Proximity maps uncover TAPAs for guiding cancer co-targeting

Researchers developed an industrialized surface-protein micromapping workflow to map membrane-protein proximities around 12 RTKs across 28 cancer models, built MetaMap to infer relationships among non-targeted proteins, and defined tumor-associated proximity antigens (TAPAs). They validated EGFR-CDCP1 as a proximity-defined co-target pair that enhances tumor cell killing with bispecific ADCs and TCEs, demonstrating that spatial organization, not just expression, can guide multispecific cancer therapeutics.