives of DOTA and NODAGA as chelators. The incorporation of different macrocyclic chelators and labelling with different radionuclides modified the biodistribution properties of affibody molecules. This indicates that the labelling strategy may have a profound effect on the targeting properties of radiotracers and must be carefully optimized. Paper III reports the study of the mechanism of renal reabsorption of anti-HER2 ZHER2:2395 affibody molecule. An unknown receptor (not HER2) is suspected to be responsible for the high reabsorption of ZHER2:2395 molecules in the kidneys. Paper IV reports the optimization and development of in vivo targeting properties of 188Re-labelled anti-HER2 affibody molecules. By using an array of peptide based chelators, it was found that substitution of one amino acid by another or changing its position can have a dramatic effect on the biodistribution properties of 188Re-labelled affibody molecules. This permitted the selection of –GGGC chelator whichdemonstrated the lowest retention of radioactivity in kidneys compared to other variants and showed excellent tumour targeting properties. Paper V reports the preclinical evaluation of 188Re-ZHER2:V2 as a potential candidate for targeted radionuclide therapy of HER2-expressing tumours. In vivo experiments in mice along with dosimetry assessment in both murine and human models revealed that future human radiotherapy studies using 188Re-ZHER2:V2 may be feasible. It would be reasonable to believe that the results of optimisation of anti-HER2 affibody molecules summarized in this thesis can be of importance for the development of other scaffold protein-based targeting agents

    Influence of Several Compounds and Drugs on the Renal Uptake of Radiolabeled Affibody Molecules

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    Affibody molecules are the most studied class of engineered scaffold proteins (ESPs) in radionuclide molecular imaging. Attempts to use affibody molecules directly labelled with radiometals for targeted radionuclide therapy were hampered by the high uptake and retention of radioactivity in kidneys. Several promising strategies have been implemented to circumvent this problem. Here, we investigated whether a pharmacological approach targeting different components of the reabsorption system could be used to lower the uptake of [Tc-99m]Tc-Z(HER:2395) affibody molecule in kidneys. Pre-injection of probenecid, furosemide, mannitol or colchicine had no influence on activity uptake in kidneys compared to the control group. Mice pre-injected with maleate and fructose had 33% and 51% reduction in the kidney-associated activity, respectively, compared to the control group. Autoradiography images showed that the accumulation of activity after [Tc-99m]Tc-Z(HER2:2395) injection was in the renal cortex and that both maleate and fructose could significantly reduce it. Results from this study demonstrate that pharmacological intervention with maleate and fructose was effective in reducing the kidney uptake of affibody molecules. A presumable mechanism is the disruption of ATP-mediated cellular uptake and endocytosis processes of affibody molecules by tubular cells

    Co-injection of anti-HER2 antibody Trastuzumab does not increase efficacy of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 therapy in an animal model of prostate cancer

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    One novel option for treating metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer is radionuclide therapy targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), e.g. [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617. Overexpression of HER2 has been found in 80% of metastatic cases of prostate cancer. Previous research showed that HER2 is elevated post irradiation in PC-3 prostate cancer cells. Co-treating with anti-HER2 antibody Trastuzumab gave less proliferation of irradiated tumor cells in vitro, and when using radionuclide therapy, also in vivo. The aim of this study is to determine whether the same holds true in PSMA-expressing PC-3 PIP cells using [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 radionuclide therapy. PC-3 PIP and 22Rv1 prostate cancer cells were tested in vitro, treated with 6 Gy of x-rays with or without Trastuzumab incubation. We measured uptake of HER2-targeting affibody [68Ga]Ga-ABY-025 and cell survival, e.g. using the WST-1 assay. Three groups (n=10 each) of male nude Balb/c mice were inoculated with PC-3 PIP xenograft tumors and treated with just [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 (20 MBq), [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 (20 MBq) and Trastuzumab (4 × 5 mg/kg), or left untreated. Tumor sizes and animal survival was observed. In vitro, x-ray irradiation did reduce survival in 22Rv1 but not PC-3 PIP cells, and there was no significant effect of Trastuzumab treatment. Cells expressed HER2 but not significantly elevated post irradiation. In vivo, mice co-treated with Trastuzumab had significantly longer survival than untreated mice, but not than only [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617. Staining of tumor sections showed similar HER2 and PSMA expression across groups. In conclusion, these results give no support for any benefit from co-treatment with anti-HER2 antibody for PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy

    On the prevention of kidney uptake of radiolabeled DARPins

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    Background: Designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins) are small engineered scaffold proteins (14-18 kDa) that demonstrated promising tumor-targeting properties in preclinical studies. However, high renal accumulation of activity for DARPins labeled with residualizing labels is a limitation for targeted radionuclide therapy. A better understanding of the mechanisms behind the kidney uptake of DARPins could aid the development of strategies to reduce it. In this study, we have investigated whether the renal uptake of [Tc-99m]Tc(CO)(3)-G3 DARPin could be reduced by administration of compounds that act on various parts of the reabsorption system in the kidney. Results: Co-injection of lysine or Gelofusine was not effective for the reduction of kidney uptake of [Tc-99m]Tc(CO)(3)-G3. Administration of sodium maleate before the injection of [Tc-99m]Tc(CO)(3)-G3 reduced the kidney-associated activity by 60.4 +/- 10.3%, while administration of fructose reduced it by 46.9 +/- 7.6% compared with the control. The decrease in the kidney uptake provided by sodium maleate was also observed for [Tc-99m]Tc(CO)(3)-9_29 DARPin. Preinjection of colchicine, probenecid, mannitol, or furosemide had no effect on the kidney uptake of [Tc-99m]Tc(CO)(3)-G3. Kidney autoradiography showed mainly cortical accumulation of activity for all studied groups. Conclusion: Common clinical strategies were not effective for the reduction of kidney uptake of [Tc-99m]Tc(CO)(3)-G3. Both fructose and maleate lower the cellular ATP level in the proximal tubule cells and their reduction of the kidney reuptake indicates the involvement of an ATP-driven uptake mechanism. The decrease provided by maleate for both G3 and 9_29 DARPins indicates that their uptake proceeds through a mechanism independent of DARPin structure and binding site composition

    Экономика: Интегрированный модуль

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    Affibody molecules are small scaffold-based affinity proteins with promising properties as probes for radionuclide-based molecular imaging. However, a high reabsorption of radiolabeled Affibody molecules in kidneys is an issue. We have shown that the use of I-125-3-iodo-((4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl)maleimide (IHPEM) for site-specific labeling of cysteine-containing Affibody molecules provides high tumor uptake but low radioactivity retention in kidneys. We hypothesized that the use of 4-iodophenethylmaleimide (IPEM) would further reduce renal retention of radioactivity because of higher lipophilicity of radiometabolites. An anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor type2 (HER2) Affibody molecule (Z(HER2:2395)) was labeled using I-125-IPEM with an overall yield of 45 +/- 3%. I-125-IPEM-Z(HER2:2395) bound specifically to HER2-expressing human ovarian carcinoma cells (SKOV-3 cell line). In NMRI mice, the renal uptake of I-125-IPEM-Z(HER2:2395) (24 +/- 2 and 5.7 +/- 0.3%IAg(-1)at 1 and 4 h after injection, respectively) was significantly lower than uptake of I-125-IHPEM-Z(HER2:2395) (50 +/- 8 and 12 +/- 2%IAg(-1)at 1 and 4 h after injection, respectively). In conclusion, the use of a more lipophilic linker for the radioiodination of Affibody molecules reduces renal radioactivity
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