The development of a number of different solid tumours is associated with over-expression of ErbB1, or the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and this over-expression is often correlated with poor prognosis of patients. Therefore, this receptor tyrosine kinase is considered to be an attractive target for antibody-based therapy. Indeed, antibodies to the EGFR have already proven their value for the treatment of several solid tumours, especially in combination with chemotherapeutic treatment regimens. Variable domains of camelid heavy chain-only antibodies (called Nanobodies) have superior properties compared with classical antibodies in that they are small, very stable, easy to produce in large quantities and easy to re-format into multi-valent or multi-specific proteins. Furthermore, they can specifically be selected for a desired function by phage antibody display. In this report, we describe the successful selection and the characterisation of antagonistic anti-EGFR Nanobodies. By using a functional selection strategy, Nanobodies that specifically competed for EGF binding to the EGFR were isolated from "immune" phage Nanobody repertoires. The selected antibody fragments were found to efficiently inhibit EGF binding to the EGFR without acting as receptor agonists themselves. In addition, they blocked EGF-mediated signalling and EGF-induced cell proliferation. In an in vivo murine xenograft model, the Nanobodies were effective in delaying the outgrowth of A431-derived solid tumours. This is the first report describing the successful use of untagged Nanobodies for the in vivo treatment of solid tumours. The results show that functional phage antibody selection, coupled to the rational design of Nanobodies, permits the rapid development of novel anti-cancer antibody-based therapeutics.

Camelidae possess an unusual class of antibodies devoid of light chains. Nanobodies are intact antigen-binding fragments that are stable, easily generated against different targets, and fully functional. Their rapid clearance from the blood circulation favors their use as imaging agents. We compared the in vivo tumor uptake and biodistribution of 2 anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) Nanobodies, 99m Tc-7C12 and 99m Tc-7D12. Methods: Nanobodies were labeled via their hexahistidine tail with 99m Tc-tricarbonyl ( 99m Tc(CO) 3 ) generated from a kit. Mice bearing subcutaneous A431 (EGFR-positive) and R1M (EGFRnegative) xenografts were intravenously injected with 99m Tc-7C12 and 99m Tc-7D12 on separate days. Pinhole SPECT/ micro-CT images were acquired at 1 h after administration to assess noninvasively the biodistribution and tumor targeting of the labeled compounds. Pinhole SPECT and micro-CT images from the same mouse were automatically fused on the basis of a mathematic rigid-body-transformation algorithm using six 57 Co sources. Images were quantified, and tracer uptake was expressed as percentage injected activity per gram per cubic centimeter (%IA/cm 3 ) of tissue. Ex vivo biodistribution of mice bearing A431 injected with either 99m Tc-7C12 or 99m Tc-7D12 was also assessed; activity in the tumor and organs was recorded and expressed as percentage injected activity per gram (%IA/g). Results: Binding of both tracers was receptorspecific. Image analysis showed high and similar tumor uptake values for both 99m Tc-7C12 and 99m Tc-7D12 (4.55 6 0.24 %IA/ cm 3 and 4.62 6 0.36 %IA/cm 3 , respectively) in A431 xenografts, whereas the uptake in the negative tumor (R1M) was low (1.16 6 0.14 for 99m Tc-7C12 and 1.49 6 0.60 for 99m Tc-7D12). 99m Tc-7C12 showed significantly higher kidney uptake (63.48 6 2.36 vs. 56.25 6 2.46 %IA/cm 3 ) and lower liver uptake (2.55 6 0.26 vs. 4.88 6 0.86 %IA/cm 3 ) than did 99m Tc-7D12. The ex vivo analysis confirmed the image quantification with high tumor-tobackground ratio; however, 99m Tc-7C12 showed higher tumor uptake (9.11 6 1.12 %IA/g) than did 99m Tc-7D12 (6.09 6 0.77 %IA/g). 99m Tc-7D12 demonstrated significantly higher blood activity than did 99m Tc-7C12, but both showed short plasma half-lives (,10 min).Conclusion: The Nanobody fragments used here show high tumor uptake, low liver uptake, and rapid blood clearance. Nanobodies are promising probes for noninvasive radioimmunodetection of specific targets early after administration. On the basis of its favorable biodistribution, 99m Tc-7C12 was selected for further studies. Epi dermal growth factor receptor (EGFR or ErbB1) is a member of a receptor tyrosine kinase family together with Her-2-neu/ErbB2, HER-3/ErbB3, and HER-4/ErbB4. EGFR is implicated in many cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and survival (1). Several reports have shown that EGFR signaling is abnormal in many tumors of epithelial origin, such as cancer of the breast, head and neck, prostate, lung, and skin. Aberrant signaling of...

The EGFR-binding Nanobody investigated in this study shows high specificity and selectivity towards EGFR overexpressing cells. Pinhole SPECT analysis with (99m)Tc-8B6 Nanobody enabled in vivo discrimination between tumors with high and moderate EGFR overexpression. The favorable biodistribution further corroborates the suitability of Nanobodies for in vivo tumor imaging.

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