Design of high-affinity binders to immune modulating receptors for cancer immunotherapy

Bibliographic Details
Title: Design of high-affinity binders to immune modulating receptors for cancer immunotherapy
Authors: Wei Yang, Derrick R. Hicks, Agnidipta Ghosh, Tristin A. Schwartze, Brian Conventry, Inna Goreshnik, Aza Allen, Samer F. Halabiya, Chan Johng Kim, Cynthia S. Hinck, David S. Lee, Asim K. Bera, Zhe Li, Yujia Wang, Thomas Schlichthaerle, Longxing Cao, Buwei Huang, Sarah Garrett, Stacey R. Gerben, Stephen Rettie, Piper Heine, Analisa Murray, Natasha Edman, Lauren Carter, Lance Stewart, Steven C. Almo, Andrew P. Hinck, David Baker
Source: Nature Communications, Vol 16, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2025)
Publisher Information: Nature Portfolio, 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Collection: LCC:Science
Subject Terms: Science
More Details: Abstract Immune receptors have emerged as critical therapeutic targets for cancer immunotherapy. Designed protein binders can have high affinity, modularity, and stability and hence could be attractive components of protein therapeutics directed against these receptors, but traditional Rosetta based protein binder methods using small globular scaffolds have difficulty achieving high affinity on convex targets. Here we describe the development of helical concave scaffolds tailored to the convex target sites typically involved in immune receptor interactions. We employed these scaffolds to design proteins that bind to TGFβRII, CTLA-4, and PD-L1, achieving low nanomolar to picomolar affinities and potent biological activity following experimental optimization. Co-crystal structures of the TGFβRII and CTLA-4 binders in complex with their respective receptors closely match the design models. These designs should have considerable utility for downstream therapeutic applications.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2041-1723
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57192-z
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/f483d8972b2f4000b76c750e2fb8c6fc
Accession Number: edsdoj.f483d8972b2f4000b76c750e2fb8c6fc
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20411723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-57192-z
Published in:Nature Communications
Language:English