1. |
- Bragina, Olga, et al.
(author)
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Phase I study of 99mTc-ADAPT6, a scaffold protein-based probe for visualization of HER2 expression in breast cancer
- 2021
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In: Journal of Nuclear Medicine. - : Society of Nuclear Medicine. - 0161-5505 .- 1535-5667 .- 2159-662X. ; 62:4, s. 493-499
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Radionuclide molecular imaging of human epidermal growth factor (HER2) expression may be helpful to stratify breast and gastroesophageal cancer patients for HER2-targeting therapies. ADAPTs (albumin-binding domain derived affinity proteins) are a new type of small (46-59 amino acids) proteins useful as probes for molecular imaging. The aim of this first-in-human study was to evaluate biodistribution, dosimetry, and safety of the HER2-specific 99mTc-ADAPT6.METHODS: Twenty-nine patients with primary breast cancerwere included. In 22 patients with HER2-positive (n = 11) or HER2-negative (n = 11) histopathology an intravenous injection with 385±125 MBq 99mTc-ADAPT6 was performed, randomized to an injected protein mass of either 500 µg (n = 11) or 1000 µg (n = 11). Planar scintigraphy followed by SPECT imaging was performed after 2, 4, 6 and 24 h. An additional cohort (n = 7) was injected with 165±29 MBq (injected protein mass 250 µg) and imaging was performed after 2 h only.RESULTS: Injections of 99mTc-ADAPT6 at all injected mass levels were well tolerated and not associated with adverse effects. 99mTc-ADAPT6 cleared rapidly from blood and most other tissues. The normal organs with the highest accumulation were kidney, liver and lung. Effective doses were 0.009±0.002 and 0.010±0.003 mSv/MBq for injected protein masses of 500 and 1000 µg, respectively. Injection of 500 µg resulted in excellent discrimination between HER2-positive and HER2-negative tumors already 2 h after injection (tumor-to-contralateral breast ratio was 37±19 vs 5±2, p<0.01). The tumor-to-contralateral breast ratios for HER2-positive tumors were significantly (p<0.05) higher for injected mass of 500 µg than for both 250 and 1000 µg.CONCLUSION: Injections of 99mTc-ADAPT6 are safe and associated with low absorbed and effective doses. Protein dose of 500 µg is preferable for discrimination between tumors with high and low expression of HER2. Further studies are justified to evaluate if 99mTc-ADAPT6 can be used as an imaging probe for stratification of patients for HER2-targeting therapy in the areas where PET imaging is not readily available.
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2. |
- Bragina, Olga, et al.
(author)
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Phase I Trial of 99mTc-(HE)3-G3, a DARPin-Based Probe for Imaging of HER2 Expression in Breast Cancer
- 2022
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In: Journal of Nuclear Medicine. - : Society of Nuclear Medicine. - 0161-5505 .- 1535-5667 .- 2159-662X. ; 63:4, s. 528-535
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Radionuclide molecular imaging of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) expression may enable a noninvasive discrimination between HER2-positive and HER2-negative breast cancers for stratification of patients for HER2-targeted treatments. DARPin (designed ankyrin repeat proteins) G3 is a small (molecular weight, 14 kDa) scaffold protein with picomolar affinity to HER2. The aim of this first-in-humans study was to evaluate the safety, biodistribution, and dosimetry of 99mTc-(HE)3-G3.Methods: Three cohorts of patients with primary breast cancer (each including at least 4 patients with HER2-negative and 5 patients with HER2-positive tumors) were injected with 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 μg of 99mTc-(HE)3-G3 (287 ± 170 MBq). Whole-body planar imaging followed by SPECT was performed at 2, 4, 6, and 24 h after injection. Vital signs and possible side effects were monitored during imaging and up to 7 d after injection.Results: All injections were well tolerated. No side effects were observed. The results of blood and urine analyses did not differ before and after studies. 99mTc-(HE)3-G3 cleared rapidly from the blood. The highest uptake was detected in the kidneys and liver followed by the lungs, breasts, and small intestinal content. The hepatic uptake after injection of 2,000 or 3,000 μg was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the uptake after injection of 1,000 μg. Effective doses did not differ significantly between cohorts (average, 0.011 ± 0.004 mSv/MBq). Tumor–to–contralateral site ratios for HER-positive tumors were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than for HER2-negative at 2 and 4 h after injection.Conclusion: Imaging of HER2 expression using 99mTc-(HE)3-G3 is safe and well tolerated and provides a low absorbed dose burden on patients. This imaging enables discernment of HER2-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer. Phase I study data justify further clinical development of 99mTc-(HE)3-G3.
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3. |
- Chernov, Vladimir, et al.
(author)
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Phase I Trial of [Tc-99m]Tc-maSSS-PEG(2)-RM26, a Bombesin Analogue Antagonistic to Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Receptors (GRPRs), for SPECT Imaging of GRPR Expression in Malignant Tumors
- 2023
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In: Cancers. - : MDPI. - 2072-6694. ; 15:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) is overexpressed in prostate cancer (PCa) and in hormone-driven breast cancer (BCa). The aim of this phase I clinical trial was to evaluate safety, biodistribution, and dosimetry after the administration of the recently developed GRPR-targeting antagonistic bombesin analogue [Tc-99m]Tc-maSSS-PEG(2)-RM26 in PCa and BCa patients. Planar and whole-body SPECT/CT imaging was performed in six PCa patients and seven BCa patients 2, 4, 6, and 24 h post the intravenous administration of 40 mu g of [Tc-99m]Tc-maSSS-PEG(2)-RM26 (600-700 MBq). No adverse events or pathological changes were observed. The rapid blood clearance of [Tc-99m]Tc-maSSS-PEG(2)-RM26 was observed with predominantly hepatobiliary excretion. The effective doses were 0.0053 +/- 0.0007 for male patients and 0.008 +/- 0.003 mSv/MBq for female patients. The accumulation of [Tc-99m]Tc-maSSS-PEG(2)-RM26 in tumors was observed in four out of six PCa and in seven out of seven BCa patients. In four BCa patients, a high uptake of the agent into the axillary lymph nodes was detected. Immunohistochemistry revealed positive GRPR expression in 60% of primary PCa, 71.4% of BCa tumors, and 50% of examined BCa lymph nodes. In conclusion, a single administration of [Tc-99m]Tc-maSSS-PEG(2)-RM26 was safe and well tolerated. [Tc-99m]Tc-maSSS-PEG(2)-RM26 SPECT may be useful for tumor detection in PCa and BCa patients, pending further studies.
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4. |
- Leitao, Charles Dahlsson, et al.
(author)
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Conditionally activated affibody-based prodrug targeting EGFR demonstrates improved tumor selectivity
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Safety and efficacy of cancer-targeting treatments can be improved by conditional activation conferred by the distinct milieu of the tumour microenvironment. Proteases are intricately involved in tumorigenesis and commonly dysregulated with elevated expression and activity. Design of prodrug molecules with protease-dependent activation has the potential to increase tumor-selective targeting, while decreasing the exposure to healthy tissues, thus improving safety, allowing for administration of higher doses or use of more aggressive treatment options, leading to higher therapeutic efficacy. We have previously performed in vitro characterizations of an affibody-based prodrug approach for protease-mediated targeting of EGFR. In this study we demonstrate the potential for selective tumor-targeting and shielded uptake in healthy tissues in vivo using tumor-bearing mice for an EGFR-targeting affibody prodrug.
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5. |
- Leitao, Charles Dahlsson, 1992-, et al.
(author)
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Conditionally activated affibody-based prodrug targeting EGFR demonstrates improved tumour selectivity
- 2023
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In: Journal of Controlled Release. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-3659 .- 1873-4995. ; 357, s. 185-195
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Safety and efficacy of cancer-targeting treatments can be improved by conditional activation enabled by the distinct milieu of the tumour microenvironment. Proteases are intricately involved in tumourigenesis and commonly dysregulated with elevated expression and activity. Design of prodrug molecules with protease -dependent activation has the potential to increase tumour-selective targeting while decreasing exposure to healthy tissues, thus improving the safety profile for patients. Higher selectivity could also allow for adminis-tration of higher doses or use of more aggressive treatment options, leading to higher therapeutic efficacy. We have previously developed an affibody-based prodrug with conditional targeting of EGFR conferred by an anti-idiotypic affibody masking domain (ZB05). We could show that binding to endogenous EGFR on cancer cells in vitro was restored following proteolytic removal of ZB05. In this study we evaluate a novel affibody-based pro -drug design, which incorporates a protease substrate sequence recognized by cancer-associated proteases and demonstrate the potential of this approach for selective tumour-targeting and shielded uptake in healthy tissues in vivo using tumour-bearing mice. This may widen the therapeutic index of cytotoxic EGFR-targeted thera-peutics by decreasing side effects, improving selectivity of drug delivery, and enabling the use of more potent cytotoxic drugs.
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6. |
- Liu, Yongsheng, et al.
(author)
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Biologic Evaluation of a Heterodimeric HER2-Albumin Targeted Affibody Molecule Produced by Chemo-Enzymatic Peptide Synthesis
- 2022
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In: Pharmaceutics. - : MDPI. - 1999-4923. ; 14:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Targeted molecular radiation therapy is a promising emerging treatment modality in oncology, and peptide synthesis may shorten the time to reach the clinical stage. In this study, we have explored Chemo-Enzymatic Peptide Synthesis, or CEPS, as a new means of producing a therapeutic HER2 targeted Affibody((R)) molecule, comprising a C-terminal albumin binding domain (ABD) for half-life extension and a total length of 108 amino acids. In addition, a DOTA moiety could be incorporated at N-terminus directly during the synthesis step and subsequently utilized for site-specific radiolabeling with the therapeutic radionuclide Lu-177. Retained thermodynamic stability as well as retained binding to both HER2 and albumin was verified. Furthermore, HER2 binding specificity of the radiolabeled Affibody molecule was confirmed by an in vitro saturation assay showing a significantly higher cell-bound activity of SKOV-3 (high HER2 expression) compared with BxPC3 (low HER2 expression), both in the presence and absence of HSA. In vivo evaluation in mice bearing HER2 expressing xenografts also showed specific tumor targeting as well as extended time in circulation and reduced kidney uptake compared with a HER2 targeted Affibody molecule without the ABD moiety. To conclude, we have demonstrated that CEPS can be used for production of Affibody-fusion molecules with retained in vitro and in vivo functionality.
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7. |
- Rinne, Sara S., et al.
(author)
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Targeting Tumor Cells Overexpressing the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 3 with Potent Drug Conjugates Based on Affibody Molecules
- 2022
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In: Biomedicines. - : MDPI AG. - 2227-9059. ; 10:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Increasing evidence suggests that therapy targeting the human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3) could be a viable route for targeted cancer therapy. Here, we studied a novel drug conjugate, ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1, consisting of a HER3-targeting affibody molecule, coupled to the cytotoxic tubulin polymerization inhibitor DM1, and an albumin-binding domain for in vivo half-life extension. ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1 showed a strong affinity to the extracellular domain of HER3 (K-D 6 nM), and an even stronger affinity (KD 0.2 nM) to the HER3-overexpressing pancreatic carcinoma cell line, BxPC-3. The drug conjugate showed a potent cytotoxic effect on BxPC-3 cells with an IC50 value of 7 nM. Evaluation of a radiolabeled version, [99mTc]Tc-ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1, showed a relatively high rate of internalization, with a 27% internalized fraction after 8 h. Further in vivo evaluation showed that it could target BxPC-3 (pancreatic carcinoma) and DU145 (prostate carcinoma) xenografts in mice, with an uptake peaking at 6.3 +/- 0.4% IA/g at 6 h post-injection for the BxPC-3 xenografts. The general biodistribution showed uptake in the liver, lung, salivary gland, stomach, and small intestine, organs known to express murine ErbB3 naturally. The results from the study show that ZHER3-ABD-mcDM1 is a highly potent and selective drug conjugate with the ability to specifically target HER3 overexpressing cells. Further pre-clinical and clinical development is discussed.
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8. |
- Tolmachev, Vladimir, et al.
(author)
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Comparative Evaluation of Anti-HER2 Affibody Molecules Labeled with Cu-64 Using NOTA and NODAGA
- 2017
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In: Contrast Media & Molecular Imaging. - : WILEY-HINDAWI. - 1555-4309 .- 1555-4317. ; , s. 1-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Imaging using affi body molecules enables discrimination between breast cancer metastases with high and low expression of HER2, making appropriate therapy selection possible. This study aimed to evaluate if the longer half-life of Cu-64 (T-1/2 = 12.7h) would make Cu-64 a superior nuclide compared to Ga-68 for PET imaging of HER2 expression using affibody molecules. The synthetic ZHER2: S1 affibody molecule was conjugated with the chelators NOTA or NODAGA and labeled with Cu-64. The tumor-targeting properties of Cu-64-NOTA-ZHER2: S1 and Cu-64-NODAGA-ZHER2: S1 were evaluated and compared with the targeting properties of Ga-68-NODAGA-ZHER2: S1 in mice. Both 64 Cu-NOTA-ZHER2: S1 and Cu-64-NODAGA-ZHER2: S1 demonstrated specific targeting of HER2-expressing xenografts. At 2 h after injection of Cu-64-NOTA-ZHER2: S1, Cu-64-NODAGA-ZHER2: S1, and Ga-68-NODAGAZHER2: S1, tumor uptakes did not differ significantly. Renal uptake of Cu-64-labeled conjugateswas dramatically reduced at 6 and 24 h after injection. Notably, radioactivity uptake concomitantly increased in blood, lung, liver, spleen, and intestines, which resulted in decreased tumor-to-organ ratios compared to 2 h postinjection. Organ uptake was lower for Cu-64-NODAGA-ZHER2: S1. The most probable explanation for this biodistribution pattern was the release and redistribution of renal radiometabolites. In conclusion, monoamide derivatives of NOTA and NODAGA may be suboptimal chelators for radiocopper labeling of anti-HER2 affibody molecules and, possibly, other scaffold proteins with high renal uptake.
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9. |
- Tolmachev, Vladimir, et al.
(author)
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Molecular design of radiocopper-labelled Affibody molecules
- 2018
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 8:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cu-CB-TE2A-GEEE-ZHER2:342 was 16 ± 6%ID/g and tumor-to-blood ratio was 181 ± 52. In conclusion, a combination of the cross-bridged CB-TE2A chelator and Gly-Glu-Glu-Glu spacer is preferable for radiocopper labelling of Affibody molecules and, possibly, other scaffold proteins having high renal re-absorption.
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