ArticleCell communication and signaling : CCS2024
Small protein blockers of human IL-6 receptor alpha inhibit proliferation and migration of cancer cells.
Article in Cell communication and signaling : CCS, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Oral delivery of recombinantDrug delivery · 2026Article
- Lasiokaurin suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and induces apoptosis via the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.Journal of molecular histology · 2026Article
- Unraveling the molecular-pathological characteristics and cellular complexity of the tumor immune microenvironment in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Review
- Cold, Hot, and Lethal-The Tumour Microenvironment and the Immunology of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Ulcerative colitis: molecular insights and intervention therapy.Molecular biomedicine · 2024Review
- Human IL-22 receptor-targeted small protein antagonist suppress murine DSS-induced colitis.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2024Article
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18 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundInterleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine that controls the immune response, and its role has been described in the development of autoimmune diseases. Signaling via its cognate IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) complex is critical in tumor progression and, therefore, IL-6R represents an important therapeutic target.
methodsAn albumin-binding domain-derived highly complex combinatorial library was used to select IL-6R alpha (IL-6Rα)-targeted small protein binders using ribosome display. Large-scale screening of bacterial lysates of individual clones was performed using ELISA, and their IL-6Rα blocking potential was verified by competition ELISA. The binding of proteins to cells was monitored by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy on HEK293T-transfected cells, and inhibition of signaling function was examined using HEK-Blue IL-6 reporter cells. Protein binding kinetics to living cells was measured by LigandTracer, cell proliferation and toxicity by iCELLigence and Incucyte, cell migration by the scratch wound healing assay, and prediction of binding poses using molecular modeling by docking.
resultsWe demonstrated a collection of protein variants called NEF ligands, selected from an albumin-binding domain scaffold-derived combinatorial library, and showed their binding specificity to human IL-6Rα and antagonistic effect in HEK-Blue IL-6 reporter cells. The three most promising NEF108, NEF163, and NEF172 variants inhibited cell proliferation of malignant melanoma (G361 and A2058) and pancreatic (PaTu and MiaPaCa) cancer cells, and suppressed migration of malignant melanoma (A2058), pancreatic carcinoma (PaTu), and glioblastoma (GAMG) cells in vitro. The NEF binders also recognized maturation-induced IL-6Rα expression and interfered with IL-6-induced differentiation in primary human B cells.
conclusionWe report on the generation of small protein blockers of human IL-6Rα using directed evolution. NEF proteins represent a promising class of non-toxic anti-tumor agents with migrastatic potential.
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