Song C, Xu Z, Miao J, Xu J, Wu X, Zhang F, Lin H, Li Z, Kaminski HJ. Protective effect of scFv-DAF fusion protein on the complement attack to acetylcholine receptor: a possible option for treatment of myasthenia gravis.
Muscle Nerve 2012;
45:668-675. [PMID:
22499093 DOI:
10.1002/mus.23247]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Autoantibody-induced complement activation, which causes disruption of the postsynaptic membrane, is recognized as a key pathogenic factor in myasthenia gravis (MG). Therefore, specific targeting of complement inhibitors to the site of complement activation is a potential therapeutic strategy for treatment of MG.
METHODS
We assessed expression of single-chain antibody fragment-decay accelerating factor (scFv-DAF), comprising a single-chain fragment scFv1956 based on the rat complement inhibitor DAF in prokaryotic systems, and studied its inhibitory effect on complement deposition in vitro.
RESULTS
The recombinant conjugate scFv-DAF completely retained the wild-type binding activity of scFv1956 to AChR and inhibited complement activation of DAF in vitro.
CONCLUSIONS
We found that scFv-DAF could bind specifically to TE671 cells, and it is significantly more potent at inhibiting complement deposition than the untargeted parent molecule DAF. scFv-DAF may be a candidate for in vivo protection of the AChR in MG.
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