Generation and engineering of ABD-derived affinity proteins for clinical applications

Proteins that specifically recognize and bind to other molecules or structures are important tools in industrial and medical applications. Binding proteins engineered from small stable scaffold proteins have been utilized for several purposes due to their favorable biophysical properties, tolerance to mutagenesis, efficient tissue penetration and ease of production. The 46 amino acid long albumin-binding domain (ABD) derived from the bacterial receptor Protein G is a promising scaffold that has been explored in this thesis. The scaffold was subjected to combinatorial protein engineering for generation of ABD-derived binding proteins with novel specificities. Furthermore, the medical potential of engineered ABDderived affinity proteins (ADAPTs) was evaluated in a series of pre-clinical studies. In the first studies, ADAPTs suitability as tracers for radionuclide molecular imaging was evaluated. Factors influencing biodistribution and tumor targeting properties were assessed in mice models bearing HER2 positive xenografts. All tested ADAPT constructs demonstrated high and specific targeting of HER2-expressing tumor cells as well as fast clearance from circulation. The results also showed that the size and character of the Nterminus affected the biodistribution profile of ADAPTs. Moreover, the targeting properties of ADAPTs proved to be highly influenced by the residualizing properties of the attached radionuclide label. Taken together, the results provided the first evidence that tumor imaging can be performed using ADAPTs and the favorable pharmacokinetic profiles in the studied mice models suggest that the scaffold is a promising candidate for clinical applications. In the last study, a platform for generation of stable ABD-derived affinity proteins with novel binding specificities was established using a multi-step approach combining directed evolution and rational protein design. A broad combinatorial protein library with 20 randomized positions in ABD was designed and binders against three distinct targets were selected using phage display. Characterization of the selected binders provided information regarding optimal positions to randomize in a final library. In addition, the isolated binders were subjected to mutagenesis in certain surface exposed positions and mutations that provided increased stability were introduced into the original scaffold. Finally, a more focused combinatorial protein library consisting of 11 randomized positions was designed and constructed. The library was validated by selections against the same set of targets as for the first, broad library. The isolation of highly stable affinity ligands confirms that the library can be used for generation of diverse and stable affinity molecules.