Generation and characterization of a human nanobody against VEGFR-2

Nanobody is an antibody fragment consisting of a single monomeric variable antibody domain, which can be used for a variety of biotechnological and therapeutic purposes. The aim of this work was to isolate and characterize a human signal domain antibody against VEGFR-2 domain3 (VEGFR D3) from a phage display library.

To produce antigen-specific recombinant nanobodies with high affinity to VEGFR2 D3, a liquid phase panning strategy was used for all rounds of panning. For nanobody expression and purification, four VEGFR2 D3-blocking clones were subcloned into a pETduet-biotin-MBP expression vector. The recombinant proteins carried an MBP tag to facilitate purification by affinity chromatography. Recombinant NTV(1-4) was obtained after an additional gel filtration chromatography step. The interactions between VEGFR2 D3 and NTV(1-4) were assessed with luminescence-based AlphaScreen assay and SPR assay. Anti-angiogenesis effects were examined in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

In the AlphaScreen assay, NTV1 (100 and 200 nmol/L) elicited the highest binding signal with VEGFR2 D3; NTV2 showed moderate interactions with VEGFR2 D3; NTV3 and NTV4 exhibited little or no interaction with VEGFR2 D3. In the SPR assay, NTV1 displayed a high affinity for VEGFR2 D3 with an equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) of 49±1.8 nmol/L. NTV1 (1-1000 nmol/L) dose-dependently inhibited the proliferation of HUVECs and the endothelial tube formation by the HUVECs.

The nanobody NTV1 is a potential therapeutic candidate for blocking VEGFR2. This study provides a novel and promising strategy for development of VEGFR2-targeted nanobody-based cancer therapeutics.