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di Leandro L, Colasante M, Pitari G, Ippoliti R. Hosts and Heterologous Expression Strategies of Recombinant Toxins for Therapeutic Purposes. Toxins (Basel) 2023; 15:699. [PMID: 38133203 PMCID: PMC10748335 DOI: 10.3390/toxins15120699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The production of therapeutic recombinant toxins requires careful host cell selection. Bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells are common choices, but no universal solution exists. Achieving the delicate balance in toxin production is crucial due to potential self-intoxication. Recombinant toxins from various sources find applications in antimicrobials, biotechnology, cancer drugs, and vaccines. "Toxin-based therapy" targets diseased cells using three strategies. Targeted cancer therapy, like antibody-toxin conjugates, fusion toxins, or "suicide gene therapy", can selectively eliminate cancer cells, leaving healthy cells unharmed. Notable toxins from various biological sources may be used as full-length toxins, as plant (saporin) or animal (melittin) toxins, or as isolated domains that are typical of bacterial toxins, including Pseudomonas Exotoxin A (PE) and diphtheria toxin (DT). This paper outlines toxin expression methods and system advantages and disadvantages, emphasizing host cell selection's critical role.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Rodolfo Ippoliti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy; (L.d.L.); (M.C.); (G.P.)
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2
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Antibody-Drug Conjugates: The New Frontier of Chemotherapy. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21155510. [PMID: 32752132 PMCID: PMC7432430 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21155510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have become promising antitumor agents to be used as one of the tools in personalized cancer medicine. ADCs are comprised of a drug with cytotoxic activity cross-linked to a monoclonal antibody, targeting antigens expressed at higher levels on tumor cells than on normal cells. By providing a selective targeting mechanism for cytotoxic drugs, ADCs improve the therapeutic index in clinical practice. In this review, the chemistry of ADC linker conjugation together with strategies adopted to improve antibody tolerability (by reducing antigenicity) are examined, with particular attention to ADCs approved by the regulatory agencies (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA)) for treating cancer patients. Recent developments in engineering Immunoglobulin (Ig) genes and antibody humanization have greatly reduced some of the problems of the first generation of ADCs, beset by problems, such as random coupling of the payload and immunogenicity of the antibody. ADC development and clinical use is a fast, evolving area, and will likely prove an important modality for the treatment of cancer in the near future.
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Dhez AC, Benedetti E, Antonosante A, Panella G, Ranieri B, Florio TM, Cristiano L, Angelucci F, Giansanti F, Di Leandro L, d'Angelo M, Melone M, De Cola A, Federici L, Galzio R, Cascone I, Raineri F, Cimini A, Courty J, Giordano A, Ippoliti R. Targeted therapy of human glioblastoma via delivery of a toxin through a peptide directed to cell surface nucleolin. J Cell Physiol 2018; 233:4091-4105. [PMID: 28941284 DOI: 10.1002/jcp.26205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Accepted: 09/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Targeted anticancer therapies demand discovery of new cellular targets to be exploited for the delivery of toxic molecules and drugs. In this perspective, in the last few years, nucleolin has been identified as an interesting surface marker to be used for the therapy of glioblastoma. In this study, we investigated whether a synthetic antagonist of cell-surface nucleolin known as N6L, previously reported to decrease both tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis in several cancer cell lines, including glioblastoma cells, as well as endothelial cells proliferation, could be exploited to deliver a protein toxin (saporin) to glioblastoma cells. The pseudopeptide N6L cross-linked to saporin-S6 induced internalization of the toxin inside glioblastoma cancer cells. Our results in vitro demonstrated the effectiveness of this conjugate in inducing cell death, with an ID50 four orders of magnitude lower than that observed for free N6L. Furthermore, the preliminary in vivo study demonstrated efficiency in reducing the tumor mass in an orthotopic mouse model of glioblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Chloé Dhez
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
- Université Paris-Est, UPEC, Créteil, France
- CNRS, ERL 9215, Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Croissance Cellulaire, la Réparation et la Régénération Tissulaires (CRRET), Créteil, France
| | - Elisabetta Benedetti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Andrea Antonosante
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Gloria Panella
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Brigida Ranieri
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Tiziana M Florio
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Loredana Cristiano
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Francesco Angelucci
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Francesco Giansanti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Luana Di Leandro
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Michele d'Angelo
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Marina Melone
- Department of Biology, Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic Sciences and Aging, 2nd Division of Neurology, Center for Rare Diseases and InterUniversity Center for Research in Neurosciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy
| | - Antonella De Cola
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti 'G. D'Annunzio', Chieti, Italy
| | - Luca Federici
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti 'G. D'Annunzio', Chieti, Italy
| | - Renato Galzio
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Ilaria Cascone
- Université Paris-Est, UPEC, Créteil, France
- CNRS, ERL 9215, Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Croissance Cellulaire, la Réparation et la Régénération Tissulaires (CRRET), Créteil, France
| | - Fabio Raineri
- Université Paris-Est, UPEC, Créteil, France
- CNRS, ERL 9215, Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Croissance Cellulaire, la Réparation et la Régénération Tissulaires (CRRET), Créteil, France
| | - Annamaria Cimini
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
- Department of Biology, Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), Assergi, Italy
| | - José Courty
- Université Paris-Est, UPEC, Créteil, France
- CNRS, ERL 9215, Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Croissance Cellulaire, la Réparation et la Régénération Tissulaires (CRRET), Créteil, France
| | - Antonio Giordano
- Department of Biology, Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Rodolfo Ippoliti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
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Giansanti F, Flavell DJ, Angelucci F, Fabbrini MS, Ippoliti R. Strategies to Improve the Clinical Utility of Saporin-Based Targeted Toxins. Toxins (Basel) 2018; 10:toxins10020082. [PMID: 29438358 PMCID: PMC5848183 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10020082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2017] [Revised: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 02/11/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Plant Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) including the type I RIP Saporin have been used for the construction of Immunotoxins (ITxs) obtained via chemical conjugation of the toxic domain to whole antibodies or by generating genetic fusions to antibody fragments/targeting domains able to direct the chimeric toxin against a desired sub-population of cancer cells. The high enzymatic activity, stability and resistance to conjugation procedures and especially the possibility to express recombinant fusions in yeast, make Saporin a well-suited tool for anti-cancer therapy approaches. Previous clinical work on RIPs-based Immunotoxins (including Saporin) has shown that several critical issues must be taken into deeper consideration to fully exploit their therapeutic potential. This review focuses on possible combinatorial strategies (chemical and genetic) to augment Saporin-targeted toxin efficacy. Combinatorial approaches may facilitate RIP escape into the cytosolic compartment (where target ribosomes are), while genetic manipulations may minimize potential adverse effects such as vascular-leak syndrome or may identify T/B cell epitopes in order to decrease the immunogenicity following similar strategies as those used in the case of bacterial toxins such as Pseudomonas Exotoxin A or as for Type I RIP Bouganin. This review will further focus on strategies to improve recombinant production of Saporin-based chimeric toxins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Giansanti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, I-67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - David J Flavell
- The Simon Flavell Leukaemia Research Laboratory (Leukaemia Busters), Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 8AT, UK.
| | - Francesco Angelucci
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, I-67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
| | | | - Rodolfo Ippoliti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, I-67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
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Ding L, Jiang Y, Zhang J, Klok HA, Zhong Z. pH-Sensitive Coiled-Coil Peptide-Cross-Linked Hyaluronic Acid Nanogels: Synthesis and Targeted Intracellular Protein Delivery to CD44 Positive Cancer Cells. Biomacromolecules 2018; 19:555-562. [PMID: 29284258 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.7b01664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The clinical translation of protein drugs that act intracellularly is limited by the absence of safe and efficient intracellular protein delivery vehicles. Here, pH-sensitive coiled-coil peptide-cross-linked hyaluronic acid nanogels (HA-cNGs) were designed and investigated for targeted intracellular protein delivery to CD44 overexpressing MCF-7 breast cancer cells. HA-cNGs were obtained with a small size of 176 nm from an equivalent mixture of hyaluronic acid conjugates with GY(EIAALEK)3GC (E3) and GY(KIAALKE)3GC (K3) peptides, respectively, at pH 7.4 by nanoprecipitation. Circular dichroism (CD) proved the formation of coiled-coil structures between E3 and K3 peptides at pH 7.4 while fast uncoiling at pH 5.0. HA-cNGs showed facile loading of cytochrome C (CC) and greatly accelerated CC release under mild acidic conditions (18.4%, 76.8%, and 91.4% protein release in 24 h at pH 7.4, 6.0, and 5.0, respectively). Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry displayed efficient internalization of CC-loaded HA-cNGs and effective endosomal escape of CC in MCF-7 cancer cells. Remarkably, HA-cNGs loaded with saporin, a ribosome inactivating protein, exhibited significantly enhanced apoptotic activity to MCF-7 cells with a low IC50 of 12.2 nM. These coiled-coil peptide-cross-linked hyaluronic acid nanogels have appeared as a simple and multifunctional platform for efficient intracellular protein delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingling Ding
- Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, 215123, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu Jiang
- Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, 215123, People's Republic of China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, 215123, People's Republic of China
| | - Harm-Anton Klok
- Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, 215123, People's Republic of China.,Laboratoire des Polymères, Institut des Matériaux and Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , Bâtiment MXD, Station 12, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Zhiyuan Zhong
- Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, 215123, People's Republic of China
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Capone E, Giansanti F, Ponziani S, Lamolinara A, Iezzi M, Cimini A, Angelucci F, Sorda RL, Laurenzi VD, Natali PG, Ippoliti R, Iacobelli S, Sala G. EV20-Sap, a novel anti-HER-3 antibody-drug conjugate, displays promising antitumor activity in melanoma. Oncotarget 2017; 8:95412-95424. [PMID: 29221137 PMCID: PMC5707031 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.20728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Accepted: 08/08/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Melanoma is the most biologically aggressive skin cancer of well established constitutive and induced resistance to pharmacological treatment. Despite the recent progresses in immunotherapies, many advanced metastatic melanoma patients still face a significant mortality risk. The aggressive nature of this disease sustains an urgent need for more successful, effective drugs. HER-3 - one of the four member of the tyrosin kinase epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) family- is frequently overexpressed in solid tumors, including melanoma. Moreover, up-regulation of HER-3 and its ligand NRGβ-1 are associated with poor prognosis, thus suggesting this receptor as a suitable target for cancer therapy. Several monoclonal antibodies targeting HER-3 are currently available, but preliminary results from clinical testing of these agents reveal a modest efficacy. Thus, a substantial improvement over this immunotherapeutic approach could be offered by an anti-HER-3 based Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC). In the present paper, we describe the generation of an ADC obtained by coupling the HER-3 targeting antibody EV20 linked to the plant toxin Saporin (Sap). In vitro, this ADC displays a powerful, specific and target-dependent cytotoxic activity which correlates with the degree of expression and internalization of HER-3 on tumor cells. Furthermore, in a murine melanoma model, EV20-Sap treatment leads to a significant reduction of the number of pulmonary metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Capone
- Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesco Giansanti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Coppito (AQ) Italy
| | - Sara Ponziani
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Coppito (AQ) Italy.,MediaPharma s.r.l., Via della Colonnetta, Chieti, Italy
| | - Alessia Lamolinara
- Department of Medicine and Aging Science, Center of Excellence on Aging and Translational Medicine (CeSi-Met), G. D'Annunzio University, Chieti-Pescara, Italy
| | - Manuela Iezzi
- Department of Medicine and Aging Science, Center of Excellence on Aging and Translational Medicine (CeSi-Met), G. D'Annunzio University, Chieti-Pescara, Italy
| | - Annamaria Cimini
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Coppito (AQ) Italy.,Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine and Center for Biotechnology Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.,National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), Assergi, Italy
| | - Francesco Angelucci
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Coppito (AQ) Italy
| | | | - Vincenzo De Laurenzi
- Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | | | - Rodolfo Ippoliti
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Coppito (AQ) Italy
| | - Stefano Iacobelli
- Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,MediaPharma s.r.l., Via della Colonnetta, Chieti, Italy
| | - Gianluca Sala
- Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,MediaPharma s.r.l., Via della Colonnetta, Chieti, Italy
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Akkouh O, Ng TB, Cheung RCF, Wong JH, Pan W, Ng CCW, Sha O, Shaw PC, Chan WY. Biological activities of ribosome-inactivating proteins and their possible applications as antimicrobial, anticancer, and anti-pest agents and in neuroscience research. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2015; 99:9847-63. [PMID: 26394859 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-015-6941-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2015] [Revised: 08/10/2015] [Accepted: 08/13/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are enzymes which depurinate ribosomal RNA (rRNA), thus impeding the process of translation resulting in inhibition of protein synthesis. They are produced by various organisms including plants, fungi and bacteria. RIPs from plants are linked to plant defense due to their antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, and insecticidal activities in which they can be applied in agriculture to combat microbial pathogens and pests. Their anticancer, antiviral, embryotoxic, and abortifacient properties may find medicinal applications. Besides, conjugation of RIPs with antibodies or other carriers to form immunotoxins has been found useful to research in neuroscience and anticancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ouafae Akkouh
- Department of Biology and Medical Laboratory Research, Faculty of Technology, University of Applied Sciences Leiden, Zernikdreef 11, 2333 CK, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Tzi Bun Ng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
| | - Randy Chi Fai Cheung
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
| | - Jack Ho Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
| | - Wenliang Pan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
| | - Charlene Cheuk Wing Ng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
| | - Ou Sha
- School of Medicine, Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Pang Chui Shaw
- School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
| | - Wai Yee Chan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
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