Understanding structural/functional properties of immunoconjugates for cancer therapy by computational approaches

J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2008 Aug;26(1):35-48. doi: 10.1080/07391102.2008.10507221.

Abstract

Monoclonal antibodies coupled to highly toxic molecules (immunoconjugates) are currently being developed for cancer therapy. We have used an in silico procedure for evaluating some physicochemical properties of two tumor-targeting anti-HER2 immunoconjugates: (a) the single-chain antibody scFv(FRP5) linked to a bacterial toxin, that has been recently progressed to phase I clinical trial in human cancer; (b) the putative molecule formed by the intrinsically stable scFv(800E6), which has been proposed as toxin carrier to cancer cells in human therapy, joined to the same toxin of (a). Structural models of the immunoconjugates have been built by homology modeling and assessed by molecular dynamics simulations. The trajectories have been analyzed to extract some biochemical properties and to assess the potential effects of the toxin on the structure and dynamics of the anti-HER2 antibodies. The results of the computational approach indicate that the antibodies maintain their correct folding even in presence of the toxin, whereas a certain stiffness in correspondence of some structural regions is observed. Furthermore, the toxin does not seem to affect the antibody solubility, whereas it enhances the structural stability. The proposed computational approach represent a promising tool for analyzing some physicochemical properties of immunoconjugates and for predicting the effects of the linked toxin on structure, dynamics, and functionality of the antibodies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cancer Vaccines / therapeutic use*
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Exotoxins / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Immunoconjugates / chemistry*
  • Immunoconjugates / pharmacology*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Neoplasms / genetics
  • Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / genetics
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / immunology*
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / therapeutic use*
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Single-Chain Antibodies

Substances

  • Cancer Vaccines
  • Exotoxins
  • Immunoconjugates
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Single-Chain Antibodies
  • scFv(FRP5)-ETA antibody toxin
  • Receptor, ErbB-2