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Zhang J, Bodenko V, Larkina M, Bezverkhniaia E, Xu T, Liao Y, Abouzayed A, Plotnikov E, Tretyakova M, Yuldasheva F, Belousov MV, Orlova A, Tolmachev V, Gräslund T, Vorobyeva A. Half-life extension via ADB-fusion leads to higher tumor uptake of an affibody-drug conjugate compared to PAS- and XTENylation. J Control Release 2024:S0168-3659(24)00280-3. [PMID: 38697314 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.04.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024]
Abstract
A critical parameter during the development of protein therapeutics is to endow them with suitable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Small protein drugs are quickly eliminated by kidney filtration, and in vivo half-life extension is therefore often desired. Here, different half-life extension technologies were studied where PAS polypeptides (PAS300, PAS600), XTEN polypeptides (XTEN288, XTEN576), and an albumin binding domain (ABD) were compared for half-life extension of an anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) affibody-drug conjugate. The results showed that extension with the PAS or XTEN polypeptides or the addition of the ABD lowered the affinity for HER2 to some extent but did not negatively affect the cytotoxic potential. The half-lives in mice ranged from 7.3 h for the construct including PAS300 to 11.6 h for the construct including PAS600. The highest absolute tumor uptake was found for the construct including the ABD, which was 60 to 160% higher than the PASylated or XTENylated constructs, even though it did not have the longest half-life (9.0 h). A comparison of the tumor-to-normal-organ ratios showed the best overall performance of the ABD-fused construct. In conclusion, PASylation, XTENylation, and the addition of an ABD are viable strategies for half-life extension of affibody-drug conjugates, with the best performance observed for the construct, including the ABD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Zhang
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Roslagstullsbacken 21, Stockholm 114 17, Sweden
| | - Vitalina Bodenko
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia; Scientific and Educational Laboratory of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research, Siberian State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Mariia Larkina
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia; Siberian State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | | | - Tianqi Xu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yunqi Liao
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ayman Abouzayed
- National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Evgenii Plotnikov
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Maria Tretyakova
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Feruza Yuldasheva
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Mikhail V Belousov
- Research Centrum for Oncotheranostics, Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia; Siberian State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Tomsk 634050, Russia; National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk 634050, Russia
| | - Anna Orlova
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Vladimir Tolmachev
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Torbjörn Gräslund
- Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Roslagstullsbacken 21, Stockholm 114 17, Sweden.
| | - Anzhelika Vorobyeva
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
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Nikravesh FY, Gholami P, Bayat E, Talebkhan Y, Mirabzadeh E, Damough S, Aliabadi HAM, Nematollahi L, Ardakani YH. Expression, Purification, and Biological Evaluation of XTEN-GCSF in a Neutropenic Rat Model. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 2024; 196:804-820. [PMID: 37209276 DOI: 10.1007/s12010-023-04522-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) stimulates the proliferation of neutrophils but it has low serum half-life. Therefore, the present study was done to investigate the effect of XTENylation on biological activity, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of GCSF in a neutropenic rat model. XTEN tag was genetically fused to the N-terminal region of GCSF-encoding gene fragment and subcloned into pET28a expression vector. The cytoplasmic expressed recombinant protein was characterized through intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy (IFS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). In vitro biological activity of the XTEN-GCSF protein was evaluated on NFS60 cell line. Hematopoietic properties and pharmacokinetics were also investigated in a neutropenic rat model. An approximately 140 kDa recombinant protein was detected on SDS-PAGE. Dynamic light scattering and size exclusion chromatography confirmed the increase in hydrodynamic diameter of GCSF molecule after XTENylation. GCSF derivatives showed efficacy in proliferation of NFS60 cell line among which the XTEN-GCSF represented the lowest EC50 value (100.6 pg/ml). Pharmacokinetic studies on neutropenic rats revealed that XTEN polymer could significantly increase protein serum half-life in comparison with the commercially available GCSF molecules. PEGylated and XTENylated GCSF proteins were more effective in stimulation of neutrophils compared to the GCSF molecule alone. XTENylation of GCSF represented promising results in in vitro and in vivo studies. This approach can be a potential alternative to PEGylation strategies for increasing serum half-life of protein.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Parisa Gholami
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elham Bayat
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Yeganeh Talebkhan
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Esmat Mirabzadeh
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Shadi Damough
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Leila Nematollahi
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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Khodabakhsh F, Salimian M, Hedayati MH, Ahangari Cohan R, Norouzian D. Challenges and advancements in the pharmacokinetic enhancement of therapeutic proteins. Prep Biochem Biotechnol 2021; 51:519-529. [PMID: 33459157 DOI: 10.1080/10826068.2020.1839907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Nowadays, proteins are frequently administered as therapeutic agents in human diseases. However, the main challenge regarding the clinical application of therapeutic proteins is short circulating plasma half-life that leads to more frequent injections for maintaining therapeutic plasma levels, increased therapy costs, immunogenic reactions, and low patient compliance. So, the development of novel strategies to enhance the pharmacokinetic profile of therapeutic proteins has attracted great attention in pharmaceuticals. So far, several techniques, each with their pros and cons, have been developed including chemical bonding to polymers, hyper glycosylation, Fc fusion, human serum albumin fusion, and recombinant PEG mimetics. These techniques mainly classify into three strategies; (i) the endosomal recycling of neonatal Fc receptor which is observed for immunoglobulins and albumin, (ii) decrease in receptor-mediated clearance, and (iii) increase in hydrodynamic radius through chemical and genetic modifications. Recently, novel PEG mimetic peptides like proline/alanine/serine repeat sequences are designed to overcome pitfalls associated with the previous technologies. Biodegradability, lack of or low immunogenicity, product homogeneity, and a simple production process, currently make these polypeptides as the preferred technology for plasma half-life extension of therapeutic proteins. In this review, challenges and pitfalls in the pharmacokinetic enhancement of therapeutic proteins using PEG-mimetic peptides will be discussed in detail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farnaz Khodabakhsh
- Department of Genetics and Advanced Medical Technology, Medical Biotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Morteza Salimian
- Department of Medical Laboratory, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
| | - Mohammad Hossein Hedayati
- Department of Quality Control, Research and Production Complex, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Ahangari Cohan
- Department of Nanobiotechnology, New Technologies Research Group, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Dariush Norouzian
- Department of Nanobiotechnology, New Technologies Research Group, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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Brandl F, Merten H, Zimmermann M, Béhé M, Zangemeister-Wittke U, Plückthun A. Influence of size and charge of unstructured polypeptides on pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of targeted fusion proteins. J Control Release 2019; 307:379-392. [PMID: 31252038 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2019.06.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 06/22/2019] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Alternative non-IgG binding proteins developed for therapy are small in size and, thus, are rapidly cleared from the circulation by renal filtration. To avoid repeated injection or continuous infusion for the maintenance of therapeutic serum concentrations, extensions of unfolded polypeptides have been developed to prolong serum half-life, but systematic, comparative studies investigating the influence of their size and charge on serum half-life, extravasation, tumor localization and excretion mechanisms have so far been lacking. Here we used a high-affinity Designed Ankyrin Repeat Protein (DARPin) targeting the tumor marker epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) in a preclinical tumor xenograft model in mice, and fused it with a series of defined unstructured polypeptides. We used three different sizes of two previously described polypeptides, an uncharged one consisting of only Pro, Ala and Ser (termed PAS) and a charged one consisting of Pro, Ala, Ser, Thr, Gly, Glu (termed XTEN) and performed for the first time a precise comparative localization, distribution and extravasation study. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed a clear linear relationship between hydrodynamic radius and serum half-life across both polypeptides, reaching a half-life of up to 21 h in mice. Tumor uptake was EpCAM-dependent and directly proportional to half-life and size, showing an even tumor penetration for all fusion proteins without unspecific accumulation in non-target tissue. Unexpectedly, charge had no influence on any parameter, neither tumor nor tissue accumulation nor kidney elimination kinetics. Thus, both polypeptide types have a very similar potential for precise half-life modification and tumor targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Brandl
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, Inselspital INO-F, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hannes Merten
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martina Zimmermann
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martin Béhé
- Center of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Uwe Zangemeister-Wittke
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, Inselspital INO-F, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Andreas Plückthun
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
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