EP1706420A1 - Couplage dirigee de proteines - Google Patents

Couplage dirigee de proteines

Info

Publication number
EP1706420A1
EP1706420A1 EP05701114A EP05701114A EP1706420A1 EP 1706420 A1 EP1706420 A1 EP 1706420A1 EP 05701114 A EP05701114 A EP 05701114A EP 05701114 A EP05701114 A EP 05701114A EP 1706420 A1 EP1706420 A1 EP 1706420A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
modified
encoding
polypeptide
group
egf
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP05701114A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Roland Kontermann
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Affitech AS
Original Assignee
Affitech AS
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Affitech AS filed Critical Affitech AS
Priority to EP05701114A priority Critical patent/EP1706420A1/fr
Publication of EP1706420A1 publication Critical patent/EP1706420A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
    • C07K14/475—Growth factors; Growth regulators
    • C07K14/485—Epidermal growth factor [EGF], i.e. urogastrone

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method of modifying a polypeptide, which yields a modified polypeptide, suitable for site-specific coupling, for example, as a targeting ligand, as well as modified human EGF and fragments thereof, suitable for site-directed coupling.
  • ligands encompasses a wide variety of substances, which can potentially bind to such surface structures, and include small signaling molecules as NO , hormones, drugs, small polypeptide signaling molecules, in particular cytokines and growth factors, and antibodies and fragments thereof.
  • Ligand-targeted approaches require the attachment of ligands to the compounds to be targeted. Examples of such attachment include the chemical coupling of ligands to drugs, drug carrier system or other useful therapeutic or diagnostic compounds.
  • polypeptides for the active targeting in cancer therapy.
  • the concept of actively targeting drugs to tumor cells has led to the development of highly selective and efficacious anticancer therapeutics with reduced side effects (Allen (2002) Nature Reviews 2:750-763).
  • Tumor cell specificity is conferred by ligands conjugated to the drug or drug carrier system.
  • a wide variety of ligands have been explored including natural ligands, antibodies, peptides, and carbohydrates (Forssen & Willis (1998) Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 29:249-271; 1998; Allen (2002) Nature Reviews 2:750-763).
  • Ligands are routinely conjugated to drugs or carrier systems by chemical coupling.
  • the presence of several reactive groups at the ligand surface can lead to partial or complete inactivation or aggregation of the peptides or polypeptides and the generation of heterogene- ous products due to multiple cross-linking between ligands and/or carriers or to ligand inactivation due to coupling at or near the active site.
  • a reactive group such as a cysteine residue contain- ing a reactive sulfhydryl group, at a defined position, e.g. the N- or C-terminus.
  • This approach was already applied to conjugate single-chain Fv fragments containing an additional C- terminal cysteine residue to liposomal carrier systems (Nielsen et al., (2002) Biochim. Bio- phys. Acta 1591:109-118); Marty et al., (2002) Br. J. Cancer 87:106-112).
  • ligands may contain already several cysteine residues which complicates ex- pression and purification of correctly folded ligands.
  • the free sulfhydryl group leads to dimerization due to cross-linking of two ligands, which requires reduction of the purified ligand under mild conditions prior to coupling.
  • mouse EGF was used to produce targeted liposomes by activating EGF with Traut's reagent and coupling to maleimide-PEG lipids (Kullberg et al, (2002) Bioconjug. Chem. 13:737-743; Kullberg et al, (2003) Pharm. Res. 20, 229-236).
  • human EGF in order to avoid the induction of a neutralizing human anti-mouse immune response.
  • natural ligands from other species which are devoid of lysines are not always available and ligands from other species may also exhibit reduced affinity or altered specificity for human receptors.
  • TNF- ⁇ variants devoid of side-chain reactive groups. Indeed, such an approach was recently applied to generate lysine- deficient TNF- ⁇ variants (Yamamoto et al, (2003) Nat. Biotechnol. 21:546-551). In this study the 6 lysine positions were randomized using the triplet NNS and TNF- ⁇ variants were selected against a TNF- ⁇ neutralizing antibody or TNF-RI. Interestingly, although two lysine residues were described to be vital for bioactivity, several of the TNF- ⁇ variants had other residues at these positions.
  • lysine-deficient TNF- ⁇ variants with full biological activity could be specifically mono-PEGylated at its N-terminus leading to improved antitumor activity compared to randomly mono-PEGylated wild-tpye TNF- ⁇ .
  • This study clearly demonstrates the usefulness of lysine-deficient ligands for site-directed modifications to improve therapeutic efficacy and further shows that phage display represents a powerful tool to isolate novel biologically active proteins with the desired properties.
  • the lysine positions were randomized with codons encoding all 20 amino acids, including lysine residues.
  • the usage of triplets which do not encode for lysines should direct selection towards the enrichment of active ligands devoid of lysine residue, i.e. facilitate the emichment of lysine-deficient active ligands.
  • the present inventors therefore, developed a novel approach using libraries of ligands with a biased codon usage at the triplets encoding lysine positions in the original sequence.
  • the advantage of this approach is that, (i) active peptides or polypeptides are se- lected/screened from a large combinatorial library of variants thus allowing identification from a large pool of possible sequences, (ii) finding optimal peptides or polypeptides sequences in respect to binding (and activity) which are devoid of those residues interfering with chemical coupling to other compounds, (iii) forcing isolation of peptides or polypeptides variants devoid of the interfering amino acid(s) by the use of a biased amino acid composi- tions.
  • Epidermal growth factor is a monomeric protein consisting of 53 residues which binds specifically and with high affinity to the EGF receptor (Carpenter & Cohen, (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265:7709-7712; Lem on et al., (1997) EMBO J. 16:281-294).
  • the EGF receptor is an attractive target for tumor therapy as it is overexpressed by a wide variety of human carcinomas, including cancers of the lung, liver, breast, head, neck, ovary, and bladder.
  • liposomes and viral vectors displaying EGF on their surface were developed for target cell-specific drug or gene delivery (Kullberg et al., (2002) Bioconjug. Chem. 13:737-743; Kullberg et al., (2003) Pharm. Res. 20:229-236; Kikuchi et al., (1996) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comrn. 227:666-671).
  • targeting of drugs or toxins to EGF receptor-expressing tumor cells was also described for anti-EGFR antibody fusion proteins or conjugates (Aboud-Pirak et al., (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:3778-3781).
  • EGFml EGF-like growth factor receptor
  • K28Q, R45S, K48S, and R53S mutations EGF-like growth factor receptor
  • R45S, K48S, and R53S mutations EGFml
  • EGFml could be labeled with fluorescein-isothiocyanate demonstrating the accessibility of the N- terminal amino group for coupling reagents.
  • coupling of EGFml to PEGylated liposomes resulted in target cell-specific binding and internalization of the liposomes.
  • Such EGF variants are advantageous for directional and optimized chemical coupling to carrier systems or other molecules for the generation of anticancer therapeutics targeting the EGF receptor, which is overexpressed by a wide variety of different tumors.
  • one aspect of the present invention is a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of
  • polynucleotides encoding at least the mature modified epidermal growth factor (EGF) having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in one of SEQ ID NOs 1-15;
  • polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a mature modified EGF encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b), wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are conservatively substituted compared to said mature modified EGF with the proviso that polypeptide positions 28 and 48 are not Lys, and said fragment or derivative has epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) binding activity;
  • EGFR epidermal growth factor receptor
  • polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code for a modified EGF having EGFR binding activity;
  • polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes, preferably under strin- gent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a modified EGF having EGFR binding activity; or the complementary strand of such a polynucleotide.
  • a modified EGF having EGFR binding activity is a polypeptide that has at least 10% (e.g., at least: 10%, 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the full-length wild type EGF to bind to EGFR. It is preferred that the modified EGF has at least wild type binding activity.
  • Binding assays for assessing the binding of EGF to their respective receptors are well known in the art and include isothermal titration calorimetry (Lemmon et al. (1997) EMBO J. 16, 281-294), titration or competetion experiments with radiolabeled EGF (Campion et al. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 1742-1748), and surface plasmon resonance measurements (Lenferink et al. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 26748-26753) and further methods are also described herein below.
  • the modified EGF nucleic acid molecules of the invention can be DNA, cDNA, genomic DNA, synthetic DNA, or, RNA, and can be double-stranded or single-stranded, the sense and/or an antisense strand. Segments of these molecules are also considered within the scope of the invention, and can be produced by, for example, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or generated by treatment with one or more restriction endonucleases.
  • PCR polymerase chain reaction
  • a ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule can be produced by in vitro transcription.
  • polynucleotide molecules of the invention can contain naturally occurring sequences, or sequences that differ from those that occur naturally, but, due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, encode the same polypeptide, i.e. the polypeptides with SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 15.
  • the polynucleotide can comprise additional polynucleotides at its 3' and/or 5' terminal end, which code for further polypeptides.
  • the combined polynucleotides or fusion polynucleotides then encode a modified EGF fusion polypeptide.
  • the polynucleotide added 3' or 5' terminally will not comprise (a) codon(s) AAG and AAA encoding Lys and even more preferably will not comprise (a) codon(s) encoding AAA and AAG, encoding Lys and will have a reduced number of (a) codon(s) CGT, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA and AGG encoding Arg.
  • polynucleotide of fusion polynucleotide molecules of the invention can be synthesized in vitro (for example, by phosphoramidite-based synthesis) or obtained from a cell, such as the cell of a bacteria or mammal.
  • Polynucleotides encoding modified EGF disclosed herein can be identified based on its similarity to the sequences set forth in SEQ ID No. 16 to 30. For example, the identification can be based on sequence identity.
  • the invention features iso- lated nucleic acid molecules which are at least 50% (or 55%, 65%, 75%, 85°/a, 95%), or 98%) identical to: (a) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 15; (b) the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 16-30; and (c) a nucleic acid molecule which includes a segment of at least 30 (e.g., at least 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, or 159) nu- cleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 16 to 30 and code for a modified EGF having EGFR binding activ- ity.
  • Hybridization can also be used as a measure of homology between two nucleic acid sequences.
  • a nucleic acid sequence encoding a modified EGF as disclosed herein, or a portion thereof, can be used as a hybridization probe according to standard hybridization techniques.
  • Hybridization conditions are known to those skilled in the art and can be found in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y., 6.3.1-6.3.6, 1991.
  • Moderate hy- bridization conditions are defined as equivalent to hybridization in 2X sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) at 30°C, followed by a wash in 1 X SSC, 0.1% SDS at 50°C.
  • Highly stringent conditions are defined as equivalent to hybridization in 6X sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) at 45°C, followed by a wash in 0.2 X SSC, 0.1 % SDS at 65°C.
  • a further aspect of the present invention is a vector containing the polynucleotide(s) of fusion polynucleotide(s)of the present invention or a protein encoded by a polynucleotide or fusion polynucleotide of the present invention
  • vector refers to a protein or a polynucleotide or a mixture thereof which is capable of being introduced or of introducing the proteins and/or nucleic acid comprised into a cell. It is preferred that the proteins encoded by the introduced polynucleotide are expressed within the cell upon introduction of the vector.
  • the vector of the present invention comprises plasmids, phagemids, phages, cosmids, artificial mammalian chromosomes, knock-out or knock-in con- structs, viruses, in particular adenoviruses, vaccinia viruses, attenuated vaccinia viruses, canary pox viruses, lentivirus (Chang, L.J. and Gay, E.E. (20001) Curr. Gene Therap. 1:237- 251), herpes viruses, in particular Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1, Carlezon, W.A. et al. (2000) Crit. Rev.
  • viruses in particular adenoviruses, vaccinia viruses, attenuated vaccinia viruses, canary pox viruses, lentivirus (Chang, L.J. and Gay, E.E. (20001) Curr. Gene Therap. 1:237- 251)
  • herpes viruses in particular Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1, Carlezon, W.A
  • baculovirus baculovirus
  • retrovirus retrovirus
  • adeno-associated-virus AAV, Carter, P.J. and Samulski, R.J. (2000) J. Mol. Med. 6:17-27
  • rhinovirus human immune deficiency virus
  • HIV human immune deficiency virus
  • filovirus filovirus and engineered versions thereof (see, for example, Cobinger G. P. et al (2001) Nat. Biotechnol. 19:225-30)
  • virosomes "naked” DNA liposomes
  • nucleic acid coated particles in particular gold spheres.
  • viral vectors like adeno- viral vectors or retroviral vectors (Lindemann et al. (1997) Mol. Med. 3:466-76 and Springer et al.
  • Liposomes are usually small unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles made of cationic, neutral and/or anionic lipids, for example, by ultrasound treatment of liposomal suspensions.
  • the DNA can, for example, be ionically bound to the surface of the liposomes or internally enclosed in the liposome.
  • Suitable lipid mixtures are known in the art and comprise, for example, DOTMA (1, 2-Dioleyloxpropyl-3-trimethylammoniumbromide) and DPOE (Dioleoylphosphatidyl-ethanolamine) which both have been used on a variety of cell lines.
  • Nucleic acid coated particles are another means for the introduction of nucleic acids into cells using so called “gene guns", which allow the mechanical introduction of particles into the cells.
  • the particles Preferably the particles itself are inert, and therefore, are in a preferred embodiment made out of gold spheres.
  • polynucleotide or fusion polynucleotide of the present invention is operatively linked to expression control sequences allowing expression in prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic host cells.
  • the transcriptional/translational regulatory elements referred to above include but are not limited to inducible and non-inducible, constitutive, cell cycle regulated, metabolically regulated promoters, enhancers, operators, silencers, repressors and other elements that are known to those skilled in the art and that drive or otherwise regulate gene ex- pression.
  • regulatory elements include but are not limited to regulatory elements directing constitutive expression like, for example, promoters transcribed by RNA polymerase III like , e.g., promoters for the snRNA U6 or scRNA 7SK gene, the cytomegalovirus hCMV immediate early gene, the early or late promoters of SV40 adenovirus, viral promoter and activator sequences derived from, e.g.
  • CUP-1 promoter the tet-repressor as employed, for example, in the tet-on or tet-off systems, the lac system, the ftp system
  • regulatory elements directing cell cycle specific expression
  • operatively linked means incorporated into a genetic construct so that expression control sequences effectively control expression of a coding sequence of interest.
  • Another aspect of the present invention is a host cell genetically engineered with the polynucleotide or the fusion polynucleotide or the vector as outlined above.
  • the host cells that may be used for purposes of the invention include but are not limited to prokaryotic cells such as bacteria (for example, E. coli and B.
  • subtilis which can be transformed with, for example, recombinant bacteriophage DNA, plasmid DNA, or cosmid DNA expression vectors contain- ing the polynucleotide molecules of the invention; simple eukaryotic cells like yeast (for example, Saccharomyces and Pichi ⁇ ), which can be transformed with, for example, recombinant yeast expression vectors containing the polynucleotide molecule of the invention; insect cell systems like, for example, Sf9 of Hi5 cells, which can be infected with, for example, recombinant virus expression vectors (for example, baculovirus) containing the polynucleotide molecules of the invention; Xenopus oocytes, which can be injected with, for example, plas- mids; plant cell systems, which can be infected with, for example, recombinant virus expression vectors (for example, cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) or tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)) or transformed with recombinant plasmi
  • Also useful as host cells are primary or secondary cells obtained directly from a mammal and transfected with a plasmid vector or infected with a viral vector.
  • the polynucleotide can integrate, for example, into the chromosome or the mitochondrial DNA or can be maintained extrachromosomally like, for example, episomally or can be only transiently comprised in the cells.
  • a further aspect of the present invention is a transgenic non-human animal containing a polynucleotide, a fusion polynucleotide, a vector and/or a host cell as described above.
  • the animal can be a mosaic animal, which means that only part of the cells making up the body comprise polynucleotides, vectors, and/or cells of the present invention or the animal can be a transgenic animal which means that all cells of the animal comprise the polynucleotides and/or vectors of the present invention or are derived from a cell of the present invention.
  • Mosaic or transgenic animals can be either homo- or heterozygous with respect to the polynu- cleotides of the present invention contained in the cell.
  • the transgenic animals are either homo- or heterozygous knock-out or knock-in animals with respect to the genes which code for the proteins of the present invention.
  • the animals can in principal be any animal, preferably, however, it is a mammal, selected from the group of non-human pi- mate horse, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, dog, cat, goat, rabbit, mouse, rat, guinea pig, hamster, or gerbil.
  • Another aspect of the present invention is a process for producing a modified EGF encoded by a polynucleotide of the present invention comprising: culturing the host cell described above and recovering the polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide.
  • Preferred combina- tions of host cells and vectors are outlined above and further combination will be readily apparent to someone of skill in the art. Depending on the intended later use of the recovered peptide a suitable cell type can be chosen.
  • Eukaryotic cells are preferably chosen, if it is desired that the proteins produced by the cells exhibit an essentially natural pattern of glycosyla- tion and prokaryotic cells are chosen, if, for example, glycosylation or other modifications, which are normally introduced into proteins only in eukaryotic cells, are not desired or not needed.
  • a further aspect of the invention is a process for producing cells capable of expressing modi- fied EGF polypeptide comprising genetically engineering cells in vitro with at least one of the vectors described above, wherein said modified EGF polypeptide(s) is(are) encoded by a polynucleotide of the present invention.
  • polypeptides of the invention include all those disclosed herein and functional fragments of these polypeptides.
  • Polypeptide and “protein” are used interchangeably and mean any peptide- linked chain of amino acids, regardless of length or posttranslational modification.
  • a functional fragment of a modified EGF is a fragment of the modified EGF that is shorter than 53 amino acids but that has at least 10% (e.g., at least: 10%), 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the full-length modified EGF to bind to EGFR. Binding assays are well know in the art as outlined above and are also described herein.
  • polypeptides can be any of those described above but with not more than 20 (e.g., not more than: 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, or one) conservative substitutions.
  • Conservative substitutions typically include substitutions within the following groups: glycine and alanine; valine, isoleucine, and leucine; aspar- tic acid and glutamic acid; asparagine, glutamine, serine and threonine; lysine, histidine and arginine; and phenylalanine and tyrosine.
  • polypeptide having one or more conservative substitutions is that it has at least 10%) (e.g., at least: 10%, 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the wild-type, full-length EGF to bind to EGFR.
  • polypeptide or fusion polypeptide is coupled to at least one chemical moiety. Preferably the coupling is carried out via the N-terminal amino group of the modified EGF.
  • the term "coupled" as used through out this specification means a direct or indirect covalent bond, between a polypeptide or fusion poly- peptide of the present invention and another chemical entity.
  • Indirect coupling is referred to, when rather than forming a direct covalent bond between the chemical entity and the polypeptide or fusion polypeptide a bi- or polyspecific coupling agent is used, which is capable of reacting with both the polypeptide or fusionpolypeptide of the present invention, preferably the N-terminal amino group and a residue in the chemical moiety.
  • Examples of such coupling agents are but are not limited to p-Azidobenzoyl hydrate, 3-[2-Aminoethyl)dithio]propionic acid, N-[ ⁇ .Maleimidoacettoxy] succinimide ester, N-5-Azido-nitrobenzoyloxN-5-Azido- nitrobenzoyloxysuccinimide, N-[4-(p-Azidosalicylamido)butyl]3'- ⁇ 2'-pyrixysuccinimide, N- [4-(p-Azidosalicylamido)butyl]3'- ⁇ 2'-pyridyldithio ⁇ propionamide, p-Azidophenyl glyoxal monohydrate, 4-[p-Azidosalicylamido]butylamine, Bis-[ ⁇ -(4-Azidosalicylamido)- ethyl] disulfide, 1,4-Bis-
  • chemical moiety or "entity” as used interchangeably herein is not limited to a particular type of a chemical substances, however, in a preferred embodiment the chemical moiety is selected from the group consisting of a spacer, a marker, a tag, and a lipid and in par- ticular a phospholipid, a drug, a capping group, a polypeptide and a spacer attached to a second chemical moiety.
  • any naturally or non-naturally occurring polypeptide can be coupled to the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof, however in a preferred embodiment the polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of a cytokine, a chemokine, a growth factor, an adhesion molecule, an antibody light and/or heavy chain, a single chain antibody, a toxin, an enzyme, a receptor ligand, a lytic peptide, a membrane insertion sequence and a fluorescent protein or fragments thereof.
  • a "capping group" within the meaning of the present invention is a chemical moiety which protects the molecule to which it is attached from, for example, chemical or enzymatic degradation.
  • the capping group or groups can be attached directly to the polypeptide of the present invention or to any other chemical moiety, which is itself attached to the polypeptide of the present invention.
  • a capping group is attached to one or both ends to avoid or minimize degradation by, for example, exoproteinases or the like.
  • the capping groups of the present invention have in a preferred embodiment one of the following structures: R A
  • A is an amino acid or an amino acid residue mimetic of the polypeptide of the present invention or any other chemical moiety attached to the polypeptide of the present inven- tion and R and R' each independently have the meaning: -C(O)R h -C(O)NHR ⁇ , -S(O)2Rl, - C(O)OR ⁇ , CR ⁇ or R ⁇ ,
  • Ri can have the meaning H; linear or branched alkyl, in particular lower alkyl (Ci, C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , and C 5 , e.g. methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, n- pentyl or iso-pentyl); substituted linear or branched alkyl, in particular lower substituted alkyl; linear or branched alkenyl, in particular lower alkenyl (C 2 , C 3 , C and C 5; , e.g.
  • aryl in particular phenyl; substituted aryl, in particular substituted aryl; haloalkyl, in particular lower haloalkyl (Ci, C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , and C 5 ); haloalkoxy, in particular lower haloalkoxy (Ci, C 2 , C 3 , C 4 , and C 5 ); heteroaryl optionally comprising 1 to 4 heteroatoms selected from N, O, S; substituted heteroaryl optionally comprising 1 to 4 het- eroatoms selected from N, O, S; aryl, in particular C 5 to 2 ); alkylaryl, in particular C 5 to C ⁇ , e.g.
  • benzyl isoquinolinyl, quinolinyl, naphthyl; substituted alkylaryl, in particular C 5 to C ⁇ , e.g. substituted benzyl; alkylheteroaryl optionally comprising 1 to 4 heteroatoms selected from N, O, S optionally comprising 1 to 4 heteroatoms selected from N, O, S; substituted alkylheteroaryl optionally comprising 1 to 4 heteroatoms selected from N, O, S; aminoalkyl, in particular Ci, C 2 , C 3 , C and C 5 , e.g.
  • -NHCH 3 -NHCH 2 CH3, -N(CH 3 ) 2 ; substituted aminoalkyl; dialkylamino; aminoketone, in particular -NHCOCH 3 ; substituted aminoketone; ami- noaryl, in particular -NH-Ph; substituted aminoaryl, in particular substituted -NH-Ph; carboxyl, carboalkoxy; alkylcarboxamide; cycloalkyl; alkylcycloalkyl; CN; NH 2 ; Halogen, in particular F, CI, and Br; if the residues mentioned above are substituted they are preferably mono, di, or tri substituted with a substituent selected from the group of halogen, in particular F, CI, and Br, NH 2 , NO 2 , OH, SH, NH, CN, aryl, alkylaryl, heteroaryl, akylheteroaryl, COH or COOH;
  • R and R' form a ring comprising 5-7 atoms selected from C, N, S and O; or
  • R and R' are independently toluenesulfonyl, methanesulfonyl, FMOC or (+)-menthyloxy-CO-
  • spacer refers to a chemical moiety, which serves the purpose of providing the accessibility of the modified EGF even when attached to other chemical moieties which might otherwise sterically hinder the binding of the modified EGF or fusion polypeptides thereof to its target structures.
  • Spacer within the meaning of the present invention are a linear extension of at least 0.5 nm preferably the spacer has a linear extension of between 1 and 10 nm and even more preferably between 2 and 5 nm.
  • the spacer is preferably a linear or branched saturated or unsaturated carbohydrate chain.
  • the carbohydrate chain preferably comprises mul- timeric repeats of a monomeric building block. Depending on the length of the respective monomeric building block between 2 and 10 multimeric repeats of the monomeric building blocks are preferred.
  • the spacer is hydrophilic.
  • the spacer can comprise a functional group which allows attachment to the polypeptides of the present invention on one terminus and another functional group on the other terminus, which allows attachment of the spacer to another chemical moiety.
  • Preferred spacers are bifunctional molecules in particular bifunctional polyethylene or polypropylene glycol derivatives comprising preferably between about 1 and 40 repeat units, oli- gopeptides comprising natural and/or synthetic amino acids and preferably between 1 to 40 preferably 2 to 20 and more preferably 2 to 10 amino acids.
  • a particular preferred building block of a spacer of the present invention is 8-amino-3, 6-dioxatanoic acid (doo) and spacers comprising between 1 to 10 repeat units of doo are preferred.
  • Spacers comprising between 2 and 5 doo units being more preferred and spacers comprising 3 doo units being most preferred.
  • there is an optimal length of the spacer which is between 2 and 5 nm. While spacers with a length of less than 0.5 nm will in most cases not provide enough distance from, for example, the liposomal surface to which the polypeptides of the present invention has been attached to allow efficient interaction, i.e. binding, between the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof and EGFR, bearing cells. On the other hand spacers, which are longer than 10 nm show an increasing "floppiness" which is also detrimental to the binding to cells.
  • the term "marker” refers to a chemical moiety which is directly or indirectly detectable by analytical methods including measurement of fluorescence, nuclear magnetic resonance, computer tomography or scintigrams and comprises without limitation electron dense molecules, paramagnetic molecules, superparamagnetic molecules, radioactive molecules like, for example, 13 N, 15 O, 18 F, 51 Gr, 54 Fe, 60 Co, 67 Ga, 75 Se, 99m Tc, m In, 112m Ag, 113m In, 1 3 I, 133 Xe, 148 Au, 35 S, 33 P, 32 P, or ⁇ C, non-radioactive isotopes, which include, for example, 2 H and 13 C, and fluorescent molecules or molecules generating fluorescence or light emission like, for example, green fluorescent protein, luciferase, and a variety of fluorescent dies all of which are well known to someone of skill in the art.
  • tag refers to chemical moieties, which allow purification of the polypeptides or complexes comprising the polypeptides of the present invention like, for example, biotin, Chi- tin-tag, Myc-tag, His-tag or the like, which are all well known in the art.
  • the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof is attached directly or indirectly to a lipid.
  • the type of lipid to which the polypeptide can be attached is not particular limited. However, in preferred embodiments the respective lipid can be inserted or incorporated into lipid-based carriers like, for example, liposomes or virosomes.
  • Particularly suitable lipids are glycerides, glycerophospholipides, glycerophosphinolipids, glycerophos- phonolipids, sulfolipids, sphingolipids, phospholipids, isoprenolides, steroids, stearines, steroles, and/or carbohydrate containing lipids.
  • Particularly preferred lipids for the attachment of the polypeptides of the present invention are phospholipids preferably phosphatidylcholine
  • PC phosphatidylserine
  • PS phosphatidylserine
  • PE phosphatidylethanolamine
  • DSPE distearoyl- phosphatidyl
  • DPP alpha-(dipalmitoylphosphatidyl
  • the lipid attached to the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof is selected from the group consisting of N-caproylamine-PE, N-dodecanylamine-PE, phophati- dylthioethanol, N-[4-(p-maleimidomethyl)cyclohexane-carboxamide-PE (N-MCC-PE), N-[4- (p-maleimidophenyl)butyramide]-PE (N-MPB), N-[3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate]-PE (N- PDP), N-succinyl-PE, N-glutaryl-PE, N-dodecanyl-PE, N-biotinyl-PE, N-biotinyl-cap-PE, phosphatidyl-(ehty!ene glycol), PE-polyethylene glycol (PEG)-carboxylic acid, PE-PEG- maleimide, PE-PEG-carbox
  • the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof is attached to at least one drug.
  • drug encompasses any therapeutically active compound and in particular compounds are selected from the group consisting of immunosuppressants, im- munostimulants, antibiotics, antiinfectives, antiallergics, cytostatics, cytotoxic agents and prodrugs thereof, mitogens, chemokines, cytokines, dermatics and/or physiological or pharmacological inhibitors of mitogens, chemokines or cytokines.
  • the drug is attached to the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof in such a way that it is releasable and preferably the release of the drug is primarily effected in the tissues or areas of the body to which the polypeptide of the present invention binds i. e. primarily in tumor endo- thelium or tumors.
  • Particularly preferred means of attachment of the drug are short polypeptide stretches which are cleavable, for example, by enzymes which are released at the target site.
  • the drugs are released in the tumor endothelium or in tumors. Enzymes of this type include, for example metalloproteinases.
  • Such releasable connections are known in the art and can be selected to provide a further specificity on top of the specificity already achieved by the target specific binding of the polypeptides of the present invention.
  • the inclusion of such a cleavage site is particularly desirable, in cases in which a drug attached to the polypeptides of the present invention exerts a cytotoxic and/or growth inhibitory effect on cells once it is released.
  • the spacer is attached at one side to the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof and on the other side to a second chemical moiety.
  • the second chemical moiety is selected from the group consisting of a drug, a marker, a tag and a lipid.
  • the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof can be used directly as a therapeutic or in combination with additional substances and, therefore, the present invention in a further aspect relates to a composition comprising at least one polypeptide of the present invention and at least one further component selected from the group consisting of liposomes, virosomes, microsphere, niosomes, dendrimeres, stabilizers, buffers, excipient, additives.
  • Liposomes are single or multilamellar lipid vesicles of varying size.
  • the size is preferable between 10 and 1000 nm and more preferably between 50 and 500 nm and most preferably between 80 and 200 nm.
  • Virosomes are liposomes with a lipid composition closely resem- bling the lipid composition of viruses and which in preferred embodiments have proteins integrated into the membrane (Kaneda (2000) Adv. Drug. Deliv. Rev. 43:197-205).
  • Micro- spheres are spherical particle with large size (up to 2 mm) and rigid morphology containing a core substance (Ravi & Kumar (2000) J. Pharm. Sci. 3:234-258).
  • Niosomes are non-ionic surfactant vesicles (Baillie et al. (1985) J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 37:863-868). Dendrimers are synthetic, highly branched, mono-disperse macromolecules of nanometer dimensions (Patri et al. (2002) Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 6:466-471). Buffers comprised in the composition of the present invention can be any physiological buffer substances including, for example phosphate buffer or Hepes.
  • Excipients which facilitate production and administration of the compositions of the present invention are the art known excipients and include, for example, alginates, calcium carbonate, dextrose, fructose, lactose, maltose, maltodextrin, and the like.
  • Stabilizers are also known in the art and comprise, for example, ⁇ -tocopherol and various carbohydrates.
  • the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof is integrated into or attached to a liposome, virosome, microsphere, niosome or dendrimer, which allows the respective entity to be target to sites and tissues in the body expressing EGFR.
  • Polypeptides can be attached to one of the components, which are used for the generation of liposomes, virosomes, microsphere, niosomes, or dendrimers prior, during or after formation of the respective structure.
  • modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof which are linked to a lipid either with or without an intervening spacer as defined above are integrated into the lipid mono or multilayer of the liposome or virosome.
  • the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof is primarily comprised on the outer surface of the respective liposome or virosome to allow interaction of the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof with EGFR, preferably upon administration of the composition of the present invention to a patient.
  • the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof of the present invention will be attached to between about 0.1 mol% to about 10 mol% of all compo- nents which are used for the generation of the respective structure. These ranges are particular preferred for liposomes and virosomes.
  • the liposomes or virosomes of the present invention comprise lipids selected from the group consisting of glycerides, glycerophospholipides, glycerophosphi- nolipids, glycerophosphonolipids, sulfolipids, sphingolipids, phospholipids, isoprenolides, steroid, stearines, steroles, and carbohydrate containing lipids.
  • the liposome or virosome comprises cholesterol (CH) and sphingomyelin (SM).
  • More preferably cholesterol is comprised in relation to the total molar lipid composition of the liposome or virosome at a molar ratio of about 40 to about 60 mol% and more preferably of about 45 to about 55 mol%> and most preferably of about 48 to about 52 mol%.
  • SM on the other hand is preferably present in relation to the total molar lipid composition of the liposome at a molar ratio of about 10 to about 20 mol%> and more preferably of about 11 to 18 mol% and most preferably of about 12 to about 16 mol%.
  • the liposome or virosome comprises in relation to the total molar lipid composition CH and SM at a molar ration of about 40 to about 60 mol%> and of about 10 to about 20 mol%, respectively, and even more preferred at a molar ratio of about 45 to about 55 mol% and of about 11 to about 18 mol%, respectively and most preferably of about 48 to about 52 mol% and of about 12 to about 16 mol%, respectively.
  • the liposomes or virosomes which are comprised in the composition to the present invention contain (a) further lipid(s). This(These) is(are) preferably selected from the above indicated preferred lipids. In preferred embodiments at least one of the additional lipids is selected from PE and PC.
  • PE is present in the liposome or virosome of the present invention and in particular, if CH and SM are also present in the liposome or virosome.
  • CH and SM are present together with PE in the above indicated preferred and particularly preferred ranges.
  • PE itself is present in preferred embodiments in relation to the total molar lipid composition of about 5 to about 25 mol%>, preferably about 10 to about 20 mol% and most preferably about 12 to about 18 mol%.
  • CH, SM, and PE are present in above indicated preferred or particular preferred ranges.
  • the additional lipids comprise PE and PC and in a preferred embodiment PE and PC are present in relation to the total molar lipid composition of the lipo- some or virosome at a molar ratio of about 5 to about 25 mol% and about 15 to about 40 mol%>, respectively.
  • PE and PC are present in relation to the total molar lipid composition of the lipo- some or virosome at a molar ratio of about 5 to about 25 mol% and about 15 to about 40 mol%>, respectively.
  • the above ranges for PE are PC particular preferred, if the molar ratio of CH and SM are as indicated above.
  • any of the components making up the membrane of the liposomes of the present invention can be coupled or non-covalently attached to a further chemical moiety.
  • chemical moiety is as defined above.
  • the chemical moiety is a stabilizing moiety.
  • Stabilizing moieties within the meaning of this invention increase the circulation time of the liposome once it is administered.
  • Particular preferred stabilizing moieties are ganglioside GM1, phosphatidylinositol or PEG, par- ticular preferred PEGs have a molecular mass between about 1,000 and about 10,000 g/mol, more preferably about 5,000 g/mol.
  • the chemical moieties and in particular the stabilizing moieties are coupled or attached to only a fraction of the molecules making up the membrane of the lipo- somes. It is preferred that between about 1 to about 20 mol% of the components of the liposomal membrane carry an attached chemical moiety, more preferably between about 3 and about 10 mol% and even more preferably about 5 mol%.
  • a preferred liposomal component for coupling or attachment of the chemical moiety, in par- ticular for the stabilizing moiety is a lipid component. While different chemical moieties can be coupled or attached to different lipid components it is preferred that the chemical moi- ety(ies) is(are) coupled or attached to one or more of the phospholipids comprised within the liposome of the present invention. In a further preferred embodiment the one or more chemi- cal moiety is coupled or attached to PE. In particular, if a stabilizing agent like, for example,
  • PE is used for attachment.
  • proteins and peptides can be incorporated into the liposome for stabilizing the lipid bilayers of the liposomes of the present invention.
  • Detergents which can be used as bilayer stabilizing components include, but are not limited to, Triton X-100, deoxycholate, octylglucoside and lyso- phosphatidylcholine.
  • Proteins which can be used as bilayer stabilizing components include, but are not limited to, glycophorin and cytochrome oxidase.
  • a liposome can comprise between 0.05 and 15 mol% of a stabilizing agent.
  • composition of the present invention can further comprise a drug.
  • this drug is coupled or attached directly or indirectly to a modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof or comprised or attached to the liposomes, virosomes, micro- spheres, etc.
  • a drug or diagnostic is comprised within a liposome it is particularly preferred that the drug or diagnostic is comprised in the interior of the liposome or in cases of lipophilic drugs also within or between the lipid bilayers.
  • the drug is comprised within the liposome, virosome, microsome or niosome.
  • a variety of methods are available in the prior art to "load" a liposome, virosome, microsome or niosome with a given drug or diagnostic.
  • the drug and/or diagnostic is/are admixed with the lipid components during formation of the liposomes.
  • encapsulating drugs and/or diagnostics include so called “remote loading” or “active loading” in which due to a gradient, for example, a pH or salt gradient between the exterior and the interior of a preformed liposome the drug and/or diagnostic is transported into the liposome along the gradient (see, for example Cheung et al. (1998) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1414:205-216; Cullis et al. (1991) Trends Biotechnol. 9:268-272; Mayer et al. (1986) Chem. Phys. Lipids 40:333-345).
  • a gradient for example, a pH or salt gradient between the exterior and the interior of a preformed liposome the drug and/or diagnostic is transported into the liposome along the gradient
  • the passive and active loading techniques referred to above and other methods well known in the art can all without limitation employed by the skilled artisan.
  • the most efficient method of loading for any given drug or diagnostic can be determined by routine experimentations by well established procedures. Variables which are typically adjusted are pH, temperature, salt type and concentration, type of buffer etc.
  • the drugs and/or diagnostics are loaded by remote loading into the liposomes, virosomes, microsomes or niosomes, since this method offers a very low loss of the substance to be loaded.
  • a pH gradient is used for loading.
  • the interior of the liposome will typically be acidified with respect to its exterior.
  • the interior will have a pH between 1 and 6 prior to loading with the drug or diagnostic.
  • Particularly preferred drugs are selected from the group consisting of analgesics, antirheumat- ics, anthelminthics, antiallergics, antianemics, antiarrhythmics, antibiotics, angiogenesis inhibitors, antiinfectives, antidemenics (nootropics), antidiabetics, antidotes, antiemetics, antivertiginosics,, antiepileptics, antihemorrhagics, antihypertonics, antihypotonics, anticoagulants, antimycotics, antitussiv agents, antiviral agents, beta-receptor and calcium channel antagonists, broncholytic and antiastmatic agent, chemokines, cytokines, mitogens, cytostat- ics, cytotoxic agents and prodrugs thereof, dermatics, hypnotics and sedatives, immunosuppressants, immunostirnulants, peptide or protein drugs, in particular hormones and physiological or pharmacological inhibitor
  • EGFR epithelial and stromal cells and even more particularly on tumor cells of lung cancer, liver cancer, head and neck cancer, bladder, cancer, prostate cancer, cervix cancer, endometrial cancer, colorectal adenoma and adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer, oesophageal cancer, breast cancer, squamous carcinoma, glioblastomas and other high-grade primary brain tumors (Nicholson et al. (2001) Eur. J.
  • the polypeptide of the present invention allow the specific targeting of drugs, which can interfere with tumor growth and/or progression of the disease in a targeted manner, therefore, the composition of the present invention are particular suitable for treatment of hyperproliferative diseases associated with neovascularization. Consequently, particular preferred drugs are cy- tostatics and cytotoxic drugs. A large variety of such drugs are known in the art.
  • cytostatics and cytotoxic drugs are selected from the group consisting of alkylating substances, anti-metabolites, antibiotics, epothilones, nuclear receptor agonists and antagonists, anti-androgenes, anti-estrogens, platinum compounds, hormones and antihormones, interferons and inhibitors of cell cycle-dependent protein kinases (CDKs), inhibitors of cyclooxygenases and/or lipoxygenases, biogeneic fatty acids and fatty acid derivatives, including prostanoids and leukotrienes, inhibitors of protein kinases, inhibitors of protein phos- phatases, inhibitors of lipid kinases, platinum coordination complexes, ethyleneimenes, me- thylmelamines, trazines, vinca alkaloids, pyrimidine analogs, purine analogs, alkylsulfonates, folic acid analogs, anthracendiones, substituted urea, methylhydrazin
  • immunosuppressant comprises both substances which lower the activity of immune response as well as substances with an anti-inflammatory action
  • preferred examples are glucocorticoids, in particular beclomethasone, betamethasone, clocortolone, cloprednol, corti- sone, dexamethasone, fludrocortisone, fludroxycortide, flumetasone, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, fluocortolone, fluorometholone, fluprednidene acetate, hydrocortisone, pa- ramethasone, prednisolone, prednisone, prednylidene, pregnenolone, triamcinolone or triam- cinolone acetonide, a cyclosporin, in particular cyclosporin A, mycophenolate mofetil, tac- rolimus, rapamycin, FK 506, cycl
  • immunosenor encompasses all substances, which influence the function of cells which are involved directly or indirectly in mediation of the immune response, and where the influence leads to an immune response.
  • cells include, for example, macro- phages, Langerhans cells and other dendritic cells, lymphocytes, indeterminate cells, but also cells which do not themselves belong to the immune system but are involved in immune disorders of the skin, such as fibroblasts, keratinocytes and melanocytes, but especially Langer- hans cells.
  • the strength of the immune response can be determined for example through the amount of cytokines produced (such as interferon-gamma), detection of activation markers on dendritic cells (such as MHCII or CD86) or the number of activated CD8-positive T cells in the skin.
  • cytokines produced such as interferon-gamma
  • detection of activation markers on dendritic cells such as MHCII or CD86
  • the number of activated CD8-positive T cells in the skin can be determined for example through the amount of cytokines produced (such as interferon-gamma), detection of activation markers on dendritic cells (such as MHCII or CD86) or the number of activated CD8-positive T cells in the skin.
  • Immunostimulants for the purpose of the present invention are, in particular, plant immunostimulants which are obtained, for example, from Echinacea pallida or Echinacea purpurea, cytokines such as, for example, interleukins, interferons and colony-stimulating factors, and bacterial constituents or molecules which mimic the latter [such as bacterial DNA and unmethylated oligodeoxynucleotides with CpG sequences, and constituents of the bacterial cell wall or coat, especially the lipopolysaccharides and molecules derived therefrom, such as monophosphoryl-lipid A, muramyldipeptide (N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D- isoglutamine), and/or PamCys3, and other molecules such as tetanus toxoid, poly-L-arginine or MHCII peptides].
  • cytokines such as, for example, interleukins, interferons and colony-sti
  • antibiotics encompasses, for example, penicillins, cephalosporins, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, macrolide antibiotics, lincosamides, gyrase inhibitors, sulfonamides, trimethoprim, polypeptide antibiotics, nitroimidazole derivatives, amphenicol, in particular actinomycin, alamethicin, alexidine, 6-aminopenicillanic acid, amoxicillin, amphotericin, am- picillin, anisomycin, antiamoebin, antimycin, aphidicolin, azidamfenicol, azidocillin, ba- citracin, beclomethasone, benzathine, benzylpenicillin, bleomycin, bleomycin sulfate, calcium ionophore A23187, capreomycin, carbenicillin, cefacetrile, cefaclor, cefamandole nafate, ce
  • antiinfectives encompasses, for example, antimycotics, agents with antiparasitic effect and virustatics, in particular amphotericin, vifonazole, buclosamide, quinoline sulfate, chlormidazole, chlorphenesin, chlorquinaldol, clodantoin, cloxiquine, cyclopirox olamine, dequalinium chloride, dimazole, fenticlor, flucytosine, griseofulvin, ketoconazole, micona- zole, natamycin, sulbentine, tioconazole, toinaftate, antiretroviral agents and/or herpes remedies.
  • antiallergics encompasses, for example, substances from the class of globulins, corticoids or antihistamines, in particular beclomethasone and derivatives thereof, be- tamethasone cortisone and derivatives thereof, dexamethasone and derivatives thereof, bamip- ine acetate, buclizine, clemastine, clemizole, cromoglicic acid, cyproheptadine, diflucortolone valerate, dimetotiazine, diphenhydramine, diphenylpyraline, ephedrine, fluocinolone, his- tapyrrodine, isothipendyl, methdilazine, oxomemazine, paramethasone, prednylidene, theo- phylline, and/or tolpropamine tritoqualine.
  • mitogens encompass, for example, interferon- alpha, interferon-beta, interferon-gamma, interleukin-1, interleukin-2, interleukin-7, inter- leukin-10, interleukin-12, interleukin-18, GM-CSF, MIP-1 -alpha/beta, RANTES, EGF, basic or acidic FGF, PDGF, IGF, VEGF, TGF-beta and/or TNF-alpha.
  • derma ics encompasses, for example, shale oil sulfonates, tar and tar derivatives, astringents, antihidrotics, acne remedies, antipsoriatics, antiseborrheic agents and/or enzyme preparations for the treatment of skin defects.
  • a further aspect of the invention is the use of the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof or a polynucleotide, a vector or a cell or a composition of the invention for the production of a medicament for the therapy of a proliferative disease or a disease in which cells in or adjacent a disease site show an altered expression and in particular an overexpres- sion of EGFR, if compared to healthy or normal tissue. Since the expression or over expression of EGFR has been reported in particular for prolifera- tive diseases this type of diseases are preferred diseases which can be treated with the modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof, a polynucleotide encoding these, a vector, a cell or a composition of the present invention.
  • Particular preferred proliferative diseases are selected from the group consisting of lung cancer, liver cancer, head and neck cancer, bladder, cancer, prostate cancer, cervix cancer, endometrial cancer, colorectal adenoma and adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer, oesophageal cancer, breast cancer, squamous carcinoma, glioblastomas and other high-grade primary brain tumors, chronic inflammatory proliferative diseases, vascular proliferative diseases and virus-induced proliferative diseases.
  • modified EGF or fusion polypeptide thereof and composition of the present invention can be used for diagnostic purposes in particular, if they are attached to a marker as defined above. Therefore, another aspect of the present inventions is the use of a polypeptide or composition of the present invention for the diagnosis of a disease and in particular of diseases selected from the group of proliferative diseases, immune diseases, in particular autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, vascular diseases, rheumatoid diseases, inflammatory diseases and other diseases associated with an increase or decrease of the expression of EGFR.
  • the detection of the marker in vitro in, for example, a biopsy of a patient or in vivo in a patient by, for example, tomographic methodologies will allow the detection of sites of ne- ovascularization within a specimen or within a patient.
  • peptides or polypeptides which are devoid of internal side-chain amino- or car- boxyl groups are generated, which allows for a site-specific coupling to either the N-terminal amino group or the C-terminal carboxyl group (Fig. 1).
  • functional molecules are selected from a library containing randomized amino acids at the lysine positions (Fig. 1A).
  • Randomization is either introduced at the genetic level (preferable in case of proteins and peptides, see table 1 for examples of useful codons) or synthetically (in case of peptides or short polypeptides).
  • a further aspect of the present invention is a method for producing a modified binding polypeptide, which is suitable for site-directed coupling, (see Fig. 1 and 2.) comprising the step of:
  • modifying a polynucleotide encoding the binding polypeptide, which is to be modified by identifying within the reading frame of the polynucleotide all codons with the sequence: a) AAA and AAG encoding Lys and replacing this (these) codon(s) with (a) codon(s) NNN excluding AAA and AAG; b) AAA and AAG encoding Lys and replacing this (these) codon(s) with (a) codon(s) NNN excluding AAA and AAG and all codons with the sequence CGT, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, and AGG encoding Arg and replacing this (these) codon(s) with (a) codon(s) NNN excluding CGT, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, and AGG; c) GAT and GAC encoding Asp and replacing this (these) codon(s) with (a) codon(s) NNN excluding GAT and GAC and all codons with the sequence
  • N has the meaning: A, C, G or T.
  • the nucleic acid to be modified is a RNA rather than a DNA sequences the nucleotide T in above listing a) to i) is always replaced by the nucleotide U, e.g. for f) the codon would be AUG and it would be replaced with NNN excluding AUG, wherein N has the meaning: A, C, G, or U.
  • reading frame designates which nucleotide triplets of a polynucleotide encoding a protein are taken together to form a "codon", i.e. a coding nucleotide triplet, which is recognized by a t-RNA carrying a specific amino acid.
  • a series of adjacent codons determines the amino acid sequence of the encoded polypeptide.
  • a double stranded DNA has six potential reading three on each strand, while a single stranded DNA or RNA sequence, as may present in a DNA or RNA virus or a messenger RNA has three potential reading frames.
  • Viruses often encode more than one protein with one stretch of nucleic acid by utilizing alternative reading frames, however, at least for higher eukaryotes usually only one reading frame within a given nucleic acid sequence encodes a protein
  • the first nucleotide triplet is in most cases ATG encoding Met, which is preceded by initiation sites for protein synthesis recognized by the ribosome.
  • the mechanisms of initiation of protein translation have been extensively studied in the past and have been described, for example, in Clark B.F. and Petersen H.F. (1984) Gene Expression. The translational step and its control, Munksgaard, Copenhagen.
  • binding polypeptide refers to polypeptides, which are capable to specifically interact with other chemical moieties, in particular with extracellular or intracellular structures of cells, in particular mammalian cells, or structures surrounding cells like connective tissue.
  • extracellular structures are receptors including but not limited to VEGFR, EGFR, ErbB2, ErbB3, ErbB4, PDGFR, TGF ⁇ -R, TGF ⁇ -R, KGFR, SDGFR, FGFR, IGF-1R, HGFR, , neurotrophine receptors TrkA, TrkB, TrkC, and LNGFR, BMF-R, bombesin receptor, M-CSFR, GM-CSF-R, thrombopoietin receptor, erythropoietin receptor, c-kit, SDGF-R, oncostatin receptor, PDEGF-R, endothelin receptor; cytokine receptors, in particular IL-1R, IL-2R, IL-3R, IL-4R, IL-5R, IL-6R, IL-7R, IL-8R, IL-9R, IL-10R, IL-12R, IL-13R, IL-14R, IL-15R, interferon ⁇ , ⁇
  • intracellular structure examples include structural proteins, e.g. actin, keratin, vimetin and laminin, motor proteins, e.g. ⁇ / ⁇ -tubulin, dynein and kinesin, transcription factors, e.g. hormone receptors and structures surrounding cells include, for example, collagen, vitronection, laminin or fibronection.
  • structural proteins e.g. actin, keratin, vimetin and laminin
  • motor proteins e.g. ⁇ / ⁇ -tubulin
  • dynein and kinesin transcription factors
  • hormone receptors and structures surrounding cells include, for example, collagen, vitronection, laminin or fibronection.
  • binding polypeptides can be naturally or non-naturally occurring.
  • naturally occurring binding polypeptides they are polypeptides, which are naturally found in an animal and interact with extracellular or intracellular structures of cells, in particular mammalian cells, or surrounding cells like connective tissue. Examples of such binding polypeptides are "the ligands for above indicated extracellular or intracellular structures or structures surround- ing a cell.
  • Naturally occurring binding polypeptides which can be modified according to the method of the present invention also include antibodies, or fragments thereof, like Fv fragments Fab- or F(ab) 2 -fragments.
  • Non-naturally occurring binding polypeptides include polypeptides that have been selected to bind to a target chemical moiety like, for example, a recep- tor and engineered versions of naturally occurring binding peptides like, for example, single chain antibodies or ligand dimmers or multimers.
  • the selection of which of the alternative method steps a) to i) are employed for a given method of the invention depends on the respective binding polypeptide, in particular on the amino acid composition and the position of the binding domain within the binding polypeptide. In most cases it will be desirable to select those codons for modification according to steps a) to i), which are least abundant, i.e. which require the least modification of the polynucleotide to arrive at a polynucleotide which has none (in cases a) to c)) or only one codon (in cases (d) to i)) encoding the respective amino acid left.
  • the position of the binding domain within the binding polypeptide is important, since in most cases the amino acid used for site- specific coupling will be selected to be outside the binding region.
  • the one codon of the respective type of amino acid which is not modified will preferentially be present in the vicinity of the beginning or end of the coding region, since the resulting polypeptide is in most cases preferentially coupled via a amino acid residue in the vicinity or at the N- or C-terminus.
  • a polynucleotide encoding a binding polypeptide to be modified is initially modified to include an additional codon encoding Cys, Ser, Thr, Met, Tyr, Trp or His at a position of choice and that in a second step the method of the present is employed to alter all other Cys, Ser, Thr, Met, Tyr, Trp and/or His residues.
  • the modified binding polypeptide will later coupled via its N- terminus at least all Lys residues have to be removed from the polypeptide and preferably all Lys and most or all Arg residues.
  • Glu and Asp react with coupling agents specific to free -COOH groups and, therefore, if C-terminal coupling is to be carried out it is necessary to remove all Asp and Glu residues from the binding polypeptide.
  • any combinations of the alternative method steps a) to i) can be carried out.
  • the averaged skilled practitioner is able to select the method step a) to i) or a combination of two or more of those most suitable for the respective binding polypeptide without undue experimentation.
  • coupling agents which are specific to free -NH 2 or -COOH groups are known in the art as well as coupling groups, which specifically or preferentially react with Cys, Ser, Thr, Met, Tyr, Trp or His.
  • Coupling to single reactive groups can be achieved for amino acids containing: free amino groups, e.g. N-terminal amino acid residue, Lys or Arg, with, for example, isocanates, isothi- cyanates, acyl azides, NHS (N-hydroxysuccinimide) esters, sulfonyl chlorides, aldehydes and gloxals, epoxides and oxiranes, carbonates, arylating agents, imidoesters, carbodiimides, and anhydrides; sulfhydryl groups, e.g.
  • Cys with, for example, haloacetyl and alkyl halide de- rivatives, maleimides, aziridines, acryloyl derivatives, arylating agents, and thiol-disulfide exchange reactions using pyridyl disulfides, TNB-thiol, or disulfide reductants; carboxyl groups, e.g. Asp or Glu, with, for example, diazoalkanes and diazoacetyl compounds, carbon- yldiimidazole, and carbodiimides; hydroxyl groups, e.g.
  • Ser or Thr with, for example, epox- ides and oxiranes, carbonyldiimidazole, N,N'-disuccinimidyl carbonate or N- hydroxysuccinimidyl chloroformate, periodates, alkyl halogens, and isocyanates; thioester groups with, for example, haloacetyl and alkyl halide derivates; aldehyde- and ketone groups generated from carbohydrates reactive with, for example, hydrazine derivatives or by forming
  • the length of the binding polypeptide, which is to be modified is not limited, however, given that the longer the binding polypeptide the more amino acids of the type of amino acid , which has been chosen to be removed, will have to be removed. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment the binding polypeptide, which is to be modified is smaller than 300 amino acids, preferably smaller than 200 amino acids, and more preferably smaller than 100 amino acids.
  • a large variety of methods are known in the prior art to introduce site specific mutations into polynucleotide sequences, which can all without limitations be employed to replace the selected codons within the polynucleotide.
  • a preferred method uses DNA primers, which are degenerated at the codon positions to be modified, in PCR reactions to amplify a part or all of the sequence of the binding polypeptide. In cases that only a part of the binding polypeptide is amplified in such a PCR reaction this part can be combined with one or more additional parts of polynucleotides encoding the binding protein to form a polynucleotide encoding the entire binding protein.
  • the methods which can be used are entirely routine and are contained in Standard Laboratory Manuals like, for example, Sambrook et al. (2001) Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual, 3 rd Edition Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
  • the method comprises the step of:
  • AAA and AAG encoding Lys are replaced with a sequence selected from the group consisting of BNK, NNT, NBK, NBK, KNK, NHT, BHK, DNT, VVT, HHT, VRT, HMT, TDK, BWT, TKK, TWC, KMT, AVT, and TWC; k) AAA and AAG encoding Lys and CGT, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, and AGG encoding Arg are replaced with a sequence selected from the group consisting of NHT, KNK, BHK, DNT, HHT, NWT, HMT, TDK, BWT, TKK, KMT, and TWC;
  • AAA and AAG encoding Lys are replaced with a sequence selected from the group consisting of BNK, NNT, NBK, NBK, KNK, NHT, BHK, DNT, VVT, HHT, VRT, HMT, TDK, BWT, TKK, TWC, KMT, AVT, and TWC and all codons with the sequence CGT, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, and AGG encoding Arg are replaced with a sequence selected from the group consisting of NHK, NHT, KNK, BHK, DNT, HHT, NWT, HMT, BWT, TDK, TKK, RAK, and TWC; m) GAT and GAC encoding Asp and GAA and GAG encoding Glu are replaced with a se- quence selected from the group consisting of HNK, NBK, MNK, HHT, MRK, TKK, and TWC, and; n) TGT and TGC encoding Cys are replaced all but one of
  • the method of the present invention further comprises the step of coupling the modified polynucleotide to at least one additional polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide to produce a fusion polynucleotide encoding a modified fusion polypeptide.
  • additional polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide to produce a fusion polynucleotide encoding a modified fusion polypeptide.
  • Such assays include, for example, phage display, where the modified binding polypeptide will be fused to a phage envelope protein.
  • the modified polynucleotide encoding the modified binding polypeptide can be introduced into any polynucleotide sequence, in particular into plasmids and vectors as outlined above with respect to modified EGF.
  • the method of the present invention comprises in a preferred embodiment the additional step of expressing the modified polynucleotide or the fusion polynucleotide to produce a modified binding polypeptide or modified binding fusion polypeptide.
  • This expression can be carried out using any of the vector system and regulatory elements known in the art and examples of which were indicated above with respect to the expression of modified EGF.
  • the method of the present invention comprises in a preferred embodiment the additional steps of: a) incubating the modified binding polypeptide or fusion polypeptide or viral particles or cells displaying the modified binding polypeptide or fusion polypeptide with at least one binding partner of the binding polypeptide, and b) selecting the modified binding polypeptide or fusion polypeptides or viral particles or cells displaying the modified binding polypeptide or fusion polypeptide, which shows at least 10% of the binding strength of the binding polypeptide to the binding partner.
  • a modified binding polypeptide which is selected according to the method of the present invention is a polypeptide that has at least 10% (e.g., at least: 10%, 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the unmodified binding polypeptide to bind to its binding partner. It is preferred that the modified binding polypeptide has at the same binding activity as the unmodified polypeptide.
  • Binding assays for assessing the binding the modified polypeptide to their respective binding partner are well known in the art and include isothermal titration calo- rimetry (Lemmon et al. (1997) EMBO J. 16, 281-294), titration or competition experiments with radiolabeled binding polypeptide (Campion et al. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 1742-1748), and surface plasmon resonance measurements (Lenferink et al. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 26748-26753) and further methods are also described herein below.
  • the assessment of the binding strength can be carried out between one by one between a series of modified binding polypeptides and the binding partner or in parallel.
  • high throughput interaction screens can be used, which are all well established in the prior art and include immobilization of different modified polypeptides on spots on the surface of, for example, chips or membranes.
  • display technologies such as phage display, bacterial display, yeast display, viral display, mammalian cell display, in vitro display technologies such as ribosome display and mRNA display, or in vitro associationalization systems can be applied for the selection of modified polypeptides (Amstutz et al. (2001) Curr. Op. Biotechnol. 12, 400-405).
  • the key feature of these technologies is the physical linkage of genetic information and the expressed protein in large combinatorial libraries, which allow selection of polypeptides through binding or activity, amplification of the material after selection in biological or synthetic systems and thus enrichment of desired polypeptides and the genetic information encoding them.
  • the method of the present invention comprises the further step of site-specific coupling of the modified binding polypeptide or fusion polypeptide to at least one chemical moiety.
  • the site specific coupling can be carried out by using coupling reagents known in the art and which have been extensively reviewed in: Hermanson, G.T. (1996) Bio- conjugate techniques, Academic Press. Some exemplary reagents, which allow site specific coupling have already been given above
  • the chemical moiety is coupled to:
  • the modified polypeptide can be site-specifically coupled to one, two or more chemical moieties, depending on whether the binding polypeptide comprises only one, two or more amino acid residues, which can be site-specifically coupled like, for example, only one amino acid with a free amino group and only one amino acid with a free carboxy group.
  • chemical moiety has in this context the same meaning as outlined above with re- spect to the coupling of EGF to a chemical moiety.
  • the chemical moiety is selected from the group consisting of a spacer, a marker, a tag, a lipid, in particular a phospholipid, a drug, a capping group, a polypeptide and a spacer attached to a second chemical moiety.
  • the polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of a cytokine, a chemokine, a growth factor, an adhesion molecule, an anti- body light and/or heavy chain, a single chain antibody, a toxin, an enzyme, a receptor ligand, a lyric peptide, a membrane insertion sequence and a fluorescent protein or fragments thereof.
  • the other chemical moieties which can be coupled to the modified binding polypeptides or modified binding fusion polypeptides, which are produced according to the method of the present invention, i.e.
  • a spacer, a marker, a tag, a lipid, in particular a phospholipid, a drug, a capping group, and a spacer attached to a second chemical moiety have the same meaning and preferred meanings as outlined above with respect to EGF.
  • modified binding polypeptides produced as outlined above can in a further step be incorporated, coupled or attached to any of the structures and preferred structures de- scribed above with respect to EGF like, for example, liposomes, virosomes, microsphere, niosomes, dendrimeres, stabilizers, buffers, excipient, additives.
  • EGF EGF like
  • liposomes, virosomes, microsphere, niosomes, dendrimeres, stabilizers, buffers, excipient, additives can be mixed or formulated in compositions as therapeutics or diagnostics as outlined above.
  • binding polypeptide encompasses all polypeptides, showing spe- cific binding to another chemical moiety, however, in a particular preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention the binding polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of growth factors, in particular VEGF, EGF, Her2/neu, PDGF, TGF ⁇ , TGF ⁇ , KGF, SDGF, FGF, IGF, HGF, NGF, BDNF, neurotrophine, BMF, bombesin, M-CSF, GM-CSF, thrombopoietin, erythropoietin, SCF, SDGF, oncostatin, PDEGF, endothelin; cytokines, in particular IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-14, IL- 15, interferon ⁇ , ⁇ or ⁇ , tumor necrosis
  • growth factors in particular
  • the method of the present invention leads to the identification of modified binding polypep- tides, which are capable of site-specific coupling to chemical moieties without substantially impairing the binding strength of the binding polypeptide due to unwanted crosslinking. Therefore, the modified polypeptides produced according to the method of the present invention can be used to target any chemical moiety coupled to the polypeptide or can be used as such to specifically localize within the body in regions that comprise the binding partner.
  • another aspect of the invention is the use of a modified binding polypeptide or fusion polypeptide producable by the method of the invention for the manufacture of a medicament or diagnostic for the prevention, treatment or diagnosis of a disease, which is characterized by an increased or decreased amount of at least one binding partner of the binding polypeptide in diseased tissue or cells involved in the disease.
  • the dis- ease is selected from the group of diseases consisting of proliferative diseases, immune diseases, infectious diseases, vascular diseases and rheumatoid diseases.
  • Fig. 1 Schematic representation of the strategy to isolate side-chain deaminated ligands (A) or side-chain decarboxylated ligands (B). Randomization in approach A is performed by using sets of amino acids (X) devoid of lysines or lysines and arginines. Randomization in approach B is performed by using sets of amino acids (X) devoid of aspartic acids (Asp) and glutamic acids (Glu).
  • Fig. 2 Schematic representation of the strategy of side-chain elimination/addition (A) or side- chain group reduction (B), both examplified for elimination or reduction of cysteine residues. In these examples randomization is performed by using sets of amino acids (X) devoid of cys- teines (Cys). Both approaches can be applied equally for any other amino acid residues.
  • Fig. 3 Amino acid sequences of EGF of various species. The positions of lysine and arginine residues is highlighted by grey boxes.
  • Fig. 4 (A) IMAC purification of recombinant HisEGFml from bacterial periplasm. Eluted fractions were analyzed on a 20%> SDS-Tricine gel (HisEGFml is indicated by an arrowhead). Recombinant human EGF was included as control. (B) Size exclusion chromatography of purified EGFwt and HisEGFml on a superose 12 column. The positions of BSA (67 kDa), Ovalbumin (43 kDa) and Myoglobin (17 kDa) are indicated by arrows. (C) Competition of binding of fdEGF to A431 by EGFwt or HisEGFml .
  • Fig. 5 Binding of FITC-labeled EGFml to A431.
  • Fig. 6 (A) Binding of EGFml liposomes to A431 cells.
  • EGFml liposomes (2) showed specific binding to A431 cells, in contrast to unconjugated liposomes (1), which did not show only marginal binding to A431 cells (0). No binding was observed with 293 cells (B).
  • Example 1 Generation of lysine-deficient EGF libraries For the selection of lysine-deficient EGF variants we generated two EGF libraries. The first
  • EGF library (EGF1) was randomized at positions K28 and K48 using the triplet BNK coding for 15 amino acids (LVFYWRHDECQSGAP see SEQ ID. No 31).
  • the second library (EGF1) was randomized at positions K28 and K48 using the triplet BNK coding for 15 amino acids (LVFYWRHDECQSGAP see SEQ ID. No 31).
  • the second library (EGF1) was randomized at positions K28 and K48 using the triplet BNK coding for 15 amino acids (LVFYWRHDECQSGAP see SEQ ID. No 31).
  • EGF2 was randomized at positions K28, R41, R45, K48, and R53 using the triplet BNK for K28 and the triplet VVT coding for 9 mainly hydrophilic amino acids (RHTSDNGAP see
  • EGF libraries were generated by a two fragment ligation procedure.
  • Fragment 1 was produced by PCR with primers EGFSfiback (5'-TAT GCG GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC AAT AGT GAC TCT GAA TGT-3' see SEQ ID. No 33) and EGFHindFor (5*-GTC CAA AGC TTC AAT ATA CAT GCA-3* indicated in SEQ ID. No 34) introducing a Hind III site between codons 24-26.
  • Fragment 2 was produced by PCR with primers KlBack (5'-ATT GAA GCT TTG GAC BNK TAT GCA TGC AAC TGT GGT-3' see SEQ ID.
  • A431 (5 x 10 cells) were resuspended in ice-cold DMEM containing 10% FCS, phage were added and incubated for 1 hr on ice. Cells were then washed 6 times with ice-cold medium and once with PBS. Cell pellet was resuspended in 500 ⁇ l 100 mM triethylamine and incubated for 7 min. Cells were pelleted and supernatant was neutralized by adding 250 ⁇ M 1 M Tris-HCl pH 7.4. 400 ⁇ l of the phage solution was added to 10 ml log-phase TGI and incubated for 60 min at 37°C.
  • Phage were titrated by plating dilutions onto 2xTY, amp, 1% glucose plates. Phage eluted from the first round were directly used for the second round without any amplification. After two rounds between 92 to 100% of the eluted phage stained positive in immunofluores- cence analysis of binding to A431.
  • the sequence data of several positive clones is summarized in table 2. A preference for hydrophobic residues was observed for phage selected from library EGF1. Only one clone (# 3) contained an arginine at position 48 instead of lysine (table 2). Most interestingly, all phage selected from the EGF2 library had the original arginine at position 41 indicating that R41 is essential for binding of EGF to its receptor.
  • Example 3 Recombinant expression of a lysine-deficient EGF variant
  • EGFml (clone 6 of the EGF2 library selection) for soluble expression.
  • EGFml containing a hexahistidyl tag at its N-terminus was purified by IMAC in soluble form from the periplasm of transformed BL21 DE3 cells.
  • EGFml DNA was amplified with primers SfiHisEGF (5'-TAT GCG GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC GGA CAT CAC CAT CAT CAC CAT GCG AAT AGT GAC TCT GAA TGT-3') and EGFstopml (5'-AGT CAG TGC GGC CGC TTA ACT CAG TTC CCA CCA ACT CAG-3') and cloned as Nco I / Not I fragment into pET22b (Novagen, Schwalbach, Germany).
  • EGF containing a hexahisti- dyl-tag at the N-terminus was purified from the periplasm by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) (Qiagen; Hilden, Germany) as described for recombinant scFv fragments (Kontermann et al., (1997) Immunotechnology 3, 137-144). EGF was further purified by FPLC size exclusion chromatography on a superose 12 column (Pharmacia, Freiburg, Germany). SDS-PAGE analysis was performed with 20% tricine gels. Approximately 0.6 mg were purified from 1 litre of bacterial culture induced for 3 hours at 23°C. SDS-PAGE analysis confirmed the correct size of 7 kDa ( Figure 4A).
  • EGFml migrated slightly slower than recombinant EGFwt (purchased from Promega (Mann- heim, Germany) lacking the hexahistidyl tag. This was further confirmed by size exclusion chromatography ( Figure 4B). This experiment also revealed the presence of molecules with a size of approximately 15 kDa in the EGFml preparation corresponding in size to dimeric EGF molecules.
  • EGFml Reactivity of EGFml with amino-reactive reagents was demonstrated with FITC.
  • EGFwt or EGFml 50 ⁇ g were diluted to a cone, of 500 ⁇ g/ml and the pH was adjusted to 9.0 with carbonate buffer pH 9.5.
  • FITC was added at a 10-fold molar excess and incubated overnight at 4°C.
  • Labeled EGF was separated from FITC by gel filtration on sephadex 25 (Pharmacia, Freiburg, Germany). Fluorescence intensity was determined using a fluorescence spectropho- tometer (Victor 2 ; Wallac, Freiburg, Germany). The protein peak fractions of EGFwt had a fluorescence intensity of 84945 units compared to 29720 for EGFml.
  • Lipids were purchased from Avanti (Alabaster, USA) and NHS-PEG 20 oo-DSPE from Shearwater Polymers (now Nektar; Birmingham, USA).
  • Liposomes consisting of neutral phospholipids, cholesterol, NHS-PEG 2 ooo-distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine (NHS-PEG 2 ooo-DSPE), and rhodamine- dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylethanolamin (Rh-DPPE) at a molar ratio of 6:3:1:0.03 were prepared from dried films by hydration with PBS pH 6.0.

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Gastroenterology & Hepatology (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Biochemistry (AREA)
  • Biophysics (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Genetics & Genomics (AREA)
  • Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
  • Molecular Biology (AREA)
  • Proteomics, Peptides & Aminoacids (AREA)
  • Toxicology (AREA)
  • Medicines That Contain Protein Lipid Enzymes And Other Medicines (AREA)
  • Peptides Or Proteins (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé permettant de modifier un polypeptide, produisant ainsi un polypeptide modifié approprié au couplage spécifique au site, par exemple comme un ligand de ciblage, ainsi qu'un facteur de croissance épidermique (EGF) humain et des fragments de celui-ci, convenant au couplage spécifique au site.
EP05701114A 2004-01-23 2005-01-21 Couplage dirigee de proteines Withdrawn EP1706420A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP05701114A EP1706420A1 (fr) 2004-01-23 2005-01-21 Couplage dirigee de proteines

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP04001454A EP1557429A1 (fr) 2004-01-23 2004-01-23 Couplage dirigée de protéines
PCT/EP2005/000604 WO2005070960A1 (fr) 2004-01-23 2005-01-21 Couplage de polypeptides specifique au site
EP05701114A EP1706420A1 (fr) 2004-01-23 2005-01-21 Couplage dirigee de proteines

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1706420A1 true EP1706420A1 (fr) 2006-10-04

Family

ID=34626496

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04001454A Withdrawn EP1557429A1 (fr) 2004-01-23 2004-01-23 Couplage dirigée de protéines
EP05701114A Withdrawn EP1706420A1 (fr) 2004-01-23 2005-01-21 Couplage dirigee de proteines

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04001454A Withdrawn EP1557429A1 (fr) 2004-01-23 2004-01-23 Couplage dirigée de protéines

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (2) EP1557429A1 (fr)
AU (1) AU2005206298A1 (fr)
CA (1) CA2544762A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2005070960A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN100401065C (zh) * 2005-12-08 2008-07-09 上海交通大学 快速检测呋喃唑酮的免疫纳米金试纸条的制备方法
WO2007065464A1 (fr) * 2005-12-09 2007-06-14 Stichting Katholieke Universiteit Dérivés du facteur de croissance épidermique (egf) de sélectivité modulable vis-à-vis de la famille des récepteurs erb
US8247531B2 (en) * 2006-03-20 2012-08-21 Cochran Jennifer R Mutant epidermal growth factor polypeptides, nucleic acids, and uses therefor
CN1904613B (zh) * 2006-08-08 2010-11-03 天津科技大学 用于磺胺类多种残留免疫分析的人工抗原的制备方法
US8865864B2 (en) 2011-08-26 2014-10-21 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University Mutant epidermal growth factor polypeptides with improved biological activity and methods of their making and use
NZ711500A (en) * 2013-03-15 2020-05-29 Taiwan Liposome Co Ltd Engineering a control drug release profile via liposome compositions in both aqueous and non-aqueous compartments
CA2936675C (fr) * 2014-01-12 2023-06-27 Igf Oncology, Llc Proteines de fusion contenant un facteur-1 de croissance de type insuline et un facteur de croissance epidermique et leurs variantes, et leurs utilisations
EP3630195A4 (fr) 2017-05-21 2021-03-24 IGF Oncology, LLC Conjugué de facteur de croissance insuline-like - produit chimiothérapeutique pour le traitement du syndrome myélodysplasique
CN107913686A (zh) * 2017-11-17 2018-04-17 安徽师范大学 亲和嗜硫硅球色谱材料及其制备方法和应用
CN110672765B (zh) * 2019-10-11 2022-03-18 温州海鹤药业有限公司 一种定量检测硝呋太尔中顺式异构体杂质的方法
CN114032242B (zh) * 2021-10-27 2023-12-08 南方海洋科学与工程广东省实验室(湛江) 一种维吉霉素m1的核酸适配体及其制备方法与应用

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
None *
See also references of WO2005070960A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1557429A1 (fr) 2005-07-27
CA2544762A1 (fr) 2005-08-04
WO2005070960A1 (fr) 2005-08-04
AU2005206298A1 (en) 2005-08-04

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
WO2005070960A1 (fr) Couplage de polypeptides specifique au site
JP6889199B2 (ja) ｐ９７のフラグメントおよびその使用
US11952415B2 (en) Scaffold proteins
KR101617790B1 (ko) 치료, 진단과 실험적 혼합물들의 운반을 위한 공학적으로 가변된 나노입자 및 치료용 관련 조성물
AU2012278944B2 (en) p97-antibody conjugates and methods of use
CN1997661B (zh) 抗原性减弱的聚合物缀合物,其制备方法和应用
JP4806258B2 (ja) 脳移行活性を有するポリペプチド、およびその利用
EP1003558B1 (fr) Composes de lipides et de polyamides conjugees et compositions pour l'administration d'acides nucleiques
US20030059461A1 (en) Molecular delivery vehicle for delivery of selected compounds to targets
JPH11506935A (ja) ペプチド増強カチオン脂質トランスフェクション
JP2000509394A (ja) 細胞膜を横切って物質を輸送するためのポリペプチド結合体
EP1538164A1 (fr) Production et utilisation de péptides RGD
JPH05501259A (ja) 生物活性化合物と部位特異的化合物の界面縮合およびそれらの複合体
US20060286657A1 (en) Novel bioconjugation reactions for acylating polyethylene glycol reagents
Wöll et al. Sortase-A mediated chemoenzymatic lipidation of single-domain antibodies for cell membrane engineering
EP1423413B1 (fr) Composes peptidiques se fixant de maniere selective a la p-selectine
US20220195401A1 (en) Modified piggybac transposase polypeptide, polynucleotide encoding them, introducing carrier, kit, method of incorporating target sequence into cell genome, and method of producing cell
JP2000264900A (ja) 新規生理活性ペプチド
WO2004063216A1 (fr) Conjugue de retention dans le sang et apport de medicament specifique de tissu cancereux
AU4758300A (en) Novel liposomal vector complexes and their use in gene therapy
KR20240035722A (ko) 세포 내 형질주입을 위한 신규한 폴리펩타이드 조성물
AU2015271882A1 (en) p97-antibody conjugates and methods of use
AU2002324363A1 (en) Peptidic compounds selectively binding to p-selectin

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20060510

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 20061115

DAX Request for extension of the european patent (deleted)
STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20070327