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Therapeutic Fusion Proteins

  • Review Article-theme
  • Recent Advances in Drug Delivery
  • Published:
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Abstract

Therapeutic fusion proteins are a class of hybrid constructs that combine distinct biomolecules into a single platform with the additive effects of the components. The ability to fuse two unrelated proteins provides a means to localize mechanisms to better treat a range of diseases. Fusion proteins can be designed to impart diverse functions, including increasing half-life, providing targeting, and enabling sustained signaling. Of these, half-life extenders, which are fused to a therapeutic protein to increase exposure, are the most established group of fusion proteins, with many clinical successes. Rapid advances in antibody and antibody-derivative technology have enabled the fusion of targeting domains with therapeutic proteins. An emerging group of therapeutic fusion proteins has two separate active functions. Although most research for therapeutic fusion proteins focuses on cancer, prior successes provide a foundation for studies into other diseases as well. The exponential emergence of biopharmaceuticals gives precedence for increased research into therapeutic fusion proteins for a multitude of diseases.

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Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of NIH R01GM134069 and NIH R21CA256460.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics, University of Utah, 30 South 2000 East, Room 301, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA

    Morgan C. Marsh & Shawn C. Owen

  2. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA

    Shawn C. Owen

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA

    Shawn C. Owen

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  1. Morgan C. Marsh
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  2. Shawn C. Owen
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MCM and SCO both contributed to the conception, writing, and editing of this article. MCM created Fig. 1 and the graphical abstract using BioRender.com.

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Correspondence to Shawn C. Owen.

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Communicated by Aliasger Salem.

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Marsh, M.C., Owen, S.C. Therapeutic Fusion Proteins. AAPS J 26, 3 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1208/s12248-023-00873-8

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