Robert Pola

Passive versus Active Tumor Targeting Using RGD- and NGR-Modified Polymeric Nanomedicines

Enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) and the (over-) expression of angiogenesis-related surface receptors are key features of tumor blood vessels. As a consequence, EPR-mediated passive and Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) and Asn-Gly-Arg (NGR) based active tumor targeting have received considerable attention in the last couple of years. Using several different in vivo and ex vivo optical imaging techniques, we here visualized and quantified the benefit of RGD- and NGR-based vascular vs EPR-mediated passive tumor targeting. This was done using ∼ 10 nm sized polymeric nanocarriers, which were either labeled with DY-676 (peptide-modified polymers) or with DY-750 (peptide-free polymers). Upon coinjection into mice bearing both highly leaky CT26 and poorly leaky BxPC3 tumors, it was found that vascular targeting did work, resulting in rapid and efficient early binding to tumor blood vessels, but that over time, passive targeting was significantly more efficient, leading to higher overall levels and to more efficient retention within tumors. Although this situation might be different for larger carrier materials, these insights indicate that caution should be taken not to overestimate the potential of active over passive tumor targeting.

In vivo characterization of the physicochemical properties of polymer-linked TLR agonists that enhance vaccine immunogenicity

The efficacy of vaccine adjuvants such as Toll-like receptor agonists (TLRa) can be improved through formulation and delivery approaches. Here, we attached small molecule TLR-7/8a to polymer scaffolds (polymer–TLR-7/8a) and evaluated how different physicochemical properties of the TLR-7/8a and polymer carrier influenced the location, magnitude and duration of innate immune activation in vivo. Particle formation by polymer–TLR-7/8a was the most important factor for restricting adjuvant distribution and prolonging activity in draining lymph nodes. The improved pharmacokinetic profile by particulate polymer–TLR-7/8a was also associated with reduced morbidity and enhanced vaccine immunogenicity for inducing antibodies and T cell immunity. We extended these findings to the development of a modular approach in which protein antigens are site-specifically linked to temperature-responsive polymer–TLR-7/8a adjuvants that self-assemble into immunogenic particles at physiologic temperatures in vivo. Our findings provide a chemical and structural basis for optimizing adjuvant design to elicit broad-based antibody and T cell responses with protein antigens.

Noninvasive optical imaging of nanomedicine biodistribution

Nanomedicines are sub-micrometer-sized carrier materials designed to improve the biodistribution of i.v. administered (chemo-) therapeutic agents. In recent years, ever more efforts in the nanomedicine field have employed optical imaging (OI) techniques to monitor biodistribution and target site accumulation. Thus far, however, the longitudinal assessment of nanomedicine biodistribution using OI has been impossible, due to limited light penetration (in the case of 2D fluorescence reflectance imaging; FRI) and to the inability to accurately allocate fluorescent signals to nonsuperficial organs (in the case of 3D fluorescence molecular tomography; FMT). Using a combination of high-resolution microcomputed tomography (μCT) and FMT, we have here set out to establish a hybrid imaging protocol for noninvasively visualizing and quantifying the accumulation of near-infrared fluorophore-labeled nanomedicines in tissues other than superficial tumors. To this end, HPMA-based polymeric drug carriers were labeled with Dy750, their biodistribution and tumor accumulation were analyzed using FMT, and the resulting data sets were fused with anatomical μCT data sets in which several different physiologically relevant organs were presegmented. The robustness of 3D organ segmentation was validated, and the results obtained using 3D CT-FMT were compared to those obtained upon standard 3D FMT and 2D FRI. Our findings convincingly demonstrate that combining anatomical μCT with molecular FMT facilitates the noninvasive assessment of nanomedicine biodistribution.

Characterizing EPR-mediated passive drug targeting using contrast-enhanced functional ultrasound imaging.

The Enhanced Permeability and Retention (EPR) effect is extensively used in drug delivery research. Taking into account that EPR is a highly variable phenomenon, we have here set out to evaluate if contrast-enhanced functional ultrasound (ceUS) imaging can be employed to characterize EPR-mediated passive drug targeting to tumors. Using standard fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) and two different protocols for hybrid computed tomography-fluorescence molecular tomography (CT-FMT), the tumor accumulation of a ~10 nm-sized near-infrared-fluorophore-labeled polymeric drug carrier (pHPMA-Dy750) was evaluated in CT26 tumor-bearing mice. In the same set of animals, two different ceUS techniques (2D MIOT and 3D B-mode imaging) were employed to assess tumor vascularization. Subsequently, the degree of tumor vascularization was correlated with the degree of EPR-mediated drug targeting. Depending on the optical imaging protocol used, the tumor accumulation of the polymeric drug carrier ranged from 5 to 12% of the injected dose. The degree of tumor vascularization, determined using ceUS, varied from 4 to 11%. For both hybrid CT-FMT protocols, a good correlation between the degree of tumor vascularization and the degree of tumor accumulation was observed, within the case of reconstructed CT-FMT, correlation coefficients of ~0.8 and p-values of <0.02. These findings indicate that ceUS can be used to characterize and predict EPR, and potentially also to pre-select patients likely to respond to passively tumor-targeted nanomedicine treatments.

Polymer therapeutics with a coiled coil motif targeted against murine bcl1 leukemia.

The specificity of polymer conjugates based on N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) bearing cytostatic drugs for cancer cells could be significantly increased by the incorporation of a suitable targeting ligand, such as a monoclonal antibody (mAb). However, direct binding of the protein to the polymer carrier could cause considerable problems, such as decreasing the binding capacity of mAb to its target. Here, we introduce a novel strategy of joining a targeting moiety to a polymeric conjugate with cytostatic drug. The scFv of B1 mAb (specific for BCL1 leukemia cells) was tagged with peptide K ((VAALKEK)4). Peptide E ((VAALEKE)4), which forms a stable coiled coil structure heterodimer with peptide K, was assembled with the HPMA copolymers bearing doxorubicin. Such targeted polymeric conjugates possess very selective and high binding activity toward BCL1 cells. Similarly, targeted polymeric conjugates exert approximately 100 times higher cytostatic activity toward BCL1 cells in comparison to nontargeted conjugates in vitro. At the same time, the conjugates have comparable and rather low cytostatic activity for 38C13 cells, which are used as a negative control, in vitro.

The structure-dependent toxicity, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumour activity of HPMA copolymer conjugates in the treatment of solid tumours and leukaemia

Polymer drug carriers that are based on N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymers have been widely used in the development and synthesis of high-molecular-weight (HMW) drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. In this study, we compared linear (Mw ~27kDa, Rh ~4nm) and non-degradable star (Mw ~250kDa, Rh ~13nm) HPMA copolymer conjugates bearing anthracycline antibiotic doxorubicin (DOX) bound via pH-sensitive hydrazone bond. We determined the in vitro and in vivo toxicity of both conjugates and their maximum tolerated dose (MTD). We also compared their anti-tumour activity in mouse B-cell leukaemia (BCL1) and a mouse T-cell lymphoma (EL4) model. We found that MTD was higher for the linear conjugate (85mgDOX/kg) and lower for the star conjugate (22.5mgDOX/kg). An evaluation of the intestinal barrier integrity using FITC-dextran as a gut permeability tracer proved that no pathology was caused by the MTD of either conjugate. However, free DOX showed some damage to the gut barrier. The therapy of BCL1 leukaemia by both of the polymeric conjugates using the MTD or its fraction (i.e., equitoxic dosage) showed better results in the case of the star conjugate. On the other hand, treatment of EL4 lymphoma seemed to be more efficient when the linear conjugate was used. We suppose that the anti-cancer treatment of solid tumours and leukaemias requires different types of drug conjugates. We hypothesise that the most suitable HPMA copolymer-DOX conjugate for the treatment of solid tumours should have an HMW structure with increased Rh that would be stable for three to four days after the conjugate administration and then rapidly disintegrate in the short polymer chains, which are excretable from the body by glomerular filtration. On the other hand, the treatment of leukaemia requires a drug conjugate with a long circulation half-life. This would provide an active drug, whilst slowly degrading to excretable fragments.

Coiled Coil Peptides and Polymer–Peptide Conjugates: Synthesis, Self-Assembly, Characterization and Potential in Drug Delivery Systems

Coiled coils are a common structural motif in many natural proteins that can also be utilized in the design and preparation of drug delivery systems for the noncovalent connection of two macromolecules. In this work, two different pairs of peptides forming coiled coil hetero-oligomers were designed, synthesized, and characterized. While the peptide sequences (VAALEKE)4 and (VAALKEK)4 predominantly form coiled coil heterodimers with randomly orientated peptide chains, (IAALESE)2-IAALESKIAALESE and IAALKSKIAALKSE-(IAALKSK)2 tend to form higher hetero-oligomers with an antiparallel orientation of their peptide chains. The associative behavior of these peptides was studied in aqueous solutions using circular dichroism spectroscopy, size-exclusion chromatography, isothermal titration calorimetry and sedimentation analyses. The orientation of the peptide chains in the coiled coil heterodimers was assessed using fluorescence spectroscopy with fluorescence resonance energy transfer labels attached to the ends of the peptides. The formation of the heterodimer can be used as a general method for the selective noncovalent conjugation of a specific targeting moiety with various drug carrier systems; this process involves simple self-assembly in a physiological solution before drug administration. The preparation of targeted macromolecular therapeutics consisting of a synthetic polymer drug carrier and a recombinant protein targeting ligand is discussed.

Click chemistry as a powerful and chemoselective tool for the attachment of targeting ligands to polymer drug carriers

Various click chemistry azide–alkyne cycloaddition reactions were used to attach azide group-terminated peptides to polymer drug carriers in an effort to conjugate biologically active molecules with polymer drug carriers by directly binding unprotected peptides to these polymers. Three methods using click chemistry to conjugate the azide group-containing molecules with synthetic polymers were compared: (1) click chemistry with a Cu(I) catalyst in aqueous and organic solvents, (2) click reactions using ruthenium complex catalysts in DMF and (3) metal-free click chemistry based on a dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO) reactive group. The suitability of these reactions was verified for the non-covalent attachment of targeting moieties to these polymer carriers via peptide–peptide interactions. Moreover, RAFT polymerization was suggested for the synthesis of semitelechelic copolymers containing a single DBCO group at the polymer chain end and for the preparation of well-defined diblock copolymer drug carriers consisting of specific peptide and hydrophilic polymer blocks.

Doxorubicin release is not a prerequisite for the in vitro cytotoxicity of HPMA-based pharmaceuticals: In vitro effect of extra drug-free GlyPheLeuGly sequences

A systematic study was designed to elucidate differences in cytostatic activity in vitro between HPMA-based doxorubicin conjugates synthesized using different polymerization techniques and differing in peptidyl side chain. A polymer-drug conjugate containing doxorubicin (DOX) bound to HPMA copolymer backbone through the enzymaticaly non-cleavable sequence GlyGly shows low but significant cytotoxicity in vitro in seven cancer cell lines of mouse (EL4, 38C13, 3T3, BCL1) and human (SW620, Raji, Jurkat) origin. The low cytotoxicity can be considerably increased by the presence of additional drug-free GlyPheLeuGly side chains. P1 conjugate, i.e. non-targeted HPMA copolymer bearing doxorubicin bound via a biodegradable GlyPheLeuGly sequence, synthesized by direct copolymerization of HPMA with monomeric doxorubicin and thus without additional drug-free GlyPheLeuGly sequences is less effective compared to PK1 synthesized by polymer analogous reaction and thus containing extra drug-free GlyPheLeuGly sequences. Significant activity-enhancing effect was not seen with other amino acid/oligopeptide sequences (e.g., Gly or GlyGly). The activity-enhancing effect of GlyPheLeuGly sequences is more obvious in the conjugate containing doxorubicin bound to HPMA through GlyGly sequence. Derivatization of the terminal carboxyl group of the extra GlyPheLeuGly side chains (amide, N-substituted amide, free carboxyl) does not significantly influence the cytotoxicity of the conjugates. The presence of the GlyPheLeuGly sequence in the conjugate structure increases its rate of intracellular accumulation. Normal cells (Balb/c splenocytes) accumulate less polymer-doxorubicin conjugate compared to cancer cells (T cell lymphoma EL4, B cell lymphoma Raji and T cell leukemia JURKAT).

Thermoresponsive Polymer Micelles as Potential Nanosized Cancerostatics.

An effective chemotherapy for neoplastic diseases requires the use of drugs that can reach the site of action at a therapeutically efficacious concentration and maintain it at a constant level over a sufficient period of time with minimal side effects. Currently, conjugates of high-molecular-weight hydrophilic polymers or biocompatible nanoparticles with stimuli-releasable anticancer drugs are considered to be some of the most promising systems capable of fulfilling these criteria. In this work, conjugates of thermoresponsive diblock copolymers with the covalently bound cancerostatic drug pirarubicin (PIR) were synthesized as a reversible micelle-forming drug delivery system combining the benefits of the above-mentioned carriers. The diblock copolymer carriers were composed of hydrophilic poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide]-based block containing a small amount (∼ 5 mol %) of comonomer units with reactive hydrazide groups and a thermoresponsive poly[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate] block. PIR was attached to the hydrophilic block of the copolymer through the pH-sensitive hydrazone bond designed to be stable in the bloodstream at pH 7.4 but to be degraded in an intratumoral/intracellular environment at pH 5-6. The temperature-induced conformation change of the thermoresponsive block (coil-globule transition), followed by self-assembly of the copolymer into a micellar structure, was controlled by the thermoresponsive block length and PIR content. The cytotoxicity and intracellular transport of the conjugates as well as the release of PIR from the conjugates inside the cells, followed by its accumulation in the cell nuclei, were evaluated in vitro using human colon adenocarcinoma (DLD-1) cell lines. It was demonstrated that the studied conjugates have a great potential to become efficacious in vivo pharmaceuticals.