Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a tumor of the head and neck, with a higher incidence in southern China and Southeast Asia. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the main treatments; however, metastasis and recurrence remain the main causes of treatment failure. Further, the majority of patients are d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Saidu Kamara, He Wen, Yanru Guo, Ying Liu, Lei Liu, Wangqi Du, Jun Chen, Shanli Zhu, Lifang Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Cells
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/13/22/1823
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846154053651791872
author Saidu Kamara
He Wen
Yanru Guo
Ying Liu
Lei Liu
Wangqi Du
Jun Chen
Shanli Zhu
Lifang Zhang
author_facet Saidu Kamara
He Wen
Yanru Guo
Ying Liu
Lei Liu
Wangqi Du
Jun Chen
Shanli Zhu
Lifang Zhang
author_sort Saidu Kamara
collection DOAJ
description Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a tumor of the head and neck, with a higher incidence in southern China and Southeast Asia. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the main treatments; however, metastasis and recurrence remain the main causes of treatment failure. Further, the majority of patients are diagnosed in the late stage due to lack of tumor-specific biomarker for early diagnosis. Therefore, an effective treatment and early detection can improve the outcome of patient with NPC. Axl and EGFR are co-expressed in NPC tissues and play key roles in tumor proliferation, migration, and invasion, which are often correlated with poor prognosis and therapy resistance. In this study, we generated a novel bispecific affibody (Z<sub>239-1907</sub>) for the dual targeting and inhibition of Axl and EGFR expression in NPC-positive cells both in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that Z<sub>239-1907</sub> had more pronounced antitumor effects than either modality alone (Z<sub>AXL</sub>239 or Z<sub>EGFR</sub>1907) in NPC-positive cells. Further, mice bearing NPC-positive tumors showed significant inhibition in tumor growth after treatment with Z<sub>239-1907</sub> compared to Z<sub>AXL</sub>239 and Z<sub>EGFR</sub>1907. The in vivo tumor targeting ability and imaging also showed that Z<sub>239-1907</sub> specifically and selectively targeted NPC xenograft mice models and accumulate at tumor site as early as 30 min and disappeared within 24 h post-injection. Collectively, these results suggest that Z<sub>239-1907</sub> dual-target affibody is a promising therapeutic agent and a molecular imaging probe for early diagnosis in NPC.
format Article
id doaj-art-d2299e7824204e85b4bd5d3083c5dfc1
institution Kabale University
issn 2073-4409
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Cells
spelling doaj-art-d2299e7824204e85b4bd5d3083c5dfc12024-11-26T17:56:40ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092024-11-011322182310.3390/cells13221823Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal CarcinomaSaidu Kamara0He Wen1Yanru Guo2Ying Liu3Lei Liu4Wangqi Du5Jun Chen6Shanli Zhu7Lifang Zhang8Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaInstitute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaNasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a tumor of the head and neck, with a higher incidence in southern China and Southeast Asia. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the main treatments; however, metastasis and recurrence remain the main causes of treatment failure. Further, the majority of patients are diagnosed in the late stage due to lack of tumor-specific biomarker for early diagnosis. Therefore, an effective treatment and early detection can improve the outcome of patient with NPC. Axl and EGFR are co-expressed in NPC tissues and play key roles in tumor proliferation, migration, and invasion, which are often correlated with poor prognosis and therapy resistance. In this study, we generated a novel bispecific affibody (Z<sub>239-1907</sub>) for the dual targeting and inhibition of Axl and EGFR expression in NPC-positive cells both in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that Z<sub>239-1907</sub> had more pronounced antitumor effects than either modality alone (Z<sub>AXL</sub>239 or Z<sub>EGFR</sub>1907) in NPC-positive cells. Further, mice bearing NPC-positive tumors showed significant inhibition in tumor growth after treatment with Z<sub>239-1907</sub> compared to Z<sub>AXL</sub>239 and Z<sub>EGFR</sub>1907. The in vivo tumor targeting ability and imaging also showed that Z<sub>239-1907</sub> specifically and selectively targeted NPC xenograft mice models and accumulate at tumor site as early as 30 min and disappeared within 24 h post-injection. Collectively, these results suggest that Z<sub>239-1907</sub> dual-target affibody is a promising therapeutic agent and a molecular imaging probe for early diagnosis in NPC.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/13/22/1823affibody moleculesnasopharyngeal carcinomaAxlEGFRtargeted therapy
spellingShingle Saidu Kamara
He Wen
Yanru Guo
Ying Liu
Lei Liu
Wangqi Du
Jun Chen
Shanli Zhu
Lifang Zhang
Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Cells
affibody molecules
nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Axl
EGFR
targeted therapy
title Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
title_full Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
title_fullStr Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
title_full_unstemmed Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
title_short Axl and EGFR Dual-Specific Binding Affibody for Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
title_sort axl and egfr dual specific binding affibody for targeted therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma
topic affibody molecules
nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Axl
EGFR
targeted therapy
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/13/22/1823
work_keys_str_mv AT saidukamara axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT hewen axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT yanruguo axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT yingliu axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT leiliu axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT wangqidu axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT junchen axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT shanlizhu axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma
AT lifangzhang axlandegfrdualspecificbindingaffibodyfortargetedtherapyinnasopharyngealcarcinoma