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Title: An engineered Axl 'decoy receptor' effectively silences the Gas6-Axl signaling axis

Journal Article · · Nature Chemical Biology
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Bioengineering
  2. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Stanford University School of Medicine, Dept. of Radiation Oncology
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL)
  4. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Bioengineering; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

Aberrant signaling through the Axl receptor tyrosine kinase has been associated with a myriad of human diseases, most notably metastatic cancer, identifying Axl and its ligand Gas6 as important therapeutic targets. Using rational and combinatorial approaches, we engineered an Axl ‘decoy receptor’ that binds Gas6 with high affinity and inhibits its function, offering an alternative approach from drug discovery efforts that directly target Axl. Four mutations within this high affinity Axl variant caused structural alterations in side chains across the Gas6/Axl binding interface, stabilizing a conformational change on Gas6. When reformatted as an Fc-fusion, the engineered decoy receptor bound to Gas6 with femtomolar affinity, an 80-fold improvement compared to the wild-type Axl receptor, allowing effective sequestration of Gas6 and specific abrogation of Axl signaling. Additionally, increased Gas6 binding affinity was critical and correlative with the ability of decoy receptors to potently inhibit metastasis and disease progression in vivo.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
NIH CA-088480; NIH CA-67166; T32 GM008412-15S1
OSTI ID:
1293893
Journal Information:
Nature Chemical Biology, Vol. 10, Issue 11; ISSN 1552-4450
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 96 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (35)

Engineered ligand-based VEGFR antagonists with increased receptor binding affinity more effectively inhibit angiogenesis: Kapur et al. journal February 2017
Applications of Yeast Surface Display for Protein Engineering book January 2015
Axl and Mer Receptor Tyrosine Kinases: Distinct and Nonoverlapping Roles in Inflammation and Cancer? book January 2016
Apoptotic cell clearance in the tumor microenvironment: a potential cancer therapeutic target journal June 2019
Molecular insights of Gas6/TAM in cancer development and therapy journal March 2017
Reprogramming the immunological microenvironment through radiation and targeting Axl journal December 2016
The TAM family: phosphatidylserine-sensing receptor tyrosine kinases gone awry in cancer journal November 2014
Viral apoptotic mimicry journal June 2015
AXL degradation in combination with EGFR-TKI can delay and overcome acquired resistance in human non-small cell lung cancer cells journal May 2019
Small molecule inhibitors block Gas6-inducible TAM activation and tumorigenicity journal March 2017
TAM receptor tyrosine kinases as emerging targets of innate immune checkpoint blockade for cancer therapy journal March 2017
A novel human anti‐AXL monoclonal antibody attenuates tumour cell migration journal May 2019
Hypoxic control of metastasis journal April 2016
The GAS6-AXL signaling network is a mesenchymal (Mes) molecular subtype-specific therapeutic target for ovarian cancer journal October 2016
Targeting of TAM Receptors Ameliorates Fibrotic Mechanisms in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis journal June 2018
Inhibition of the GAS6/AXL pathway augments the efficacy of chemotherapies journal November 2016
Targeting Gas6/TAM in cancer cells and tumor microenvironment journal January 2018
AXL receptor tyrosine kinase as a promising anti-cancer approach: functions, molecular mechanisms and clinical applications journal November 2019
The use of decellularised animal tissue to study disseminating cancer cells journal November 2018
Soluble AXL as a marker of disease progression and survival in melanoma journal January 2020
Axl inhibition: a potential road to a novel acute myeloid leukemia therapy? journal January 2015
AXL Receptor Tyrosine Kinase as a Therapeutic Target in Hematological Malignancies: Focus on Multiple Myeloma journal November 2019
Targeting the TAM Receptors in Leukemia journal November 2016
The Receptor Tyrosine Kinase AXL in Cancer Progression journal November 2016
Ligand Activation of TAM Family Receptors-Implications for Tumor Biology and Therapeutic Response journal November 2016
The Dual Role of TAM Receptors in Autoimmune Diseases and Cancer: An Overview journal October 2018
Dynamics of Axl Receptor Shedding in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Its Implication for Theranostics journal December 2018
Targeting the TAM Receptors in Leukemia text January 2016
Virus–Receptor Interactions: The Key to Cellular Invasion journal August 2018
Target‐Mediated Drug Disposition Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Model‐Informed Dose Selection for the First‐in‐Human Study of AVB‐S6‐500 journal October 2019
The receptor tyrosine kinase AXL promotes migration and invasion in colorectal cancer journal July 2017
Utilizing combinatorial engineering to develop Tie2 targeting antagonistic angiopoetin-2 ligands as candidates for anti-angiogenesis therapy journal April 2017
Targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 9 by a novel inhibitor enhances radiosensitization and identifies Axl as a novel downstream target in esophageal adenocarcinoma journal July 2019
AXL receptor tyrosine kinase as a therapeutic target in NSCLC journal April 2015
MiR-34a overexpression enhances the inhibitory effect of doxorubicin on HepG2 cells journal June 2019

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