Identification of receptors for transcytotic delivery of therapeutic agents The Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB) is a fundamental obstacle for the development of therapeutic and diagnostic reagents/drugs for treating brain diseases such as glioma or Alzheimer?s Disease. Current approaches enhance the delivery of therapeutics to the brain utilizing receptors on the endothelial cells of the brain capillaries by targeting with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for transcytotic delivery of the mAb and conjugated drugs or fused proteins for therapy. The most widely studied receptors thus far for crossing the BBB are the transferrin receptor (TfR) and human insulin receptor (HIR), both of which are highly expressed by endothelial cells that make up the BBB. In this approach, mAbs conjugated to therapeutic drugs or proteins are transported from the blood into the brain parenchyma to achieve efficacy; however, systemic toxicity and low transport efficiency has hampered clinical applications. There is still a pressing need for the identification of new receptors with high transport efficiency and brain specific expression to enhance the therapeutic index. Our approach will address this barrier by identifying these receptors with a combinatorial library comprised of single-chain variable fragment (scFv) delivered by an engineered replication-competent lentivirus as a lentiviral scFv display library. In vivo selection based on this platform will provide antibodies with binding properties that are optimized for transcytosis, which cannot be achieved by in vitro selection on human cells. Success of the project, this multi-target, transcytotic platform, is anticipated to accelerate the development of new therapies for diseases of the brain. We will generate a panel of scFvs that can target different receptors capable of transcytosing a payload of chemotherapeutics, therapeutic genes, or fused protein-based agonists/antagonists to treat diseases such as glioblastoma or Alzheimer?s Disease.

Public Health Relevance

The blood vessels of the brain selectively permit passage of nutrients into the brain and thus keep out helpful therapeutics. We are seeking out new pathways that will permit passage of therapeutics into the brain to tread brain diseases such as Alzheimer?s disease or tumors of the brain.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21NS094084-02
Application #
9265140
Study Section
Clinical Molecular Imaging and Probe Development (CMIP)
Program Officer
Bosetti, Francesca
Project Start
2016-07-01
Project End
2019-06-30
Budget Start
2017-07-01
Budget End
2019-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
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