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Stickdorn J, Czysch C, Medina-Montano C, Stein L, Xu L, Scherger M, Schild H, Grabbe S, Nuhn L. Peptide-Decorated Degradable Polycarbonate Nanogels for Eliciting Antigen-Specific Immune Responses. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:15417. [PMID: 37895096 PMCID: PMC10607756 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242015417] [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: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
For successful therapeutic interventions in cancer immunotherapy, strong antigen-specific immune responses are required. To this end, immunostimulating cues must be combined with antigens to simultaneously arrive at antigen-presenting cells and initiate cellular immune responses. Recently, imidazoquinolines have shown their vast potential as small molecular Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) agonists for immunostimulation when delivered by nanocarriers. At the same time, peptide antigens are promising antigen candidates but require combination with immune-stimulating adjuvants to boost their immunogenicity and exploit their full potential. Consequently, we herein present biodegradable polycarbonate nanogels as versatile delivery system for adjuvants within the particles' core as well as for peptide antigens by surface decoration. For that purpose, orthogonally addressable multifunctional polycarbonate block copolymers were synthesized, enabling adjuvant conjugation through reactive ester chemistry and peptide decoration by strain-promoted alkyne-azide cycloaddition (SPAAC). In preparation for SPAAC, CD4+-specific peptide sequences of the model protein antigen ovalbumin were equipped with DBCO-moieties by site-selective modification at their N-terminal cysteine. With their azide groups exposed on their surface, the adjuvant-loaded nanogels were then efficiently decorated with DBCO-functional CD4+-peptides by SPAAC. In vitro evaluation of the adjuvant-loaded peptide-decorated gels then confirmed their strong immunostimulating properties as well as their high biocompatibility. Despite their covalent conjugation, the CD4+-peptide-decorated nanogels led to maturation of primary antigen-presenting cells and the downstream priming of CD4+-T cells. Subsequently, the peptide-decorated nanogels loaded with TLR7/8 agonist were successfully processed by antigen-presenting cells, enabling potent immune responses for future application in antigen-specific cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Carolina Medina-Montano
- Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Lara Stein
- Institute of Immunology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Lujuan Xu
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, The Key Laboratory of Zhejiang Province for Aptamers and Theranostics, Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310022, China
| | | | - Hansjörg Schild
- Institute of Immunology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Stephan Grabbe
- Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Lutz Nuhn
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry, Institute of Functional Materials and Biofabrication, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
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Kohm K, Jalomo-Khayrova E, Krüger A, Basu S, Steinchen W, Bange G, Frunzke J, Hertel R, Commichau F, Czech L. Structural and functional characterization of MrpR, the master repressor of the Bacillus subtilis prophage SPβ. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:9452-9474. [PMID: 37602373 PMCID: PMC10516654 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad675] [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: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Prophages control their lifestyle to either be maintained within the host genome or enter the lytic cycle. Bacillus subtilis contains the SPβ prophage whose lysogenic state depends on the MrpR (YopR) protein, a key component of the lysis-lysogeny decision system. Using a historic B. subtilis strain harboring the heat-sensitive SPβ c2 mutant, we demonstrate that the lytic cycle of SPβ c2 can be induced by heat due to a single nucleotide exchange in the mrpR gene, rendering the encoded MrpRG136E protein temperature-sensitive. Structural characterization revealed that MrpR is a DNA-binding protein resembling the overall fold of tyrosine recombinases. MrpR has lost its recombinase function and the G136E exchange impairs its higher-order structure and DNA binding activity. Genome-wide profiling of MrpR binding revealed its association with the previously identified SPbeta repeated element (SPBRE) in the SPβ genome. MrpR functions as a master repressor of SPβ that binds to this conserved element to maintain lysogeny. The heat-inducible excision of the SPβ c2 mutant remains reliant on the serine recombinase SprA. A suppressor mutant analysis identified a previously unknown component of the lysis-lysogeny management system that is crucial for the induction of the lytic cycle of SPβ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Kohm
- FG Synthetic Microbiology, Institute for Biotechnology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Senftenberg, Germany
- FG Molecular Microbiology, Institute for Biology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Ekaterina Jalomo-Khayrova
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and Department of Chemistry, Phillips-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Aileen Krüger
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, iBG-1: Biotechnology, FZ Jülich, Germany
| | - Syamantak Basu
- FG Synthetic Microbiology, Institute for Biotechnology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Senftenberg, Germany
| | - Wieland Steinchen
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and Department of Chemistry, Phillips-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Gert Bange
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and Department of Chemistry, Phillips-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Max-Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Julia Frunzke
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, iBG-1: Biotechnology, FZ Jülich, Germany
| | - Robert Hertel
- FG Synthetic Microbiology, Institute for Biotechnology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Senftenberg, Germany
- Department of Genomic and Applied Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Fabian M Commichau
- FG Synthetic Microbiology, Institute for Biotechnology, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Senftenberg, Germany
- FG Molecular Microbiology, Institute for Biology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Laura Czech
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and Department of Chemistry, Phillips-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
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Turner GF, McKellar SC, Allan DR, Cheetham AK, Henke S, Moggach SA. Guest-mediated phase transitions in a flexible pillared-layered metal-organic framework under high-pressure. Chem Sci 2021; 12:13793-13801. [PMID: 34760164 PMCID: PMC8549792 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc03108b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The guest-dependent flexibility of the pillared-layered metal-organic framework (MOF), Zn2bdc2dabco·X(guest), where guest = EtOH, DMF or benzene, has been examined by high-pressure single crystal X-ray diffraction. A pressure-induced structural phase transition is found for the EtOH- and DMF-included frameworks during compression in a hydrostatic medium of the guest species, which is dependent upon the nature and quantity of the guest in the channels. The EtOH-included material undergoes a phase transition from P4/mmm to C2/m at 0.69 GPa, which is accompanied by a change in the pore shape from square to rhombus via super-filling of the pores. The DMF-included material undergoes a guest-mediated phase transition from I4/mcm to P4/mmm at 0.33 GPa via disordering of the DMF guest. In contrast, the benzene-included framework features a structure with rhombus-shaped channels at ambient pressure and shows direct compression under hydrostatic pressure. These results demonstrate the large influence of guest molecules on the high-pressure phase behavior of flexible MOFs. Guest-mediated framework flexibility is useful for engineering MOFs with bespoke pore shapes and compressibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gemma F Turner
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia Perth 6009 Western Australia Australia
| | - Scott C McKellar
- EastChem School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH9 3JW UK
| | - David R Allan
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus Didcot O11 ODE UK
| | - Anthony K Cheetham
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Sebastian Henke
- Fakultät für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, Technische Universität Dortmund Dortmund 44227 Germany
| | - Stephen A Moggach
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia Perth 6009 Western Australia Australia
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Kurth T, Witt S, Bolten S, Waniek JJ, Kortmann C, Lavrentieva A, Scheper T, Walter JG. Development of Aptamer-Based TID Assays Using Thermophoresis and Microarrays. Biosensors (Basel) 2019; 9:E124. [PMID: 31615077 PMCID: PMC6955894 DOI: 10.3390/bios9040124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Revised: 10/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides which can be used as alternative recognition elements for protein detection, because aptamers bind their targets with a high affinity similar to antibodies. Due to the targetinduced conformational changes of aptamers, these oligonucleotides can be applied in various biosensing platforms. In this work, aptamers directed against the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were used as a model system. VEGF plays a key role in physiological angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. Furthermore, VEGF is involved in the development and growth of cancer and other diseases like agerelated macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, and neurodegenerative disorders. Detecting the protein biomarker VEGF is therefore of great importance for medical research and diagnostics. In this research, VEGFbinding aptamers were investigated for the systematic development of a targetinduced dissociation (TID) assay utilizing thermophoresis and microarrays. The established aptamer-microarray allowed for the detection of 0.1 nM of VEGF. Furthermore, the systematic development of the TID method using the VEGF model protein could help to develop further TID assays for the detection of various protein biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy Kurth
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Sandra Witt
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Svenja Bolten
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Janice-Joy Waniek
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Carlotta Kortmann
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Antonina Lavrentieva
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Thomas Scheper
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Johanna-Gabriela Walter
- Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstraße 5, 30167 Hannover, Germany.
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