Mechano-bioconjugation Strategy Empowering Fusion Protein Therapeutics with Aggregation Resistance, Prolonged Circulation, and Enhanced Antitumor Efficacy

J Am Chem Soc. 2022 Oct 12;144(40):18387-18396. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c06532. Epub 2022 Sep 30.

Abstract

Bioconjugation is a powerful protein modification strategy to improve protein properties. Herein, we report mechano-bioconjugation as a novel approach to empower fusion protein therapeutics and demonstrate its utility by a protein heterocatenane (cat-IFN-ABD) containing interferon-α2b (IFN) mechanically interlocked with a consensus albumin-binding domain (ABD). The conjugate was selectively synthesized in cellulo following a cascade of post-translational events using a pair of heterodimerizing p53dim variants and two orthogonal split-intein reactions. The catenane topology was proven by combined techniques of LC-MS, SDS-PAGE, SEC, and controlled proteolytic digestion. Not only did cat-IFN-ABD retain activities comparable to those of the wild-type IFN and ABD, the conjugate also exhibited enhanced aggregation resistance and prolonged circulation time over the simple linear and cyclic fusions. Consequently, cat-IFN-ABD potently inhibited tumor growth in the mouse xenograft model. Therefore, mechano-bioconjugation by catenation accomplishes function integration with additional benefits, providing an alternative pathway for developing advanced protein therapeutics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Catenanes*
  • Humans
  • Interferon-alpha / chemistry
  • Mice
  • Power, Psychological
  • Protein Binding
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / pharmacology
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / therapeutic use
  • Serum Albumin* / chemistry

Substances

  • Catenanes
  • Interferon-alpha
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Serum Albumin