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Kraus L, Duchardt-Ferner E, Bräuchle E, Fürbacher S, Kelvin D, Marx H, Boussebayle A, Maurer LM, Bofill-Bosch C, Wöhnert J, Suess B. Development of a novel tobramycin dependent riboswitch. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:11375-11385. [PMID: 37791877 PMCID: PMC10639043 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
We herein report the selection and characterization of a new riboswitch dependent on the aminoglycoside tobramycin. Its dynamic range rivals even the tetracycline dependent riboswitch to be the current best performing, synthetic riboswitch that controls translation initiation. The riboswitch was selected with RNA Capture-SELEX, a method that not only selects for binding but also for structural changes in aptamers on binding. This study demonstrates how this method can fundamentally reduce the labour required for the de novo identification of synthetic riboswitches. The initially selected riboswitch candidate harbours two distinct tobramycin binding sites with KDs of 1.1 nM and 2.4 μM, respectively, and can distinguish between tobramycin and the closely related compounds kanamycin A and B. Using detailed genetic and biochemical analyses and 1H NMR spectroscopy, the proposed secondary structure of the riboswitch was verified and the tobramycin binding sites were characterized. The two binding sites were found to be essentially non-overlapping, allowing for a separate investigation of their contribution to the activity of the riboswitch. We thereby found that only the high-affinity binding site was responsible for regulatory activity, which allowed us to engineer a riboswitch from only this site with a minimal sequence size of 33 nt and outstanding performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leon Kraus
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Centre for Synthetic Biology, TU Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Elke Duchardt-Ferner
- Institut für Molekulare Biowissenschaften und Zentrum für Biomolekulare Magnetische Resonanz (BMRZ), Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue Straße 9, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Eric Bräuchle
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Simon Fürbacher
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Daniel Kelvin
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Centre for Synthetic Biology, TU Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Hans Marx
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Institute of Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Muthgasse 18, A-1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Adrien Boussebayle
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Gustav Wieds Vej 14, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Lisa-Marie Maurer
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Centre for Synthetic Biology, TU Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Institut für Molekulare Biowissenschaften und Zentrum für Biomolekulare Magnetische Resonanz (BMRZ), Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue Straße 9, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Cristina Bofill-Bosch
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Jens Wöhnert
- Institut für Molekulare Biowissenschaften und Zentrum für Biomolekulare Magnetische Resonanz (BMRZ), Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue Straße 9, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Beatrix Suess
- Fachbereich Biologie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
- Centre for Synthetic Biology, TU Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
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Krauter S, Büscher N, Bräuchle E, Ortega Iannazzo S, Penner I, Krämer N, Gogesch P, Thomas S, Kreutz M, Dejung M, Freiwald A, Butter F, Waibler Z, Plachter B. An Attenuated Strain of Human Cytomegalovirus for the Establishment of a Subviral Particle Vaccine. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10081326. [PMID: 36016214 PMCID: PMC9413975 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10081326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is associated with severe disease conditions either following congenital transmission of the virus or viral reactivation in immunosuppressed individuals. Consequently, the establishment of a protective vaccine is of high medical need. Several candidates have been tested in preclinical and clinical studies, yet no vaccine has been licensed. Subviral dense bodies (DB) are a promising vaccine candidate. We have recently provided a GMP-compliant protocol for the production of DB, based on a genetically modified version of the HCMV laboratory strain Towne, expressing the pentameric complex of envelope protein gH-gL-pUL128-131 (Towne-UL130rep). In this work, we genetically attenuated Towne-UL130rep by abrogating the expression of the tegument protein pUL25 and by fusing the destabilizing domain ddFKBP to the N-terminus of the IE1- and IE2-proteins of HCMV. The resulting strain, termed TR-VAC, produced high amounts of DB under IE1/IE2 repressive conditions and concomitant supplementation of the viral terminase inhibitor letermovir to the producer cell culture. TR-VAC DB retained the capacity to induce neutralizing antibodies. A complex pattern of host protein induction was observed by mass spectrometry following exposure of primary human monocytes with TR-VAC DB. Human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) moderately increased the expression of activation markers and MHC molecules upon stimulation with TR-VAC DB. In a co-culture with autologous T cells, the TR-VAC DB-stimulated DC induced a robust HCMV-specific T cell-activation and –proliferation. Exposure of donor-derived monocytic cells to DB led to the activation of a rapid innate immune response. This comprehensive data set thus shows that TR-VAC is an optimal attenuated seed virus strain for the production of a DB vaccine to be tested in clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffi Krauter
- Institute for Virology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, D-55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Nicole Büscher
- Institute for Virology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, D-55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Eric Bräuchle
- Division of Immunology, Section 3/1 “Product Testing of Immunological Biomedicines”, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, D-63225 Langen, Germany
| | - Samira Ortega Iannazzo
- Division of Immunology, Section 3/1 “Product Testing of Immunological Biomedicines”, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, D-63225 Langen, Germany
| | - Inessa Penner
- Institute for Virology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, D-55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Nadine Krämer
- Institute for Virology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, D-55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Patricia Gogesch
- Division of Immunology, Section 3/1 “Product Testing of Immunological Biomedicines”, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, D-63225 Langen, Germany
| | - Simone Thomas
- Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, Regensburg and Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Hämatologie und Internistische Onkologie, University Hospital Regensburg, D-93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Marina Kreutz
- Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, Regensburg and Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Hämatologie und Internistische Onkologie, University Hospital Regensburg, D-93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Mario Dejung
- Proteomics Core Facility, Institute of Molecular Biology, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Anja Freiwald
- Proteomics Core Facility, Institute of Molecular Biology, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Falk Butter
- Proteomics Core Facility, Institute of Molecular Biology, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Zoe Waibler
- Division of Immunology, Section 3/1 “Product Testing of Immunological Biomedicines”, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, D-63225 Langen, Germany
| | - Bodo Plachter
- Institute for Virology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, D-55131 Mainz, Germany
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-6131-179232
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