Protein targeting constructs in alpha therapy

The progress in the field of targeted α-particle therapy (TAT) has to a great extent been enhanced by developments in both recombinant DNA technology and radionuclide labeling chemistry. Advances in genomics and proteomics have promoted an increase in the identification of novel targets and molecules that can define different diseases, such as cancer. In radioimmunotherapy (RIT), the primary goal is to improve delivery to and therapeutic efficacy of the cancer cells, whilst minimizing toxicity. Different approaches have been investigated to achieve this, such as reducing the size of the carrier, pretargeting, multidosing, locoregional administration and using a cocktail of radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies for targeting multiple antigens simultaneously. Some of these approaches have been encouraging, but translation of TAT into the clinic has been slow, in part because of the limited availability and the short physical half-lives of some of the available α-particle emitters. The clinical studies carried out to date have been promising, although many challenges remain in order to make TAT safe and economically feasible. In this paper a number of different targeting constructs used hitherto that may be promising carriers for TAT in the future are presented and discussed. The constructs include enzymatic cleaved antibody fragments (Fab and F(ab˙)2 fragments); genetically engineered antibody fragments (scFv monomer, dimer (i.e. diabody) and tetramer, CH2 domain deleted antibody fragments); other protein targeting constructs such as affibodies and peptides as well as liposomal delivery.