A single‐chain variable fragment‐anticancer lytic peptide (scFv‐ACLP) fusion protein for targeted cancer treatment

Abstract Antibody‐directed drugs for targeted cancer treatment have become a hot topic in new anticancer drug development; however, antibody‐fused therapeutic peptides were rarely documented. Herein, we designed a fusion protein with a cetuximab‐derived single‐chain variable fragment targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (anti‐EGFR scFv) and the anticancer lytic peptide (ACLP) ZXR2, connected by a linker (G 4 S) 3 and MMP2 cleavage site. The anti‐EGFR scFv‐ZXR2 recombinant protein showed specific anticancer activity on EGFR‐overexpressed cancer cell lines in a concentration‐ and time‐dependent manner, as it can bind to EGFR on cancer cell surfaces. This fusion protein caused cell membrane lysis as ZXR2, and showed improved stability in serum compared with ZXR2. These results suggest that scFv‐ACLP fusion proteins may be potential anticancer drug candidates for targeted cancer treatment, which also provide a feasible idea for targeted drug design.