Site-specific antibody fragment conjugates for targeted imaging

This work details the use of amber suppression-mediated genetic incorporation of unnatural amino acids (UAAs), specifically p-azido-l-phenylalanine (pAzF) and p-acetyl-l-phenylalanine (pAcF), to develop site-specifically labeled antibody Fab fragments. These antibody fragment conjugates represent a novel class of imaging agents with optimal stability, efficacy, and pharmacological properties, which have demonstrated promising potential for probing and understanding the in vivo bio-distributions of protein targets of interest. This chapter provides general guidelines for preparing these Fab conjugates, and details of follow-up bioassays such as single-agent based positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of immune-checkpoint protein PD-L1, and the use of GCN4-mediated switchable antibody conjugates for near-infrared fluorescent imaging of cancer-related biomarkers.