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1.
Front Immunol ; 14: 1266668, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38077343

ABSTRACT

An antibody molecule that can bind to multiple distinct antigens is defined as polyreactive. In the present study, we performed statistical analyses to assess sequence correlates of polyreactivity of >600 antibodies cloned from different B-cell types of healthy humans. The data revealed several sequence patterns of variable regions of heavy and light immunoglobulin chains that determine polyreactivity. The most prominent identified patterns were increased number of basic amino acid residues, reduced frequency of acidic residues, increased number of aromatic and hydrophobic residues, and longer length of CDR L1. Importantly, our study revealed that antibodies isolated from different B-cell populations used distinct sequence patterns (or combinations of them) for polyreactive antigen binding. Furthermore, we combined the data from sequence analyses with molecular modeling of selected polyreactive antibodies and demonstrated that human antibodies can use multiple pathways for achieving antigen-binding promiscuity. These data reconcile some contradictions in the literature regarding the determinants of antibody polyreactivity. Moreover, our study demonstrates that the mechanism of polyreactivity of antibodies evolves during immune response and might be tailored to specific functional properties of different B-cell compartments. Finally, these data can be of use for efforts in the development and engineering of therapeutic antibodies.


Subject(s)
Antibodies , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Humans , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , B-Lymphocytes , Adaptive Immunity
2.
Protein Sci ; 32(12): e4827, 2023 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37916305

ABSTRACT

The ß-hairpin conformation is regarded as an important basic motif to form and regulate protein-protein interactions. Single-domain VH H antibodies are potential therapeutic and diagnostic tools, and the third complementarity-determining regions of the heavy chains (CDR3s) of these antibodies are critical for antigen recognition. Although the sequences and conformations of the CDR3s are diverse, CDR3s sometimes adopt ß-hairpin conformations. However, characteristic features and interaction mechanisms of ß-hairpin CDR3s remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the molecular recognition of the anti-HigB2 VH H antibody Nb8, which has a CDR3 that forms a ß-hairpin conformation. The interaction was analyzed by evaluation of alanine-scanning mutants, molecular dynamics simulations, and hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry. These experiments demonstrated that positions 93 and 94 (Chothia numbering) in framework region 3, which is right outside CDR3 by definition, play pivotal roles in maintaining structural stability and binding properties of Nb8. These findings will facilitate the design and optimization of single-domain antibodies.


Subject(s)
Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Humans , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Amino Acid Sequence , Complementarity Determining Regions/chemistry , Antibodies
3.
Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao ; 39(9): 3681-3694, 2023 Sep 25.
Article in Chinese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37805846

ABSTRACT

Single chain antibody fragment (scFv) is a small molecule composed of a variable region of heavy chain (VH) and a variable region of light chain (VL) of an antibody, and these two chains are connected by a flexible short peptide. scFv is the smallest functional fragment with complete antigen-binding activity, which contains both the antibody-recognizing site and the antigen-binding site. Compared with other antibodies, scFv has the advantages of small molecular weight, strong penetration, low immunogenicity, and easy expression. Currently, the most commonly used display systems for scFv mainly include the phage display system, ribosome display system, mRNA display system, yeast cell surface display system and mammalian cell display system. In recent years, with the development of scFv in the field of medicine, biology, and food safety, they have also attracted much attention in the sectors of biosynthesis and applied research. This review summarizes the advances of scFv display systems in recent years in order to facilitate scFv screening and application.


Subject(s)
Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Single-Chain Antibodies , Animals , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics , Immunoglobulin Fragments/genetics , Immunoglobulin Fragments/metabolism , Single-Chain Antibodies/genetics , Single-Chain Antibodies/chemistry , Single-Chain Antibodies/metabolism , Peptide Library , Mammals/genetics
4.
Protein Eng Des Sel ; 362023 Jan 21.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37864287

ABSTRACT

Computational modeling and design of antibodies has become an integral part of today's research and development in antibody therapeutics. Here we describe the Triad Antibody Homology Modeling (TriadAb) package, a functionality of the Triad protein design platform that predicts the structure of any heavy and light chain sequences of an antibody Fv domain using template-based modeling. To gauge the performance of TriadAb, we benchmarked against the results of the Second Antibody Modeling Assessment (AMA-II). On average, TriadAb produced main-chain carbonyl root-mean-square deviations between models and experimentally determined structures at 1.10 Å, 1.45 Å, 1.41 Å, 3.04 Å, 1.47 Å, 1.27 Å, 1.63 Å in the framework and the six complementarity-determining regions (H1, H2, H3, L1, L2, L3), respectively. The inaugural results are comparable to those reported in AMA-II, corroborating with our internal bench-based experiences that models generated using TriadAb are sufficiently accurate and useful for antibody engineering using the sequence design capabilities provided by Triad.


Subject(s)
Benchmarking , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Protein Conformation , Complementarity Determining Regions/chemistry , Antibodies/genetics , Antibodies/chemistry , Molecular Dynamics Simulation
5.
J Biol Chem ; 299(11): 105278, 2023 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37742917

ABSTRACT

Most immunoglobulin (Ig) domains bear only a single highly conserved canonical intradomain, inter-ß-sheet disulfide linkage formed between Cys23-Cys104, and incorporation of rare noncanonical disulfide linkages at other locations can enhance Ig domain stability. Here, we exhaustively surveyed the sequence tolerance of Ig variable (V) domain framework regions (FRs) to noncanonical disulfide linkages. Starting from a destabilized VH domain lacking a Cys23-Cys104 disulfide linkage, we generated and screened phage-displayed libraries of engineered VHs, bearing all possible pairwise combinations of Cys residues in neighboring ß-strands of the Ig fold FRs. This approach identified seven novel Cys pairs in VH FRs (Cys4-Cys25, Cys4-Cys118, Cys5-Cys120, Cys6-Cys119, Cys22-Cys88, Cys24-Cys86, and Cys45-Cys100; the international ImMunoGeneTics information system numbering), whose presence rescued domain folding and stability. Introduction of a subset of these noncanonical disulfide linkages (three intra-ß-sheet: Cys4-Cys25, Cys22-Cys88, and Cys24-Cys86, and one inter-ß-sheet: Cys6-Cys119) into a diverse panel of VH, VL, and VHH domains enhanced their thermostability and protease resistance without significantly impacting expression, solubility, or binding to cognate antigens. None of the noncanonical disulfide linkages identified were present in the natural human VH repertoire. These data reveal an unexpected permissiveness of Ig V domains to noncanonical disulfide linkages at diverse locations in FRs, absent in the human repertoire, whose presence is compatible with antigen recognition and improves domain stability. Our work represents the most complete assessment to date of the role of engineered noncanonical disulfide bonding within FRs in Ig V domain structure and function.


Subject(s)
Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Humans , Amino Acid Sequence , Cell Surface Display Techniques , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/metabolism , Protein Domains/genetics , Escherichia coli/genetics , Protein Folding
6.
MAbs ; 15(1): 2195517, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37074212

ABSTRACT

Single-chain fragment variable (scFv) domains play an important role in antibody-based therapeutic modalities, such as bispecifics, multispecifics and chimeric antigen receptor T cells or natural killer cells. However, scFv domains exhibit lower stability and increased risk of aggregation due to transient dissociation ("breathing") and inter-molecular reassociation of the two domains (VL and VH). We designed a novel strategy, referred to as stapling, that introduces two disulfide bonds between the scFv linker and the two variable domains to minimize scFv breathing. We named the resulting molecules stapled scFv (spFv). Stapling increased thermal stability (Tm) by an average of 10°C. In multiple scFv/spFv multispecifics, the spFv molecules display significantly improved stability, minimal aggregation and superior product quality. These spFv multispecifics retain binding affinity and functionality. Our stapling design was compatible with all antibody variable regions we evaluated and may be widely applicable to stabilize scFv molecules for designing biotherapeutics with superior biophysical properties.


Subject(s)
Antibodies , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Fragments
7.
Int J Mol Sci ; 24(5)2023 Feb 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36901942

ABSTRACT

Conformational flexibility plays an essential role in antibodies' functional and structural stability. They facilitate and determine the strength of antigen-antibody interactions. Camelidae express an interesting subtype of single-chain antibody, named Heavy Chain only Antibody. They have only one N-terminal Variable domain (VHH) per chain, composed of Frameworks (FRs) and Complementarity Determining regions (CDRs) like their VH and VL counterparts in IgG. Even when expressed independently, VHH domains display excellent solubility and (thermo)stability, which helps them to retain their impressive interaction capabilities. Sequence and structural features of VHH domains contributing to these abilities have already been studied compared to classical antibodies. To have the broadest view and understand the changes in dynamics of these macromolecules, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations for a large number of non-redundant VHH structures have been performed for the first time. This analysis reveals the most prevalent movements in these domains. It reveals the four main classes of VHHs dynamics. Diverse local changes were observed in CDRs with various intensities. Similarly, different types of constraints were observed in CDRs, while FRs close to CDRs were sometimes primarily impacted. This study sheds light on the changes in flexibility in different regions of VHH that may impact their in silico design.


Subject(s)
Camelidae , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Animals , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Complementarity Determining Regions/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Molecular Dynamics Simulation
8.
Methods Mol Biol ; 2627: 301-319, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36959454

ABSTRACT

Adaptive immunity specifically protects us from antigenic challenges. Antibodies are key effector proteins of adaptive immunity, and they are remarkable in their ability to recognize a virtually limitless number of antigens. Fragment variable (FV), the antigen-binding region of antibodies, can be split into two main components, namely, framework and complementarity determining regions. The framework (FR) consists of light-chain framework (FRL) and heavy-chain framework (FRH). Similarly, the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) comprises of light-chain CDRs 1-3 (CDRs L1-3) and heavy-chain CDRs 1-3 (CDRs H1-3). While FRs are relatively constant in sequence and structure across diverse antibodies, sequence variation in CDRs leading to differential conformations of CDR loops accounts for the distinct antigenic specificities of diverse antibodies. The conserved structural features in FRs and conformity of CDRs to a limited set of standard conformations allow for the accurate prediction of FV models using homology modeling techniques. Antibody structure prediction from its amino acid sequence has numerous important applications including prediction of antibody-antigen interaction interfaces and redesign of therapeutically and biotechnologically useful antibodies with improved affinity. This chapter summarizes the current practices employed in the successful homology modeling of antibody variable regions and the potential applications of the generated homology models.


Subject(s)
Complementarity Determining Regions , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Models, Molecular , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Amino Acid Sequence , Antibodies/chemistry , Protein Conformation , Binding Sites, Antibody
9.
J Biomol Struct Dyn ; 41(22): 13287-13301, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36752327

ABSTRACT

Heavy Chain Only Antibodies are specific to Camelid species. Despite the lack of the light chain variable domain, their heavy chain variable domain (VH) domain, named VHH or nanobody, has promising potential applications in research and therapeutic fields. The structural study of VHH is therefore of great interest. Unfortunately, considering the huge amount of sequences that might be produced, only about one thousand of VHH experimental structures are publicly available in the Protein Data Bank, implying that structural model prediction of VHH is a necessary alternative to obtaining 3D information besides its sequence. The present study aims to assess and compare the quality of predictions from different modelling methodologies. Established comparative & homology modelling approaches to recent Deep Learning-based modelling strategies were applied, i.e. Modeller using single or multiple structural templates, ModWeb, SwissModel (with two evaluation schema), RoseTTAfold, AlphaFold 2 and NanoNet. The prediction accuracy was evaluated using RMSD, TM-score, GDT-TS, GDT-HA and Protein Blocks distance metrics. Besides the global structure assessment, we performed specific analyses of Frameworks and CDRs structures. We observed that AlphaFold 2 and especially NanoNet performed better than the other evaluated softwares. Importantly, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of an experimental structure and a NanoNet predicted model of a VHH in order to compare the global structural flexibility and local conformations using Protein Blocks. Despite rather similar structures, substantial differences in dynamical properties were observed, which underlies the complexity of the task of model evaluation.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.


Subject(s)
Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry
10.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 119(28): e2123212119, 2022 07 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35867757

ABSTRACT

Humans lack the capacity to produce the Galα1-3Galß1-4GlcNAc (α-gal) glycan, and produce anti-α-gal antibodies upon exposure to the carbohydrate on a diverse set of immunogens, including commensal gut bacteria, malaria parasites, cetuximab, and tick proteins. Here we use X-ray crystallographic analysis of antibodies from α-gal knockout mice and humans in complex with the glycan to reveal a common binding motif, centered on a germline-encoded tryptophan residue at Kabat position 33 (W33) of the complementarity-determining region of the variable heavy chain (CDRH1). Immunoglobulin sequencing of anti-α-gal B cells in healthy humans and tick-induced mammalian meat anaphylaxis patients revealed preferential use of heavy chain germline IGHV3-7, encoding W33, among an otherwise highly polyclonal antibody response. Antigen binding was critically dependent on the presence of the germline-encoded W33 residue for all of the analyzed antibodies; moreover, introduction of the W33 motif into naive IGHV3-23 antibody phage libraries enabled the rapid selection of α-gal binders. Our results outline structural and genetic factors that shape the human anti-α-galactosyl antibody response, and provide a framework for future therapeutics development.


Subject(s)
Anaphylaxis , Antibodies , Food Hypersensitivity , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains , Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Tick-Borne Diseases , Trisaccharides , Anaphylaxis/immunology , Animals , Antibodies/chemistry , Antibodies/genetics , Antibody Formation/genetics , Antigen-Antibody Complex/chemistry , Crystallography, X-Ray , Food Hypersensitivity/immunology , Humans , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/genetics , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/immunology , Mice , Mice, Knockout , Peptide Library , Protein Conformation , Tick-Borne Diseases/immunology , Trisaccharides/genetics , Trisaccharides/immunology
11.
Sci Rep ; 12(1): 5449, 2022 03 31.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35361822

ABSTRACT

Single chain antibody fragments (scFvs) are favored in diagnostic and therapeutic fields thanks to their small size and the availability of various engineering approaches. Linker between variable heavy (VH) and light (VL) chains of scFv covalently links these domains and it can affect scFv's bio-physical/chemical properties and in vivo activity. Thus, scFv linker design is important for a successful scFv construction, and flexible linkers are preferred for a proper pairing of VH-VL. The flexibility of the linker is determined by length and sequence content and glycine-serine (GS) linkers are commonly preferred for scFvs based on their highly flexible profiles. Despite the advantage of this provided flexibility, GS linkers carry repeated sequences which can cause problems for PCR-based engineering approaches and immunogenicity. Here, two different linkers, a repetitive GS linker and an alternative non-repetitive linker with similar flexibility but lower immunogenicity are employed to generate anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor scFvs derived from bevacizumab. Our findings highlight a better in vitro profile of the non-repetitive linker such as a higher monomer ratio, higher thermal stability while there was no significant difference in in vivo efficacy in a zebrafish embryonic angiogenesis model. This is the first study to compare in vivo efficacy of scFvs with different linkers in a zebrafish model.


Subject(s)
Immunoglobulin Variable Region , Zebrafish , Animals , Antibodies, Monoclonal , Immunoglobulin Fragments/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
12.
Protein Sci ; 31(1): 141-146, 2022 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34655133

ABSTRACT

The antibody repertoires of individuals and groups have been used to explore disease states, understand vaccine responses, and drive therapeutic development. The arrival of B-cell receptor repertoire sequencing has enabled researchers to get a snapshot of these antibody repertoires, and as more data are generated, increasingly in-depth studies are possible. However, most publicly available data only exist as raw FASTQ files, making the data hard to access, process, and compare. The Observed Antibody Space (OAS) database was created in 2018 to offer clean, annotated, and translated repertoire data. In this paper, we describe an update to OAS that has been driven by the increasing volume of data and the appearance of paired (VH/VL) sequence data. OAS is now accessible via a new web server, with standardized search parameters and a new sequence-based search option. The new database provides both nucleotides and amino acids for every sequence, with additional sequence annotations to make the data Minimal Information about Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire compliant, and comments on potential problems with the sequence. OAS now contains 25 new studies, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 data and paired sequencing data. The new database is accessible at http://opig.stats.ox.ac.uk/webapps/oas/, and all data are freely available for download.


Subject(s)
Antibodies/chemistry , Databases, Protein , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Antibodies/immunology , COVID-19/immunology , Humans , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/immunology , Immunoglobulin Light Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Light Chains/immunology , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/immunology , SARS-CoV-2/immunology
13.
Sci Rep ; 11(1): 22365, 2021 11 16.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34785671

ABSTRACT

Antibody function is typically entirely dictated by the Complementarity Determining Regions (CDRs) that directly bind to the antigen, while the framework region acts as a scaffold for the CDRs and maintains overall structure of the variable domain. We recently reported that the rabbit monoclonal antibody 4A11 (rbt4A11) disrupts signaling through both TGFß2 and TGFß3 (Sun et al. in Sci Transl Med, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abe0407 ). Here, we report a dramatic, unexpected discovery during the humanization of rbt4A11 where, two variants of humanized 4A11 (h4A11), v2 and v7 had identical CDRs, maintained high affinity binding to TGFß2/3, yet exhibited distinct differences in activity. While h4A11.v7 completely inhibited TGFß2/3 signaling like rbt4A11, h4A11.v2 did not. We solved crystal structures of TGFß2 complexed with Fab fragments of h4A11.v2 or h4A11.v7 and identified a novel interaction between the two heavy chain molecules in the 2:2 TGFb2:h4A11.v2-Fab complex. Further characterization revealed that framework residue variations at either position 19, 79 or 81 (Kabat numbering) of the heavy chain strikingly converts h4A11.v2 into an inhibitory antibody. Our work suggests that in addition to CDRs, framework residues and interactions between Fabs in an antibody could be engineered to further modulate activity of antibodies.


Subject(s)
Amino Acid Substitution , Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Transforming Growth Factor beta2/chemistry , Transforming Growth Factor beta3/chemistry , Animals , Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/genetics , Crystallography, X-Ray , Humans , Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments/genetics , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics , Protein Structure, Quaternary , Rabbits , Transforming Growth Factor beta2/genetics , Transforming Growth Factor beta3/genetics
14.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 118(39)2021 09 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34548394

ABSTRACT

Microorganisms have coevolved diverse mechanisms to impair host defenses. A major one, superantigens, can result in devastating effects on the immune system. While all known superantigens induce vast immune cell proliferation and come from opportunistic pathogens, recently, proteins with similar broad specificity to antibody variable (V) domain families were identified in a commensal microbiota. These proteins, identified in the human commensal Ruminococcus gnavus, are called immunoglobulin-binding protein (Ibp) A and B and have been shown to activate B cells in vitro expressing either human VH3 or murine VH5/6/7. Here, we provide molecular and functional studies revealing the basis of this Ibp/immunoglobulin (Ig) interaction. The crystal structure and biochemical assays of a truncated IbpA construct in complex with mouse VH5 antigen-binding fragment (Fab) shows a binding of Ig heavy chain framework residues to the Ibp Domain D and the C-terminal heavy chain binding domain (HCBD). We used targeted mutagenesis of contact residues and affinity measurements and performed studies of the Fab-IbpA complex to determine the stoichiometry between Ibp and VH domains, suggesting Ibp may serve to cluster full-length IgA antibodies in vivo. Furthermore, in vitro stimulation experiments indicate that binding of the Ibp HCBD alone is sufficient to activate responsive murine B cell receptors. The presence of these proteins in a commensal microbe suggest that binding a broad repertoire of immunoglobulins, particularly in the gut/microbiome environment, may provide an important function in the maintenance of host/microbiome homeostasis contrasting with the pathogenic role of structurally homologous superantigens expressed by pathogens.


Subject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal/metabolism , B-Lymphocytes/metabolism , Clostridiales/metabolism , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/metabolism , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/metabolism , Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell/metabolism , Superantigens/metabolism , Animals , Antibodies, Monoclonal/chemistry , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , Binding Sites , Clostridiales/growth & development , Humans , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell/chemistry , Superantigens/chemistry
15.
Int J Mol Sci ; 22(18)2021 Sep 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34575931

ABSTRACT

In the particular case of the Camelidae family, immunoglobulin proteins have evolved into a unique and more simplified architecture with only heavy chains. The variable domains of these chains, named VHHs, have a number of Complementary Determining Regions (CDRs) reduced by half, and can function as single domains making them good candidates for molecular tools. 3D structure prediction of these domains is a beneficial and advantageous step to advance their developability as molecular tools. Nonetheless, the conformations of CDRs loops in these domains remain difficult to predict due to their higher conformational diversity. In addition to CDRs loop diversity, our earlier study has established that Framework Regions (FRs) are also not entirely conformationally conserved which establishes a need for more rigorous analyses of these regions that could assist in template selection. In the current study, VHHs models using different template selection strategies for comparative modeling using Modeller have been extensively assessed. This study analyses the conformational changes in both CDRs and FRs using an original strategy of conformational discretization based on a structural alphabet. Conformational sampling in selected cases is precisely reported. Some interesting outcomes of the structural analyses of models also draw attention towards the distinct difficulty in 3D structure prediction of VHH domains.


Subject(s)
Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Models, Molecular , Protein Conformation , Amino Acid Sequence , Complementarity Determining Regions/chemistry , Humans , Protein Binding , Structure-Activity Relationship
16.
Front Immunol ; 12: 675655, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34447370

ABSTRACT

Antibodies have emerged as one of the fastest growing classes of biotherapeutic proteins. To improve the rational design of antibodies, we investigate the conformational diversity of 16 different germline combinations, which are composed of 4 different kappa light chains paired with 4 different heavy chains. In this study, we systematically show that different heavy and light chain pairings strongly influence the paratope, interdomain interaction patterns and the relative VH-VL interface orientations. We observe changes in conformational diversity and substantial population shifts of the complementarity determining region (CDR) loops, resulting in distinct dominant solution structures and differently favored canonical structures. Additionally, we identify conformational changes in the structural diversity of the CDR-H3 loop upon different heavy and light chain pairings, as well as upon changes in sequence and structure of the neighboring CDR loops, despite having an identical CDR-H3 loop amino acid sequence. These results can also be transferred to all CDR loops and to the relative VH-VL orientation, as certain paratope states favor distinct interface angle distributions. Furthermore, we directly compare the timescales of sidechain rearrangements with the well-described transition kinetics of conformational changes in the backbone of the CDR loops. We show that sidechain flexibilities are strongly affected by distinct heavy and light chain pairings and decipher germline-specific structural features co-determining stability. These findings reveal that all CDR loops are strongly correlated and that distinct heavy and light chain pairings can result in different paratope states in solution, defined by a characteristic combination of CDR loop conformations and VH-VL interface orientations. Thus, these results have broad implications in the field of antibody engineering, as they clearly show the importance of considering paired heavy and light chains to understand the antibody binding site, which is one of the key aspects in the design of therapeutics.


Subject(s)
Binding Sites, Antibody , Germ Cells/immunology , Molecular Dynamics Simulation , Complementarity Determining Regions/chemistry , Humans , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Light Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Protein Conformation
17.
Front Immunol ; 12: 676048, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34305906

ABSTRACT

The binding of nickel by immune proteins can manifest as Type IV contact dermatitis (Ni-specific T cells mediated) and less frequently as Type I hypersensitivity with both mechanisms remaining unknown to date. Since there are reports of patients co-manifesting the two hypersensitivities, a common mechanism may underlie both the TCR and IgE nickel binding. Focusing on Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab IgE variants as serendipitous investigation models, we found Ni-NTA interactions independent of Her2 binding to be due to glutamine stretches. These stretches are both Ni-inducible and in fixed pockets at the antibody complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) and framework regions (FWRs) of both the antibody heavy and light chains with influence from the heavy chain constant region. Comparisons with TCRs structures revealed similar interactions, demonstrating the possible underlying mechanism in selecting for Ni-binding IgEs and TCRs respectively. With the elucidation of the interaction, future therapeutic antibodies could also be sagaciously engineered to utilize such nickel binding for biotechnological purposes.


Subject(s)
Hypersensitivity/etiology , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Nickel/immunology , Superantigens/immunology , Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/chemistry , Complementarity Determining Regions , HEK293 Cells , Humans , Immunoglobulin E/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Nickel/chemistry , Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/immunology , Trastuzumab/chemistry
18.
Front Immunol ; 12: 671944, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34040612

ABSTRACT

Activation-induced deaminase (AID) is a key enzyme involved in antibody diversification by initiating somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class-switch recombination (CSR) of the Immunoglobulin (Ig) loci. AID preferentially targets WRC (W=A/T, R=A/G) hotspot motifs and avoids SYC (S=C/G, Y=C/T) coldspots. G-quadruplex (G4) structures are four-stranded DNA secondary structures with key functions in transcription, translation and replication. In vitro studies have shown G4s to form and bind AID in Ig switch (S) regions. Alterations in the gene encoding AID can further disrupt AID-G4 binding and reduce CSR in vivo. However, it is still unclear whether G4s form in the variable (V) region, or how they may affect SHM. To assess the possibility of G4 formation in human V regions, we analyzed germline human Ig heavy chain V (IGHV) sequences, using a pre-trained deep learning model that predicts G4 potential. This revealed that many genes from the IGHV3 and IGHV4 families are predicted to have high G4 potential in the top and bottom strand, respectively. Different IGHV alleles also showed variability in G4 potential. Using a high-resolution (G4-seq) dataset of biochemically confirmed potential G4s in IGHV genes, we validated our computational predictions. G4-seq also revealed variation between S and V regions in the distribution of potential G4s, with the V region having overall reduced G4 abundance compared to the S region. The density of AGCT motifs, where two AGC hotspots overlap on both strands, was roughly 2.6-fold greater in the V region than the Constant (C) region, which does not mutate despite having predicted G4s at similar levels. However, AGCT motifs in both V and C regions were less abundant than in S regions. In silico mutagenesis experiments showed that G4 potentials were generally robust to mutation, although large deviations from germline states were found, mostly in framework regions. G4 potential is also associated with higher mutability of certain WRC hotspots on the same strand. In addition, CCC coldspots opposite a predicted G4 were shown to be targeted significantly more for mutation. Our overall assessment reveals plausible evidence of functional G4s forming in the Ig V region.


Subject(s)
G-Quadruplexes , Genes, Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain/physiology , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Deep Learning , Humans , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/genetics , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics , Somatic Hypermutation, Immunoglobulin/physiology
19.
Anal Biochem ; 625: 114222, 2021 07 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33932355

ABSTRACT

The anti-idiotypic antibody is widely used in the field of immunology to simulate structural features or even induce the biological activity of antigens. In this study, we obtained seven anti-idiotypic single-chain variable fragments (scFv) antibodies of Cry2Aa toxin from a phage-displayed mutant library constructed using error-prone PCR technique. A mutant designated 2-12B showed the best binding ability amongst all anti-idiotypic scFv isolates to Plutella xylostella brush border membrane vesicles (BBMVs). 2-12B and Cry2Aa toxin shared a potential receptor of polycalin in P. xylostella BBMVs. Homology modeling and molecular docking demonstrated that 2-12B and Cry2Aa toxin have seven common binding amino acid residues in polycalin. Insect bioassay results suggested that 2-12 had insecticidal efficacy against P. xylostella larvae. These results indicated that the Cry2Aa anti-idiotypic scFv antibody 2-12B partially mimicked the structure and function of Cry2Aa toxin. The anti-idiotypic scFv antibody provides the basic material for the future study of surrogate molecules or new insecticidal materials.


Subject(s)
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/chemistry , Antibodies, Monoclonal/chemistry , Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins/chemistry , Endotoxins/chemistry , Hemolysin Proteins/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Single-Chain Antibodies/chemistry , Animals , Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/genetics , Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/immunology , Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/metabolism , Antibodies, Monoclonal/genetics , Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology , Antibodies, Monoclonal/metabolism , Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins/immunology , Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins/metabolism , Cell Membrane/metabolism , Endotoxins/immunology , Endotoxins/metabolism , Hemolysin Proteins/immunology , Hemolysin Proteins/metabolism , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/immunology , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/metabolism , Molecular Docking Simulation , Moths , Mutation , Peptide Library , Protein Conformation , Single-Chain Antibodies/genetics , Single-Chain Antibodies/immunology , Single-Chain Antibodies/metabolism
20.
Cell ; 184(12): 3205-3221.e24, 2021 06 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34015271

ABSTRACT

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are a focus in vaccine and therapeutic design to counteract severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants. Here, we combined B cell sorting with single-cell VDJ and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and mAb structures to characterize B cell responses against SARS-CoV-2. We show that the SARS-CoV-2-specific B cell repertoire consists of transcriptionally distinct B cell populations with cells producing potently neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) localized in two clusters that resemble memory and activated B cells. Cryo-electron microscopy structures of selected nAbs from these two clusters complexed with SARS-CoV-2 spike trimers show recognition of various receptor-binding domain (RBD) epitopes. One of these mAbs, BG10-19, locks the spike trimer in a closed conformation to potently neutralize SARS-CoV-2, the recently arising mutants B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, and SARS-CoV and cross-reacts with heterologous RBDs. Together, our results characterize transcriptional differences among SARS-CoV-2-specific B cells and uncover cross-neutralizing Ab targets that will inform immunogen and therapeutic design against coronaviruses.


Subject(s)
Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology , B-Lymphocytes/metabolism , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/immunology , Antibodies, Monoclonal/chemistry , Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology , Antibodies, Neutralizing/blood , Antibodies, Neutralizing/chemistry , Antibodies, Viral/blood , Antibodies, Viral/chemistry , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , Antigen-Antibody Complex/chemistry , Antigen-Antibody Complex/metabolism , Antigen-Antibody Reactions , B-Lymphocytes/cytology , B-Lymphocytes/virology , COVID-19/pathology , COVID-19/virology , Cryoelectron Microscopy , Crystallography, X-Ray , Gene Expression Profiling , Humans , Immunoglobulin A/immunology , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/chemistry , Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics , Protein Domains/immunology , Protein Multimerization , Protein Structure, Quaternary , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , SARS-CoV-2/metabolism , Sequence Analysis, RNA , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/chemistry , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism
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