| 1. |
- Banka, Vinay, et al.
(författare)
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Development of brain-penetrable antibody radioligands for in vivo PET imaging of amyloid-β and tau.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in nuclear medicine (Lausanne, Switzerland). - 2673-8880. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the misfolding and aggregation of two major proteins: amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau. Antibody-based PET radioligands are desirable due to their high specificity and affinity; however, antibody uptake in the brain is limited by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Previously, we demonstrated that antibody transport across the BBB can be facilitated through interaction with the transferrin receptor (TfR), and the bispecific antibody-based PET ligands were capable of detecting Aβ aggregates via ex vivo imaging. Since tau accumulation in the brain is more closely correlated with neuronal death and cognition, we report here our strategies to prepare four F-18-labeled specifically engineered bispecific antibody probes for the selective detection of tau and Aβ aggregates to evaluate their feasibility and specificity, particularly for in vivo PET imaging.METHODS: We first created and evaluated (via both in vitro and ex vivo studies) four specifically engineered bispecific antibodies, by fusion of single-chain variable fragments (scFv) of a TfR antibody with either a full-size IgG antibody of Aβ or tau or with their respective scFv. Using [18F]SFB as the prosthetic group, all four 18F-labeled bispecific antibody probes were then prepared by conjugation of antibody and [18F]SFB in acetonitrile/0.1 M borate buffer solution (final pH ~ 8.5) with an incubation of 20 min at room temperature, followed by purification on a PD MiniTrap G-25 size exclusion gravity column.RESULTS: Based on both in vitro and ex vivo evaluation, the bispecific antibodies displayed much higher brain concentrations than the unmodified antibody, supporting our subsequent F18-radiolabeling. [18F]SFB was produced in high yields in 60 min (decay-corrected radiochemical yield (RCY) 46.7 ± 5.4) with radiochemical purities of >95%, confirmed by analytical high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and radio-TLC. Conjugation of [18F]SFB and bispecific antibodies showed a 65%-83% conversion efficiency with radiochemical purities of 95%-99% by radio-TLC.CONCLUSIONS: We successfully labeled four novel and specifically engineered bispecific antibodies with [18F]SFB under mild conditions with a high RCY and purities. This study provides strategies to create brain-penetrable F-18 radiolabeled antibody probes for the selective detection of tau and Aβ aggregates in the brain of transgenic AD mice via in vivo PET imaging.
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| 2. |
- Behere, Anish, 1993-
(författare)
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Ex‘PLA’ining the progression of pathological proteins in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases : see(d)ing is believing
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are the two most common forms of neurodegenerative disorders affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide. The underlying neuropathological processes leading to AD and PD share many similarities, i.e. aberrant protein aggregation of tau and alpha-synuclein (αSyn) in the brain. Monitoring tau and αSyn aggregation is challenging, due to morphological heterogeneity of the aggregating species and problems in preserving the antigen conformation ex vivo.In paper-I, we validated the usefulness of proximity ligation assay (PLA), a technique that enabled us to visualize previously undetected early αSyn pathology in the A30P-tg mouse model of PD. We observed an age-progressive increase in the levels of phosphorylated αSyn (pSynS129) and the compactness of aggregates in the brain. Although loss of dopaminergic neurons was not found, a subtle dysregulation of other catecholamines was recorded in the older mice.In paper-II, we revealed a wide distribution of pSynS129 aggregates in alpha-synucleinopathy-patient brains. By using a PLA setup with certain antibody pair combinations on brain sections, we observed unique staining patterns, which could not be visualized using regular immunohistochemistry (IHC). In A30P-tg mice, the morphological pattern of the PLA signals indicated an intracellular shift of pSynS129 from the periphery towards the neuronal soma.In Paper-III, we demonstrated that multiplex pTauS202,T205-pTauT231, singleplex pTauT231 and singleplex pSynS129 PLAs can recognize an extensive tau and αSyn pathology compared to regular IHC. We found that using our PLA approach we could differentiate between pTauS202,T205 and pTauT231 pathology in AD brains, whereas IHC could not. Similarly, in the PD brain, singleplex pSynS129 PLA detected novel structures, i.e. apparent thick intercellular tunnelling nanotubes and early aggregates; whereas pSynS129 IHC was limited to the detection of mature pathology. Lastly, we demonstrated that our multiplex PLA approach detected co-aggregates of pSynS129-pTau.In Paper-IV, in an αSyn seeding mouse model we observed pSynS129 immunoreactivity close to the striatal injection site one day post-injection (dpi). Intriguingly, this type of staining disappeared with the concurrent formation of peri-nuclear pSynS129 inclusions in specific brain regions after 14 dpi. In parallel, astrocytic activation prior to pSynS129 inclusion formation was observed.In conclusion, we have developed several novel PLAs that detect both tau and αSyn pathology with a higher ex vivo sensitivity and specificity than currently used immunostaining methods. This thesis work provides valuable insights that potentially could be used for the development of future biomarkers for tauopathies and synucleinopathies.
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| 3. |
- Bergström, Mats, et al.
(författare)
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Blood-brain barrier penetration of zolmitriptan--modelling of positron emission tomography data
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1567-567X .- 1573-8744. ; 33:1, s. 75-91
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Positron emission tomography (PET) with the drug radiolabelled allows a direct measurement of brain or other organ kinetics, information which can be essential in drug development. Usually, however, a PET-tracer is administered intravenously (i.v.), whereas the therapeutic drug is mostly given orally or by a different route to the PET-tracer. In such cases, a recalculation is needed to make the PET data representative for the alternative administration route. To investigate the blood-brain barrier penetration of a drug (zolmitriptan) using dynamic PET and by PK modelling quantify the brain concentration of the drug after the nasal administration of a therapeutic dose. [11C]Zolmitriptan at tracer dose was administered as a short i.v. infusion and the brain tissue and venous blood kinetics of [11C]zolmitriptan was measured by PET in 7 healthy volunteers. One PET study was performed before and one 30 min after the administration of 5 mg zolmitriptan as nasal spray. At each of the instances, the brain radioactivity concentration after subtraction of the vascular component was determined up to 90 min after administration and compared to venous plasma radioactivity concentration after correction for radiolabelled metabolites. Convolution methods were used to describe the relationship between arterial and venous tracer concentrations, respectively between brain and arterial tracer concentration. Finally, the impulse response functions derived from the PET studies were applied on plasma PK data to estimate the brain zolmitriptan concentration after a nasal administration of a therapeutic dose. The studies shows that the PET data on brain kinetics could well be described as the convolution of venous tracer kinetics with an impulse response including terms for arterial-to-venous plasma and arterial-to-brain impulse responses. Application of the PET derived impulse responses on the plasma PK from nasal administration demonstrated that brain PK of zolmitriptan increased with time, achieving about 0.5 mg/ml at 30 min and close to a maximum of 1.5 mg/ml after 2 hr. A significant brain concentration was observed already after 5 min. The data support the notation of a rapid brain availability of zolmitriptan after nasal administration.
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| 4. |
- Bidesi, Natasha Shalina Radjani, et al.
(författare)
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Development of the First Tritiated Tetrazine : Facilitating Tritiation of Proteins
- 2022
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Ingår i: ChemBioChem (Print). - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1439-4227 .- 1439-7633. ; 23:23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tetrazine (Tz)-trans-cyclooctene (TCO) ligation is an ultra-fast and highly selective reaction and it is particularly suited to label biomolecules under physiological conditions. As such, a H-3-Tz based synthon would have wide applications for in vitro/ex vivo assays. In this study, we developed a H-3-labeled Tz and characterized its potential for application to pretargeted autoradiography. Several strategies were explored to synthesize such a Tz. However, classical approaches such as reductive halogenation failed. For this reason, we designed a Tz containing an aldehyde and explored the possibility of reducing this group with NaBT4. This approach was successful and resulted in [H-3]-(4-(6-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazin-3-yl)phenyl)methan-t-ol with a radiochemical yield of 22 %, a radiochemical purity of 96 % and a molar activity of 0.437 GBq/mu mol (11.8 Ci/mmol). The compound was successfully applied to pretargeted autoradiography. Thus, we report the synthesis of the first H-3-labeled Tz and its successful application as a labeling building block.
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| 5. |
- Bogdanović, Renée Marie, et al.
(författare)
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(R)-[(11)C]PK11195 brain uptake as a biomarker of inflammation and antiepileptic drug resistance : Evaluation in a rat epilepsy model
- 2014
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Ingår i: Neuropharmacology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0028-3908 .- 1873-7064. ; 85, s. 104-112
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Neuroinflammation has been suggested as a key determinant of the intrinsic severity of epilepsy. Glial cell activation and associated inflammatory signaling can influence seizure thresholds as well as the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs. Based on these data, we hypothesized that molecular imaging of microglia activation might serve as a tool to predict drug refractoriness of epilepsy. Brain uptake of (R)-[(11)C]PK11195, a ligand of the translocator protein 18 kDa and molecular marker of microglia activation, was studied in a chronic model of temporal lobe epilepsy in rats with selection of phenobarbital responders and non-responders. In rats with drug-sensitive epilepsy, (R)-[(11)C]PK11195 brain uptake values were comparable to those in non-epileptic controls. Analysis in non-responders revealed enhanced brain uptake of up to 39% in different brain regions. The difference might be related to the fact that non-responders exhibited higher baseline seizure frequencies than responders indicating a more pronounced intrinsic disease severity. In hippocampal sections, ED1 immunostaining argued against a general difference in microglia activation between both groups. Our data suggest that TSPO PET imaging might serve as a biomarker for drug resistance in temporal lobe epilepsy. However, it needs to be considered that our findings indicate that the TSPO PET data might merely reflect seizure frequency. Future experimental and clinical studies should further evaluate the validity of TSPO PET data to predict the response to phenobarbital and other antiepileptic drugs in longitudinal studies with scanning before drug exposure and with a focus on the early phase following an epileptogenic brain insult.
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| 6. |
- Bonvicini, Gillian, et al.
(författare)
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Comparing in vitro affinity measurements of antibodies to TfR1 : Surface plasmon resonance versus on-cell affinity
- 2024
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Ingår i: Analytical Biochemistry. - : Elsevier. - 0003-2697 .- 1096-0309. ; 686
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite years of utilizing the transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) to transport large biomolecules into the brain, there is no consensus on how to optimally measure affinity to it. The aim of this study was to compare different methods for measuring the affinities of anti-TfR1 antibodies.Antibodies 15G11, OX26 and 8D3 are known to successfully carry large biologics across the blood-brain barrier in humans, rats, and mice, respectively. The affinity to their respective species of TfR1 was measured with different surface plasmon resonance setups in Biacore and an on-cell assay.When the antibody was captured and TfR1 was the analyte, the dissociation in Biacore was very slow. The dissociation was faster when the antibody was the analyte and TfR1 was the ligand. The Biacore setup with capture of N-terminal FLAG-tag TfR1 yielded the most similar apparent affinities as the cell assay.In conclusion, it is important to evaluate assay parameters including assay orientation, surface capture method, and antibody format when comparing binding kinetics for TfR1 antibodies. Although it seems possible to determine relative affinities of TfR1 antibodies using the methods described here, both the FLAG-tag TfR1 capture setup and cell assays likely yield apparent affinities that are most translatable in vivo.
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| 7. |
- Bonvicini, Gillian, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of valency effects on TfR-mediated brain delivery in vivo
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Monovalent binding to the transferrin receptor (TfR) is assumed to be the most efficient binding mode for avoiding lysosomal degradation of the protein constructs that utilise TfR-mediated transcytosis to cross the blood-brain barrier. However, past studies evaluating the effects of valency to TfR on brain uptake generally had shortcomings in the protein design. This led to protein constructs that differed in valency but also in affinity and/or protein size. Therefore, the aim here was to evaluate the effect of valency on TfR-mediated brain delivery.Affinity variants of antibody 8D3 were produced by introducing alanine point mutations into the complementarity-determining regions. Eleven Fab fragments and 29 IgGs were screened for affinity against murine TfR. Six of each were chosen to be produced with a knob-in-hole design to have monovalent and bivalent TfR binders in full-length antibody format. These 12 antibodies were tested in a cell assay and 2 pairs of monovalent and bivalent antibodies were determined based on the apparent affinity. The stronger apparent affinity pair was radiolabelled with iodine-125 and injected into WT mice at a tracer dose. The biodistribution was measured in brain, blood and peripheral organs at 4 h post-injection.The antibodies from the stronger apparent affinity pair had similar blood pharmacokinetics and peripheral distribution suggesting that the apparent affinities were indeed similar. The monovalent antibody had significantly higher brain uptake than the bivalent antibody; supporting that monovalent binding yields better brain delivery than bivalent binding to TfR. It further suggests that the effect of valency on brain delivery is apparent affinity independent.
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| 8. |
- Bonvicini, Gillian
(författare)
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Harnessing the molecular Trojan horse : Evaluating properties of preclinical Aβ immunoPET radioligands for optimized brain delivery via the transferrin receptor
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With high specificity and selectivity to targets, antibodies are prime candidates for positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands. They do not passively cross the blood-brain barrier which has hindered their development for imaging intrabrain targets, like amyloid-β (Aβ) in Alzheimer’s disease. The molecular Trojan horse strategy with antibodies that bind to both the transferrin receptor (TfR) and an intrabrain target improves brain delivery of therapeutic antibodies. However, therapeutic antibodies are typically dosed substantially higher than antibody-based PET (immunoPET) radioligands.This thesis evaluated the effects of affinity, valency, and dose on the brain delivery of preclinical Aβ immunoPET radioligands via the TfR.Paper I investigated whether immunoPET with TfR-mediated brain delivery could image Aβ with similar sensitivity in rats as it has in mice. To our knowledge, this was the first time TfR-hijacking to deliver a radioligand to image Aβ was successfully demonstrated in rats; suggesting this strategy could eventually be translated to clinics.Affinity to TfR influences therapeutic delivery to the brain. In Paper II, we compared four Biacore setups and one on-cell assay for determining apparent affinities to the TfR. Absolute affinity determination was challenging since several assay conditions impacted the kinetic parameters. A directional TfR capture in Biacore may be optimal since it determined kinetic parameters while mimicking in vivo receptor conditions. Papers I and III investigated how antibody affinity affects brain delivery at tracer doses and indicated that stronger TfR affinity yielded higher brain delivery. The antibodies in Paper III lacked effector function. The resulting pharmacokinetic profiles in Aβ pathology-presenting mice indicated this may have improved target accumulation of the immunoPET radioligand.In Paper IV, we screened a novel library of monovalent and bivalent affinity variants of the anti-mouse TfR antibody, 8D3. A pair of monovalent and bivalent antibodies with an apparent affinity of 10 nM was identified and evaluated in vivo. Monovalent binding yielded higher brain uptake at a tracer dose but whether bivalent binding steered the antibody towards lysosomal degradation was unclear.In conclusion, monovalency, high affinity binding, and ablated effector function are likely beneficial properties for TfR-mediated brain delivery of an immunoPET radioligand at a tracer dose.
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| 9. |
- Bonvicini, Gillian, et al.
(författare)
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ImmunoPET imaging of amyloid-beta in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease with a bispecific, brain-penetrating fusion protein
- 2022
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Ingår i: Translational Neurodegeneration. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 2047-9158. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Hijacking the transferrin receptor (TfR) is an effective strategy to transport amyloid-beta (A beta) immuno-positron emission tomography (immunoPET) ligands across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Such ligands are more sensitive and specific than small-molecule ligands at detecting A beta pathology in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to determine if this strategy would be as sensitive in rats and to assess how TfR affinity affects BBB transport of bispecific immunoPET radioligands.Methods: Two affinity variants of the rat TfR antibody, OX26, were chemically conjugated to a F(ab')(2) fragment of the anti-A beta antibody, bapineuzumab (Bapi), to generate two bispecific fusion proteins: OX26(5)-F(ab')(2)-Bapi and OX26(76)-F(ab')(2)-Bapi. Pharmacokinetic analyses were performed 4 h and 70 h post-injection of radioiodinated fusion proteins in wild-type (WT) rats. [I-124]I-OX26(5)-F(ab')(2)-Bapi was administered to TgF344-AD and WT rats for in vivo PET imaging. Ex vivo distribution of injected [I-124]I-OX26(5)-F(ab')(2)-Bapi and A beta pathology were assessed.Results: More [I-125]I-OX26(5)-F(ab')(2)-Bapi was taken up into the brain 4 h post-administration than [I-124]I-OX26(76)-F(ab')(2)-Bapi. [I-124]I-OX26(5)-F(ab')(2)-Bapi PET visualized A beta pathology with significantly higher signals in the TgF344-AD rats than in the WT littermates without A beta pathology. The PET signals significantly correlated with A beta levels in AD animals.Conclusion: Affinity to TfR affects how efficiently a TfR-targeting bispecific fusion protein will cross the BBB, such that the higher-affinity bispecific fusion protein crossed the BBB more efficiently. Furthermore, bispecific immunoPET imaging of brain A beta pathology using TfR-mediated transport provides good imaging contrast between TgF344-AD and WT rats, suggesting that this immunoPET strategy has the potential to be translated to higher species.
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| 10. |
- Bonvicini, Gillian, et al.
(författare)
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Stronger affinity to Transferrin receptor enhances detection of amyloid-β pathology with bispecific antibody radioligands at a tracer dose
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A popular method for delivering biologic therapeutics and diagnostics to the brain is by hijacking transferrin receptor (TfR)-mediated transcytosis. Moderate affinity towards TfR is beneficial for TfR-mediated brain delivery at therapeutic doses while a few studies have indicated that high TfR affinity may be more beneficial at tracer doses. With the development of antibody-based PET radioligands for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, a better understanding of the pharmacokinetics of TfR-binders at tracer dose is essential. Thus the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of TfR affinity on brain uptake at a tracer dose in both wild-type (WT) mice and in a mouse model of Aβ pathology.Three different affinity variants of 8D3, produced by alanine point mutations, were selected. Bispecific antibodies were designed with knob-into-hole technology where one arm was the anti-mouse TfR antibody, 8D3, and the other arm was the anti-human Aβ antibody, bapineuzumab (Bapi). Antibody affinities were measured in an in vitro cell assay. In vivo pharmacokinetic analyses of radioiodinated bispecific antibodies and Bapi in brain, blood and peripheral organs were performed over 7 days post-injection in WT and Aβ mice.The affinities of the three bispecific antibodies to TfR were 10 nM, 20 nM and 240 nM. Independent of genotype, stronger TfR-affinity resulted in higher brain uptake. The two bispecific antibodies with stronger affinity behaved similarly and differentiated between WT and Aβ model mice at an earlier time point than the low affinity variant.This study supports the hypothesis that stronger TfR affinity yields better brain uptake at a tracer dose. With the better detection of Aβ pathology, stronger affinity to TfR is a critical feature for the design of future bispecific immunoPET radioligands for intrabrain targets using TfR-mediated transcytosis.
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