Recombinant humanized Fab fragments targeting the CFC domain of human Cripto-1.

In the era of immunotherapy, the targeting of disease-specific biomarkers goes hand in hand with the development of highly selective antibody-based reagents having optimal pharmacological/toxicological profiles. One interesting and debated biomaker for several types of cancers is the onco-fetal protein Cripto-1 that is selectively expressed in many solid tumours and has been actively investigated as potential theranostic target. Starting from previously described anti-CFC/Cripto-1 murine monoclonal antibodies, we have moved forward to prepare the humanized recombinant Fabs which have been engineered so as to bear an MTGase site useful for a one-step site-specific labelling. The purified and bioconjugated molecules have been extensively characterized and tested on Cripto-1-positive cancer cells through in vitro binding assays. These recombinant Fab fragments recognize the target antigen in its native form on intact cells suggesting that they can be further developed as reagents for detecting Cripto-1 in theranostic settings.

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Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: MENOTTI RUVO reports financial support was provided by Italy Ministry of University. MENOTTI RUVO reports financial support was provided by Campania Region. Maria Cantile, Riccardo Sanna reports financial support was provided by Italy Ministry of University. Maria Cantile and Riccardo Sanna are employees of BIOVIIIx srl.