Peptide-Guided Theranostics

Drugs based on targeting peptides are being evaluated in clinical trials by several companies such as Bicycle Therapeutics, Thera Technologies, and CEND therapeutics. The peptides are either used as targeting elements to precisely deliver a coupled payload or as therapeutic elements on their own.

We recently designed a targeting peptide (codename: "TrimUNO") that targets CD206 (mannose receptor), a receptor of interest as it is overexpressed on pro-tumoral associated macrophages in many solid tumors. TrimUNO has a trypsin inhibitor moiety, rigid conformation, stability against tumor proteases, and oral bioavailability, rendering it a promising drug candidate.

The goal of this final master´s study is to study ligand-receptor interactions of TrimUNO-CD206 in a cell-free and label-free manner using the Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) techinique: binding affinity constant, binding kinetics and potential ligand induced conformational changes by monitoring the system's viscosity and dissipation. Monolayers or multilayers of CD206 will be deposited on the sensor using the layer-by-layer technique.

These studies will help to validate TrimUNO and subsequent TrimUNO-drug conjugates for cancer therapy.