Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody

Abstract P-cadherin, a crucial cell-cell adhesion protein which is overexpressed in numerous malignant cancers, is a popular target for drug delivery antibodies. However, molecular guidelines for engineering antibodies that can be internalized upon binding to P-cadherin are unknown. Here, we use a c...

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Main Authors: Bin Xie, Shipeng Xu, Sanjeevi Sivasankar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56478-6
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author Bin Xie
Shipeng Xu
Sanjeevi Sivasankar
author_facet Bin Xie
Shipeng Xu
Sanjeevi Sivasankar
author_sort Bin Xie
collection DOAJ
description Abstract P-cadherin, a crucial cell-cell adhesion protein which is overexpressed in numerous malignant cancers, is a popular target for drug delivery antibodies. However, molecular guidelines for engineering antibodies that can be internalized upon binding to P-cadherin are unknown. Here, we use a combination of biophysical, biochemical, and cell biological methods to demonstrate that trapping the P-cadherin extracellular region in an X-dimer adhesive conformation triggers cadherin endocytosis via an outside-in signaling mechanism. We show that the anti-cancer drug delivery monoclonal antibody CQY684, traps P-cadherin in an X-dimer conformation and strengthens this adhesive structure. Formation of stable X-dimers results in the phosphorylation of p120-catenin, a suppressor of cadherin endocytosis. This triggers the dissociation of p120-catenin from the X-dimer cytoplasmic region, which increases P-cadherin turnover and targets the cadherin-antibody complex to the lysosome. Our results establish an outside-in signaling mechanism that provides fundamental insights into how cells regulate adhesion and that can be exploited by anti-cadherin antibodies for intracellular drug delivery.
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spelling doaj-art-412391230bd34195a64c88980d80a9d12025-02-02T12:32:09ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111410.1038/s41467-025-56478-6Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibodyBin Xie0Shipeng Xu1Sanjeevi Sivasankar2Biophysics Graduate Group, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of CaliforniaBiophysics Graduate Group, University of CaliforniaAbstract P-cadherin, a crucial cell-cell adhesion protein which is overexpressed in numerous malignant cancers, is a popular target for drug delivery antibodies. However, molecular guidelines for engineering antibodies that can be internalized upon binding to P-cadherin are unknown. Here, we use a combination of biophysical, biochemical, and cell biological methods to demonstrate that trapping the P-cadherin extracellular region in an X-dimer adhesive conformation triggers cadherin endocytosis via an outside-in signaling mechanism. We show that the anti-cancer drug delivery monoclonal antibody CQY684, traps P-cadherin in an X-dimer conformation and strengthens this adhesive structure. Formation of stable X-dimers results in the phosphorylation of p120-catenin, a suppressor of cadherin endocytosis. This triggers the dissociation of p120-catenin from the X-dimer cytoplasmic region, which increases P-cadherin turnover and targets the cadherin-antibody complex to the lysosome. Our results establish an outside-in signaling mechanism that provides fundamental insights into how cells regulate adhesion and that can be exploited by anti-cadherin antibodies for intracellular drug delivery.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56478-6
spellingShingle Bin Xie
Shipeng Xu
Sanjeevi Sivasankar
Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody
Nature Communications
title Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody
title_full Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody
title_fullStr Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody
title_full_unstemmed Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody
title_short Outside-in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody
title_sort outside in engineering of cadherin endocytosis using a conformation strengthening antibody
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56478-6
work_keys_str_mv AT binxie outsideinengineeringofcadherinendocytosisusingaconformationstrengtheningantibody
AT shipengxu outsideinengineeringofcadherinendocytosisusingaconformationstrengtheningantibody
AT sanjeevisivasankar outsideinengineeringofcadherinendocytosisusingaconformationstrengtheningantibody