- Cao, Fei;
- Tang, Caroline;
- Chen, Xiaoyong;
- Tu, Zewei;
- Jin, Ying;
- Turk, Olivia;
- Nishimura, Robert;
- Ebens, Allen;
- Dubljevic, Valentina;
- Campbell, James;
- Zhou, Jiangbing;
- Hansen, James
Some antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) bind extracellular nucleic acids released into tumor environments and are pulled into the nuclei of live cancer cells through nucleoside salvage pathways, independent of tumor-specific surface antigens. Here we show that ANA nuclear penetration induces nuclear flux by the lysosomal protease cathepsin B and leverage this mechanism to design an antinuclear antibody-drug conjugate (ANADC) with cathepsin B-labile drug linker. The ANADC targets nucleic acid exhaust from necrotic tumors and crosses membrane barriers through nucleoside salvage as a DNA-seeking and tumor agnostic antinuclear missile cancer therapy.