{"entity":{"id":"linker","kind":"term","name":"Linker (ADC)","aka":[],"tldr":"The linker is the chemical tether between antibody and payload. It must hold in the blood and let go inside the tumour.","summary":"Cleavable linkers (protease-sensitive peptides like Val-Cit or GGFG, acid-labile hydrazones, glutathione-sensitive disulfides) release free payload; non-cleavable linkers (SMCC in T-DM1) release payload still attached to an amino acid, which cannot cross membranes. Linker hydrophilicity permits high DAR without aggregation.","asOf":"2026-09-04","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody-drug_conjugate","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody-drug_conjugate"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["adc","site-specific-conjugation"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"ADC chemistry"},"route":"/terms/linker/","neighbours":{"technology":[{"id":"adc","kind":"technology","name":"Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)","route":"/technologies/adc/"},{"id":"site-specific-conjugation","kind":"technology","name":"Site-specific conjugation & linker chemistry","route":"/technologies/site-specific-conjugation/"}],"drug":[{"id":"inotuzumab-ozogamicin","kind":"drug","name":"Inotuzumab ozogamicin","route":"/drugs/inotuzumab-ozogamicin/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-reg-adc-platform-designation","kind":"idea","name":"Platform designation for ADC linker-payloads so manufacturing data carry across","route":"/ideas/idea-reg-adc-platform-designation/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-ascent-nejm-2021","kind":"paper","name":"ASCENT: sacituzumab govitecan doubles survival in heavily pretreated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-ascent-nejm-2021/"}],"term":[{"id":"hydrazone","kind":"term","name":"Acid-labile hydrazone (AcBut)","route":"/terms/hydrazone/"},{"id":"cl2a","kind":"term","name":"CL2A","route":"/terms/cl2a/"},{"id":"hydrophilic-next-gen","kind":"term","name":"Hydrophilic next-generation linkers (TMALIN, Dolaflexin, sulfonyl-pyrimidine, PEG-containing)","route":"/terms/hydrophilic-next-gen/"},{"id":"mc-non-cleavable","kind":"term","name":"Maleimidocaproyl (mc), non-cleavable","route":"/terms/mc-non-cleavable/"},{"id":"mc-vc-pabc","kind":"term","name":"mc-Val-Cit-PABC","route":"/terms/mc-vc-pabc/"},{"id":"prodrug","kind":"term","name":"Prodrug","route":"/terms/prodrug/"},{"id":"smcc","kind":"term","name":"SMCC (thioether, non-cleavable)","route":"/terms/smcc/"},{"id":"sulfo-spdb","kind":"term","name":"Sulfo-SPDB (disulfide)","route":"/terms/sulfo-spdb/"},{"id":"ggfg","kind":"term","name":"Tetrapeptide GGFG (maleimide-GGFG-aminomethyl)","route":"/terms/ggfg/"},{"id":"val-ala","kind":"term","name":"Val-Ala dipeptide","route":"/terms/val-ala/"}]}}