| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Fang, Xiaotian T., et al.
(författare)
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Brain mGluR5 in mice with amyloid beta pathology studied with in vivo [(11)C]ABP688 PET imaging and ex vivo immunoblotting
- 2017
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Ingår i: Neuropharmacology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0028-3908 .- 1873-7064. ; 113:Pt A, s. 293-300
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by aggregation of amyloid beta (Aβ) into insoluble plaques. Intermediates, Aβ oligomers (Aβo), appear to be the mechanistic cause of disease. The de facto PET AD ligand, [(11)C]PIB, binds and visualizes Aβ plaque load, which does not correlate well with disease severity. Therefore, finding a dynamic target that changes with pathology progression in AD is of great interest. Aβo alter synaptic plasticity, inhibit long-term potentiation, and facilitate long-term depression; key mechanisms involved in memory and learning. In order to convey these neurotoxic effects, Aβo requires interaction with the metabotropic glutamate 5 receptor (mGluR5). The aim was to investigate in vivo mGluR5 changes in an Aβ pathology model using PET. Wild type C57/BL6 (wt) and AβPP transgenic mice (tg-ArcSwe), 4, 8, and 16 months old, were PET scanned with [(11)C]ABP688, which is highly specific to mGluR5, to investigate changes in mGluR5. Mouse brains were extracted postscan and mGluR5 and Aβ protofibril levels were assessed with immunoblotting and ELISA respectively. Receptor-dense brain regions (hippocampus, thalamus, and striatum) displayed higher [(11)C]ABP688 concentrations corresponding to mGluR5 expression pattern. Mice had similar uptake levels of [(11)C]ABP688 regardless of genotype or age. Immunoblotting revealed general decline in mGluR5 expression and elevated levels of mGluR5 in 16 months old tg-ArcSwe compared with wt mice. [(11)C]ABP688 could visualize mGluR5 in the mouse brain. In conclusion, mGluR5 levels were found to decrease with age and tended to be higher in tg-ArcSwe compared with wt mice, however these changes could not be quantified with PET.
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| 3. |
- Fang, Xiaotian T., et al.
(författare)
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Efficient and inexpensive transient expression of multispecific multivalent antibodies in Expi293 cells
- 2017
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Ingår i: Biological Procedures Online. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1480-9222. ; 19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Immunotherapy is a very fast expanding field within drug discovery and, hence, rapid and inexpensive expression of antibodies would be extremely valuable. Antibodies are, however, difficult to express. Multifunctional antibodies with additional binding domains further complicate the expression. Only few protocols describe the production of tetravalent bispecific antibodies and all with limited expression levels.Methods: Here, we describe a protocol that can produce functional tetravalent, bispecific antibodies at around 22 mg protein/l to a low cost. The expression system is based on the Expi293 cells, which have been adapted to grow in denser cultures than HEK293 cells and gives higher expression yields. The new protocol transfects the Expi293 cells with PEI (which has a negligible cost).Results: The protocol has been used to generate multiple variants of tetra-and hexavalent bispecific antibodies with yields of around 22 mg protein/l within 10 days. All materials are commercially available and the implementation of the protocol is inexpensive and straightforward. The bispecific antibodies generated in our lab were capable of binding to all antigens with similar affinity as the original antibody. Two of the bispecific antibodies have also been used in transgenic mice as positron emission tomography (PET) ligands to successfully detect amyloid-beta (A beta) aggregates in vivo.Conclusions: This protocol is the first describing transfection of the human Expi293 cells with PEI. It can be used to generate functional multi-specific antibodies in high amounts. The use of biological drugs, and in particular multispecific antibodies, is rapidly increasing, hence improved protocols such as the one presented here are highly valuable.
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| 4. |
- Fang, Xiaotian T., et al.
(författare)
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High detection sensitivity with antibody-based PET radioligand for amyloid beta in brain
- 2019
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Ingår i: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier BV. - 1053-8119 .- 1095-9572. ; 184, s. 881-888
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PET imaging of amyloid-beta (A beta) deposits in brain has become an important aid in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, and an inclusion criterion for patient enrolment into clinical trials of new anti-A beta treatments. Available PET radioligands visualizing A beta bind to insoluble fibrils, i.e. A beta plaques. Levels of prefibrillar A beta forms, e.g. soluble oligomers and protofibrils, correlate better than plaques with disease severity and these soluble species are the neurotoxic form of A beta leading to neurodegeneration. The goal was to create an antibody-based radioligand, recognizing not only fibrillary A beta , but also smaller and still soluble aggregates. We designed and expressed a small recombinant bispecific antibody construct, di-scFv 3D6-8D3, targeting the A beta N-terminus and the transferrin receptor (TfR). Natively expressed at the blood-brain barrier (BBB), TfR could thus be used as a brain-blood shuttle. Di-scFv 3D6-8D3 bound to A beta 1-40 with high affinity and to TfR with moderate affinity. Di-scFv [I-124] 3D6-8D3 was injected in two transgenic mouse models overexpressing human A beta and wild-type control mice and PET scanned at 14, 24 or 72 h after injection. Di-scFv [I-124] 3D6-8D3 was retained in brain of transgenic animals while it was cleared from wild-type lacking A beta . This difference was observed from 24 h onwards, and at 72 h, 18 months old transgenic animals, with high load of A beta pathology, displayed SUVR of 2.2-3.5 in brain while wildtype showed ratios close to unity. A subset of the mice were also scanned with [C-11] PIB. Again wt mice displayed ratios of unity while transgenes showed slightly, non-significantly, elevated SUVR of 1.2, indicating improved sensitivity with novel di-scFv [I-124] 3D6-8D3 compared with [C-11] PIB. Brain concentrations of di-scFv [I-124] 3D6-8D3 correlated with soluble A beta (p < 0.0001) but not with total A beta, i.e. plaque load (p = 0.34). We have successfully created a small bispecific antibody-based radioligand capable of crossing the BBB, subsequently binding to and visualizing intrabrain A beta in vivo. The radioligand displayed better sensitivity compared with [C-11] PIB, and brain concentrations correlated with soluble neurotoxic A beta aggregates.
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| 5. |
- Fang, Xiaotian T., 1990-
(författare)
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Preclinical PET imaging of Alzheimer's disease progression
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Amyloid PET imaging with [11C]PIB enabled detection of Aβ for the first time in vivo. However, [11C]PIB is a small molecule that binds only the insoluble Aβ plaque. Rather, the soluble Aβ aggregates are considered the cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As such, a more sensitive and specific PET tracer is needed for tracking longitudinal AD pathology.Soluble Aβ aggregates likely interact with the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) to cause neurotoxic effects. However, with [11C]ABP688 PET we were unable to detect aberrant mGluR5 binding in AD mouse models, although we find elevated mGluR5 protein levels with immunoblotting.Antibodies are highly specific large molecules that can bind specifically to soluble Aβ aggregates, thus they can be a good marker for AD pathology. Unfortunately, due to their large size they cannot cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, it is possible to shuttle antibodies into the brain by taking advantage of endogenous transporter systems on the BBB. By creating bispecific antibodies binding both to soluble Aβ aggregates and to the transferrin receptor (BBB target), we successfully transported the antibody into the brain and could visually detect soluble Aβ aggregates with PET.Recombinant expression further improved and optimized antibody design, creating smaller bispecific antibody-based constructs that had better pharmacokinetic properties allowing for earlier PET scanning (1 day instead of 3), and more sensitive signal.Lastly, using TCO-tetrazine click chemistry, we indirectly labeled our antibodies with fluorine-18, and could successfully perform PET already 11 h post-injection with a fluorine-18 labeled antibody.
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| 6. |
- Faresjö, Rebecca, et al.
(författare)
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Brain pharmacokinetics of two BBB penetrating bispecific antibodies of different size
- 2021
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Ingår i: Fluids and Barriers of the CNS. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 2045-8118. ; 18:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Transferrin receptor (TfR1) mediated enhanced brain delivery of antibodies have been studied extensively in preclinical settings. However, the brain pharmacokinetics, i.e. brain entry, distribution and elimination are still not fully understood for this class of antibodies. The overall aim of the study was to compare the brain pharmacokinetics of two BBB-penetrating bispecific antibodies of different size (210 vs 58 kDa). Specifically, we wanted to investigate if the faster systemic clearance of the smaller non-IgG antibody di-scFv3D6-8D3, in comparison with the IgG-based bispecific antibody mAb3D6-scFv8D3, was also reflected in the brain. Methods Wild-type (C57/Bl6) mice were injected with I-125-iodinated ([I-125]) mAb3D6-scFv8D3 (n = 46) or [I-125]di-scFv3D6-8D3 (n = 32) and euthanized 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, or 24 h post injection. Ex vivo radioactivity in whole blood, peripheral organs and brain was measured by gamma-counting. Ex vivo autoradiography and nuclear track emulsion were performed on brain sections to investigate brain and parenchymal distribution. Capillary depletion was carried out at 2, 6, and 24 h after injection of [I-125]mAb3D6-scFv8D3 (n = 12) or [I-125]di-scFv3D6-8D3 (n = 12), to estimate the relative levels of radiolabelled antibody in brain capillaries versus brain parenchyma. In vitro binding kinetics for [I-125]mAb3D6-scFv8D3 or [I-125]di-scFv3D6-8D3 to murine TfR were determined by LigandTracer. Results [I-125]di-scFv3D6-8D3 showed faster elimination from blood, lower brain C-max, and T-max, a larger parenchymal-to-capillary concentration ratio, and a net elimination from brain at an earlier time point after injection compared with the larger [I-125]mAb3D6-scFv8D3. However, the elimination rate from brain did not differ between the antibodies. The study also indicated that [I-125]di-scFv3D6-8D3 displayed lower avidity than [I-125]mAb3D6-scFv8D3 towards TfR1 in vitro and potentially in vivo, at least at the BBB. Conclusion A smaller size and lower TfR1 avidity are likely important for fast parenchymal delivery, while elimination of brain-associated bispecific antibodies may not be dependent on these characteristics.
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| 7. |
- Hultqvist, Greta, et al.
(författare)
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Bivalent Brain Shuttle Increases Antibody Uptake by Monovalent Binding to the Transferrin Receptor
- 2017
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Ingår i: Theranostics. - : IVYSPRING INT PUBL. - 1838-7640. ; 7:2, s. 308-318
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is an obstacle for antibody passage into the brain, impeding the development of immunotherapy and antibody-based diagnostics for brain disorders. In the present study, we have developed a brain shuttle for active transport of antibodies across the BBB by receptor-mediated transcytosis. We have thus recombinantly fused two single-chain variable fragments (scFv) of the transferrin receptor (TfR) antibody 8D3 to the light chains of mAb158, an antibody selectively binding to A beta protofibrils, which are involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite the two TfR binders, a monovalent interaction with TfR was achieved due to the short linkers that sterically hinder bivalent binding to the TfR dimer. The design enabled efficient receptor-mediated brain uptake of the fusion protein. Two hours after administration, brain concentrations were 2-3% of the injected dose per gram brain, comparable to small molecular drugs and 80-fold higher than unmodified mAb158. After three days, fusion protein concentrations in AD transgenic mouse brains were 9-fold higher than in wild type mice, demonstrating high in vivo specificity. Thus, our innovative recombinant design markedly increases mAb158 brain uptake, which makes it a strong candidate for improved Aa immunotherapy and as a PET radioligand for early diagnosis and evaluation of treatment effect in AD. Moreover, this approach could be applied to any target within the brain.
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| 8. |
- Meier, Silvio R., et al.
(författare)
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Antibody-Based In Vivo PET Imaging Detects Amyloid-beta Reduction in Alzheimer Transgenic Mice After BACE-1 Inhibition
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Nuclear Medicine. - : SOC NUCLEAR MEDICINE INC. - 0161-5505 .- 1535-5667 .- 2159-662X. ; 59:12, s. 1885-1891
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Visualization of amyloid-beta (A beta) pathology with PET has become an important tool for making a specific clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD). However, the available amyloid PET radioligands, such as C-11-Pittsburgh compound B, reflect levels of insoluble A beta plaques but do not capture soluble and protofibrillar A beta forms. Furthermore, the plaque load appears to be fairly static during clinical stages of AD and may not be affected by A beta-reducing treatments. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a novel PET radioligand based on an antibody directed toward soluble aggregates of A beta can be used to detect changes in A beta levels during disease progression and after treatment with a beta-secretase (BACE-1) inhibitor. Methods: One set of transgenic mice (tg-ArcSwe, a model of A beta pathology) aged between 7 and 16 mo underwent PET with the A beta protofibril-selective radioligand I-124-RmAb158-scFv8D3 (where RmAb is recombinant mouse monoclonal antibody and scFv is single-chain variable fragment) to follow progression of A beta pathology in the brain. A second set of tg-ArcSwe mice, aged 10 mo, were treated with the BACE-1 inhibitor NB-360 for 3 mo and compared with an untreated control group. A third set of tg-ArcSwe mice, also aged 10 mo, underwent PET as a baseline group. Brain tissue was isolated after PET to determine levels of A beta by ELISA and immunohistochemistry. Results: The concentration of I-124-RmAb158-scFv8D3, as measured in vivo with PET, increased with age and corresponded well with the ex vivo autoradiography and A beta immunohistochemistry results. Mice treated with NB-360 showed significantly lower in vivo PET signals than untreated animals and were similar to the baseline animals. The decreased I-124-RmAb158-scFv8D3 concentrations in NB-360-treated mice, as quantified with PET, corresponded well with the decreased A beta levels measured in postmortem brain. Conclusion: Several treatments for AD are in phase 2 and 3 clinical trials, but the possibility of studying treatment effects in vivo on the important, nonfibrillar, forms of A beta is limited. This study demonstrated the ability of the A beta protofibril-selective radioligand I-124-RmAb158-scFv8D3 to follow disease progression and detect treatment effects with PET imaging in tg-ArcSwe mice.
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| 9. |
- Olsen, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Astroglial Responses to Amyloid-Beta Progression in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease
- 2018
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Ingår i: Molecular Imaging and Biology. - : SPRINGER. - 1536-1632 .- 1860-2002. ; 20:4, s. 605-614
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by amyloid-beta (A beta) deposition, hyperphosphorylation of tau, and neuroinflammation. Astrocytes, the most abundant glial cell type in the nervous system, respond to neurodegenerative disorders through astrogliosis, i.e., converting to a reactive inflammatory state. The aim of this study was to investigate how in vivo quantification of astrogliosis using positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand deuterium-l-[C-11]deprenyl ([C-11]DED), binding to enzyme monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) which is overexpressed in reactive astrocytes during AD, corresponds to expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin, i.e., two well-established markers of astrogliosis, during A beta pathology progression. APP(ArcSwe) mice (n = 37) and wild-type (WT) control mice (n = 23), 2-16-month old, were used to investigate biomarkers of astrogliosis. The radioligand, [C-11]DED, was used as an in vivo marker while GFAP, vimentin, and MAO-B were used to investigate astrogliosis and macrophage-associated lectin (Mac-2) to investigate microglia/macrophage activation by immunohistochemistry of the mouse brain. A beta and GFAP levels were also measured with ELISA in brain homogenates. The intrabrain levels of aggregated A beta and reactive astrocytes were found to be elevated in APP(ArcSwe) compared with WT mice. GFAP and vimentin expression increased with age, i.e., with A beta pathology, in the APP(ArcSwe) mice. This was not the case for in vivo marker [C-11]DED that showed elevated binding of the same magnitude in APP(ArcSwe) mice compared with WT mice at both 8 and 16 months. Further, immunohistochemistry indicated that there was limited co-expression of MAO-B and GFAP. MAO-B levels are increased early in A beta pathology progression, while GFAP and vimentin appear to increase later, most likely as a consequence of abundant A beta plaque formation. Thus, [C-11]DED is a useful PET radioligand for the detection of changes in MAO-B at an early stage of AD progression but does not measure the total extent of astrogliosis at advanced stages of A beta pathology.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Sehlin, Dag, et al.
(författare)
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Antibody-based PET imaging of amyloid beta in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Owing to their specificity and high-affinity binding, monoclonal antibodies have potential as positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands and are currently used to image various targets in peripheral organs. However, in the central nervous system, antibody uptake is limited by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here we present a PET ligand to be used for diagnosis and evaluation of treatment effects in Alzheimer's disease. The amyloid beta (A beta) antibody mAb158 is radiolabelled and conjugated to a transferrin receptor antibody to enable receptor-mediated transcytosis across the BBB. PET imaging of two different mouse models with Ab pathology clearly visualize A beta in the brain. The PET signal increases with age and correlates closely with brain A beta levels. Thus, we demonstrate that antibody-based PET ligands can be successfully used for brain imaging.
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| 12. |
- Sehlin, Dag, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Pharmacokinetics, biodistribution and brain retention of a bispecific antibody-based PET radioligand for imaging of amyloid-beta
- 2017
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have not been used as positron emission tomography (PET) ligands for in vivo imaging of the brain because of their limited passage across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, due to their high affinity and specificity, mAbs may be an attractive option for brain PET if their brain distribution can be facilitated. In the present study, a F(ab')(2) fragment of the amyloidbeta (A beta) protofibril selective mAb158 was chemically conjugated to the transferrin receptor (TfR) antibody 8D3 to enable TfR mediated transcytosis across the BBB. The generated bispecific protein, 8D3-F(ab')(2)-h158, was subsequently radiolabeled and used for microPET imaging of A beta pathology in two mouse models of AD. [124I]8D3-F(ab')(2)-h158 was distributed across the BBB several fold more than unmodified mAbs in general and its accumulation in the brain reflected disease progression, while its concentration in blood and other organs remained stable across all age groups studied. Cerebellum was largely devoid of 8D3-F(ab')(2)-h158 in young and middle aged mice, while mice older than 18 months also showed some accumulation in cerebellum. In a longer perspective, the use of bispecific antibodies as PET ligands may enable in vivo 'immunohistochemistry' also of other proteins in the brain for which PET radioligands are lacking.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Syvänen, Stina, et al.
(författare)
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A bispecific Tribody PET radioligand for visualization of amyloid-beta protofibrils - a new concept for neuroimaging
- 2017
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Ingår i: NeuroImage. - : ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. - 1053-8119 .- 1095-9572. ; 148, s. 55-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antibodies are highly specific for their target molecules, but their poor brain penetrance has restricted their use as PET ligands for imaging of targets within the CNS. The aim of this study was to develop an antibody-based radioligand, using the Tribody(TM) format, for PET imaging of soluble amyloid-beta (All) protofibrils, which are suggested to cause neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Antibodies, even when expressed in smaller engineered formats, are large molecules that do not enter the brain in sufficient amounts for imaging purposes. Hence, their transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) needs to be facilitated, for example through interaction with the transferrin receptor (TfR). Thus, a Fab fragment of the TfR antibody 8D3 was fused with two single chain variable fragments (scFv) of the A beta protofibril selective antibody mAb158. Five Tribody proteins (A1-A5) were generated with different linkers between the Fab-8D3 and scFv-158. All proteins bound to TfR and All protofibrils in vitro. Three of the proteins (A1-A3) were radiolabeled with iodine-125 and studied ex vivo in wild-type (wt) and transgenic mice overexpressing human All. The systemic pharmacokinetics were similar with half-lives in blood of around 9 h for all three ligands. Brain concentrations at 2 h were around 1% of the injected dose per gram brain tissue, which is similar to what is observed for small molecular radioligands and at least 10-fold higher than antibodies in general. At 72 h, transgenic mice showed higher concentrations of radioactivity in the brain than wt mice (12, 15- and 16-fold for Al, A2 and A3 respectively), except in the cerebellum, an area largely devoid of A beta pathology. A3 was then labelled with iodine-124 for in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Brain concentrations were quantified in six different regions showing a clear distinction both quantitatively and visually between wt and transgenic mice and a good correlation with A beta pathology. We have thus produced a recombinant, bispecific protein, actively transported into the brain, for PET imaging within the CNS. In a longer perspective, this technique may enable imaging of other proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases for which imaging agents are completely lacking today.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Syvänen, Stina, et al.
(författare)
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Fluorine-18-Labeled Antibody Ligands for PET Imaging of Amyloid-β in Brain
- 2020
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Ingår i: ACS Chemical Neuroscience. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7193. ; 11:24, s. 4460-4468
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antibodies are attractive as radioligands due to their outstanding specificity and high affinity, but their inability to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) limits their use for CNS targets. To enhance brain distribution, amyloid-β (Aβ) antibodies were fused to a transferrin receptor (TfR) antibody fragment, enabling receptor mediated transport across the BBB. The aim of this study was to label these bispecific antibodies with fluorine-18 and use them for Aβ PET imaging. Bispecific antibody ligands RmAb158-scFv8D3 and Tribody A2, both targeting Aβ and TfR, were functionalized with trans-cyclooctene (TCO) groups and conjugated with 18F-labeled tetrazines through an inverse electron demand Diels–Alder reaction performed at ambient temperature. 18F-labeling did not affect antibody binding in vitro, and initial brain uptake was high. Conjugates with the first tetrazine variant ([18F]T1) displayed high uptake in bone, indicating extensive defluorination, a problem that was resolved with the second and third tetrazine variants ([18F]T2 and [18F]T3). Although the antibody ligands’ half-life in blood was too long to optimally match the physical half-life of fluorine-18 (t1/2 = 110 min), [18F]T3-Tribody A2 PET seemed to discriminate transgenic mice (tg-ArcSwe) with Aβ deposits from wild-type mice 12 h after injection. This study demonstrates that 18F-labeling of bispecific, brain penetrating antibodies is feasible and, with further optimization, could be used for CNS PET imaging.
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