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Makowski EK, Chen H, Lambert M, Bennett EM, Eschmann NS, Zhang Y, Zupancic JM, Desai AA, Smith MD, Lou W, Fernando A, Tully T, Gallo CJ, Lin L, Tessier PM. Reduction of therapeutic antibody self-association using yeast-display selections and machine learning. MAbs 2022; 14:2146629. [PMID: 36433737 PMCID: PMC9704398 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2022.2146629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [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] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-association governs the viscosity and solubility of therapeutic antibodies in high-concentration formulations used for subcutaneous delivery, yet it is difficult to reliably identify candidates with low self-association during antibody discovery and early-stage optimization. Here, we report a high-throughput protein engineering method for rapidly identifying antibody candidates with both low self-association and high affinity. We find that conjugating quantum dots to IgGs that strongly self-associate (pH 7.4, PBS), such as lenzilumab and bococizumab, results in immunoconjugates that are highly sensitive for detecting other high self-association antibodies. Moreover, these conjugates can be used to rapidly enrich yeast-displayed bococizumab sub-libraries for variants with low levels of immunoconjugate binding. Deep sequencing and machine learning analysis of the enriched bococizumab libraries, along with similar library analysis for antibody affinity, enabled identification of extremely rare variants with co-optimized levels of low self-association and high affinity. This analysis revealed that co-optimizing bococizumab is difficult because most high-affinity variants possess positively charged variable domains and most low self-association variants possess negatively charged variable domains. Moreover, negatively charged mutations in the heavy chain CDR2 of bococizumab, adjacent to its paratope, were effective at reducing self-association without reducing affinity. Interestingly, most of the bococizumab variants with reduced self-association also displayed improved folding stability and reduced nonspecific binding, revealing that this approach may be particularly useful for identifying antibody candidates with attractive combinations of drug-like properties.Abbreviations: AC-SINS: affinity-capture self-interaction nanoparticle spectroscopy; CDR: complementarity-determining region; CS-SINS: charge-stabilized self-interaction nanoparticle spectroscopy; FACS: fluorescence-activated cell sorting; Fab: fragment antigen binding; Fv: fragment variable; IgG: immunoglobulin; QD: quantum dot; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; VH: variable heavy; VL: variable light.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily K. Makowski
- Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA
| | - Hongwei Chen
- Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | | | | | | | - Yulei Zhang
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jennifer M. Zupancic
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Alec A. Desai
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Matthew D. Smith
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Wenjia Lou
- Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | | | - Timothy Tully
- Bioprocess Research & Development, Pfizer Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA
| | | | - Laura Lin
- BioMedicine Design, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Peter M. Tessier
- Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,CONTACT Peter M. Tessier Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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Zhang F, Su R, Han C, Wang Y, Li J, Zhu J, Luo Q, Chen L, Zhang J, Ding X, Du J, Chu D, Cai Y, Shen J, Yu L. Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii ROP18 with strain-specific reactivity. Parasitology 2020; 147:940-8. [PMID: 32046796 DOI: 10.1017/S0031182020000177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The rhoptry kinase 18 of Toxoplasma gondii (TgROP18) has been identified as a key virulence factor that allows the parasite to escape from host immune defences and promotes its proliferation in host cells. Although much research is focused on the interaction between host cells and TgROP18, the development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against TgROP18 has not been reported till date. To produce mAbs targeting TgROP18, two hybridomas secreting mAbs against TgROP18, designated as A1 and T2, were generated using cell fusion technology. The subtypes of the A1 and T2 mAbs were identified as IgG3 λ and IgM κ, and peptide scanning revealed that the core sequences of the antigenic epitopes were 180LRAQRRRSELVFE192 and 351NYFLLMMRAEADM363, respectively. The T2 mAb specifically reacted with both T. gondii type I and Chinese I, but not with T. gondii type II, Plasmodium falciparum or Schistosoma japonicum. Finally, the sequences of heavy chain and light chain complementarity-determining regions of T2 were amplified, cloned and characterized, making the modification of the mAb feasible in the future. The development of mAbs against TgROP18 would aid the investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the modulation of host cellular functions by TgROP18, and in the development of strategies to diagnose and treat Toxoplasmosis.
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Kim SI, Kim S, Kim J, Chang SY, Shim JM, Jin J, Lim C, Baek S, Min JY, Park WB, Oh MD, Kim S, Chung J. Generation of a Nebulizable CDR-Modified MERS-CoV Neutralizing Human Antibody. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E5073. [PMID: 31614869 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20205073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) induces severe aggravating respiratory failure in infected patients, frequently resulting in mechanical ventilation. As limited therapeutic antibody is accumulated in lung tissue following systemic administration, inhalation is newly recognized as an alternative, possibly better, route of therapeutic antibody for pulmonary diseases. The nebulization process, however, generates diverse physiological stresses, and thus, the therapeutic antibody must be resistant to these stresses, remain stable, and form minimal aggregates. We first isolated a MERS-CoV neutralizing antibody that is reactive to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of spike (S) glycoprotein. To increase stability, we introduced mutations into the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of the antibody. In the HCDRs (excluding HCDR3) in this clone, two hydrophobic residues were replaced with Glu, two residues were replaced with Asp, and four residues were replaced with positively charged amino acids. In LCDRs, only two Leu residues were replaced with Val. These modifications successfully generated a clone with significantly greater stability and equivalent reactivity and neutralizing activity following nebulization compared to the original clone. In summary, we generated a MERS-CoV neutralizing human antibody that is reactive to recombinant MERS-CoV S RBD protein for delivery via a pulmonary route by introducing stabilizing mutations into five CDRs.
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Cao M, De Mel N, Shannon A, Prophet M, Wang C, Xu W, Niu B, Kim J, Albarghouthi M, Liu D, Meinke E, Lin S, Wang X, Wang J. Charge variants characterization and release assay development for co-formulated antibodies as a combination therapy. MAbs 2019; 11:489-499. [PMID: 30786796 PMCID: PMC6512943 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2019.1578137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [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] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Combination therapy is a fast-growing strategy to maximize therapeutic benefits to patients. Co-formulation of two or more therapeutic proteins has advantages over the administration of multiple medications, including reduced medication errors and convenience for patients. Characterization of co-formulated biologics can be challenging due to the high degree of similarity in the physicochemical properties of co-formulated proteins, especially at different concentrations of individual components. We present the results of a deamidation study of one monoclonal antibody component (mAb-B) in co-formulated combination antibodies (referred to as COMBO) that contain various ratios of mAb-A and mAb-B. A single deamidation site in the complementarity-determining region of mAb-B was identified as a critical quality attribute (CQA) due to its impact on biological activity. A conventional charge-based method of monitoring mAb-B deamidation presented specificity and robustness challenges, especially when mAb-B was a minor component in the COMBO, making it unsuitable for lot release and stability testing. We developed and qualified a new, quality-control-friendly, single quadrupole Dalton mass detector (QDa)-based method to monitor site-specific deamidation. Our approach can be also used as a multi-attribute method for monitoring other quality attributes in COMBO. This analytical paradigm is applicable to the identification of CQAs in combination therapeutic molecules, and to the subsequent development of a highly specific, highly sensitive, and sufficiently robust method for routine monitoring CQAs for lot release test and during stability studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyan Cao
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Niluka De Mel
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Anthony Shannon
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Meagan Prophet
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Chunlei Wang
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Weichen Xu
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Ben Niu
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Jun Kim
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | | | - Dengfeng Liu
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Eric Meinke
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Shihua Lin
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Xiangyang Wang
- b Technical Operations , Viela Bio , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Jihong Wang
- a Department of Analytical Sciences , MedImmune , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
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Adams RM, Kinney JB, Walczak AM, Mora T. Epistasis in a Fitness Landscape Defined by Antibody-Antigen Binding Free Energy. Cell Syst 2019; 8:86-93.e3. [PMID: 30611676 PMCID: PMC6487650 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2018.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [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: 05/30/2018] [Revised: 10/12/2018] [Accepted: 12/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Epistasis is the phenomenon by which the effect of a mutation depends on its genetic background. While it is usually defined in terms of organismal fitness, for single proteins, it must reflect physical interactions among residues. Here, we systematically extract the specific contribution pairwise epistasis makes to the physical affinity of antibody-antigen binding relevant to affinity maturation, a process of accelerated Darwinian evolution. We find that, among competing definitions of affinity, the binding free energy is the most appropriate to describe epistasis. We show that epistasis is pervasive, accounting for 25%-35% of variability, of which a large fraction is beneficial. This work suggests that epistasis both constrains, through negative epistasis, and enlarges, through positive epistasis, the set of possible evolutionary paths that can produce high-affinity sequences during repeated rounds of mutation and selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhys M Adams
- CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, UPMC (Sorbonne University), and École Normale Supérieure (PSL), 24 rue Lhomond, Paris 75005, France; Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Rd., Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA
| | - Justin B Kinney
- Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Rd., Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA
| | - Aleksandra M Walczak
- CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, UPMC (Sorbonne University), and École Normale Supérieure (PSL), 24 rue Lhomond, Paris 75005, France.
| | - Thierry Mora
- CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, UPMC (Sorbonne University), Paris-Diderot University, and École Normale Supérieure (PSL), 24, rue Lhomond, Paris 75005, France.
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Wei L, Chahwan R, Wang S, Wang X, Pham PT, Goodman MF, Bergman A, Scharff MD, MacCarthy T. Overlapping hotspots in CDRs are critical sites for V region diversification. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:E728-37. [PMID: 25646473 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1500788112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Activation-induced deaminase (AID) mediates the somatic hypermutation (SHM) of Ig variable (V) regions that is required for the affinity maturation of the antibody response. An intensive analysis of a published database of somatic hypermutations that arose in the IGHV3-23*01 human V region expressed in vivo by human memory B cells revealed that the focus of mutations in complementary determining region (CDR)1 and CDR2 coincided with a combination of overlapping AGCT hotspots, the absence of AID cold spots, and an abundance of polymerase eta hotspots. If the overlapping hotspots in the CDR1 or CDR2 did not undergo mutation, the frequency of mutations throughout the V region was reduced. To model this result, we examined the mutation of the human IGHV3-23*01 biochemically and in the endogenous heavy chain locus of Ramos B cells. Deep sequencing revealed that IGHV3-23*01 in Ramos cells accumulates AID-induced mutations primarily in the AGCT in CDR2, which was also the most frequent site of mutation in vivo. Replacing the overlapping hotspots in CDR1 and CDR2 with neutral or cold motifs resulted in a reduction in mutations within the modified motifs and, to some degree, throughout the V region. In addition, some of the overlapping hotspots in the CDRs were at sites in which replacement mutations could change the structure of the CDR loops. Our analysis suggests that the local sequence environment of the V region, and especially of the CDR1 and CDR2, is highly evolved to recruit mutations to key residues in the CDRs of the IgV region.
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