BEH.462/3.962J Molecular Principles of Biomaterials Spring 2003
Lecture 17: Drug targeting
Last time: Intracellular drug delivery
Today: Drug targeting
Reading: T.J. Wickham, ‘Ligand-directed targeting of genes to the site of disease,’ Nat. Med. 9(1)
135-139 (2003)
Drug Targeting
Applications of drug targeting
1
? delivery of toxic drugs to tumors
o highly toxic drugs that are too dangerous to deliver in a systemic manner
? e.g. potent radionuclides, cellular toxins
? allow smaller doses to be used
? delivery of DNA vectors to target cell type for genetic corrections
? targeting to vasculature
o cancer treatment
? target to neovasculature forming around tumors
2
o pulmonary, cardiovascular, and inflammatory diseases
? targeting to pathogen-infected cells
o infected cells undergo changes in cell-surface molecule expression
? crossing blood-brain barrier
3
Application Cellular target Molecular target Targeting ligand Ligand type
Anti-cancer therapy Various tumor cells Folate receptor
EGF receptor
Folate
EGF
Protein ligand for target
receptor preferentially
expressed on target
cells
Neovascular tissue B-FN (fibronectin
isoform)
anti-B-FN antibody antibody against
fibronectin isoform only
expressed during
embryonic development
and in aggressive
tumors
Anti-cancer Endothelial cells E-selectin sialyl Lewis
X
receptor expressed at
therapy, pulmonary, P-selectin receptor sites of inflammation
cardiovascular, and
inflammatory
diseases
Anti-cancer therapy Transformed B CD20 Anti-CD20 antibody Antibody against target
(leukemias and B lymphocytes cell-surface protein
cell lymphomas) unique to target class of
cells (e.g. B cells)
Anti-cancer therapy
(T cell lymphomas)
Transformed T
lymphocytes
IL-2Rα (interleukin-2
receptor a chain
Anti-IL-2Rα antibody Antibody against target
cell-surface protein not
expressed on normal
resting cells
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BEH.462/3.962J Molecular Principles of Biomaterials Spring 2003
Targeting Approaches
4
Targeted delivery
? receptor-ligand-based targeting
o general cell surface receptor-ligand pairs
? guide drug to target based on unique or over-expressed receptor on target cell type
? folate receptor
? over-expressed in 95% of non-mucinous ovarian carcinomas
5
o antibody targeting
? pros
? high affinity (~1 nM K
D
- typical half-life at 37°C?)
? high specificity
? cons
? need to be ‘humanized’ to avoid rapid opsonization
o only variable region of mouse antibody need be retained for antigen recognition
? need to consider possible F
c
receptor binding
o F
c
= ‘fragment crystallizable’
? use of FAb fragments as an alternative
? source of Ab 3D animation:
http://digilander.libero.it/danielefocosi/immunity.html#But,%20on%20the%20contrary%20of%20T
cR,%20other%20BcR%20isotypes
QuickTime? and a GIF decompressor are needed to see this picture.
F
c
F
c
receptor
macrophage
FAb/FAb?
-SH
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BEH.462/3.962J Molecular Principles of Biomaterials Spring 2003
FAb fragments
Antibody fragmentation enzymes:
papain papain
Papain cleavage
-S-S-
(Pierce Chemical Co.)
? Utility of antibody fragments:
o Lack Fc region; reduced binding to phagocytic FcR-bearing macrophages and other phagocytes
o Reduced immunogenicity for non-humanized antibodies
o FAb allows production of monovalent binding molecule
? Bivalent binding can trigger unwanted signaling cascades (e.g. EGFR)
o Unique chemical sites introduced at opened hinge region in FAb’ or F(Ab’)
2
SHHS
Maleimide
Eng-group
BB
+
Couple via
QuickTime? and a Graphics decompressor are needed to see this picture.
streptavidin to device
-SH
MAL
PEG surface layer
MAL
MAL
QuickTime? and a Graphics decompressor are needed to see this picture.
? Maleimide reaction with thiol creates stable thioether linkage:
o Source of graphic: http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v1/n7/slideshow/nrd838_bx1.html
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BEH.462/3.962J Molecular Principles of Biomaterials Spring 2003
o Example: targeting to vasculature
? Inflammatory signals delivered from peripheral tissues to endothelial cells induce upregulation of
‘threat’ signals on the surface of these cells within the lumen of blood vessels
o Cytokine signals such as IL-1β, TNF
? Chronic inflammation: upregulation of E-selectin
? Acute inflammation: upregulation of P-selectin
o Used to direct neutrophils and monocytes to sites of inflammation
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BEH.462/3.962J Molecular Principles of Biomaterials Spring 2003
Lecture 17 – Drug targeting 5 of 7
Site of inflammation
IL-1β
TNF
sialyl lewis
X
receptor
Therapeutic cargo
? antibody-based targeting
Targeted Activation
? local activation of a conjugate by action of enzymes or cellular environment
? example of cathepsin-sensitive linkages
‘Reverse’ targeting
6
? attraction of target cells to carrier
Attraction of target cells to device via chemotaxis:
(Kumamoto et al. 2002)
Tissue sections stained for MHC class II (expressed by antigen-presenting cells)
Dendritic cells
~1 per 100 cells in most tissues
BEH.462/3.962J Molecular Principles of Biomaterials Spring 2003
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Issues in Drug Targeting
? ‘collateral damage’
o how unique is target? Is it expressed in normal tissues
? often ratio of drug delivery tumor:normal tissue is not high enough
? In certain cases, elimination of healthy cells is acceptable
? E.g. hematopoietic system (T cells, B cells) can be replenished by bone marrow
transplant
? Many times the normal tissue from which tumors are derived cannot be safely destroyed
? Tumor and viral escape
o Loss of target antigen expression due to rapid mutations (antigen-loss variants)
? Immunological response to targeting agent
o Early studies used mouse antibodies for targeting
? Low efficacy due to very short half-life and development of anti-sera
Integrating targeting, activation, and intracellular delivery
? Example of targeted delivery to cytosol by functionalized pH-sensitive liposomal carriers
o Shi et al. 2002
5
? Objective: intracellular delivery of a cellular toxin to tumors
o Target receptor also triggers receptor-mediated endocytosis
(Shi et al. 2002)
(+)
(-)
QuickTime? and a Graphics decompressor are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime? and a Graphics decompressor are needed to see this picture.
? Charge neutralization at low pH drives irreversible aggregation of particles at low pH (membrane
fusion on particle aggregation)
? Rapid aggregation at 37°C
BEH.462/3.962J Molecular Principles of Biomaterials Spring 2003
? Liposomes are electrostatically stabilized at neutral pH
? Change in net surface charge leads to membrane fusion within endosomes
? AraC = cytosine-β-D-arabinofuranoside
? Cytotoxic agent for anti-tumor therapy
References
1. Eniola, A. O. & Hammer, D. A. Artificial polymeric cells for targeted drug delivery. J Control Release 87, 15-22
(2003).
2. Halin, C. et al. Enhancement of the antitumor activity of interleukin-12 by targeted delivery to neovasculature. Nat
Biotechnol 20, 264-9 (2002).
3. Pardridge, W. M. Drug and gene targeting to the brain with molecular Trojan horses. Nat Rev Drug Discov 1, 131
9 (2002).
4. Wickham, T. J. Ligand-directed targeting of genes to the site of disease. Nat Med 9, 135-9 (2003).
5. Shi, G., Guo, W., Stephenson, S. M. & Lee, R. J. Efficient intracellular drug and gene delivery using folate
receptor-targeted pH-sensitive liposomes composed of cationic/anionic lipid combinations. J Control Release 80,
309-19 (2002).
6. Kumamoto, T. et al. Induction of tumor-specific protective immunity by in situ Langerhans cell vaccine. Nat
Biotechnol 20, 64-9 (2002).
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