Affibody-Derived Drug Conjugates Targeting The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Are Potent And Specific Cytotoxic AgentsShow others and affiliations
2025 (English)In: ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, E-ISSN 2575-9108, Vol. 8, no 11, p. 3872-3885Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Overactive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling is often involved in driving different types of carcinomas. It is a well-studied target for targeted therapies, with both monoclonal antibodies and kinase inhibitors available for clinical use. Even though these drugs show a clinical benefit, most patients develop resistance over time. The development of new therapeutic modalities is therefore highly motivated. Herein, we describe a new type of drug candidate targeting EGFR, a so-called affibody-based drug conjugate. It consists of an EGFR-targeting affibody molecule, ZEGFR, expressed as a fusion to an albumin-binding domain for half-life extension, and coupled with the potent cytotoxic drug DM1 via a maleimidocaproyl linker. The resulting drug conjugate ZEGFR-ABD-mcDM1, showed strong binding to recombinant EGFR and EGFR-expressing cells. It was found to be highly potent in killing EGFR-expressing A431 cells with an IC50of 3.4 nM. In vivo, it showed moderate uptake in A431-derived xenografts with high EGFR expression. Collectively, the results from this study, demonstrate a potent and EGFR-specific drug candidate that holds promise for further development.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS) , 2025. Vol. 8, no 11, p. 3872-3885
Keywords [en]
ABD, ADC, affibody, antibody, cancer, DM1, EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor
National Category
Biological Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-373615DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.5c00079ISI: 001605924400001PubMedID: 41262582Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105021863351OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-373615DiVA, id: diva2:2018908
Note
QC 20251204
2025-12-042025-12-042025-12-04Bibliographically approved