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Harhala MA, Gembara K, Rybicka I, Kaźmierczak ZM, Miernikiewicz P, Majewska JM, Budziar W, Nasulewicz-Goldeman A, Nelson DC, Owczarek B, Dąbrowska K. Immunogenic epitope scanning in bacteriolytic enzymes Pal and Cpl-1 and engineering Pal to escape antibody responses. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1075774. [PMID: 37781366 PMCID: PMC10540205 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1075774] [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] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Bacteriolytic enzymes are promising antibacterial agents, but they can cause a typical immune response in vivo. In this study, we used a targeted modification method for two antibacterial endolysins, Pal and Cpl-1. We identified the key immunogenic amino acids, and designed and tested new, bacteriolytic variants with altered immunogenicity. One new variant of Pal (257-259 MKS → TFG) demonstrated decreased immunogenicity while a similar mutant (257-259 MKS → TFK) demonstrated increased immunogenicity. A third variant (280-282 DKP → GGA) demonstrated significantly increased antibacterial activity and it was not cross-neutralized by antibodies induced by the wild-type enzyme. We propose this variant as a new engineered endolysin with increased antibacterial activity that is capable of escaping cross-neutralization by antibodies induced by wild-type Pal. We show that efficient antibacterial enzymes that avoid cross-neutralization by IgG can be developed by epitope scanning, in silico design, and substitutions of identified key amino acids with a high rate of success. Importantly, this universal approach can be applied to many proteins beyond endolysins and has the potential for design of numerous biological drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marek Adam Harhala
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
- Research and Development Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Gembara
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
- Research and Development Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Izabela Rybicka
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Zuzanna Maria Kaźmierczak
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
- Research and Development Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Paulina Miernikiewicz
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Joanna Marta Majewska
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Wiktoria Budziar
- Research and Development Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Anna Nasulewicz-Goldeman
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Daniel C. Nelson
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, Rockville, MD, United States
| | - Barbara Owczarek
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Krystyna Dąbrowska
- Laboratory of Phage Molecular Biology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
- Research and Development Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland
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Szewczyk-Dąbrowska A, Budziar W, Baniecki K, Pikies A, Harhala M, Jędruchniewicz N, Kaźmierczak Z, Gembara K, Klimek T, Witkiewicz W, Nahorecki A, Barczyk K, Grata-Borkowska U, Dąbrowska K. Dynamics of anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in individual patients and at the population level. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274095. [PMID: 36083875 PMCID: PMC9462561 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The immune response and specific antibody production in COVID-19 are among the key factors that determine both prognostics for individual patients and the global perspective for controlling the pandemics. So called “dark figure”, that is, a part of population that has been infected but not registered by the health care system, make it difficult to estimate herd immunity and to predict pandemic trajectories. Here we present a follow up study of population screening for hidden herd immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in individuals who had never been positively diagnosed against SARS-CoV-2; the first screening was in May 2021, and the follow up in December 2021. We found that specific antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 detected in May as the “dark figure” cannot be considered important 7 months later due to their significant drop. On the other hand, among participants who at the first screening were negative for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, and who have never been diagnosed for SARS-CoV-2 infection nor vaccinated, 26% were found positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG. This can be attributed to of the “dark figure” of the recent, fourth wave of the pandemic that occurred in Poland shortly before the study in December. Participants who were vaccinated between May and December demonstrated however higher levels of antibodies, than those who undergone mild or asymptomatic (thus unregistered) infection. Only 7% of these vaccinated participants demonstrated antibodies that resulted from infection (anti-NCP). The highest levels of protection were observed in the group that had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 before May 2021 and also fully vaccinated between May and December. These observations demonstrate that the hidden fraction of herd immunity is considerable, however its potential to suppress the pandemics is limited, highlighting the key role of vaccinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Szewczyk-Dąbrowska
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
- Department of Family Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Wiktoria Budziar
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | | | - Marek Harhala
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
- Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Natalia Jędruchniewicz
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Zuzanna Kaźmierczak
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
- Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Gembara
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
- Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Tomasz Klimek
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Wojciech Witkiewicz
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | - Kamil Barczyk
- Healthcare Centre in Bolesławiec, Bolesławiec, Poland
| | | | - Krystyna Dąbrowska
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
- Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wrocław, Poland
- * E-mail:
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