Identification of human neutralizing antibodies against MERS-CoV and their role in virus adaptive evolution.

The newly emerging Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-like disease with ∼43% mortality. Given the recent detection of virus in dromedary camels, zoonotic transfer of MERS-CoV to humans is suspected. In addition, little is known about the role of human neutralizing Ab (nAb) pressure as a driving force in MERS-CoV adaptive evolution. Here, we used a well-characterized nonimmune human Ab-phage library and a panning strategy with proteoliposomes and cells to identify seven human nAbs against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the MERS-CoV Spike protein. These nAbs bind to three different epitopes in the RBD and human dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (hDPP4) interface with subnanomolar/nanomolar binding affinities and block the binding of MERS-CoV Spike protein with its hDPP4 receptor. Escape mutant assays identified five amino acid residues that are critical for neutralization escape. Despite the close proximity of the three epitopes on the RBD interface, escape from one epitope did not have a major impact on neutralization with Abs directed to a different epitope. Importantly, the majority of escape mutations had negative impacts on hDPP4 receptor binding and viral fitness. To our knowledge, these results provide the first report on human nAbs against MERS-CoV that may contribute to MERS-CoV clearance and evolution. Moreover, in the absence of a licensed vaccine or antiviral for MERS, this panel of nAbs offers the possibility of developing human mAb-based immunotherapy, especially for health-care workers.

Unique biological properties of catalytic domain directed human anti-CAIX antibodies discovered through phage-display technology.

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX, gene G250/MN-encoded transmembrane protein) is highly expressed in various human epithelial tumors such as renal clear cell carcinoma (RCC), but absent from the corresponding normal tissues. Besides the CA signal transduction activity, CAIX may serve as a biomarker in early stages of oncogenesis and also as a reliable marker of hypoxia, which is associated with tumor resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Although results from preclinical and clinical studies have shown CAIX as a promising target for detection and therapy for RCC, only a limited number of murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and one humanized mAb are available for clinical testing and development. In this study, paramagnetic proteoliposomes of CAIX (CAIX-PMPLs) were constructed and used for anti-CAIX antibody selection from our 27 billion human single-chain antibody (scFv) phage display libraries. A panel of thirteen human scFvs that specifically recognize CAIX expressed on cell surface was identified, epitope mapped primarily to the CA domain, and affinity-binding constants (KD) determined. These human anti-CAIX mAbs are diverse in their functions including induction of surface CAIX internalization into endosomes and inhibition of the carbonic anhydrase activity, the latter being a unique feature that has not been previously reported for anti-CAIX antibodies. These human anti-CAIX antibodies are important reagents for development of new immunotherapies and diagnostic tools for RCC treatment as well as extending our knowledge on the basic structure-function relationships of the CAIX molecule.

Potent neutralization of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus by a human mAb to S1 protein that blocks receptor association.

Effective prophylaxis and antiviral therapies are urgently needed in the event of reemergence of the highly contagious and often fatal severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection. We have identified eight recombinant human single-chain variable region fragments (scFvs) against the S1 domain of spike (S) protein of the SARS-CoV from two nonimmune human antibody libraries. One scFv 80R efficiently neutralized SARS-CoV and inhibited syncytia formation between cells expressing the S protein and those expressing the SARS-CoV receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Mapping of the 80R epitope showed it is located within the N-terminal 261-672 amino acids of S protein and is not glycosylation-dependent. 80R scFv competed with soluble ACE2 for association with the S1 domain and bound S1 with high affinity (equilibrium dissociation constant, Kd=32.3 nM). A human IgG1 form of 80R bound S1 with a 20-fold higher affinity of 1.59 nM comparable to that of ACE2 (Kd=1.70 nM), and neutralized virus 20-fold more efficiently than the 80R scFv. These data suggest that the 80R human monoclonal antibody may be a useful viral entry inhibitor for the emergency prophylaxis and treatment of SARS, and that the ACE2-binding site of S1 could be an attractive target for subunit vaccine and drug development.

Inhibition of Tat-mediated transactivation and HIV-1 replication by human anti-hCyclinT1 intrabodies.

Human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) replication requires the interaction of Tat protein with the human cyclinT1 (hCyclinT1) subunit of the positive transcription elongation factor (P-TEFb) complex, which then cooperatively binds to transactivation response element (TAR) RNA to transactivate HIV transcription. In this report, a non-immune human single-chain antibody (sFv) phage display library was used to isolate anti-hCyclinT1 sFvs that could disrupt hCyclinT1-Tat interactions. The N-terminal 272 residues of hCyclinT1, including the entire cyclin domains and the Tat.TAR recognition motif (TRM), that fully support Tat transactivation was used for panning, and of the five unique anti-hCyclinT1 sFvs that were obtained, three bound to the cyclin box domains and two bound to TRM. All sFvs could be expressed as intrabodies at high levels in transiently transfected 293T and in stable Jurkat and SupT1 transfectants and could specifically co-immunoprecipitate co-expressed hCyclinT1 in 293T cells with varying efficacy without disrupting hCyclinT1-Cdk9 interactions. In addition, two sFv clones (3R6-1 and 2R6-21) that mapped to the cyclin box domains markedly inhibited Tat-mediated transactivation in several transiently transfected cell lines without inhibiting basal transcription or inducing apoptosis. When HIV-1 challenge studies were performed on stable 3R6-1-expressing Jurkat T cells, near complete inhibition of viral replication was obtained at a low challenge dose, and 74-88% inhibition to HIV-1 replication was achieved at a high infection dose in SupT1 cells. These results provide proof-in-principle that anti-hCyclinT1 intrabodies can be designed to block HIV-1 replication without causing cellular toxicity, and as a result, they may be useful agents for "intracellular immunization"-based gene therapy strategies for HIV-1 infection/AIDS.