Development of Integrin Targeting Chimeras (ITACs) for the Lysosomal Degradation of Extracellular Proteins.

Abstract

The emerging of lysosomal targeting chimera (LYTAC) expands the field of targeted protein degradation (TPD) to include the extracellular proteins for precise depletion. However, most of the reported LYTACs either induce ubiquitous degradation of the protein of interest (POI) in a broad range of tissues or specifically target liver cells. More tissue-selective degraders are highly desirable. Herein, we describe the development of cyclic RGD (cRGD) peptide-antibody conjugates as a novel class of integrin targeting chimeras (ITACs) with potential cancer selectivity. Our results indicate that the ITACs are able to recruit integrin to induce the degradation of both soluble and membrane targets in the lysosome. We observed higher efficiency of ITACs on degrading membrane protein in cancer cells, providing a promising platform for cancer-selective TPD strategy.