Affitoxin

Affitoxin (also known as HER2-Affitoxin) is a novel recombinant immunotoxin fusion protein developed by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the targeted treatment of HER2-overexpressing cancers, such as breast, ovarian, and gastric cancers. Structurally, it consists of a HER2-specific Affibody molecule (a small ~7-kDa affinity protein derived from the Z domain of Staphylococcus aureus protein A) genetically fused to PE38KDEL, a truncated and modified version of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A. Upon binding to HER2 on the cancer cell surface, Affitoxin is internalized via receptor-mediated endocytosis. Once inside the cytosol, the PE38 domain catalyzes the ADP-ribosylation of eukaryotic translation elongation factor 2 (eEF-2), which halts protein synthesis and rapidly induces apoptosis. Affitoxin has demonstrated potent, selective antitumor activity in preclinical models of HER2-positive tumors.

Other names

HER2-AffitoxinHER-2-AffitoxinHER 2-Affitoxin