1
|
Rocca A, Giudici F, Donofrio CA, Bottin C, Pinamonti M, Ferrari B, Schettini F, Pineda E, Panni S, Cominetti M, D’Auria P, Bianchini S, Varotti E, Ungari M, Ciccarelli S, Filippini M, Brenna S, Fiori V, Di Mambro T, Sparti A, Magnani M, Zanconati F, Generali D, Fioravanti A. CD99 Expression and Prognostic Impact in Glioblastoma: A Single-Center Cohort Study. Cells 2024; 13:597. [PMID: 38607036 PMCID: PMC11012029 DOI: 10.3390/cells13070597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma is the most frequent and aggressive brain tumor in adults. This study aims to evaluate the expression and prognostic impact of CD99, a membrane glycoprotein involved in cellular migration and invasion. In a cohort of patients with glioblastoma treated with surgery, radiotherapy and temozolomide, we retrospectively analyzed tumor expression of CD99 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for both the wild type (CD99wt) and the truncated (CD99sh) isoforms. The impact on overall survival (OS) was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test and by multivariable Cox regression. Forty-six patients with glioblastoma entered this study. Immunohistochemical expression of CD99 was present in 83%. Only the CD99wt isoform was detected by qRT-PCR and was significantly correlated with CD99 expression evaluated by IHC (rho = 0.309, p = 0.037). CD99 expression was not associated with OS, regardless of the assessment methodology used (p = 0.61 for qRT-PCR and p = 0.73 for IHC). In an exploratory analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas, casuistry of glioblastomas CD99 expression was not associated with OS nor with progression-free survival. This study confirms a high expression of CD99 in glioblastoma but does not show any significant impact on survival. Further preclinical studies are needed to define its role as a therapeutic target in glioblastoma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Rocca
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, 34147 Trieste, Italy
| | - Fabiola Giudici
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy
| | - Carmine Antonio Donofrio
- Neurosurgery, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
- Division of Biology and Genetics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Cristina Bottin
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, 34147 Trieste, Italy
| | - Maurizio Pinamonti
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, 34147 Trieste, Italy
| | - Benvenuto Ferrari
- Breast and Brain Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | - Francesco Schettini
- Translational Genomics and Targeted Therapies in Solid Tumors Group, August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), C. Villaroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
- Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
- Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Estela Pineda
- Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
- Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Stefano Panni
- Breast and Brain Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | - Marika Cominetti
- Neurosurgery, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | - Patrizia D’Auria
- Neurosurgery, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | | | - Elena Varotti
- Pathology Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | - Marco Ungari
- Pathology Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | - Stefano Ciccarelli
- Radiotherapy Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | - Marzia Filippini
- Radiotherapy Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | - Sarah Brenna
- Radiotherapy Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | | | | | - Angelo Sparti
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Mauro Magnani
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Zanconati
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, 34147 Trieste, Italy
| | - Daniele Generali
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, 34147 Trieste, Italy
- Breast and Brain Unit, ASST Cremona, Viale Concordia 1, 26100 Cremona, Italy
| | | |
Collapse
|
2
|
Centonze M, Fiori V, Kujawski M, Li L, Wong P, Williams L, Di Mambro T, Dominici S, Sparti A, Shively JE, Magnani M. Development and characterization of DIA 12.3, a fully human intact anti-CEACAM1 monoclonal antibody. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0295345. [PMID: 38346003 PMCID: PMC10861082 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule-1 (CEACAM1), a homotypic cell adhesion molecule glycoprotein with apical expression on normal epithelial cells and activated lymphocytes, is overexpressed on many tumors and acts as an inhibitory receptor on NK cells, preventing their killing of CEACAM1 positive tumors. Production of humanized anti-CEACAM1 antibodies to block the inhibitory activity of CEACAM1 for immunotherapy and immunoimaging. Starting from a scFv, a fully human intact anti-CEACAM1 (DIA 12.3) that recognizes the N-terminal domain of CEACAM1 was developed and shown to bind CEACAM1 positive tumor cells and enhanced NK cell killing of CEACAM1 positive targets. DIA 12.3 bound to human neutrophils without activation, indicating they would be safe for human use. DIA 12.3 exhibited some cross-reactivity to CEACAM5, a tumor marker with high sequence homology to the N-terminal domain of CEACAM1. CEACAM1 PET imaging with 64Cu-COTA-DIA 12.3 showed excellent imaging of CEACAM1 positive tumors with reduced binding to CEACAM5 tumors. Based on its immunoinhibitory an immunoimaging activities, DIA 12.3 shows promise for therapeutic studies in man.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michela Centonze
- Department of Biomolecular Science, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy
| | | | - Maciej Kujawski
- Department of Immunology and Theranostics, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, California, United States of America
| | - Lin Li
- Department of Immunology and Theranostics, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, California, United States of America
| | - Patty Wong
- Department of Immunology and Theranostics, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, California, United States of America
| | - Lindsay Williams
- Department of Immunology and Theranostics, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, California, United States of America
| | | | | | | | - John E. Shively
- Department of Immunology and Theranostics, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, California, United States of America
| | - Mauro Magnani
- Department of Biomolecular Science, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
De Marchis F, Vanzolini T, Maricchiolo E, Bellucci M, Menotta M, Di Mambro T, Aluigi A, Zattoni A, Roda B, Marassi V, Crinelli R, Pompa A. A biotechnological approach for the production of new protein bioplastics. Biotechnol J 2024; 19:e2300363. [PMID: 37801630 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202300363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/08/2023]
Abstract
The future of biomaterial production will leverage biotechnology based on the domestication of cells as biological factories. Plants, algae, and bacteria can produce low-environmental impact biopolymers. Here, two strategies were developed to produce a biopolymer derived from a bioengineered vacuolar storage protein of the common bean (phaseolin; PHSL). The cys-added PHSL* forms linear-structured biopolymers when expressed in the thylakoids of transplastomic tobacco leaves by exploiting the formation of inter-chain disulfide bridges. The same protein without signal peptide (ΔPHSL*) accumulates in Escherichia coli inclusion bodies as high-molar-mass species polymers that can subsequently be oxidized to form disulfide crosslinking bridges in order to increase the stiffness of the biomaterial, a valid alternative to the use of chemical crosslinkers. The E. coli cells produced 300 times more engineered PHSL, measured as percentage of total soluble proteins, than transplastomic tobacco plants. Moreover, the thiol groups of cysteine allow the site-specific PEGylation of ΔPHSL*, which is a desirable functionality in the design of a protein-based drug carrier. In conclusion, ΔPHSL* expressed in E. coli has the potential to become an innovative biopolymer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francesca De Marchis
- Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, Division of Perugia, National Research Council, Perugia, Italy
| | - Tania Vanzolini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Elisa Maricchiolo
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Michele Bellucci
- Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, Division of Perugia, National Research Council, Perugia, Italy
| | - Michele Menotta
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Tomas Di Mambro
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Annalisa Aluigi
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Andrea Zattoni
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, Bologna (BO), Italy
| | - Barbara Roda
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, Bologna (BO), Italy
| | - Valentina Marassi
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, Bologna (BO), Italy
| | - Rita Crinelli
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Andrea Pompa
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino (PU), Italy
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Vanzolini T, Di Mambro T, Magnani M, Menotta M. AFM evaluation of a humanized recombinant antibody affecting C. auris cell wall and stability. RSC Adv 2023; 13:6130-6142. [PMID: 36814881 PMCID: PMC9940460 DOI: 10.1039/d2ra07217c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Fungal infections are increasingly impacting on the health of the population and particularly on subjects with a compromised immune system. The resistance phenomenon and the rise of new species carrying sometimes intrinsic and multi-drug resistance to the most commonly used antifungal drugs are greatly concerning healthcare organizations. As a result of this situation, there is growing interest in the development of therapeutic agents against pathogenic fungi. In particular, the Candida genus is responsible for severe life-threatening infections and among its species, C. auris is considered an urgent threat by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and is one of the three leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. H5K1 is a humanized monoclonal antibody (hmAb) that selectively binds to β-1,3-glucans, vital components of the fungal cell wall. It has been previously demonstrated that it is active against Candida species, especially against C. auris, reaching its greatest potential when combined with commercially available antifungal drugs. Here we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to assess the effects of H5K1, alone and in combination with fluconazole, caspofungin and amphotericin B, on C. auris cells. Through an extensive exploration we found that H5K1 has a significant role in the perturbation and remodeling of the fungal cell wall that is reflected in the loss of whole cell integrity. Moreover, it contributes substantially to the alterations in terms of chemical composition, stiffness and roughness induced specifically by caspofungin and amphotericin B. In addition to this, we demonstrated that AFM is a valuable technique to evaluate drug-microorganism interaction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tania Vanzolini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo Via Saffi 2 61029 Urbino Italy
| | | | - Mauro Magnani
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo Via Saffi 2 61029 Urbino Italy
| | - Michele Menotta
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo Via Saffi 2 61029 Urbino Italy
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Di Mambro T, Vanzolini T, Bianchi M, Crinelli R, Canonico B, Tasini F, Menotta M, Magnani M. Development and in vitro characterization of a humanized scFv against fungal infections. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0276786. [PMID: 36315567 PMCID: PMC9621433 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The resistance and the birth of new intrinsic and multidrug-resistant pathogenic species like C. auris is creating great concern in the antifungal world. Given the limited drug arsenal and the lack of effectiveness of the available compounds, there is an urgent need for innovative approaches. The murine mAb 2G8 was humanized and engineered in silico to develop a single-chain fragment variable (hscFv) antibody against β-1,3-glucans which was then expressed in E. coli. Among the recombinant proteins developed, a soluble candidate with high stability and affinity was obtained. This selected protein is VL-linker-VH oriented, and it is characterized by the presence of two ubiquitin monomers at the N-terminus and a His tag at the C-terminus. This construct, Ub2-hscFv-His, guaranteed stability, solubility, efficient purification and satisfactory recovery of the recombinant product. HscFv can bind β-1,3-glucans both as coated antigens and on C. auris and C. albicans cells similarly to its murine parental and showed long stability and retention of binding ability when stored at 4°, -20° and -80° C. Furthermore, it was efficient in enhancing the antifungal activity of drugs caspofungin and amphotericin B against C. auris. The use of biological drugs as antifungals is limited; here we present a promising hscFv which has the potential to be useful in combination with currently available antifungal drugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Tania Vanzolini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Marzia Bianchi
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Rita Crinelli
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Barbara Canonico
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Filippo Tasini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Michele Menotta
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Mauro Magnani
- Diatheva s.r.l., Cartoceto, Italy
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Di Mambro T, Vanzolini T, Bruscolini P, Perez-Gaviro S, Marra E, Roscilli G, Bianchi M, Fraternale A, Schiavano GF, Canonico B, Magnani M. A new humanized antibody is effective against pathogenic fungi in vitro. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19500. [PMID: 34593880 PMCID: PMC8484667 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98659-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Invasive fungal infections mainly affect patients undergoing transplantation, surgery, neoplastic disease, immunocompromised subjects and premature infants, and cause over 1.5 million deaths every year. The most common fungi isolated in invasive diseases are Candida spp., Cryptococcus spp., and Aspergillus spp. and even if four classes of antifungals are available (Azoles, Echinocandins, Polyenes and Pyrimidine analogues), the side effects of drugs and fungal acquired and innate resistance represent the major hurdles to be overcome. Monoclonal antibodies are powerful tools currently used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents in different clinical contexts but not yet developed for the treatment of invasive fungal infections. In this paper we report the development of the first humanized monoclonal antibody specific for β-1,3 glucans, a vital component of several pathogenic fungi. H5K1 has been tested on C. auris, one of the most urgent threats and resulted efficient both alone and in combination with Caspofungin and Amphotericin B showing an enhancement effect. Our results support further preclinical and clinical developments for the use of H5K1 in the treatment of patients in need.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Di Mambro
- grid.12711.340000 0001 2369 7670Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, 61029 Urbino, Italy ,Diatheva S.R.L, Via Sant’Anna 131/135, 61030 Cartoceto, Italy
| | - Tania Vanzolini
- grid.12711.340000 0001 2369 7670Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Pierpaolo Bruscolini
- grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Instituto de Biocomputación y Física de Sistemas Complejos (BIFI), Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain ,grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Departamento de Física Teórica, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Sergio Perez-Gaviro
- grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Instituto de Biocomputación y Física de Sistemas Complejos (BIFI), Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain ,grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Departamento de Física Teórica, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain ,grid.467120.6Centro Universitario de la Defensa, 50090 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Emanuele Marra
- Takis S.R.L, Via di Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | | | - Marzia Bianchi
- grid.12711.340000 0001 2369 7670Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Alessandra Fraternale
- grid.12711.340000 0001 2369 7670Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Giuditta Fiorella Schiavano
- grid.12711.340000 0001 2369 7670Department of Humanities, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Barbara Canonico
- grid.12711.340000 0001 2369 7670Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Mauro Magnani
- grid.12711.340000 0001 2369 7670Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, 61029 Urbino, Italy ,Diatheva S.R.L, Via Sant’Anna 131/135, 61030 Cartoceto, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Di Mambro T, Guerriero I, Aurisicchio L, Magnani M, Marra E. The Yin and Yang of Current Antifungal Therapeutic Strategies: How Can We Harness Our Natural Defenses? Front Pharmacol 2019; 10:80. [PMID: 30804788 PMCID: PMC6370704 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2018] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Fungal infections have aroused much interest over the last years because of their involvement in several human diseases. Immunocompromission due to transplant-related therapies and malignant cancer treatments are risk factors for invasive fungal infections, but also aggressive surgery, broad-spectrum antibiotics and prosthetic devices are frequently associated with infectious diseases. Current therapy is based on the administration of antifungal drugs, but the occurrence of resistant strains to the most common molecules has become a serious health-care problem. New antifungal agents are urgently needed and it is essential to identify fungal molecular targets that could offer alternatives for development of treatments. The fungal cell wall and plasma membrane are the most important structures that offer putative new targets which can be modulated in order to fight microbial infections. The development of monoclonal antibodies against new targets is a valid therapeutic strategy, both to solve resistance problems and to support the immune response, especially in immunocompromised hosts. In this review, we summarize currently used antifungal agents and propose novel therapeutic approaches, including new fungal molecular targets to be considered for drug development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Di Mambro
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy.,Diatheva s.r.l., Cartoceto, Italy
| | - Ilaria Guerriero
- Takis s.r.l., Rome, Italy.,Veterinary Immunotherapy and Translational Research, Rome, Italy
| | - Luigi Aurisicchio
- Takis s.r.l., Rome, Italy.,Veterinary Immunotherapy and Translational Research, Rome, Italy
| | - Mauro Magnani
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy.,Diatheva s.r.l., Cartoceto, Italy
| | - Emanuele Marra
- Takis s.r.l., Rome, Italy.,Veterinary Immunotherapy and Translational Research, Rome, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Clavero-Álvarez A, Di Mambro T, Perez-Gaviro S, Magnani M, Bruscolini P. Humanization of Antibodies using a Statistical Inference Approach. Sci Rep 2018; 8:14820. [PMID: 30287940 PMCID: PMC6172228 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32986-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [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: 05/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Antibody humanization is a key step in the preclinical phase of the development of therapeutic antibodies, originally developed and tested in non-human models (most typically, in mouse). The standard technique of Complementarity-Determining Regions (CDR) grafting into human Framework Regions of germline sequences has some important drawbacks, in that the resulting sequences often need further back-mutations to ensure functionality and/or stability. Here we propose a new method to characterize the statistical distribution of the sequences of the variable regions of human antibodies, that takes into account phenotypical correlations between pairs of residues, both within and between chains. We define a "humanness score" of a sequence, comparing its performance in distinguishing human from murine sequences, with that of some alternative scores in the literature. We also compare the score with the experimental immunogenicity of clinically used antibodies. Finally, we use the humanness score as an optimization function and perform a search in the sequence space, starting from different murine sequences and keeping the CDR regions unchanged. Our results show that our humanness score outperforms other methods in sequence classification, and the optimization protocol is able to generate humanized sequences that are recognized as human by standard homology modelling tools.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Tomas Di Mambro
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy
| | - Sergio Perez-Gaviro
- Departamento de Física Teórica, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009, Spain.,Centro Universitario de la Defensa, Zaragoza, 50090, Spain.,Instituto de Biocomputación y Física de Sistemas Complejos (BIFI), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018, Spain
| | - Mauro Magnani
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy
| | - Pierpaolo Bruscolini
- Departamento de Física Teórica, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009, Spain. .,Instituto de Biocomputación y Física de Sistemas Complejos (BIFI), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|