RESUMO
Immunoconjugates have been widely studied as potential therapeutics for infectious diseases to direct unspecific antimicrobials to pathogens. In this study, the recombinant approach was used for expression of the immunoconjugate composed of the variable domain of a llama heavy-chain antibody (VHH) against Streptococcus mutans and dhvar5, a synthetic antimicrobial peptide. Before cloning, the impact of the elongation of the peptide termini on its biological activity was evaluated by chemical synthesis of the N- or C-termini extended dhvar5 peptides. As the elongation of the C-terminus had a greater influence on decline of the antimicrobial activity, the N-terminal fusion was designed. To promote in vivo release of the active peptide, a factor Xa cleavage site was inserted between VHH and dhvar5. Propagation of transformed Escherichia coli with the constructed plasmid was only possible in the absence of isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG). Although these data demonstrate that the diminished antimicrobial activity of dhvar5 by the N-terminal fusion to VHH was not sufficient for the protection of the bacterial host cells against the peptide lethal effect, an insight into propeptides biological activities may be beneficial not only for new and more successful rearrangement of the VHH-dhvar5 immunoconjugate construct, but also design of the other recombinant molecules composed of peptides toxic to host cells.
Assuntos
Anti-Infecciosos/metabolismo , Anticorpos/imunologia , Camelídeos Americanos/imunologia , Desenho de Fármacos , Cadeias Pesadas de Imunoglobulinas/imunologia , Região Variável de Imunoglobulina/imunologia , Proteínas e Peptídeos Salivares/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Anticorpos/genética , Western Blotting , Eletroforese em Gel de Poliacrilamida , Escherichia coli/genética , Histatinas , Cadeias Pesadas de Imunoglobulinas/genética , Região Variável de Imunoglobulina/genética , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Processamento de Proteína Pós-Traducional , Proteínas Recombinantes/química , Proteínas Recombinantes/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes/imunologia , Proteínas e Peptídeos Salivares/genéticaRESUMO
We explored the possibility to apply single-domain antibodies from Camelidae for immunoaffinity purification of the ice structuring protein (ISP) from Lolium perenne, which modifies ice crystal growth and therefore has potential application in medicine, biotechnology, agriculture and (frozen) foods. Using phage display together with an appropriate selection method, a group of candidate fragments was isolated from a llama-derived immune library. Affinity chromatography using a purposely selected antibody coupled to a matrix yielded a completely pure and functional ISP. Due to the extreme refolding capabilities and physical stability of single-domain antibodies, the affinity matrix could be regenerated more than 2000 times without loss of capacity, while the fragment's monomeric nature permitted an efficient elution of antigen. The results of this study show that highly pure proteins can be recovered from biological material in a single-step process.
