Dual targeting of transferrin receptor and CD98hc enhances brain exposure of large molecules

Abstract

Targeting proteins highly expressed at the blood-brain barrier, including transferrin receptor (TfR) and CD98hc, is a transformative approach enabling more effective brain delivery of biotherapeutics to treat neurological diseases. TfR-mediated delivery promotes rapid, high brain uptake, while CD98hc-mediated delivery is slower with more prolonged exposure. Here, we engineer a human immunoglobulin G1 (huIgG) Fc domain to bind both TfR and CD98hc, creating a dual transport vehicle (TV) platform that drives distinct brain delivery properties. Dual TVs achieve significantly higher brain concentrations than TVs targeting either TfR or CD98hc alone. Modulation of TfR and CD98hc affinities shifts dual TV brain exposure kinetics and biodistribution. Stronger TfR affinity drives faster brain uptake and catabolism, while stronger CD98hc affinity yields higher, more sustained concentrations, likely due to CD98hc affinity-dependent reduction in TfR-mediated neuronal internalization. This dual-targeting strategy leverages the complementary properties of TfR- and CD98hc-mediated brain exposure to increase the optionality for brain delivery of biotherapeutics.