Lysine-Directed Site-Selective Bioconjugation for the Creation of Radioimmunoconjugates.

The synthesis of radioimmunoconjugates via the stochastic attachment of bifunctional chelators to lysines can yield heterogeneous products with suboptimal in vitro and in vivo behavior. In response to this, several site-selective approaches to bioconjugation have been developed, yet each has intrinsic drawbacks, such as the need for expensive reagents or the complexity of incorporating unnatural amino acids into IgGs. Herein, we describe the use of a simple and facile approach to lysine-directed site-selective bioconjugation for the generation of radioimmunoconjugates. This strategy relies upon on the selective modification of single lysine residues within each light chain of the monoclonal antibody (mAb) with a branched azide-bearing perfluorophenyl ester (PFP-bisN3) followed by the ligation of dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO)-bearing payloads to these bioorthogonal handles via the strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition. This methodology was used to create [89Zr]Zr-SSKDFO-pertuzumab, a radioimmunoconjugate of the HER2-targeting mAb pertuzumab labeled with desferrioxamine (DFO) and the positron-emitting radiometal zirconium-89 (89Zr). [89Zr]Zr-SSKDFO-pertuzumab was compared to a pair of analogous probes: one synthesized via random lysine modification ([89Zr]Zr-DFO-pertuzumab) and another via thiol-maleimide chemistry ([89Zr]Zr-malDFO-pertuzumab). The bioconjugation strategy was assessed using ESI mass spectrometry, SDS-PAGE, and autoradiography. All three immunoconjugates demonstrated comparable binding to HER2 via flow cytometry and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and 89Zr-labeled variants of each were synthesized in >99% radiochemical yield and molar activities of up to ∼55.5 GBq/µmol (10 mCi/mg). Subsequently, the in vivo behavior of this trio of 89Zr-immunoPET probes was interrogated in athymic nude mice bearing subcutaneous HER2-expressing BT-474 human breast cancer xenografts. [89Zr]Zr-SSKDFO-pertuzumab, [89Zr]Zr-malDFO-pertuzumab, and [89Zr]Zr-DFO-pertuzumab produced positron emission tomography (PET) images with high tumoral uptake and high tumor-to-healthy organ activity concentration ratios. A terminal biodistribution study complemented the PET results, revealing tumoral activity concentrations of 126.9 ± 50.3%ID/g, 86.9 ± 53.2%ID/g, and 92.5 ± 27.2%ID/g at 144 h post-injection for [89Zr]Zr-SSKDFO-pertuzumab, [89Zr]Zr-malDFO-pertuzumab, and [89Zr]Zr-DFO-pertuzumab, respectively. Taken together, the data clearly illustrate that this highly modular and facile approach to site-selective bioconjugation produces radioimmunoconjugates that are better-defined and more homogeneous than stochastically modified constructs and also exhibit excellent in vitro and in vivo performance. Furthermore, we contend that this lysine-directed strategy holds several key advantages over extant approaches to site-selective bioconjugation, especially in the context of production for the clinic.

Site-selective radiolabeling using mushroom tyrosinase and the strain-promoted oxidation-controlled 1,2-quinone cycloaddition.

We report the in vitro characterization and in vivo evaluation of a novel 89Zr-labeled radioimmunoconjugate synthesized using a site-selective bioconjugation strategy based on the oxidation of tyrosinase residues exposed by the deglycosylation of the IgG and the subsequent strain-promoted oxidation-controlled 1,2-quinone cycloaddition between these amino acids and trans-cyclooctene-bearing cargoes. More specifically, we site-selectively modified a variant of the A33 antigen-targeting antibody huA33 with the chelator desferrioxamine (DFO), thereby producing an immunoconjugate (DFO-SPOCQhuA33) with equivalent antigen binding affinity to its parent immunoglobulin but attenuated affinity for the FcγRI receptor. This construct was subsequently radiolabeled with [89Zr]Zr4+ to create a radioimmunoconjugate - [89Zr]Zr-DFO-SPOCQhuA33 - in high yield and specific activity that exhibited excellent in vivo behavior in two murine models of human colorectal carcinoma.