Preparation, cytotoxicity, and in vivo antitumor efficacy of 111In-labeled modular nanotransporters

Prospects of Using Protein Engineering for Selective Drug Delivery into a Specific Compartment of Target Cells

A large number of proteins are successfully used to treat various diseases. These include natural polypeptide hormones, their synthetic analogues, antibodies, antibody mimetics, enzymes, and other drugs based on them. Many of them are demanded in clinical settings and commercially successful, mainly for cancer treatment. The targets for most of the aforementioned drugs are located at the cell surface. Meanwhile, the vast majority of therapeutic targets, which are usually regulatory macromolecules, are located inside the cell. Traditional low molecular weight drugs freely penetrate all cells, causing side effects in non-target cells. In addition, it is often difficult to elaborate a small molecule that can specifically affect protein interactions. Modern technologies make it possible to obtain proteins capable of interacting with almost any target. However, proteins, like other macromolecules, cannot, as a rule, freely penetrate into the desired cellular compartment. Recent studies allow us to design multifunctional proteins that solve these problems. This review considers the scope of application of such artificial constructs for the targeted delivery of both protein-based and traditional low molecular weight drugs, the obstacles met on the way of their transport to the specified intracellular compartment of the target cells after their systemic bloodstream administration, and the means to overcome those difficulties.

Exploiting active nuclear import for efficient delivery of Auger electron emitters into the cell nucleus

BACKGROUND

The most attractive features of Auger electrons (AEs) in cancer therapy are their extremely short range and sufficiently high linear energy transfer (LET) for a majority of them. The cytotoxic effects of AE emitters can be realized only in close vicinity to sensitive cellular targets and they are negligible if the emitters are located outside the cell. The nucleus is considered the compartment most sensitive to high LET particles. Therefore, the use of AE emitters could be most useful in specific recognition of a cancer cell and delivery of AE emitters into its nucleus.

PURPOSE

This review describes the studies aimed at developing effective anticancer agents for the delivery of AE emitters to the nuclei of target cancer cells. The use of peptide-based conjugates, nanoparticles, recombinant proteins, and other constructs for AE emitter targeted intranuclear delivery as well as their advantages and limitations are discussed.

CONCLUSION

Transport from the cytoplasm to the nucleus along with binding to the cancer cell is one of the key stages in the delivery of AE emitters; therefore, several constructs for exploitation of this transport have been developed. The transport is carried out through a nuclear pore complex (NPC) with the use of specific amino acid nuclear localization sequences (NLS) and carrier proteins named importins, which are located in the cytosol. Therefore, the effectiveness of NLS-containing delivery constructs designed to provide energy-dependent transport of AE emitter into the nuclei of cancer cells also depends on their efficient entry into the cytosol of the target cell.

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor: Key to Selective Intracellular Delivery

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an integral surface protein mediating cellular response to a number of growth factors. Its overexpression and increased activation due to mutations is one of the most common traits of many types of cancer. Development and clinical use of the agents, which block EGFR activation, became a prime example of the personalized targeted medicine. However, despite the obvious success in this area, cancer cure remains unattainable in most cases. Because of that, as well as the result of the search for possible ways to overcome the difficulties of treatment, a huge number of new treatment methods relying on the use of EGFR overexpression and its changes to destroy cancer cells. Modern data on the structure, functioning, and intracellular transport of EGFR, its natural ligands, as well as signaling cascades triggered by the EGFR activation, peculiarities of the EGFR expression and activation in oncological disorders, as well as applied therapeutic approaches aimed at blocking EGFR signaling pathway are summarized and analyzed in this review. Approaches to the targeted delivery of various chemotherapeutic agents, radionuclides, immunotoxins, photosensitizers, as well as the prospects for gene therapy aimed at cancer cells with EGFR overexpression are reviewed in detail. It should be noted that increasing attention is being paid nowadays to the development of multifunctional systems, either carrying several different active agents, or possessing several environment-dependent transport functions. Potentials of the systems based on receptor-mediated endocytosis of EGFR and their possible advantages and limitations are discussed.

Low-resolution structures of modular nanotransporters shed light on their functional activity

Modular nanotransporters (MNTs) are multifunctional chimeric polypeptides for the multistep transport of locally acting cytotoxic agents into the nuclei of cancer target cells. MNTs consist of several polypeptide domains (functional modules) for the recognition of a cell-surface internalizable receptor, pH-dependent endosomal escape and subsequent transport into the nucleus through the nuclear pores. MNTs are a promising means for cancer treatment. As has been shown previously, all of the modules of MNTs retain their functionalities. Despite their importance, there is no structural information available about these chimeric polypeptides, which hampers the creation of new MNT variants. Here, a low-resolution 3D structure of an MNT is presented which was obtained by atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering coupled to size-exclusion chromatography. The data suggest that the MNT can adopt two main conformations, but in both conformations the protein N- and C-termini are distanced and do not influence each other. The change in the MNT conformation during acidification of the medium was also studied. It was shown that the fraction of the elongated conformation increases upon acidification. The results of this work will be useful for the development of MNTs that are suitable for clinical trials and possible therapeutic applications.

Advancements in the use of Auger electrons in science and medicine during the period 2015-2019

Auger electrons can be highly radiotoxic when they are used to irradiate specific molecular sites. This has spurred basic science investigations of their radiobiological effects and clinical investigations of their potential for therapy. Focused symposia on the biophysical aspects of Auger processes have been held quadrennially. This 9th International Symposium on Physical, Molecular, Cellular, and Medical Aspects of Auger Processes at Oxford University brought together scientists from many different fields to review past findings, discuss the latest studies, and plot the future work to be done. This review article examines the research in this field that was published during the years 2015-2019 which corresponds to the period since the last meeting in Japan. In addition, this article points to future work yet to be done. There have been a plethora of advancements in our understanding of Auger processes. These advancements range from basic atomic and molecular physics to new ways to implement Auger electron emitters in radiopharmaceutical therapy. The highly localized doses of radiation that are deposited within a 10 nm of the decay site make them precision tools for discovery across the physical, chemical, biological, and medical sciences.

The Delivery of Biologically Active Agents into the Nuclei of Target Cells for the Purposes of Translational Medicine

Development of vehicles for the subcellular targeted delivery of biologically active agents is very promising for the purposes of translational medicine. This review summarizes the results obtained by researchers from the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Intracellular Transport, Institute of Gene Biology RAS, which allowed them to design the core technology: modular nanotransporters. This approach ensures high efficacy and cell specificity for different anti-cancer agents, as they are delivered into the most vulnerable subcellular compartment within the cells of interest and makes it possible for antibody mimetics to penetrate into a compartment of interest within the target cells ("diving antibodies"). Furthermore, polyplexes, complexes of polycationic block copolymers of DNA, have been developed and characterized. These complexes are efficient both in vitro and in vivo and demonstrate predominant transfection of actively dividing cells.

New Recombinant Carriers Binding Specifically to the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor

New recombinant carriers-modular nanotransporters (MNTs)-with N-terminal ligand module to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were developed and characterized. Human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) and antibody-like protein Z₁₉₀₇ were used as a ligand module. We demonstrated that MNTs are able to internalize in a receptor-specific manner into the target cancer cells and to accumulate in the target cell nuclei. Conjugation of MNTs with the Auger electron emitter ¹¹¹In significantly enhanced the cytotoxic effect of ¹¹¹In on the target cells. It was found that the transfer of EGF from the C-terminus to the N-terminus of the MNT enhanced the proliferation of target cells, whereas the use of Z₁₉₀₇ did not have a similar effect.

Stabilization of Modular Nanotransporters by Embedding Hemin in Them in a New Strain with Heme Receptor Expression

It was found that the use of a new strain-producer Escherichia coli, expressing the heme receptor ChuA, enables obtaining a hemin-containing modular nanotransporter (MNT) for drug delivery into the nuclei of target cells. The hemin-containing MNT becomes stabilized, which leads to an increase in its thermal stability and prevents aggregation of this protein.

Targeted Delivery of 111In Into the Nuclei of EGFR Overexpressing Cells via Modular Nanotransporters With Anti-EGFR Affibody

Since cell nucleus is one of the most vulnerable compartments, the maximum therapeutic effect from a variety of locally acting agents, such as photosensitizers, alfa-emitters, Auger electron emitters, will be expected when they get there. Therefore, the targeted delivery of these agents into the nuclei of target tumor cells is necessary for their anticancer effects and minimization of side effects. Modular nanotransporters (MNT) are artificial polypeptides comprising several predefined modules that recognize target cell, launching their subsequent internalization, escape from endosomes, and transport the drug load to the nucleus. This technology significantly enhances the cytotoxicity of locally acting drugs in vitro and in vivo. Epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) are useful molecular targets as they are overexpressed in glioblastoma, head-and-neck cancer, bladder cancer, and other malignancies. Here, we examined the possibility of using internalizable anti-EGFR affibody as an EGFR-targeting MNT module for drug transport into the cancer cell nuclei. It binds to both murine and human EGFR facilitating preclinical studies. We showed that MNT with affibody on the N-terminus (MNT_N-affibody) effectively delivered the Auger electron emitter ¹¹¹In to target cell nuclei and had pronounced cytotoxic efficacy against EGFR-overexpressing human A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells. Using EGFR-expressing human adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells, we demonstrated that in contrast to MNT with N-terminal epidermal growth factor (EGF), MNT_N-affibody and MNT with EGF on the C-terminus did not stimulate cancer cell proliferation.

Delivery systems exploiting natural cell transport processes of macromolecules for intracellular targeting of Auger electron emitters

The presence of Auger electrons (AE) among the decay products of a number of radionuclides makes these radionuclides an attractive means for treating cancer because these short-range electrons can cause significant damage in the immediate vicinity of the decomposition site. Moreover, the extreme locality of the effect provides a potential for selective eradication of cancer cells with minimal damage to adjacent normal cells provided that the delivery of the AE emitter to the most vulnerable parts of the cell can be achieved. Few cellular compartments have been regarded as the desired target site for AE emitters, with the cell nucleus generally recognized as the preferred site for AE decay due to the extreme sensitivity of nuclear DNA to direct damage by radiation of high linear energy transfer. Thus, the advantages of AE emitters for cancer therapy are most likely to be realized by their selective delivery into the nucleus of the malignant cells. To achieve this goal, delivery systems must combine a challenging complex of properties that not only provide cancer cell preferential recognition but also cell entry followed by transport into the cell nucleus. A promising strategy for achieving this is the recruitment of natural cell transport processes of macromolecules, involved in each of the aforementioned steps. To date, a number of constructs exploiting intracellular transport systems have been proposed for AE emitter delivery to the nucleus of a targeted cell. An example of such a multifunctional vehicle that provides smart step-by-step delivery is the so-called modular nanotransporter, which accomplishes selective recognition, binding, internalization, and endosomal escape followed by nuclear import of the delivered radionuclide. The current review will focus on delivery systems utilizing various intracellular transport pathways and their combinations in order to provide efficient targeting of AE to the cancer cell nucleus.

The pharmacological properties of 3-arm or 4-arm DOTA constructs for conjugation to α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogues for melanoma imaging

Background

Although a 3-arm DOTA construct, which has three carboxylic acids, h has been applied for conjugation to many peptides, we investigated if a 4-arm DOTA construct conjugated to peptides improves chemical properties for melanoma imaging of the melanocortin 1 receptor compared to 3-arm DOTA-conjugated peptides.

Methods

Specific activities, radiolabeling efficiencies, and partition coefficients were evaluated using ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm and 4-arm DOTA-α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH). For assessment of MC1-R affinity and accumulation in tumor cells in vitro, B16-F1 melanoma and/or 4T1 breast cancer cells were incubated with ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm and 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH with and without α-MSH as a substrate. The stability was evaluated using mouse liver homogenates and plasma. Biological distribution and whole-body single photon emission computed tomography imaging of ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm and 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH were obtained using B16-F1 melanoma-bearing mice.

Results

Specific activities and radiolabeling efficiencies of both radiotracers were about 1.2 MBq/nM and 90–95%, respectively. The partition coefficients were −0.28 ± 0.03 for ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH and −0.13 ± 0.04 for ¹¹¹In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH. Although accumulation was significantly inhibited by α-MSH in B16-F1 cells, the inhibition rate of ¹¹¹In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH was lower than that of ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH. ¹¹¹In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH was taken up early into B16-F1 cells and showed higher accumulation than ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH after 10 min of incubation. Although these stabilities were relatively high, the stability of ¹¹¹In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH was higher than that of ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH. Regarding biological distribution, ¹¹¹In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH showed significantly lower average renal accumulation (1.38-fold) and significantly higher average melanoma accumulation (1.32-fold) than ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH at all acquisition times. ¹¹¹In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH showed significantly higher melanoma-to-kidney, melanoma-to-blood, and melanoma-to-muscle ratios than ¹¹¹In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH.

Conclusions

The 4-arm DOTA construct has better chemical properties for peptide radiotracers than the 3-arm DOTA construct.

Antitumor Activity of Auger Electron Emitter 111In Delivered by Modular Nanotransporter for Treatment of Bladder Cancer With EGFR Overexpression

Gamma-ray emitting ¹¹¹In, which is extensively used for imaging, is also a source of short-range Auger electrons (AE). While exhibiting negligible effect outside cells, these AE become highly toxic near DNA within the cell nucleus. Therefore, these radionuclides can be used as a therapeutic anticancer agent if delivered precisely into the nuclei of tumor target cells. Modular nanotransporters (MNTs) designed to provide receptor-targeted delivery of short-range therapeutic cargoes into the nuclei of target cells are perspective candidates for specific intracellular delivery of AE emitters. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of ¹¹¹In attached MNTs to kill human bladder cancer cells overexpressing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The cytotoxicity of ¹¹¹In delivered by the EGFR-targeted MNT (¹¹¹In-MNT) was greatly enhanced on EJ-, HT-1376-, and 5637-expressing EGFR bladder cancer cell lines compared with ¹¹¹In non-targeted control. In vivo microSPECT/CT imaging and antitumor efficacy studies revealed prolonged intratumoral retention of ¹¹¹In-MNT with t½ = 4.1 ± 0.5 days as well as significant dose-dependent tumor growth delay (up to 90% growth inhibition) after local infusion of ¹¹¹In-MNT in EJ xenograft-bearing mice.

Targeted Intracellular Delivery of Antibodies: The State of the Art

A dominant area of antibody research is the extension of the use of this mighty experimental and therapeutic tool for the specific detection of molecules for diagnostics, visualization, and activity blocking. Despite the ability to raise antibodies against different proteins, numerous applications of antibodies in basic research fields, clinical practice, and biotechnology are restricted to permeabilized cells or extracellular antigens, such as membrane or secreted proteins. With the exception of small groups of autoantibodies, natural antibodies to intracellular targets cannot be used within living cells. This excludes the scope of a major class of intracellular targets, including some infamous cancer-associated molecules. Some of these targets are still not druggable via small molecules because of large flat contact areas and the absence of deep hydrophobic pockets in which small molecules can insert and perturb their activity. Thus, the development of technologies for the targeted intracellular delivery of antibodies, their fragments, or antibody-like molecules is extremely important. Various strategies for intracellular targeting of antibodies via protein-transduction domains or their mimics, liposomes, polymer vesicles, and viral envelopes, are reviewed in this article. The pitfalls, challenges, and perspectives of these technologies are discussed.

Subcellular Targeting of Theranostic Radionuclides

The last decade has seen rapid growth in the use of theranostic radionuclides for the treatment and imaging of a wide range of cancers. Radionuclide therapy and imaging rely on a radiolabeled vector to specifically target cancer cells. Radionuclides that emit β particles have thus far dominated the field of targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT), mainly because the longer range (μm-mm track length) of these particles offsets the heterogeneous expression of the molecular target. Shorter range (nm-μm track length) α- and Auger electron (AE)-emitting radionuclides on the other hand provide high ionization densities at the site of decay which could overcome much of the toxicity associated with β-emitters. Given that there is a growing body of evidence that other sensitive sites besides the DNA, such as the cell membrane and mitochondria, could be critical targets in TRT, improved techniques in detecting the subcellular distribution of these radionuclides are necessary, especially since many β-emitting radionuclides also emit AE. The successful development of TRT agents capable of homing to targets with subcellular precision demands the parallel development of quantitative assays for evaluation of spatial distribution of radionuclides in the nm-μm range. In this review, the status of research directed at subcellular targeting of radionuclide theranostics and the methods for imaging and quantification of radionuclide localization at the nanoscale are described.

Modular Nanotransporters for Nuclear-Targeted Delivery of Auger Electron Emitters

This review describes artificial modular nanotransporters (MNTs) delivering their cargos into target cells and then into the nuclei – the most vulnerable cell compartment for most anticancer agents and especially for radionuclides emitting short-range particles. The MNT strategy uses natural subcellular transport processes inherent in practically all cells including cancer cells. The MNTs use these processes just as a passenger who purchased tickets for a multiple-transfer trip making use of different kinds of public transport to reach the desired destination. The MNTs are fusion polypeptides consisting of several parts, replaceable modules, accomplishing binding to a specific receptor on the cell and subsequent internalization, endosomal escape and transport into the cell nucleus. Radionuclides emitting short-range particles, like Auger electron emitters, acquire cell specificity and significantly higher cytotoxicity both in vitro and in vivo when delivered by the MNTs into the nuclei of cancer cells. MNT modules are interchangeable, allowing replacement of receptor recognition modules, which permits their use for different types of cancer cells and, as a cocktail of several MNTs, for targeting several tumor-specific molecules for personalized medicine.

MNT Optimization for Intracellular Delivery of Antibody Fragments

We studied the possibility of optimizing modular nanotransporters (MNTs) for the intracellular delivery of antibody fragments into the nuclei of cells of a specified type. Basic MNT with a reduced size retaining the desired functions was obtained, and the principal possibility of obtaining an MNT carrying an antibody fragment by microbiological synthesis was shown.

Transcription factors: Time to deliver

Transcription factors (TFs) are at the center of the broad regulatory network orchestrating gene expression programs that elicit different biological responses. For a long time, TFs have been considered as potent drug targets due to their implications in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases. At the same time, TFs, located at convergence points of cellular regulatory pathways, are powerful tools providing opportunities both for cell type change and for managing the state of cells. This task formulation requires the TF modulation problem to come to the fore. We review several ways to manage TF activity (small molecules, transfection, nanocarriers, protein-based approaches), analyzing their limitations and the possibilities to overcome them. Delivery of TFs could revolutionize the biomedical field. Whether this forecast comes true will depend on the ability to develop convenient technologies for targeted delivery of TFs.

Development and evaluation of a new modular nanotransporter for drug delivery into nuclei of pathological cells expressing folate receptors

PURPOSE

Modular nanotransporters (MNTs) are artificial multifunctional systems designed to facilitate receptor-specific transport from the cell surface into the cell nucleus through inclusion of polypeptide domains for accomplishing receptor binding and internalization, as well as sequential endosomal escape and nuclear translocation. The objective of this study was to develop a new MNT targeted at folate receptors (FRs) for precise delivery of therapeutic cargo to the nuclei of FR-positive cells and to evaluate its potential, particularly for delivery of therapeutic agents (eg, the Auger electron emitter ¹¹¹In) into the nuclei of target cancer cells.

METHODS

A FR-targeted MNT was developed by site-specific derivatization of ligand-free MNT with maleimide-polyethylene glycol-folic acid. The ability of FR-targeted MNT to accumulate in target FR-expressing cells was evaluated using flow cytometry, and intracellular localization of this MNT was assessed using confocal laser scanning microscopy of cells. The cytotoxicity of the ¹¹¹In-labeled FR-targeted MNT was evaluated on HeLa and U87MG cancer cell lines expressing FR. In vivo micro-single-photon emission computed tomography/CT imaging and antitumor efficacy studies were performed with intratumoral injection of ¹¹¹In-labeled FR-targeted MNT in HeLa xenograft-bearing mice.

RESULTS

The resulting FR-targeted MNT accumulated in FR-positive HeLa cancer cell lines specifically and demonstrated the ability to reach its target destination - the cell nuclei. ¹¹¹In-labeled FR-targeted MNT demonstrated efficient and specific FR-positive cancer cell eradication. A HeLa xenograft in vivo model revealed prolonged retention of ¹¹¹In delivered by FR-targeted MNT and significant tumor growth delay (up to 80% growth inhibition).

CONCLUSION

The FR-targeted MNT met expectations of its ability to deliver active cargo into the nuclei of target FR-positive cells efficiently and specifically. As a result of this finding the new FR-targeted MNT approach warrants broad evaluation.