Cited by 1,199Protein Degradation and InhibitorsRNA Interference and Gene DeliveryNanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery

Lysosome-targeting chimaeras for degradation of extracellular proteins

Open access
Banik, Steven M., Pedram, Kayvon, Wisnovsky, Simon, Ahn, Green, Riley, Nicholas M., Bertozzi, Carolyn R.·2020·Nature

Abstract

The majority of therapies that target individual proteins rely on specific activity-modulating interactions with the target protein-for example, enzyme inhibition or ligand blocking. However, several major classes of therapeutically relevant proteins have unknown or inaccessible activity profiles and so cannot be targeted by such strategies. Protein-degradation platforms such as proteolysis-targeting chimaeras (PROTACs)1,2 and others (for example, dTAGs 3, Trim-Away 4, chaperone-mediated autophagy targeting 5 and SNIPERs 6) have been developed for proteins that are typically difficult to target; however, these methods involve the manipulation of intracellular protein degradation machinery and are therefore fundamentally limited to proteins that contain cytosolic domains to which ligands can bind and recruit the requisite cellular components. Extracellular and membrane-associated proteins-the products of 40% of all protein-encoding genes 7-are key agents in cancer, ageing-related diseases and autoimmune disorders 8, and so a general strategy to selectively degrade these proteins has the potential to improve human health. Here we establish the targeted degradation of extracellular and membrane-associated proteins using conjugates that bind both a cell-surface lysosome-shuttling receptor and the extracellular domain of a target protein. These initial lysosome-targeting chimaeras, which we term LYTACs, consist of a small molecule or antibody fused to chemically synthesized glycopeptide ligands that are agonists of the cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptor (CI-M6PR). We use LYTACs to develop a CRISPR interference screen that reveals the biochemical pathway for CI-M6PR-mediated cargo internalization in cell lines, and uncover the exocyst complex as a previously unidentified-but essential-component of this pathway. We demonstrate the scope of this platform through the degradation of therapeutically relevant proteins, including apolipoprotein E4, epidermal growth factor receptor, CD71 and programmed death-ligand 1. Our results establish a modular strategy for directing secreted and membrane proteins for lysosomal degradation, with broad implications for biochemical research and for therapeutics.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41586-020-2545-9

Cites

46 of 46 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • LYTACs are chimeric molecules that combine cell surface lysosomal targeting receptors and extracellular or membrane proteins to expand TPD to extracellular targets; Bertozzi's group developed the first LYTAC molecule, Ab-2, by fusing cetuximab with an M6P-modified peptide, and Ab-2 significantly reduced EGFR levels in HeLa cells.

    “Consequently, researchers have proposed lysosomal targeting chimera technologies (LYTACs), chimeric molecules that combine cell surface lysosomal targeting receptors and extracellular or membrane proteins, to expand TPD technologies to extracellular targets. Bertozzi’s group at Stanford University developed the first LYTAC molecule, Ab-2, by fusing cetuximab (ctx), a monoclonal antibody targeting”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Banik, S. M., Pedram, K., Wisnovsky, S., Ahn, G., Riley, N. M., & Bertozzi, C. R.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Bertozzi, Carolyn R.
Venue
Nature
Published
2020-07-29
Volume
584
Issue
7820
Pages
291-297
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W3045619116
Cited by
1,199
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 259 · 2025: 273 · 2024: 216 · 2023: 182 · 2022: 141 · 2021: 97 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 1 · 2014: 1
FWCI
36.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • National Institutes of Health (K00 CA21245403)
  • National Cancer Institute (K00CA212454, P30CA124435, R01CA227942)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM120007)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Degradation and Inhibitors
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Interference and Gene Delivery
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
Keywords
lysosome-targeting chimeras, targeted protein degradation, extracellular proteins, membrane proteins, cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor, exocyst complex, CRISPR interference screen, APOE ε4, epidermal growth factor receptor, transferrin receptor, PD-L1, lysosomal degradation
MeSH terms
Protein Domains, Animals, Antibodies, Cell Line, Extracellular Space, Female, Glycopeptides, Humans, Ligands, Lysosomes, Membrane Proteins, Receptors, Transferrin, Recombinant Fusion Proteins, Solubility, Substrate Specificity, Antigens, CD, Receptor, IGF Type 2, Protein Transport, Mice, Apolipoprotein E4, Proteolysis, B7-H1 Antigen, CRISPR-Cas Systems, ErbB Receptors

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review