Immune checkpoint blockade therapies, particularly those targeting Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) and Programmed Cell Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1), stand at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy strategies. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies have received approval for use in various cancer types, such as hematological, cutaneous, pulmonary, hepatic, urinary bladder, and renal cancers1. PD-1 is a transmembrane glycoprotein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily, characterized by a single immunoglobulin variable (IgV)-like domain at the N-terminal, a roughly 20-amino acid stalk separating the IgV domain from the plasma membrane, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic tail containing tyrosine-based signaling motifs2. PD-L1, identified as one of the ligands for PD-1, is a type I transmembrane protein featuring a transmembrane region, two extracellular domains-immunoglobulin constant (IgC) and IgV-and a relatively short cytoplasmic domain that triggers intracellular signaling pathways3. The PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitory pathway serves as a critical immune checkpoint that regulates T cell activation and autoimmunity4. PD-1 is expressed on T cells, where it interacts with PD-L1, inhibits T cell receptor signaling, and blocks the stimulation of CD28 and CD80 molecules on antigen-presenting cells and T cells5. Cancer tissues exploit this physiological mechanism by overexpressing PD-L1 during the escape phase, thus creating an immunosuppressive environment that promotes tumor growth and progression6. Inhibitors of PD-1 and PD-L1 disrupt this interaction, enabling the immune system to evade tumor-induced suppression and reinitiate the T-cell-mediated tumor-cell death process7.
Building on the foundation laid by the prominent role of immune checkpoint blockade therapies, the development of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors has marked a significant advancement in cancer immunotherapy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has endorsed nine immune checkpoint inhibitors that specifically target the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway. These include six PD-1 inhibitors-pembrolizumab, dostarlimab, nivolumab, cemiplimab, oripalimab, and tislelizumab-and three PD-L1 inhibitors-atezolizumab, avelumab, and durvalumab8,9. These therapies have been effectively utilized to treat a variety of cancers, such as melanoma, lung cancer, urothelial cancer, cervical cancer, gastric or gastroesophageal cancer, and other solid tumors10. Despite their efficacy, monoclonal antibody-based therapies face significant limitations, including low response rates, high costs, prolonged half-lives, severe immune-related adverse events, and restrictions to intravenous or subcutaneous delivery11,12,13. Consequently, research is increasingly focused on developing small-molecule inhibitors targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. These small molecules offer distinct advantages, such as improved cellular penetration, modulation of diverse biological targets, enhanced oral bioavailability, and reduced costs, with the goal of achieving comparable therapeutic outcomes with fewer adverse effects14. However, the development of small molecule inhibitors targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction is in its early stages, primarily due to the lack of a reliable high-throughput screening platform. Such platforms are essential for rapidly evaluating vast libraries of small molecules and identifying lead compounds for further validation and optimization. Overcoming this challenge is critical to advancing cancer immunotherapy.
Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology is extensively employed in detecting various biomolecules, including antibody antigens, enzymes, nucleic acids, and drugs, and is particularly effective in small molecule drug screening15,16. Unlike other biophysical techniques, SPR offers label-free detection, real-time kinetic data, and a broad detection range. In contrast, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry lacks real-time kinetic insights and requires larger sample volumes, limiting throughput. Microscale Thermophoresis is prone to buffer interference and cannot provide kinetic data, while Biolayer Interferometry has application-specific limitations based on molecular size and properties. Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence requires labeling and is susceptible to fluorescent interference. We acknowledge that HTRF is another suitable technology to explore PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. One inherent limitation of HTRF, compared to SPR, is fluorescence quenching caused by external interactions with the intramolecular excitation process (e.g., electron transfer, FRET, and bleaching), the sensitivity is too low in the drug screening process because of the small window range, and interference from fluorescent library compounds or biological proteins17. These features position SPR as a superior tool for drug discovery. Our previous studies have demonstrated that SPR is able to determine the blockade effect of small molecules against PD-1/PD-L1, which is advantageous over other techniques that require high labeling technology requirements, multiple steps, poor specificity, and high cost in the drug discovery process18.
This study introduces an optimized SPR-based platform, integrating a dual-step coupling process that utilizes both amine and bio-streptavidin coupling to enhance PD-1 orientation on the chip and minimize protein usage. This updated approach was successfully validated using the PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor BMS-1166 as a positive control binder, demonstrating blockade effects comparable to both our previous SPR method and other established techniques such as ELISA19,20. This not only confirms the reliability and reproducibility of our protocol but also illustrates the effectiveness of our modified platform in facilitating high-throughput screening of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. The incorporation of the bio-streptavidin capturing step provides site-directed rather than random protein orientation, allowing for reduced PD-1 concentration (40 µg/mL vs. 10 µg/mL) and cost savings by enabling the end user to immobilize streptavidin (SA) to a CM5 chip, a less expensive alternative to commercialized pre-immobilized SA chips. This makes it advantageous for large-scale, cost-effective screenings of compound/peptide libraries. Although additional characterization methods, including in silico, in vitro, and in vivo assays, are essential to evaluate the clinical potential of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors against cancer, our enhanced SPR-based screening platform stands out as an efficient tool for large-scale screening of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.