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Peng X, Lei Y, Feng P, Jia L, Ma J, Zhao D, Zeng J. Characterizing the interaction conformation between T-cell receptors and epitopes with deep learning. NAT MACH INTELL 2023. [DOI: 10.1038/s42256-023-00634-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
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Ng Chau K, George JT, Onuchic JN, Lin X, Levine H. Contact map dependence of a T-cell receptor binding repertoire. Phys Rev E 2022; 106:014406. [PMID: 35974642 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.106.014406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The T-cell arm of the adaptive immune system provides the host protection against unknown pathogens by discriminating between host and foreign material. This discriminatory capability is achieved by the creation of a repertoire of cells each carrying a T-cell receptor (TCR) specific to non-self-antigens displayed as peptides bound to the major histocompatibility complex (pMHC). The understanding of the dynamics of the adaptive immune system at a repertoire level is complex, due to both the nuanced interaction of a TCR-pMHC pair and to the number of different possible TCR-pMHC pairings, making computationally exact solutions currently unfeasible. To gain some insight into this problem, we study an affinity-based model for TCR-pMHC binding in which a crystal structure is used to generate a distance-based contact map that weights the pairwise amino acid interactions. We find that the TCR-pMHC binding energy distribution strongly depends both on the number of contacts and the repeat structure allowed by the topology of the contact map of choice; this in turn influences T-cell recognition probability during negative selection, with higher variances leading to higher survival probabilities. In addition, we quantify the degree to which neoantigens with mutations in sites with higher contacts are recognized at a higher rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Ng Chau
- Physics Department, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Jason T George
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
| | - José N Onuchic
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics and Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
| | - Xingcheng Lin
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Herbert Levine
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics and Departments of Physics and Bioengineering, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
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3
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He X, Zhou S, Quinn B, Jahagirdar D, Ortega J, Long MD, Abrams SI, Lovell JF. An In Vivo Screen to Identify Short Peptide Mimotopes with Enhanced Antitumor Immunogenicity. Cancer Immunol Res 2022; 10:314-326. [PMID: 34992135 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-21-0332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Tumor-associated self-antigens are potential cancer vaccine targets but suffer from limited immunogenicity. There are examples of mutated, short self-peptides inducing epitope-specific CD8⁺ T cells more efficiently than the wild-type epitope, but current approaches cannot yet reliably identify such epitopes, which are referred to as enhanced mimotopes ("e-mimotopes"). Here, we present a generalized strategy to develop e-mimotopes, using the tyrosinase-related protein 2 (Trp2) peptide Trp2180-188, which is a murine major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) epitope, as a test case. Using a vaccine adjuvant that induces peptide particle formation and strong cellular responses with nanogram antigen doses, a two-step method systematically identified e-mimotope candidates with murine immunization. First, position-scanning peptide micro libraries were generated in which each position of the wild-type epitope sequence was randomized. Randomization of only one specific residue of the Trp2 epitope increased antitumor immunogenicity. Second, all 20 amino acids were individually substituted and tested at that position, enabling the identification of two e-mimotopes with single amino-acid mutations. Despite similar MHC-I affinity compared to the wild-type epitope, e-mimotope immunization elicited improved Trp2-specific cytotoxic T-cell phenotypes and improved T-cell receptor affinity for both the e-mimotopes and the native epitope, resulting in better outcomes in multiple prophylactic and therapeutic tumor models. The screening method was also applied to other targets with other murine MHC-I restriction elements, including epitopes within glycoprotein 70 and Wilms' Tumor Gene 1, to identify additional e-mimotopes with enhanced potency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuedan He
- Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
| | - Shiqi Zhou
- Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
| | - Breandan Quinn
- Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
| | | | | | - Mark D Long
- Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | | | - Jonathan F Lovell
- Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
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Zhang M, Wang Y, Li X, Meng G, Chen X, Wang L, Lin Z, Wang L. A Single L/D-Substitution at Q4 of the mInsA 2-10 Epitope Prevents Type 1 Diabetes in Humanized NOD Mice. Front Immunol 2021; 12:713276. [PMID: 34526989 PMCID: PMC8435724 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.713276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Autoreactive CD8+ T cells play an indispensable key role in the destruction of pancreatic islet β-cells and the initiation of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Insulin is an essential β-cell autoantigen in T1D. An HLA-A*0201-restricted epitope of insulin A chain (mInsA2-10) is an immunodominant ligand for autoreactive CD8+ T cells in NOD.β2mnull .HHD mice. Altered peptide ligands (APLs) carrying amino acid substitutions at T cell receptor (TCR) contact positions within an epitope are potential to modulate autoimmune responses via triggering altered TCR signaling. Here, we used a molecular simulation strategy to guide the generation of APL candidates by substitution of L-amino acids with D-amino acids at potential TCR contact residues (positions 4 and 6) of mInsA2-10, named mInsA2-10DQ4 and mInsA2-10DC6, respectively. We found that administration of mInsA2-10DQ4, but not DC6, significantly suppressed the development of T1D in NOD.β2mnull .HHD mice. Mechanistically, treatment with mInsA2-10DQ4 not only notably eliminated mInsA2-10 autoreactive CD8+ T cell responses but also prevented the infiltration of CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells, as well as the inflammatory responses in the pancreas of NOD.β2mnull.HHD mice. This study provides a new strategy for the development of APL vaccines for T1D prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengjun Zhang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, College of Pharmacy, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China.,Institute of Immunology People's Libration Army (PLA) & Department of Immunology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Yuanqiang Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, China
| | - Xiangqian Li
- Institute of Immunology People's Libration Army (PLA) & Department of Immunology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Gang Meng
- Department of Pathology, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Xiaoling Chen
- Institute of Immunology People's Libration Army (PLA) & Department of Immunology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Lina Wang
- Department of Immunology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, China
| | - Zhihua Lin
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, China
| | - Li Wang
- Institute of Immunology People's Libration Army (PLA) & Department of Immunology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
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5
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Abstract
T cells recognize and respond to self antigens in both cancer and autoimmunity. One strategy to influence this response is to incorporate amino acid substitutions into these T cell-specific epitopes. This strategy is being reconsidered now with the goal of increasing time to regression with checkpoint blockade therapies in cancer and antigen-specific immunotherapies in autoimmunity. We discuss how these amino acid substitutions change the interactions with the MHC class I or II molecule and the responding T cell repertoire. Amino acid substitutions in epitopes that are the most effective in therapies bind more strongly to T cell receptor and/or MHC molecules and cross-react with the same repertoire of T cells as the natural antigen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill E Slansky
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 E. 19thAvenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
| | - Maki Nakayama
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 E. 19thAvenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 1775 Aurora Court, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
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Karpenko LI, Bazhan SI, Antonets DV, Belyakov IM. Novel approaches in polyepitope T-cell vaccine development against HIV-1. Expert Rev Vaccines 2013; 13:155-73. [PMID: 24308576 DOI: 10.1586/14760584.2014.861748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
RV144 clinical trial was modestly effective in preventing HIV infection. New alternative approaches are needed to design improved HIV-1 vaccines and their delivery strategies. One of these approaches is construction of synthetic polyepitope HIV-1 immunogen using protective T- and B-cell epitopes that can induce broadly neutralizing antibodies and responses of cytotoxic (CD8(+) CTL) and helpers (CD4(+) Th) T-lymphocytes. This approach seems to be promising for designing of new generation of vaccines against HIV-1, enables in theory to cope with HIV-1 antigenic variability, focuses immune responses on protective determinants and enables to exclude from the vaccine compound that can induce autoantibodies or antibodies enhancing HIV-1 infectivity. Herein, the authors will focus on construction and rational design of polyepitope T-cell HIV-1 immunogens and their delivery, including: advantages and disadvantages of existing T-cell epitope prediction methods; features of organization of polyepitope immunogens, which can generate high-level CD8(+) and CD4(+) T-lymphocyte responses; the strategies to optimize efficient processing, presentation and immunogenicity of polyepitope constructs; original software to design polyepitope immunogens; and delivery vectors as well as mucosal strategies of vaccination. This new knowledge may bring us a one step closer to developing an effective T-cell vaccine against HIV-1, other chronic viral infections and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larisa I Karpenko
- State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Koltsovo, Novosibirsk region, 630559, Russia
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Kalos M. Muscle CARs and TcRs: turbo-charged technologies for the (T cell) masses. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2012; 61:127-35. [PMID: 22131062 PMCID: PMC11028859 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-011-1173-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2011] [Accepted: 11/18/2011] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
A central role for T cells in the control of cancer has been supported by both animal models and clinical observations. Accordingly, the development of potent anti-tumor T cell immunity has been a long-standing objective of immunotherapy. Emerging data from clinical trials that test T cell immune-modulatory agents and genetically engineered and re-targeted T cells have begun to realize the profound potential of T cell immunotherapy to target cancer. This review will focus on a description of recent conceptual and technological advances for the genetic engineering of T cells to enhance anti-tumor T cell immunity through the introduction of tumor-specific receptors, both Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR) and T cell receptors (TcR), as well as an overview of emerging data from ongoing clinical trials that highlight the potential of these approaches to effect dramatic and potent anti-tumor immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kalos
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 422 Curie Boulevard, 409-C Stellar-Chance Laboratories, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283, USA.
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Knapp B, Giczi V, Ribarics R, Schreiner W. PeptX: using genetic algorithms to optimize peptides for MHC binding. BMC Bioinformatics 2011; 12:241. [PMID: 21679477 PMCID: PMC3225262 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2105-12-241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2011] [Accepted: 06/17/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The binding between the major histocompatibility complex and the presented peptide is an indispensable prerequisite for the adaptive immune response. There is a plethora of different in silico techniques for the prediction of the peptide binding affinity to major histocompatibility complexes. Most studies screen a set of peptides for promising candidates to predict possible T cell epitopes. In this study we ask the question vice versa: Which peptides do have highest binding affinities to a given major histocompatibility complex according to certain in silico scoring functions? Results Since a full screening of all possible peptides is not feasible in reasonable runtime, we introduce a heuristic approach. We developed a framework for Genetic Algorithms to optimize peptides for the binding to major histocompatibility complexes. In an extensive benchmark we tested various operator combinations. We found that (1) selection operators have a strong influence on the convergence of the population while recombination operators have minor influence and (2) that five different binding prediction methods lead to five different sets of "optimal" peptides for the same major histocompatibility complex. The consensus peptides were experimentally verified as high affinity binders. Conclusion We provide a generalized framework to calculate sets of high affinity binders based on different previously published scoring functions in reasonable runtime. Furthermore we give insight into the different behaviours of operators and scoring functions of the Genetic Algorithm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard Knapp
- Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Department for Biosimulation and Bioinformatics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
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Cole DK, Edwards ESJ, Wynn KK, Clement M, Miles JJ, Ladell K, Ekeruche J, Gostick E, Adams KJ, Skowera A, Peakman M, Wooldridge L, Price DA, Sewell AK. Modification of MHC anchor residues generates heteroclitic peptides that alter TCR binding and T cell recognition. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2010; 185:2600-10. [PMID: 20639478 PMCID: PMC3024538 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1000629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Improving T cell Ags by altering MHC anchor residues is a common strategy used to enhance peptide vaccines, but there has been little assessment of how such modifications affect TCR binding and T cell recognition. In this study, we use surface plasmon resonance and peptide-MHC tetramer binding at the cell surface to demonstrate that changes in primary peptide anchor residues can substantially and unpredictably alter TCR binding. We also demonstrate that the ability of TCRs to differentiate between natural and anchor-modified heteroclitic peptides distinguishes T cells that exhibit a strong preference for either type of Ag. Furthermore, we show that anchor-modified heteroclitic peptides prime T cells with different TCRs compared with those primed with natural Ag. Thus, vaccination with heteroclitic peptides may elicit T cells that exhibit suboptimal recognition of the intended natural Ag and, consequently, impaired functional attributes in vivo. Heteroclitic peptide-based immune interventions therefore require careful evaluation to ensure efficacy in the clinic.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/metabolism
- Cells, Cultured
- Cytokines/immunology
- Cytokines/metabolism
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/genetics
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/immunology
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/metabolism
- Flow Cytometry
- HLA-A Antigens/genetics
- HLA-A Antigens/immunology
- HLA-A Antigens/metabolism
- HLA-A2 Antigen
- Humans
- Mutation
- Oligopeptides/genetics
- Oligopeptides/immunology
- Oligopeptides/metabolism
- Peptide Library
- Protein Binding/immunology
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/immunology
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/metabolism
- Surface Plasmon Resonance
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes/metabolism
- T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/metabolism
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Affiliation(s)
- David K Cole
- Cardiff University School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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