Site-Specific Modification of Single-Chain Antibody Fragments for Bioconjugation and Vascular Immunotargeting

Bioconjug Chem. 2018 Jan 17;29(1):56-66. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.7b00592. Epub 2017 Dec 29.

Abstract

The conjugation of antibodies to drugs and drug carriers improves delivery to target tissues. Widespread implementation and effective translation of this pharmacologic strategy awaits the development of affinity ligands capable of a defined degree of modification and highly efficient bioconjugation without loss of affinity. To date, such ligands are lacking for the targeting of therapeutics to vascular endothelial cells. To enable site-specific, click-chemistry conjugation to therapeutic cargo, we used the bacterial transpeptidase, sortase A, to attach short azidolysine containing peptides to three endothelial-specific single chain antibody fragments (scFv). While direct fusion of a recognition motif (sortag) to the scFv C-terminus generally resulted in low levels of sortase-mediated modification, improved reaction efficiency was observed for one protein, in which two amino acids had been introduced during cloning. This prompted insertion of a short, semi-rigid linker between scFv and sortag. The linker significantly enhanced modification of all three proteins, to the extent that unmodified scFv could no longer be detected. As proof of principle, purified, azide-modified scFv was conjugated to the antioxidant enzyme, catalase, resulting in robust endothelial targeting of functional cargo in vitro and in vivo.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Aminoacyltransferases / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Catalase / metabolism
  • Cell Line
  • Click Chemistry / methods*
  • Cysteine Endopeptidases / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / administration & dosage
  • Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / chemistry
  • Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Models, Molecular
  • Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / administration & dosage
  • Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / chemistry
  • Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / metabolism
  • Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / pharmacokinetics
  • Single-Chain Antibodies / administration & dosage
  • Single-Chain Antibodies / chemistry*
  • Single-Chain Antibodies / metabolism
  • Single-Chain Antibodies / pharmacokinetics*
  • Tissue Distribution

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1
  • Single-Chain Antibodies
  • Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1
  • Catalase
  • Aminoacyltransferases
  • sortase A
  • Cysteine Endopeptidases