Enhanced internalization of ErbB2 in SK-BR-3 cells with multivalent forms of an artificial ligand.

Targeting and down-regulation of ErbB2, a member of EGF receptor family, is regarded as one of the key aspect for cancer treatment because it is often overexpressed in breast and ovarian cancer cells. Although natural ligands for ErbB2 have not been found, unlike other ErbB receptors, EC-1, a 20-amino acid circular peptide, has been shown to bind to ErbB2 as an artificial ligand. Previously we showed EC-1 peptide did not induce the internalization of ErbB2 in SK-BR-3 cells. In this report, we designed divalent and multivalent forms of EC-1 peptide with the Fc portion of the human IgG and bionanocapsule modified with ZZ-tag on its surface to improve the interaction with ErbB2. These forms showed higher affinity to ErbB2 than that of EC-1 monomer. Furthermore, prominent endosomal accumulation of ErbB2 occurred in SK-BR-3 cells when stimulated with EC-Fc ligand multivalently displayed on the surface of the bionanocapsule, whereas SK-BR-3 cells as themselves displayed stringent mechanism against ErbB2 internalization without stimulation. The multivalent form of EC-1 peptide appeared to internalize ErbB2 more efficiently than divalent form did. This internalization was unaffected by the inhibition of clathrin association, but inhibited when the cholesterol was depleted which explained either caveolar or GPI-AP-early endocytic compartment (GEEC) pathway. Because of the lack of caveolin-1 expression, caveolar machinery may be lost in SK-BR-3 cell line. Therefore, it is suggested that the multivalent form of EC-1 induces the internalization of ErbB2 through the GEEC pathway.

Production of biologically active IgG hinge-tag soluble epidermal growth factor receptors (ErbB).

The extracellular domains (ECD) of epidermal growth factor receptors, ErbB1, 2, 3 and 4, were designed as soluble dimeric forms. Each ECD was fused to a short hinge region derived from IgG, such that the stable dimer could be formed with disulfide bridges. This hinge-tagged design minimized the molecular weight to approximately 50% of the conventional Fc-fusion design without an Fc domain of IgG. The refolded dimers could be easily analyzed and characterized by SDS-PAGE. Hinge-tagged soluble ErbBs demonstrated significant affinity for betacellulin and heregulin. The IgG hinge-tag should be a simple method to design soluble dimers that would be useful for high throughput screening of ligands, antagonists or derivatives.

A betacellulin mutant promotes differentiation of pancreatic acinar AR42J cells into insulin-producing cells with low affinity of binding to ErbB1.

Betacellulin (BTC) is one of the members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) ligand family of ErbB receptor tyrosine kinases. It is a differentiation factor as well as a potent mitogen. BTC promotes the differentiation of pancreatic acinar-derived AR42J cells into insulin-producing cells. It independently and preferentially binds to two type I tyrosine kinase receptors, the EGF receptor (ErbB1) and ErbB4. However, the physiochemical characteristics of BTC that are responsible for its preferential binding to these two receptors have not been fully defined. In this study, to investigate the essential amino acid residues of BTC for binding to the two receptors, we introduced point mutations into the EGF domain of BTC employing error-prone PCR. The receptor binding abilities of 190 mutants expressed in Escherichia coli were assessed by enzyme immunoassay. Replacement of the glutamic acid residue at position 88 with a lysine residue in BTC was found to produce a significant loss of affinity for binding to ErbB1, while the affinity of binding to ErbB4 was unchanged. In addition, the mutant of BTC-E/88/K showed less growth-promoting activity on BALB/c 3T3 cells compared with that of the wild-type BTC protein. Interestingly, the BTC mutant protein promoted differentiation of pancreatic acinar AR42J cells at a high frequency into insulin-producing cells compared with AR42J cells that were treated with wild-type BTC protein. These results indicate the possibility of designing BTC mutants, which have an activity of inducing differentiation only, without facilitating growth promotion.

Cell type dependent endocytic internalization of ErbB2 with an artificial peptide ligand that binds to ErbB2.

ErbB2, which is a member of the epidermal growth factor (erbB) receptor family, is frequently overexpressed in breast and ovarian cancers. Antibody and small molecule anti-tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been developed for targeted therapies for cancers overexpressing erbB2. Internalization and downregulation of erbB2, which is induced by a ligand, may be important for efficacious therapeutic effects. However, ligand-dependent erbB2 internalization has not been well characterized. Here we investigated the internalization of erbB2 in SKBr3 and SKOv3 cells, both overexpressing erbB2, using an EC-1 peptide fused to eGFP (EC-eGFP), which specifically binds to erbB2. ErbB2 was internalized in SKOv3 cells when the cells were treated with EC-eGFP. The accumulation of endosomal erbB2 was EC-eGFP dependent, which colocalized with transferrin implying endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits. In contrast, internalization of erbB2 was not observed in SKBr3 cells. As a result, two different mechanisms, which are cell type dependent for the internalization of erbB2, are proposed.