Human Serum Albumin and HER2-Binding Affibody Fusion Proteins for Targeted Delivery of Fatty Acid-Modified Molecules and Therapy.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a well-studied therapeutic target as well as a biomarker of breast cancer. HER2-targeting affibody (ZHER2:342) is a novel small scaffold protein with an extreme high affinity against HER2 screened by phage display. However, the small molecular weight of ZHER2:342 has limited its pharmaceutical application. Human serum albumin (HSA) and ZHER2:342 fusion protein may not only extend the serum half-life of ZHER2:342 but also preserve the biological function of HSA to bind and transport fatty acids, which can be used to deliver fatty acid-modified therapeutics to HER2-positive cancer cells. Two HSA and ZHER2:342 fusion proteins, one with a single ZHER2:342 domain fused to the C terminus of HSA (rHSA-ZHER2) and another with two tandem copies of ZHER2:342 fused to the C terminus of HSA (rHSA-(ZHER2)2), have been constructed, expressed, and purified. Both fusion proteins possessed the HER2 and fatty acid (FA) binding abilities demonstrated by in vitro assays. Interestingly, rHSA-(ZHER2)2, not rHSA-ZHER2, was able to inhibit the proliferation of SK-BR-3 cells at a relatively low concentration, and the increase of HER2 and ERK1/2 phosphorylation followed by rHSA-(ZHER2)2 treatment has been observed. HSA fusion proteins are easy and economical to express, purify, and formulate. As expected, HSA fusion proteins and fusion protein-bound fatty acid-modified FITC could be efficiently taken up by cells. These results proved the feasibility of using HSA fusion proteins as therapeutic agents as well as carriers for targeted drug delivery.