Human IgA-binding peptides selected from random peptide libraries: affinity maturation and application in IgA purification.

Phage display system is a powerful tool to design specific ligands for target molecules. Here, we used disulfide-constrained random peptide libraries constructed with the T7 phage display system to isolate peptides specific to human IgA. The binding clones (A1-A4) isolated by biopanning exhibited clear specificity to human IgA, but the synthetic peptide derived from the A2 clone exhibited a low specificity/affinity (K(d) = 1.3 µm). Therefore, we tried to improve the peptide using a partial randomized phage display library and mutational studies on the synthetic peptides. The designed Opt-1 peptide exhibited a 39-fold higher affinity (K(d) = 33 nm) than the A2 peptide. An Opt-1 peptide-conjugated column was used to purify IgA from human plasma. However, the recovered IgA fraction was contaminated with other proteins, indicating nonspecific binding. To design a peptide with increased binding specificity, we examined the structural features of Opt-1 and the Opt-1-IgA complex using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations with explicit water. The simulation results revealed that the Opt-1 peptide displayed partial helicity in the N-terminal region and possessed a hydrophobic cluster that played a significant role in tight binding with IgA-Fc. However, these hydrophobic residues of Opt-1 may contribute to nonspecific binding with other proteins. To increase binding specificity, we introduced several mutations in the hydrophobic residues of Opt-1. The resultant Opt-3 peptide exhibited high specificity and high binding affinity for IgA, leading to successful isolation of IgA without contamination.

Direct evidence of generation and accumulation of ß-sheet-rich prion protein in scrapie-infected neuroblastoma cells with human IgG1 antibody specific for ß-form prion protein.

We prepared ß-sheet-rich recombinant full-length prion protein (ß-form PrP) (Jackson, G. S., Hosszu, L. L., Power, A., Hill, A. F., Kenney, J., Saibil, H., Craven, C. J., Waltho, J. P., Clarke, A. R., and Collinge, J. (1999) Science 283, 1935-1937). Using this ß-form PrP and a human single chain Fv-displaying phage library, we have established a human IgG1 antibody specific to ß-form but not α-form PrP, PRB7 IgG. When prion-infected ScN2a cells were cultured with PRB7 IgG, they generated and accumulated PRB7-binding granules in the cytoplasm with time, consequently becoming apoptotic cells bearing very large PRB7-bound aggregates. The SAF32 antibody recognizing the N-terminal octarepeat region of full-length PrP stained distinct granules in these cells as determined by confocal laser microscopy observation. When the accumulation of proteinase K-resistant PrP was examined in prion-infected ScN2a cells cultured in the presence of PRB7 IgG or SAF32, it was strongly inhibited by SAF32 but not at all by PRB7 IgG. Thus, we demonstrated direct evidence of the generation and accumulation of ß-sheet-rich PrP in ScN2a cells de novo. These results suggest first that PRB7-bound PrP is not responsible for the accumulation of ß-form PrP aggregates, which are rather an end product resulting in the triggering of apoptotic cell death, and second that SAF32-bound PrP lacking the PRB7-recognizing ß-form may represent so-called PrP(Sc) with prion propagation activity. PRB7 is the first human antibody specific to ß-form PrP and has become a powerful tool for the characterization of the biochemical nature of prion and its pathology.

A mimotope peptide of Aß42 fibril-specific antibodies with Aß42 fibrillation inhibitory activity induces anti-Aß42 conformer antibody response by a displayed form on an M13 phage in mice.

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyloid-ß (Aß) peptides accumulate in the brain in different forms, including fibrils and oligomers. Recently, we established three distinct conformation-dependent human single-chain Fv (scFv) antibodies, including B6 scFv, which bound to Aß42 fibril but not to soluble-form Aß, inhibiting Aß42 fibril formation. In this study, we determined the mimotopes of these antibodies and found a common mimotope sequence, B6-C15, using the Ph.D.-C7C phage library. The B6-C15 showed weak homology to the C-terminus of Aß42 containing GXXXG dimerization motifs. We synthesized the peptide of B6-C15 fused with biotinylated TAT at the N-terminus (TAT-B6-C15) and characterized its biochemical features on an Aß42-fibrillation reaction in vitro. We demonstrated that, first, TAT-B6-C15 inhibited Aß42 fibril formation; secondly, TAT-B6-C15 bound to prefibril Aß42 oligomers but not to monomers, trimers, tetramers, fibrils, or ultrasonicated fragments; thirdly, TAT-B6-C15 inhibited Aß42-induced cytotoxicity against human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells; and, fourthly, when mice were administered B6-C15-phages dissolved in phosphate-buffered saline, the anti-Aß42 conformer IgG antibody response was induced. These results suggested that the B6-C15 peptide might provide unique opportunities to analyze the Aß42 fibrillation pathway and develop a vaccine vehicle for Alzheimer's disease.

Immunological basis of M13 phage vaccine: Regulation under MyD88 and TLR9 signaling.

Peptide-displaying bacteriophages induce mimotope-specific antibody responses, suggesting a novel application of phage-display library as bacteriophage vaccine. We examined the antibody response against M13 phage in mice induced by an i.p. administration of M13 phage in phosphate-buffered saline. We showed here that firstly, mice showed strong IgG antibody responses, particularly, in IgG2b, IgG2c, and IgG3 subclasses even in primary responses. Secondly, IgG production in primary response is totally dependent on MyD88 signaling. These responses were almost comparable, but slightly weaker, in TLR2-, TLR4- and TLR7-deficient mice relative to wild-type mice, suggesting that this enhancing effect is not due to plausible LPS contamination. Thirdly, although primary IgG1 response was not detected in wild-type mice, remarkable IgG1 response was induced in TLR9-deficient mice, suggesting that TLR9 pathway functions as regulatory, but not a simple augmenting signaling cascade, and furthermore, the enhanced IgG1 response was not due to adjuvant effect of single-stranded DNA derived from M13 phage. Thus, innate immunity including TLR regulation is crucial for M13 phage vaccine design.

Characterization of human single-chain antibodies against highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses: mimotope and neutralizing activity.

The development of new therapeutic targets and strategies to control highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus infection in humans is urgently needed. Neutralizing recombinant human antibodies would provide important agents for immunotherapy on human H5N1 virus infection and definition of the critical mimotope for vaccine development. In this study, we have characterized an anti-H5-specific scFv clone, 3D1 from the human-scFv-displaying phage library. 3D1 blocked the binding of H5-Fc to MDCK cells in flow cytometry and neutralized H5N1 subtype influenza A viruses in a microneutralization assay. Employing a peptide-displaying phage library, Ph.D-12, the mimotope was determined to be at #128-131 and #204-211 of H5, which are silic acid-binding regions. In consistency with this result, 3D1 binds the recombinant sugar-binding domain (#50G-#272E) produced by a baculovirus vector. The 3D1 antibody employs the germline gene VH1-23. As this antibody is the first human anti-H5 scFv clearly defined on the sugar-binding epitope, it allows us to investigate the influence of amino acid substitutions in this region on the determination of the binding specificity to either sialic acid α2,6-galactose (SA α2,6Gal) or sialic acid α2,3-galactose (SA α2,3Gal) providing new insight for the development of effective H5N1 pandemic vaccines.

Contribution of IL-18 to eosinophilic airway inflammation induced by immunization and challenge with Staphylococcus aureus proteins.

We previously reported that intranasal challenge with ovalbumin (OVA) plus IL-18 induces airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and eosinophilic airway inflammation in mice with OVA-specific T(h)1 cells. These two conditions can be prevented by neutralizing anti-IFN-gamma and anti-IL-13 antibodies, respectively. The mice develop AHR and eosinophilic airway inflammation after challenge with OVA plus LPS instead of IL-18 and endogenous IL-18 is known to be involved. In contrast, IL-18 does not facilitate these changes in mice possessing OVA-specific T(h)2 cells. Here, we investigated whether IL-18 is involved in the development of asthma in mice immunized and challenged with bacterial proteins. Upon intranasal exposure to protein A (SpA) derived from Staphylococcus aureus, mice immunized with SpA exhibited AHR and peribronchial eosinophilic inflammation if IFN-gamma or IL-13 were present, respectively. The CD4(+) T cells from draining lymph nodes (DLNs) of the SpA-immunized and -challenged mice produced a robust IFN-gamma and IL-13 in response to immobilized anti-CD3 antibodies. Treatment with neutralizing anti-IL-18 antibodies prevented asthmatic inflammation concomitant with their impaired potential to express IFN-gamma and IL-13. Furthermore, naive mice that received the CD4(+) T cells from DLNs of SpA-immunized mice developed airway inflammation depending upon the presence of IL-18. Immunodeficient mice that received human PBMCs, which had been stimulated with SpA in vitro, developed dense peribronchial accumulation of human CD4(+) T cells upon SpA challenge. Neutralizing anti-human IL-18 antibodies protected against this airway inflammation. These results suggest the importance of IL-18 for the development of asthmatic inflammation associated with airway exposure to bacterial proteins.

Short communication: generation of recombinant monoclonal antibodies against an immunodominant HLA-A*2402-restricted HIV type 1 CTL epitope.

Molecular interaction between the peptide/MHC class I complexes (pMHCs) and T cell receptor (TCR) is fundamental to the effector function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Monoclonal antibody against pMHC with TCR-like specificity is a possible research tool for the antigen presentation. However, it is notoriously difficult to isolate monoclonal antibodies against pMHCs by the conventional hybridoma technique. To isolate monoclonal antibodies against an immunodominant HIV-1-derived CTL epitope in the nef gene, we panned phage clones from a human scFv phage display library. Eight Nef138-10/HLA-A*24(A24)-specific scFv clones were isolated and two of them (scFv#3 and scFv#27) were selected for further analysis. The clones stained A24-positive cells pulsed with Nef138-10 peptides specifically. We reconstituted humanized immunoglobulin Gs (IgGs) using a baculovirus expression system. Reconstituted IgGs kept the original specificities of the parental scFvs. The dissociation constants were 23 microM and 20 microM by Biacore, respectively. This is the first report of a successful generation of monoclonal antibodies against an HIV-1 CTL epitope loaded on an MHC class I molecule.

Effective induction of cell death on adult T-cell leukaemia cells by HLA-DRbeta-specific small antibody fragment isolated from human antibody phage library.

By a biopanning method using cell sorter, we quickly isolated an antibody phage clone (S1T-A3) specific to human T-lymphotropic virus type 1-carrying T-cell line S1T from a human single chain Fv (scFv) antibody phage library. This scFv antibody bound to HTLV-1-carrying T-cell lines including MT-2, MT-4 and M8166 other than S1T, but not to non-HTLV-1-carrying T-cell lymphomas such as Jurkat and MOLT4 cells. Interestingly, this antibody induced the cell death on S1T cells very quickly (< 30 min). We tried to identify the target molecules by western blotting and mass spectrometric analysis, revealing that the target antigen was HLA class II DR. The cell death was induced only in dimmer form of scFv (diabody) and at 15-fold lower concentration than that of a fusion protein of scFv and human IgG Fc [(scFv)(2)-Fc] or anti HLA-DR mouse whole antibody L243. Thus, S1T-A3 diabody is a small antibody fragment with agonistic activity to induce cell death through HLA-DR. This is the first report elucidating that diabody specific to HLA-DR is effective to induce the cell death in T-cell malignancy especially adult T-cell leukaemic cell line.

High-yield production and characterization of biologically active recombinant aprotinin expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Aprotinin is a polypeptide composed of 58 amino acid residues and has a molecular weight of 6512Da. The 58 amino acid residues are arranged in a single polypeptide chain, which is cross-linked by three disulfide bridges and folded to form a pear-shaped molecule. To express recombinant aprotinin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a synthetic gene encoding aprotinin was constructed and fused in frame with the pre-sequence of the S. cerevisiae MATalpha1 gene at the cleavage site of signal peptidase. The expression of aprotinin in S. cerevisiae was carried out using the PRB1 promoter. Aprotinin was secreted as a biologically active protein at a concentration of 426 mg/L into high cell density fermentation medium of 70.9 g/L cell dry weight. The purification process consisted of only three major steps and provided consistent yields of recombinant aprotinin using gel filtration high-pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) with a purity level higher than 99% and was free of non-aprotinin-related impurities. The recombinant aprotinin had the same characteristics as bovine aprotinin in a number of analytical methods, including alpha2-plasmin inhibition assay, amino acid composition, N-terminal amino acid sequence determination, and mass spectrum analysis. With further optimization of the purification process and culture conditions for high-yield production by S. cerevisiae, this source of recombinant aprotinin may be a promising approach for the commercial manufacture of aprotinin for pharmaceutical use instead of bovine aprotinin.

Discovery and characterization of a peptide motif that specifically recognizes a non-native conformation of human IgG induced by acidic pH conditions.

In therapeutic antibody preparation, acidic pH conditions are generally used for elution from Protein A affinity column of IgG or for its viral inactivation. Exposing IgG to low pH conditions induces conformational changes, leading to its functional damage or loss, although the mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In this study using random peptide T7 phage display libraries, we isolated a unique and novel peptide motif that specifically recognized the non-native conformer (acid conformer) of human IgG that was generated by the low pH treatment, but not the native conformer. We examined the generation conditions and biochemical properties of acid conformer using the peptide motif as an affinity ligand. The acid conformer was easily generated at acidic pH (25 degrees C). The peptides isolated here could contribute to the elucidation of the mechanisms of antibody dysfunction or aggregation during acid exposure as well as storage of human IgG.

Regulation of T cell response by blocking the ICOS signal with the B7RP-1-specific small antibody fragment isolated from human antibody phage library.

A costimulatory signal is required for the full activation of T cells, in addition to the antigen-specific signal via the T cell receptor. The inducible costimulator, ICOS is one of the costimulatory molecules that play an essential role in this process, particularly in the expansion or the development of effector T cells. As blocking of the interaction between ICOS and its ligand, B7RP-1, suppresses the T cell response, it can be applied to the treatment of allograft rejection or autoimmune diseases. Here, we isolated four scFv clones that were specific to human B7RP-1 by biopanning a human antibody phage library. We found that three of these clones inhibited the interaction between ICOS-Fc and B7RP-1-Fc. These inhibitory clones not only recognized B7RP-1 molecules expressed on B cells, as assessed by FACS, but also exhibited inhibitory activity in a proliferation assay of T cells stimulated with anti-CD3 mAb and B7RP-1-Fc. Finally, the suppression effect of the scFv on the allogenic immune response was examined using a mixed lymphocyte reaction assay, which demonstrated a successful inhibition of the allogenic reaction, in spite of the high dose needed for complete inhibition (360 nM).

Immunoreactivity of phage library-derived human single-chain antibodies to amyloid beta conformers in vitro.

The pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease involves conformational changes of A beta. A series of antibodies recognizing a distinct conformation of A beta (snapshot antibody) is useful for both understanding the mechanism of molecular conversion and identifying diagnostic and therapeutic reagents. As A beta with various conformations can be prepared in vitro under varying physicochemical conditions, snapshot antibodies can be isolated by directly binding to target molecules with antibody-displaying phages. We tested the feasibility of this idea. We show a feature of several A beta-reactive antibodies isolated from our human single-chain Fv antibody-phage library and particularly report the characteristics of an scFv clone, B6, selected from the fibrillar A beta 1-42-coated biopanning. B6 bound to fibrillar A beta 1-42 as well as globulomer A beta 1-42 but not to soluble A beta 1-42 or A beta 1-40. B6 inhibited A beta 1-42 fibril formation with 600 nM IC50 in spite of being the monovalent scFv form. Epitope analysis suggested that the binding site might be located at the beta2 sheet of the C-terminus of A beta 1-42. Although it is believed that N-terminus-recognizing antibodies tend to show the capability to inhibit A beta 1-42 fibrillation, B6 is the first human inhibitory antibody recognizing the C-terminus of A beta 1-42.

Ig L-chain shuffling for affinity maturation of phage library-derived human anti-human MCP-1 antibody blocking its chemotactic activity.

Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1, CC-chemokine ligand 2; CCL2) is involved in the development of various forms of chronic inflammations. Employing the naive human single-chain Fv displaying phage library, we established seven MCP-1-specific scFvs. The MC8 and MC32 clones exhibited blocking activity for the MCP-1-induced chemotaxis of THP-1 cells, in spite of their monovalency. The analysis of V gene usage showed that all clones bore the identical Vh1 gene, IGHV1-24*01, with variable DJ joining sequences, while their Vl usage was relatively varied, suggesting the preferential contribution of the Vh gene. Based on these findings, to minimize the deteriorative influences on the MCP-1 specificity of MC32, we aimed to achieve the affinity maturation of MC32 using MC32 L-chain shuffling library and select MC32 variants. Most MC32 variants increased their affinity by reducing the k(off) value with no influence of the antigen specificity. MC32 variants #22 or #56 showed approximately 15-fold higher affinity than MC32, indicating that the L-chain shuffling library is useful if the Vh is dominantly involved in the determination of the antigen specificity.

Reversible monomer-oligomer transition in human prion protein.

The structure and the dissociation reaction of oligomers Pr(Poligo) from reduced human prion huPrP(C)(23-231) have been studied by (1)H-NMR and tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy at varying pressure, along with circular dichroism and atomic force microscopy. The 1H-NMR and fluorescence spectral feature of the oligomer is consistent with the notion that the N-terminal residues including all seven Trp residues, are free and mobile, while residues 105 approximately 210, comprising the AGAAAAGA motif and S1-Loop-HelixA-Loop-S2-Loop-HelixC, are engaged in intra- and/ or inter-molecular interactions. By increasing pressure to 200 MPa, the oligomers tend to dissociate into monomers which may be identified with PrP(C*), a rare metastable form of PrP(C) stabilized at high pressure (Kachel et al., BMC Struct Biol 6:16). The results strongly suggest that the oligomeric form PrP(oligo) is in dynamic equilibrium with the monomeric forms via PrP(C*), namely huPrP(C)[left arrow over right arrow]huPrP(C*)[left arrow over right arrow]huPrP(oligo).

Biopanning of antibody-phage clones using immunoplates coated with gel slices of electrophoresis: immunogel-biopanning.

Biopanning of a phage library using a Western blotting membrane is difficult because of high background binding. We propose a reliable biopanning method, namely, immunogel-biopanning, which is performed using immunoplates coated with a molecular species fractionated from a crude sample by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The efficacy of this method was determined in model experiments using a human interleukin-18 (IL-18)-specific single chain Fv (scFv) phage clone.

Interaction of human lactoferrin with cell adhesion molecules through RGD motif elucidated by lactoferrin-binding epitopes.

Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron-binding secretory protein, which is distributed in the secondary granules of polynuclear lymphocytes as well as in the milk produced by female mammals. Although it has multiple functions, for example antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, antiviral, and anti-tumor metastasis activities, the receptors responsible for these activities are not fully understood. In this study, the binding epitopes for human LF were first isolated from a hexameric random peptide library displayed on T7 phage. Interestingly, two of the four isolated peptides had a representative cell adhesion motif, Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD), implying that human LF interacts with proteins with the RGD motif. We found that human LF bound to the RGD-containing human extracellular matrix proteins, fibronectin and vitronectin. Furthermore, human LF inhibited cell adhesion to these matrix proteins in a concentration-dependent manner but not to the RGD-independent cell adhesion molecule like laminin or collagen. These results indicate that a function of human LF is to block the various interactions between the cell surface and adhesion molecules. This may explain the multifunctionality of LF.

Human anti-human IL-18 antibody recognizing the IL-18-binding site 3 with IL-18 signaling blocking activity.

IL-18 is an important regulator in both innate and acquired immune responses. The aberrant expression of IL-18 is associated with severe inflammatory conditions, such as autoimmune diseases and allergies. Thus, human antibodies with inhibitory activity on IL-18 signaling may be useful for therapeutic applications. We report here the first establishment of an antagonistic anti-IL-18 complete human antibody, h18-108, employing a human single chain antibody (scFv)-displaying phage library. The h18-108 scFv inhibited the IFN-gamma production of a human myelomonocytic cell line, KG-1. Flow cytometry analysis showed that h18-108 blocked the binding of IL-18 to KG-1 cells. Epitope mapping analysis using two kinds of random peptide-displaying phage libraries and an IL-18 alanine mutant (D98A) demonstrated that the h18-108 scFv binds to the site 3 of IL-18, which is suggested to be an association site with the IL-18 receptor beta. The complete human Fab and IgG forms of h18-108 have been successfully constructed to attain increases in both binding affinity and inhibitory activity.

Human Fc epsilon RIalpha-specific human single-chain Fv (scFv) antibody with antagonistic activity toward IgE/Fc epsilon RIalpha-binding.

The alpha-chain of Fc epsilon RI (Fc epsilon RIalpha) plays a critical role in the binding of IgE to Fc epsilon RI. A fully human antibody interfering with this interaction may be useful for the prevention of IgE-mediated allergic diseases. Here, we describe the successful isolation of a human single-chain Fv antibody specific to human Fc epsilon RIalpha using human antibody phage display libraries. Using the non-immune phage antibody libraries constructed from peripheral blood lymphocyte cDNA from 20 healthy subjects, we isolated three phage clones (designated as FcR epsilon 27, FcR epsilon 51, and FcR epsilon 70) through two rounds of biopanning selection. The purified soluble scFv, FcR epsilon 51, inhibited the binding of IgE to recombinant Fc epsilon RIalpha, although both FcR epsilon 27 and FcR epsilon 70 showed fine binding specificity to Fc epsilon RIalpha. Since FcR epsilon 51 was determined to be a monomer by HPLC, BIAcore analysis was performed. The dissociation constant of FcR epsilon 51 to Fc epsilon RIalpha was estimated to be 20 nM, i.e., fortyfold lower than that of IgE binding to Fc epsilon RIalpha (K(d) = 0.5 nM). With these characteristics, FcR epsilon 51 exhibited inhibitory activity on the release of histamine from passively sensitized human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Induction of mucosal IgA following intravaginal administration of inactivated HIV-1-capturing nanospheres in mice.

Concanavalin A-immobilized polystyrene nanospheres (Con A-NS) were developed for the HIV-1 vaccine capable of preventing sexual transmission. Con A-NS could capture efficiently HIV-1 irrespective of their cell tropism (R5 or X4). Furthermore, Con A-NS captured equally infectious and heat-inactivated HIV-1. Inactivated HIV-1-capturing Con A-NS (HIV-NS) were intravaginally administered to mice. Heat-inactivated HIV-1 alone and Con A-NS alone were also administered as control immunogens. Vaginal fluids were collected during and after immunization and analyzed for their anti-HIV-1 antibody levels. Although the anti-HIV-1 IgG antibody was undetectable in any groups, increased anti-HIV-1 IgA antibody response was identified in the vaginal fluids of immunized mice with HIV-NS. The vaginal fluids obtained from the HIV-NS-administered mice showed neutralizing activity against the immunizing HIV-1 strain. A marked difference in vaginal distribution was observed between HIV-NS and other immunogens, and the toxicity of Con A was reduced by conjugation with nanospheres. Thus, HIV-NS may have great potential as a prophylactic HIV-1 vaccine and should be examined further for its efficacy in non-human primates.