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Zupancic JM, Smith MD, Trzeciakiewicz H, Skinner ME, Ferris SP, Makowski EK, Lucas MJ, McArthur N, Kane RS, Paulson HL, Tessier PM. Quantitative flow cytometric selection of tau conformational nanobodies specific for pathological aggregates. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1164080. [PMID: 37622125 PMCID: PMC10445546 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1164080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Single-domain antibodies, also known as nanobodies, are broadly important for studying the structure and conformational states of several classes of proteins, including membrane proteins, enzymes, and amyloidogenic proteins. Conformational nanobodies specific for aggregated conformations of amyloidogenic proteins are particularly needed to better target and study aggregates associated with a growing class of associated diseases, especially neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. However, there are few reported nanobodies with both conformational and sequence specificity for amyloid aggregates, especially for large and complex proteins such as the tau protein associated with Alzheimer's disease, due to difficulties in selecting nanobodies that bind to complex aggregated proteins. Here, we report the selection of conformational nanobodies that selectively recognize aggregated (fibrillar) tau relative to soluble (monomeric) tau. Notably, we demonstrate that these nanobodies can be directly isolated from immune libraries using quantitative flow cytometric sorting of yeast-displayed libraries against tau aggregates conjugated to quantum dots, and this process eliminates the need for secondary nanobody screening. The isolated nanobodies demonstrate conformational specificity for tau aggregates in brain samples from both a transgenic mouse model and human tauopathies. We expect that our facile approach will be broadly useful for isolating conformational nanobodies against diverse amyloid aggregates and other complex antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M. Zupancic
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Matthew D. Smith
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Hanna Trzeciakiewicz
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, United States
| | - Mary E. Skinner
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Sean P. Ferris
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Emily K. Makowski
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Michael J. Lucas
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Nikki McArthur
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Ravi S. Kane
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Henry L. Paulson
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Protein Folding Disease Initiative, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Peter M. Tessier
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Protein Folding Disease Initiative, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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Cross FR, Fridy PC, Ketaren NE, Mast FD, Li S, Olivier JP, Pecani K, Chait BT, Aitchison JD, Rout MP. Expanding and improving nanobody repertoires using a yeast display method: Targeting SARS-CoV-2. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:102954. [PMID: 36720309 PMCID: PMC9884143 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.102954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
COVID-19, caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, represents a serious worldwide health issue, with continually emerging new variants challenging current therapeutics. One promising alternate therapeutic avenue is represented by nanobodies, small single-chain antibodies derived from camelids with numerous advantageous properties and the potential to neutralize the virus. For identification and characterization of a broad spectrum of anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike nanobodies, we further optimized a yeast display method, leveraging a previously published mass spectrometry-based method, using B-cell complementary DNA from the same immunized animals as a source of VHH sequences. Yeast display captured many of the sequences identified by the previous approach, as well as many additional sequences that proved to encode a large new repertoire of nanobodies with high affinities and neutralization activities against different SARS-CoV-2 variants. We evaluated DNA shuffling applied to the three complementarity-determining regions of antiviral nanobodies. The results suggested a surprising degree of modularity to complementarity-determining region function. Importantly, the yeast display approach applied to nanobody libraries from immunized animals allows parallel interrogation of a vast number of nanobodies. For example, we employed a modified yeast display to carry out massively parallel epitope binning. The current yeast display approach proved comparable in efficiency and specificity to the mass spectrometry-based approach, while requiring none of the infrastructure and expertise required for that approach, making these highly complementary approaches that together appear to comprehensively explore the paratope space. The larger repertoires produced maximize the likelihood of discovering broadly specific reagents and those that powerfully synergize in mixtures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick R Cross
- Laboratory of Cell Cycle Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.
| | - Peter C Fridy
- Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Natalia E Ketaren
- Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Fred D Mast
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, USA
| | - Song Li
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, USA
| | - J Paul Olivier
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, USA
| | - Kresti Pecani
- Laboratory of Cell Cycle Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Brian T Chait
- Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry and Gaseous Ion Chemistry, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
| | - John D Aitchison
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, USA
| | - Michael P Rout
- Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.
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Strohl WR, Ku Z, An Z, Carroll SF, Keyt BA, Strohl LM. Passive Immunotherapy Against SARS-CoV-2: From Plasma-Based Therapy to Single Potent Antibodies in the Race to Stay Ahead of the Variants. BioDrugs 2022; 36:231-323. [PMID: 35476216 PMCID: PMC9043892 DOI: 10.1007/s40259-022-00529-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is now approaching 2 years old, with more than 440 million people infected and nearly six million dead worldwide, making it the most significant pandemic since the 1918 influenza pandemic. The severity and significance of SARS-CoV-2 was recognized immediately upon discovery, leading to innumerable companies and institutes designing and generating vaccines and therapeutic antibodies literally as soon as recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein sequence was available. Within months of the pandemic start, several antibodies had been generated, tested, and moved into clinical trials, including Eli Lilly's bamlanivimab and etesevimab, Regeneron's mixture of imdevimab and casirivimab, Vir's sotrovimab, Celltrion's regdanvimab, and Lilly's bebtelovimab. These antibodies all have now received at least Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) and some have received full approval in select countries. To date, more than three dozen antibodies or antibody combinations have been forwarded into clinical trials. These antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 all target the receptor-binding domain (RBD), with some blocking the ability of the RBD to bind human ACE2, while others bind core regions of the RBD to modulate spike stability or ability to fuse to host cell membranes. While these antibodies were being discovered and developed, new variants of SARS-CoV-2 have cropped up in real time, altering the antibody landscape on a moving basis. Over the past year, the search has widened to find antibodies capable of neutralizing the wide array of variants that have arisen, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron. The recent rise and dominance of the Omicron family of variants, including the rather disparate BA.1 and BA.2 variants, demonstrate the need to continue to find new approaches to neutralize the rapidly evolving SARS-CoV-2 virus. This review highlights both convalescent plasma- and polyclonal antibody-based approaches as well as the top approximately 50 antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, their epitopes, their ability to bind to SARS-CoV-2 variants, and how they are delivered. New approaches to antibody constructs, including single domain antibodies, bispecific antibodies, IgA- and IgM-based antibodies, and modified ACE2-Fc fusion proteins, are also described. Finally, antibodies being developed for palliative care of COVID-19 disease, including the ramifications of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), are described.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Zhiqiang Ku
- Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, TX USA
| | - Zhiqiang An
- Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, TX USA
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