Antibody fragments can recognize their cognate
antigen with high affinity and can be produced at high yields, but generally display rapid blood clearance profiles. For pharmaceutical applications, the serum half-life of
antibody fragments is often extended by chemical modification with
polymers or by genetic fusion to
albumin or
albumin-binding
polypeptides. Here, we report that the site-specific chemical modification of a C-terminal
cysteine residue in scFv
antibody fragments with a small organic molecule capable of high-affinity binding to
serum albumin substantially extends serum half-life in rodents. The strategy was implemented using the
antibody fragment F8, specific to the alternatively spliced EDA domain of
fibronectin, a
tumor-associated
antigen. The unmodified and chemically modified scFv-F8
antibody fragments were studied by biodistribution analysis in
tumor-bearing mice, exhibiting a dramatic increase in
tumor uptake for the
albumin-binding antibody derivative. The data presented in this paper indicate that the chemical modification of the
antibody fragment with the 2-(3-maleimidopropanamido)-6-(4-(4-iodophenyl)butanamido)hexanoate
albumin-binding moiety may represent a general strategy for the extension of the serum half-life of
antibody fragments and for the improvement of their in vivo targeting performance.