Retargeting interleukin 13 for radioimmunodetection and radioimmunotherapy of human high-grade gliomas

A vast majority of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a high-grade glioma, overexpress abundant amounts of a receptor for interleukin (IL)-13 in situ. This receptor is more restrictive because it is IL-it-independent and therefore differs from the IL-13/4 signaling receptor of normal tissue that is shared with IL-4. We previously identified one of the sites on the human IL (hIL)-13 molecule that is important for its interaction with the IL-13/4 receptor, a residue of glutamic acid at position 13. In this study, we mutated the cytokine and produced hIL-13.E13Y, in which the glutamic acid was substituted by tyrosine. This additional tyrosine residue was therefore strategically located within the region of IL-13 interaction with the signaling physiological receptor. hIL-13.E13Y did not transduce signals through the IL-13/4 receptor, whereas its interaction with the more restrictive, GBM-associated receptor remained intact. The mutated hIL-13 could be readily radiolabeled. Radiolabeled hIL-13.E13Y produced specific autoradiographic images of human GBM specimens. We demonstrate an effective way to redirect hIL-13 to its more restrictive receptor found in high-grade gliomas by mutagenizing the cytokine, and, concomitantly, we equipped hIL-13 with an additional tyrosine residue for higher specific activity radiolabeling.