Polymer-Tethered Quenched Fluorescent Probes for Enhanced Imaging of Tumor-Associated Proteases.

Fluorescence-based contrast agents enable real-time detection of solid tumors and their neovasculature, making them ideal for use in image-guided surgery. Several agents have entered late-stage clinical trials or secured FDA approval, suggesting they are likely to become the standard of care in cancer surgeries. One of the key parameters to optimize in contrast agents is molecular size, which dictates much of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the agent. Here, we describe the development of a class of protease-activated quenched fluorescent probes in which a N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymer is used as the primary scaffold. This copolymer core provides a high degree of probe modularity to generate structures that cannot be achieved with small molecules and peptide probes. We used a previously validated cathepsin substrate and evaluated the effects of length and type of linker, as well as the positioning of the fluorophore/quencher pair on the polymer core. We found that the polymeric probes could be optimized to achieve increased overall signal and tumor-to-background ratios compared to the reference small molecule probe. Our results also revealed multiple structure-activity relationship trends that can be used to design and optimize future optical imaging probes. Furthermore, they confirm that a hydrophilic polymer is an ideal scaffold for use in optical imaging contrast probes, allowing a highly modular design that enables efficient optimization to maximize probe accumulation and overall biodistribution properties.

Polymer-tethered quenched fluorescent probes for enhanced imaging of tumor associated proteases.

Fluorescence-based contrast agents enable real-time detection of solid tumors and their neovasculature, making them ideal for use in image-guided surgery. Several agents have entered late-stage clinical trials or secured FDA approval, suggesting they are likely to become standard of care in cancer surgeries. One of the key parameters to optimize in contrast agent is molecular size, which dictates much of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the agent. Here, we describe the development of a class of protease-activated quenched fluorescent probes in which a N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymer is used as the primary scaffold. This copolymer core provides a high degree of probe modularity to generate structures that cannot be achieved with small molecules and peptide probes. We used a previously validated cathepsin substrate and evaluated the effects of length and type of linker as well as positioning of the fluorophore/quencher pair on the polymer core. We found that the polymeric probes could be optimized to achieve increased over-all signal and tumor-to-background ratios compared to the reference small molecule probe. Our results also revealed multiple structure-activity relationship trends that can be used to design and optimize future optical imaging probes. Furthermore, they confirm that a hydrophilic polymer is an ideal scaffold for use in optical imaging contrast probes, allowing a highly modular design that enables efficient optimization to maximize probe accumulation and overall biodistribution properties.

Polymer-based antibody mimetics (iBodies) target human PD-L1 and function as a potent immune checkpoint blocker.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) using monoclonal antibodies against programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is the treatment of choice for cancer immunotherapy. However, low tissue permeability, immunogenicity, immune-related adverse effects, and high cost could be possibly improved using alternative approaches. On the other hand, synthetic low-molecular-weight (LMW) PD-1/PD-L1 blockers have failed to progress beyond in vitro studies, mostly due to low binding affinity or poor pharmacological characteristics resulting from their limited solubility and/or stability. Here, we report the development of polymer-based anti-human PD-L1 antibody mimetics (α-hPD-L1 iBodies) by attaching the macrocyclic peptide WL12 to a N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymer. We characterized the binding properties of iBodies using surface plasmon resonance, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and a cellular ICB model. We found that the α-hPD-L1 iBodies specifically target human PD-L1 (hPD-L1) and block the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction in vitro, comparable to the atezolizumab, durvalumab, and avelumab licensed monoclonal antibodies targeting PD-L1. Our findings suggest that iBodies can be used as experimental tools to target hPD-L1 and could serve as a platform to potentiate the therapeutic effect of hPD-L1-targeting small molecules by improving their affinity and pharmacokinetic properties.

The development of a high-affinity conformation-sensitive antibody mimetic using a biocompatible copolymer carrier (iBody).

Peptide display methods are a powerful tool for discovering new ligands of pharmacologically relevant targets. However, the selected ligands often suffer from low affinity. Using phage display, we identified a new bicyclic peptide binder of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a metalloprotease frequently overexpressed in prostate cancer. We show that linking multiple copies of a selected low-affinity peptide to a biocompatible water-soluble N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymer carrier (iBody) improved binding of the conjugate by several orders of magnitude. Furthermore, using ELISA, enzyme kinetics, confocal microscopy, and other approaches, we demonstrate that the resulting iBody can distinguish between different conformations of the target protein. The possibility to develop stable, fully synthetic, conformation-selective antibody mimetics has potential applications for molecular recognition, diagnosis and treatment of many pathologies. This strategy could significantly contribute to more effective drug discovery and design.

Targeting Mitochondrial Iron Metabolism Suppresses Tumor Growth and Metastasis by Inducing Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Mitophagy.

Deferoxamine (DFO) represents a widely used iron chelator for the treatment of iron overload. Here we describe the use of mitochondrially targeted deferoxamine (mitoDFO) as a novel approach to preferentially target cancer cells. The agent showed marked cytostatic, cytotoxic, and migrastatic properties in vitro, and it significantly suppressed tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. The underlying molecular mechanisms included (i) impairment of iron-sulfur [Fe-S] cluster/heme biogenesis, leading to destabilization and loss of activity of [Fe-S] cluster/heme containing enzymes, (ii) inhibition of mitochondrial respiration leading to mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production, resulting in dysfunctional mitochondria with markedly reduced supercomplexes, and (iii) fragmentation of the mitochondrial network and induction of mitophagy. Mitochondrial targeting of deferoxamine represents a way to deprive cancer cells of biologically active iron, which is incompatible with their proliferation and invasion, without disrupting systemic iron metabolism. Our findings highlight the importance of mitochondrial iron metabolism for cancer cells and demonstrate repurposing deferoxamine into an effective anticancer drug via mitochondrial targeting. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings show that targeting the iron chelator deferoxamine to mitochondria impairs mitochondrial respiration and biogenesis of [Fe-S] clusters/heme in cancer cells, which suppresses proliferation and migration and induces cell death. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/81/9/2289/F1.large.jpg.

Identification of Protein Targets of Bioactive Small Molecules Using Randomly Photomodified Probes.

Identifying protein targets of bioactive small molecules often requires complex, lengthy development of affinity probes. We present a method for stochastic modification of small molecules of interest with a photoactivatable phenyldiazirine linker. The resulting isomeric mixture is conjugated to a hydrophilic copolymer decorated with biotin and a fluorophore. We validated this approach using known inhibitors of several medicinally relevant enzymes. At least a portion of the stochastic derivatives retained their binding to the target, enabling target visualization, isolation, and identification. Moreover, the mix of stochastic probes could be separated into fractions and tested for binding affinity. The structure of the active probe could be determined and the probe resynthesized to improve binding efficiency. Our approach can thus enable rapid target isolation, identification, and visualization, while providing information required for subsequent synthesis of an optimized probe.

In Vivo Performance and Properties of Tamoxifen Metabolites for CreERT2 Control.

Mutant Estrogen Receptor (ERT2) ligand-binding domain fusions with Cre recombinase are a key tool for spatio-temporally controlled genetic recombination with the Cre/lox system. CreERT2 is efficiently activated in a concentration-dependent manner by the Tamoxifen metabolite trans-4-OH-Tamoxifen (trans-4-OHT). Reproducible and efficient Cre/lox experimentation is hindered by the gradual loss of CreERT2 induction potency upon prolonged storage of dissolved trans-4-OHT, which potentially results from gradual trans-to-cis isomerization or degradation. Here, we combined zebrafish CreERT2 recombination experiments and cell culture assays to document the gradual activity loss of trans-4-OHT and describe the alternative Tamoxifen metabolite Endoxifen as more stable alternative compound. Endoxifen retains potent activation upon prolonged storage (3 months), yet consistently induces half the ERT2 domain fusion activity compared to fresh trans-4-OHT. Using 1H-NMR analysis, we reveal that trans-4-OHT isomerization is undetectable upon prolonged storage in either DMSO or Ethanol, ruling out isomer transformation as cause for the gradual loss of trans-4-OHT activity. We further establish that both trans-4-OHT and Endoxifen are insensitive to light exposure under regular laboratory handling conditions. We attribute the gradual loss of trans-4-OHT potency to precipitation over time, and show that heating of aged trans-4-OHT aliquots reinstates their CreERT2 induction potential. Our data establish Endoxifen as potent and reproducible complementary compound to 4-OHT to control ERT2 domain fusion proteins in vivo, and provide a framework for efficient chemically controlled recombination experiments.