Arg9 facilitates the translocation and downstream signal inhibition of an anti-HER2 single chain antibody

BACKGROUND: HER2 plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of many cancers and is linked to poor prognosis or cancer metastases. Monoclonal antibodies, such as Herceptin against HER2-overexpressing cancers, have showed satisfactory clinical therapeutic effect. However, they have difficulty to surmount obstacles to enter cells or blood–brain barrier. RESULTS: In this study, a cell-penetrating peptide Arg9 was linked to the C-terminus of anti-HER2 single chain antibody (MIL5scFv). Flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and electron microscopy analysis all revealed that Arg9 peptide facilitated the penetration of MIL5scFv into HER2-negative cell line NIH3T3 and orientate in mitochondria. More interestingly, Western blot assay showed the potential enhanced bioactivity of MIL5scFv-Arg9 in HER2+ cell line SKOV3, indicating that Arg9 could help large molecules (e.g. antibody) to penetrate into cells and therefore enhance its anti-neoplastic function. CONCLUSIONS: Our work represented an attractive by preliminary strategy to enhance the therapeutic effect of existing antibodies by entering cells easier, or more desirable, surmounting the physical barriers, especially in hard-to-reach cancers such as brain metastases cases.