# Affinity-Mediated Covalent Conjugation: A Method for Direct Modification of Specific Receptors on Cell Membranes

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2020 · $175,853

## Abstract

The goal of the proposed research is to develop Affinity-Mediated Covalent Conjugation (AMCC) reactions
that directly modify specific cell types while leaving other cells untouched. The AMCC will target specific
receptors on the cell surface and create a permanent covalent link. The ability to directly modify cell membranes
with designer chemical functionalities would enable a host of new technologies, such as addressing questions
of basic cell biology, increasing therapeutic efficacy, capturing single cells for analysis, to building entirely new
self-assembled 3D cell systems from differentiated stem cells.
 The AMCC reaction starts with an initial, specific non-covalent association, followed by a permanent covalent
bond formation induced by irradiation. To promote the non-covalent interaction, the PIs will utilize affibodies that
show modest target affinity but are highly robust to modification and incorporation into fusion proteins. In Prior
Work (see Research Strategy), the PIs showed that if a specific amino acid on an EGFR-binding affibody was
replaced with a benzophenone group, photocrosslinking to EGFR was obtained. This result was validated in both
2D culture and 3D spheroid models, using both UV light and near infrared (NIR) light with upconverting
nanoparticles.
 In this research, the PIs propose to study how the AMCC approach could be utilized to attach specific protein
subunits to existing cell receptors using a light-activated, single-step modification. Because affibodies are robust
to modification, fusion proteins could be designed with both the photocrosslinkable affibody and an active species
(e.g. enzyme, green fluorescent protein (GFP), or streptavidin). Photoconjugation to the cell would create a
permanent bond to a cell receptor, followed by long-term expression of this active species on the surface of the
cell. As a result, specific cells may be modified at multiple locations simultaneously and orthogonally, leading to
numerous advances in areas of model tissue design, in vivo tissue modification, and high throughput cell isolation
from complex mixtures.
 A current barrier to success in this approach is ensuring that the ligated functionalities (e.g., GFP or enzymes)
will remain active and intact on the cell membrane over necessary time scales. We hypothesize that covalently
binding the ligand to the cell receptor will prolong this lifetime by disguising the conjugated portion as part of the
receptor, thereby preventing or hindering receptor-mediated endocytosis and subsequent proteolysis. However,
it is not currently known what the long-term fate of the modified receptor will be. Therefore, it is critical to study
the effect of photocrosslinking affibodies to cell receptors on the aforementioned biochemical and cellular
responses. These questions will be addressed by examining the effects of this approach on cell health, dynamics
of the EGFR-affibody complex, and activity of the conjugated segment on the cell surface.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9873544
- **Project number:** 1R21GM135668-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer N Cha
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $175,853
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-01-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9873544

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9873544, Affinity-Mediated Covalent Conjugation: A Method for Direct Modification of Specific Receptors on Cell Membranes (1R21GM135668-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9873544. Licensed CC0.

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