BSCI-15. METASTATIC BRAIN TUMOR TARGETING PEPTIDES ISOLATED THROUGH PHAGE DISPLAY BIOPANNING AGAINST BRAIN METASTASIS-INITIATING CELLS

To effectively target metastatic brain tumors (MBTs), the paradigm of treating MBTs after visualization on clinical imaging needs to be shifted to an understanding of the mechanisms that drive the formation and maintenance of brain metastasis-initiating cells (BMICs). Targeting this tumor sub-population, which may form as a result from activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, may allow for more effective means of isolating and targeting brain metastasis. In order to isolate BMICs, we have harvested cells from patient derived MBTs originating from lung cancer and cultured the cells using serum-free media conditions. In vivo phage display biopanning was used to isolate 12-amino acid length peptides that specifically target BMICs. Of the peptides recovered, one peptide, LBM4, was tested for specificity of binding to MBTs through in vitro and in vivo binding assays. When comparing patient derived metastatic brain tumors cells against brain metastasis cell lines, we found that both types of cells demonstrated similar morphology when grown in serum media conditions, but when grown in serum-free media, both demonstrated a tumor sphere morphology, similar to a stem cell-like state. LBM4 demonstrated specific binding to MBT cells over primary lung cancer cells in vitro through flow cytometry analysis and immunocytochemistry. Fluorescent tagged LBM4 intravenously injected into mice harboring intracranial BM demonstrated peptide localization to the tumor within the intracranial cavity visualized with live animal imaging. In vivo phage display biopanning is an effective tool that is able to isolate cell specific targeting peptides. MBT targeting peptides can potentially result in a shifting of the clinical treatment paradigm of brain metastases, through the development of more effective targeted therapeutics aimed at BMICs, as well as improving detection of MBT cells which may result in earlier tumor visualization as well as delineation of tumor recurrence versus radiation effects.