Pornnoppadol, Bond, and Lucas et al. generated “shuttles” comprising an scFV specific for CD98hc, the large neutral amino acid transporter heavy chain (LAT1) expressed on both BBB sides, fused to bivalent IgGs specific for neuron, astrocyte, or oligodendrocyte cell-surface proteins. CD98hc shuttles, injected i.v., entered the brain and co-localized with the targeted cell type. Shuttles pairing untargeted IgG with CD98hc remained in blood vessels. CD98hc shuttles were retained in the brain much longer than shuttles targeting transferrin receptors, which effectively mediated receptor internalization. CD98hc/TrkB agonistic antibody shuttles induced extended, strong, specific TrkB receptor signaling.
Contributed by Paula Hochman
ABSTRACT: The inability of antibodies and other biologics to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a key limitation to their use in diagnostic, imaging, and therapeutic applications. One promising strategy is to deliver IgGs using a bispecific BBB shuttle, which involves fusing an IgG with a second affinity ligand that engages a cerebrovascular endothelial target and facilitates transport across the BBB. Nearly all prior efforts have focused on the transferrin receptor (TfR-1) as the prototypical endothelial target despite inherent delivery and safety challenges. Here we report bispecific antibody shuttles that engage CD98hc (also known as 4F2 and SLC3A2), the heavy chain of the large neutral amino acid transporter (LAT1), and efficiently transport IgGs into the brain parenchyma. Notably, CD98hc shuttles lead to much longer-lived brain retention of IgGs than TfR-1 shuttles while enabling more specific brain targeting due to limited CD98hc engagement in the brain parenchyma. We demonstrate the broad utility of the CD98hc shuttles by reformatting three existing IgGs as CD98hc bispecific shuttles and delivering them to the mouse brain parenchyma that either agonize a neuronal receptor (TrkB) or target other endogenous antigens on specific types of brain cells (neurons and astrocytes).