Clifford E. Berkman

Expression of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), increases cell folate uptake and proliferation and suggests a novel role for PSMA in the uptake of the non-polyglutamated folate, folic acid.

Prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a unique folate hydrolase that is significantly upregulated in prostate cancer. In a mouse model, PSMA is able to facilitate prostate carcinogenesis, however, little is known about the mechanism by which this occurs. As PSMA is able to hydrolyze polyglutamated folates, and cancer cells proliferate directly in response to available folate, we examined if expression of human PSMA in PC‐3 cells confers a proliferative advantage in a microenvironment with physiologically relevant folate levels.

Assessment of an 18F-Labeled Phosphoramidate Peptidomimetic as a New Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen–Targeted Imaging Agent for Prostate Cancer

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a transmembrane protein commonly found on the surface of late-stage and metastatic prostate cancer and a well-known imaging biomarker for staging and monitoring therapy. Although 111In-labeled capropmab pendetide is the only approved agent available for PSMA imaging, its clinical use is limited because of its slow distribution and clearance that leads to challenging image interpretation. A small-molecule approach using radiolabeled urea-based PSMA inhibitors as imaging agents has shown promise for prostate cancer imaging. The motivation of this work is to explore phosphoramidates as a new class of potent PSMA inhibitors to develop more effective prostate cancer imaging agents with improved specificity and clearance properties. Methods: N-succinimidyl-4-18F-fluorobenzoate (18F-SFB) was conjugated to S-2-((2-(S-4-amino-4-carboxybutanamido)-S-2-carboxyethoxy)hydroxyphosphorylamino)-pentanedioic acid (Phosphoramidate (1)), yielding S-2-((2-(S-4-(4-18F-fluorobenzamido)-4-carboxybutanamido)-S-2-carboxyethoxy)hydroxyphosphorylamino)-pentanedioic acid (3). In vivo studies were conducted in mice bearing either LNCaP (PSMA-positive) or PC-3 (PSMA-negative) tumors. PET images were acquired at 1 and 2 h with or without a preinjection of a nonradioactive version of the fluorophosphoramidate. Tissue distribution studies were performed at the end of the 2 h imaging sessions. Results: Phosphoramidate (1) and its fluorobenzamido conjugate (2) were potent inhibitors of PSMA (inhibitory concentration of 50% [IC50], 14 and 0.68 nM, respectively). PSMA-mediated tumor accumulation was noted in the LNCaP versus the PC-3 tumor xenografts. The LNCaP tumor uptake was also blocked by the administration of nonradioactive (2) prior to imaging studies. With the exception of the kidneys, tumor-to-tissue and tumor-to-blood ratios were greater than 5:1 at 2 h. The strong kidney uptake may be due to the known PSMA expression in the mouse kidney, because significant reduction (>6-fold) in kidney activity was seen in mice injected with (2). Conclusion: 18F-labeled phosphoramidate (3) is a representative of a new class of PSMA targeting peptidomimetic molecules that shows great promise as imaging agents for detecting PSMA+ prostate tumors.

Cell-Surface labeling and internalization by a fluorescent inhibitor of prostate-specific membrane antigen.

Prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) remains an attractive target for imaging and therapeutic applications for prostate cancer. Recent efforts have been made to conjugate inhibitors of PSMA with imaging agents. Compared to antibodies, small‐molecule inhibitors of PSMA possess apparent advantages for in vivo applications. To date, there are no reports on the cellular fate of such constructs once bound the extracellular domain of PSMA. The present study was focused on precisely defining the binding specificity, time‐dependent internalization, cellular localization, and retention of inhibitor conjugates targeted to PSMA on LNCaP cells. A novel fluorescent inhibitor was prepared as a model to examine these processes.

Pseudoirreversible inhibition of prostate-specific membrane antigen by phosphoramidate peptidomimetics.

The mode of inhibition for phosphoramidate peptidomimetic inhibitors of prostate-specific membrane antigen was determined by inhibition reversibility experiments. The results revealed that these inhibitors can be classified into three types: pseudoirreversible (compounds 1-3), moderately reversible (compounds 4-9), and rapidly reversible inhibitors (compounds 10 and 11). Representative compounds from each class were further evaluated for their ability to induce cellular internalization of PSMA. Results from these experiments revealed that the pseudoirreversible inhibitor 1 induced the greatest PSMA internalization. The discovery of pseudoirreversible PSMA inhibitors is expected to provide a new avenue of investigation and therapeutic applications for prostate cancer and neurological disorders.

A targeted low molecular weight near-infrared fluorescent probe for prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) remains an active target for imaging and therapeutic applications for prostate cancer. Although radionuclide-based imaging is generally more sensitive and also has been deeply explored, near-infrared fluorescence imaging agents are simple to prepare and compatible with long-term storage conditions. In the present study, a near-infrared fluorescent imaging probe (Cy5.5-CTT-54.2) has been developed by chemical conjugation of Cy5.5N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (Cy5.5-NHS) with a potent PSMA inhibitor CTT-54.2 (IC(50)=144 nM). The probe displays a highly potency (IC(50)=0.55 nM) against PSMA and has demonstrated successful application for specifically labeling PSMA-positive prostate cancer cells in both two and three-dimensional cell culture conditions. These results suggest that the potent, near-infrared Cy5.5-PSMA inhibitor conjugate may be useful for the detection of prostate tumor cells by optical in vivo imaging.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen-targeted photodynamic therapy induces rapid cytoskeletal disruption

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), an established enzyme-biomarker for prostate cancer, has attracted considerable attention as a target for imaging and therapeutic applications. We aimed to determine the effects of PSMA-targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT) on cytoskeletal networks in prostate cancer cells. PSMA-targeted PDT resulted in rapid disruption of microtubules (alpha-/beta-tubulin), microfilaments (actin), and intermediate filaments (cytokeratin 8/18) in the cytoplasm of LNCaP cells. The collapse of cytoplasmic microtubules and the later nuclear translocation of alpha-/beta-tubulin were the most dramatic alternation. It is likely that these early changes of cytoskeletal networks are partly involved in the initiation of cell death.

Functional prostate-specific membrane antigen is enriched in exosomes from prostate cancer cells

Developing simple and effective approaches to detect tumor markers will be critical for early diagnosis or prognostic evaluation of prostate cancer treatment. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) has been validated as an important tumor marker for prostate cancer progression including angiogenesis and metastasis. As a type II membrane protein, PSMA can be constitutively internalized from the cell surface into endosomes. Early endosomes can fuse with multivesicular bodies (MVB) to form and secrete exosomes (40–100 nm) into the extracellular environment. Herein, we tested whether some of the endosomal PSMA could be transferred to exosomes as an extracellular resource for PSMA. Using PSMA-positive LNCaP cells, the secreted exosomes were collected and isolated from the cultured media. The vesicular structures of exosomes were identified by electron microscopy, and exosomal marker protein CD9 and tumor susceptibility gene (TSG 101) were confirmed by western blot analysis. Our present data demonstrate that PSMA can be enriched in exosomes, exhibiting a higher content of glycosylation and partial proteolysis in comparison to cellular PSMA. An in vitro enzyme assay further confirmed that exosomal PSMA retains functional enzymatic activity. Therefore, our data may suggest a new role for PSMA in prostate cancer progression, and provide opportunities for developing non-invasive approaches for diagnosis or prognosis of prostate cancer.

In Vitro Targeted Photodynamic Therapy with a Pyropheophorbide-a Conjugated Inhibitor of Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen

The lack of specific delivery of photosensitizers (PSs), represents a significant limitation of photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. The biomarker prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) has attracted considerable attention as a target for imaging and therapeutic applications for prostate cancer. Although recent efforts have been made to conjugate inhibitors of PSMA with imaging agents, there have been no reports on PS‐conjugated PSMA inhibitors for targeted PDT of prostate cancer. The present study focuses on the use of a PSMA inhibitor‐conjugate of pyropheophorbide‐a (Ppa‐conjugate 2) for targeted PDT to achieve apoptosis in PSMA+ LNCaP cells.

Targeting prostate cancer cells with PSMA inhibitor-guided gold nanoparticles

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a notable biomarker for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in prostate cancer. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) provide an attractive nanomaterial platform for combining a variety of targeting, imaging, and cytotoxic agents into a unified device for biomedical research. In this study, we present the generation and evaluation of the first AuNP system functionalized with a small molecule phosphoramidate peptidomimetic inhibitor for the targeted delivery to PSMA-expressing prostate cancer cells. The general approach involved the conjugation of streptavidin-coated AuNPs with a biotin-linked PSMA inhibitor (CTT54) to generate PSMA-targeted AuNPs. In vitro evaluations of these targeted AuNPs were conducted to determine PSMA-mediated and time-dependent binding to PSMA-positive LNCaP cells. The PSMA-targeted AuNPs exhibited significantly higher and selective binding to LNCaP cells compared to control non-targeted AuNPs, thus demonstrating the feasibility of this approach.

A phosphoramidate-based prostate-specific membrane antigen-targeted SPECT agent.

Prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) remains an active target for imaging and therapeutic applications for prostate cancer.