Reporter Assay for Endo/Lysosomal Escape of Toxin-Based Therapeutics

Protein-based therapeutics with cytosolic targets are capable of exhibiting their therapeutic effect once they have escaped from the endosomes or lysosomes. In this study, the reporters-horseradish peroxidase (HRP), Alexa Fluor 488 (Alexa) and ricin A-chain (RTA)-were investigated for their capacity to monitor the endo/lysosomal escape of the ribosome-inactivating protein, saporin. The conjugates-saporin-HRP, (Alexa)saporin and saporin-KQ-RTA-were constructed, and the endo/lysosomal escape of these conjugates alone (lack of endo/lysosomal release) or in combination with certain structurally-specific triterpenoidal saponins (efficient endo/lysosomal escape) was characterized. HRP failed in reporting the endo/lysosomal escape of saporin. Contrastingly, Alexa Fluor 488 successfully allowed the report of the process at a toxin concentration of 1000 nM. In addition, single endo/lysosome analysis facilitated the determination of the amount of (Alexa)saporin released from each vesicle. RTA was also successful in reporting the endo/lysosomal escape of the enzymatically inactive mutant, saporin-KQ, but in this case, the sensitivity of the method reached a toxin concentration of 10 nM. In conclusion, the simultaneous usage of Alexa Fluor 488 and RTA as reporters may provide the possibility of monitoring the endo/lysosomal escape of protein-based therapeutics in the concentration range of 10-1000 nM.