An engineered substance P variant for receptor-mediated delivery of synthetic antibodies into tumor cells

Shahir S. Rizk, Anna Luchniak, Serdar Uysal, Crista M. Brawley, Ronald S. Rock, Anthony A. Kossiakoff

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have developed and tested a robust delivery method for the transport of proteins to the cytoplasm of mammalian cells without compromising the integrity of the cell membrane. This receptormediated delivery (RMD) technology utilizes a variant of substance P (SP), a neuropeptide that is rapidly internalized upon interaction with the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R). Cargos in the form of synthetic antibody fragments (sABs) were conjugated to the engineered SP variant (SPv) and efficiently internalized by NK1Rexpressing cells. The sABs used here were generated to bind specific conformational forms of actin. The internalized proteins appear to escape the endosome and retain their binding activity within the cells as demonstrated by co-localization with the actin cytoskeleton. Further, since the NK1R is over-expressed in many cancers, SPv-mediated delivery provides a highly specific method for therapeutic utilization of affinity reagents targeting intracellular processes in diseased tissue.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)11011-11015
Number of pages5
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume106
Issue number27
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 7 2009

Keywords

  • Actin
  • Drug delivery
  • Synthetic antibody fragment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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