Preparation and Characterization of an Engineered FGF1 Conjugated to ¹⁶¹Tb for Targeting of FGFRs

The fibroblast growth factor receptor family members, FGFR1-4, are frequently overexpressed in various solid tumors, including breast cancer and sarcomas. This overexpression highlights the potential of the family of FGFRs as promising targets for cancer therapy. However, conventional FGFR kinase inhibitors often encounter challenges such as limited efficacy or drug resistance. In this study, we pursue an alternative strategy by designing a conjugate of the FGFR ligand FGF1 with the radioisotope ¹⁶¹Tb, for targeted therapy in FGFR-overexpressing cancer cells. FGF1 was engineered (eFGF1) to incorporate a single cysteine at the C terminus for site-specific labeling with a DOTA chelator. eFGF1-DOTA was mixed with the radioisotope ¹⁶¹Tb under mild conditions, resulting in a labeling efficiency above 90%. The nonradioactive ligands were characterized by mass spectrometry, while radioligands were characterized by thin-layer chromatography. The targeting function of the radioligands was assessed through confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, and Western blot analysis, focusing on binding to cancer cells and the activation of downstream signaling pathways related to FGFR. When compared to MCF-7 and RD cell lines with low FGFR expression, eFGF1-DOTA-Tb[¹⁶¹Tb] radioligands demonstrated significantly higher accumulation in FGFR-overexpressing cell lines (MCF-7 FGFR1 and RMS559), leading to enhanced cytotoxicity. Besides radionuclides, eFGF1 can also deliver doxorubicin (DOX) into cancer cells. Considering these characteristics, eFGF1-DOTA-Tb[¹⁶¹Tb] and eFGF1-DOX emerge as promising candidates for FGFR-targeted cancer therapy, and further evaluation in vivo is warranted.