Simple method for selecting catalytic monoclonal antibodies that exhibit turnover and specificity

Monoclonal antibodies were raised against a mono-p-nitrophenyl phosphonate ester to elicit catalytic antibodies capable of hydrolyzing the analogous p-nitrophenyl ester or carbonate. Potential catalytic antibody producing clones were selected, by use of a competitive inhibition assay, on the basis of their affinity for a "short" transition-state analogue, a truncated hapten which maximizes the relative contribution of the transition-state structural elements to binding. Of 30-40 clones that would have been examined on the basis of hapten binding alone, 7 were selected and 4 of these catalyzed the hydrolysis of the relevant p-nitrophenyl ester. This competitive inhibition technique represents a general approach for selecting potential catalytic antibodies and significantly increases the probability of obtaining efficient catalytic monoclonal antibodies. Further study of the catalytic antibodies revealed significant rate enhancement (kcat/kuncat approximately 10(4)) and substrate specificity for the hydrolysis of the analogous ester and, for three of the antibodies, of the analogous carbonate. The antibodies displayed turnover, an essential feature of enzymes. Evidence that catalysis occurred at the antibody combining sites was provided by the identity of the binding and the catalysis-inhibition specificity patterns.     

Immune repertoire mining for rapid affinity optimization of mouse monoclonal antibodies

Traditional hybridoma and B cell cloning antibody discovery platforms have inherent limits in immune repertoire sampling depth. One consequence is that monoclonal antibody (mAb) leads often lack the necessary affinity for therapeutic applications, thus requiring labor-intensive and time-consuming affinity in vitro engineering optimization steps. Here, we show that high-affinity variants of mouse-derived mAbs can be rapidly obtained by testing of somatic sequence variants obtained by deep sequencing of antibody variable regions in immune repertories from immunized mice, even with a relatively sparse sampling of sequence variants from large sequence datasets. Affinity improvements can be achieved for mAbs with a wide range of affinities. The optimized antibody variants derived from immune repertoire mining have no detectable in vitro off-target binding and have in vivo clearance comparable to the parental mAbs, essential properties in therapeutic antibody leads. As generation of antibody variants in vitro is replaced by mining of variants generated in vivo, the procedure can be applied to rapidly identify affinity-optimized mAb variants.     

A rapid procedure for the humanization of monoclonal antibodies

An efficient and rapid procedure for the humanization of murine monoclonal antibodies (MumAb) is described. It consists of site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) to transfer the murine complementarity-determining regions (MuCDR) onto human framework regions (HuFR), followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the SDM product. Using SDM/PCR, rapid and correct humanization of MumAb heavy chains is clearly demonstrated. Compared to current protocols this method considerably reduces the time and labour required to generate humanized mAb.     

A rapid method for selecting fermentative yeasts at high temperatures

A rapid and efficient method for isolating and selecting thermotolerant and sugar-fermenting yeasts was developed. Several samples from sugar cane by-products could be analyzed at the same time. Yeast cultures could be isolated in about 3 d, in contrast to the conventional methods, and its fermentative ability was qualitatively maintained at the desired temperature. A broad spectrum of temperatures can be tested. Yeasts of generaSaccharomyces andKluyveromyces were easily identified.     

A platform for high-throughput molecular characterization of recombinant monoclonal antibodies

We describe quantitative characterization of a sample preparation platform for rapid and high-throughput analysis of recombinant monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and their post-translational modifications. MAb capture, desalting and in situ reduction/alkylation were accomplished by sequential adsorption of analyte to solid phase beads (protein A, reverse-phase) suspended in microtiter plate wells. Following elution and rapid tryptic digestion in the presence of acid-labile surfactant (RapiGest), peptides were fractionated by stepwise elution from reverse-phase pipet tips and the fraction containing Fc N-glycopeptides isolated. Direct quantitative analysis of the relative abundance of peptide glycoforms by MALDI-TOF MS in linear mode closely correlated with normal phase HPLC analysis of fluorophore labeled N-glycans released by PNGaseF.     

Development of a sensitive screening method for selecting monoclonal antibodies to be internalized by cells

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), drugs developed by conjugation of an anticancer agent to a monoclonal antibody (mAb), have lately attracted attention in cancer therapy because ADCs can directly bind cancer cells and kill them. Although mAbs for ADCs must be internalized by the target cells, few methods are available for screening mAbs for their ability to be internalized by cells. We have developed a recombinant protein, termed DT3C, which consists of diphtheria toxin (DT) lacking the receptor-binding domain but containing the C1, C2, and C3 domains of Streptococcus protein G (3C). When a mAb–DT3C conjugate, which functions in vitro like an ADC, reduces the viability of cancer cells, the mAb being tested must have been internalized by the target cells. DT3C can thus be a tool to identify efficiently and easily mAbs that can be internalized by cells, thereby enhancing the development of promising ADCs.     

小鼠杂交瘤单克隆抗体快速制备技术研究进展

小鼠杂交瘤单克隆抗体来源稳定、后期易制备、产量高,是免疫学中使用最为普遍的抗体.传统的耗时费力的杂交瘤制备技术无法满足日益增长的市场需求.文中从抗原设计筛选、B细胞富集与筛选、骨髓瘤细胞的改造、融合技术的改进、阳性杂交瘤细胞筛选及单克隆抗体性能快速测定中所涉及的快速制备技术方面进行阐述,以期为系统化的小鼠杂交瘤单克隆抗...     

Free sulfhydryl in recombinant monoclonal antibodies

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy applications have been growing rapidly in recent years. Like other recombinant protein drugs, therapeutic mAb's need to be well characterized to ensure their structural and functional integrity. IgG mAb's are composed of two heavy and two light chains covalently linked by interchain disulfide bonds. Each domain of the heavy or light chain contains one additional disulfide bond. Native IgG mAb's, with completely formed disulfide bonds, should not bear any free sulfhydryl. This report describes detection and quantification of free sulfhydryl in recombinant mAb's produced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells using a fluorescent technique. The method utilizes the fluorescent probe N-(1-pyrenyl)maleimide (NPM). The purified mAb's appear to be homogeneous under native conditions with approximately 0.02 mol of free sulfhydryl per mole of protein. Upon denaturation, minor species related to the mAb's are observed on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and the free sulfhydryl level is determined to be approximately 0.1 mol/mol of protein. These results suggest that a small portion of these recombinant mAb's lack in intermolecular disulfide bonds but remain noncovalently associated under native conditions. The formation of the free sulfhydryl containing mAb species is likely to occur during the culture process and/or protein folding process in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).     

An ex vivo method for rapid generation of monoclonal antibodies (ADLib system)

Here, we describe a protocol for using the ADLib (Autonomously Diversifying Library) system to rapidly generate specific monoclonal antibodies using DT40, a chicken B-cell line that undergoes constitutive gene conversion at both light- and heavy-chain immunoglobulin loci. We previously developed the ADLib system on the basis of our finding that gene conversion in DT40 cells was enhanced by treatment of the cells with a histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA). TSA treatment evolves a diversified library of DT40 cells (ADLib), in which each cell has different surface IgM specificity. Antigen-specific DT40 cells are selected from ADLib using antigen-conjugated magnetic beads, and their specificity can be examined by various immunological assays, using culture supernatant containing secreted IgM. The whole process from selection to screening can be completed in about 1 week. Thus, the ADLib system will accelerate biological studies, including drug discovery and design.     

Criteria for selecting monoclonal antibodies with respect to accumulation in melanoma tissue

Summary Immunohistology provides a necessary but insufficient criterion for selecting monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) capable of tumour targeting in vivo. Additional selection procedures have been evaluated using a panel of anti-melanoma MAbs, including immunoreactivity of (labelled) MAbs, antibody affinity, kinetics of binding and release, apparent antigen density and accumulation in nude mouse transplants. According to these criteria, MAbs M.2.7.6 and M.2.9.4 showed the most favourable properties, i.e. high immunoreactivity and pronounced internalization into melanoma cells. With MAbs M.2.10.15 and KG 6–56, moderate immunoreactivity and a binding pattern characterized by temperature dependence in the absence of internalization was observed. According to the paired label assay, all four MAbs showed specific accumulation into solid melanoma tissue. However, application in the patient still requires evaluation of the side effects of antigen cross-expression on normal human tissues.     

Forced degradation of recombinant monoclonal antibodies: A practical guide

Forced degradation studies have become integral to the development of recombinant monoclonal antibody therapeutics by serving a variety of objectives from early stage manufacturability evaluation to supporting comparability assessments both pre- and post- marketing approval. This review summarizes the regulatory guidance scattered throughout different documents to highlight the expectations from various agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. The various purposes for forced degradation studies, commonly used conditions and the major degradation pathways under each condition are also discussed.     

EASE vectors for rapid stable expression of recombinant antibodies

Over the past 10 years, monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments have become an increasingly important source of therapeutic molecules in the biotechnology industry. Drug development strategies rely on screening large numbers of candidate molecules in search of an optimized drug candidate. This strategy requires efficient production of ten to a few hundred milligrams of candidate molecules for screening in bioassays and animal models. Typically, this amount of recombinant protein expression involves large numbers of transient transfections or cloning of a recombinant cell line. Both of these approaches are time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this report, we describe the application of an EASE vector system that is capable of generating stable pools of transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells. These pooled populations of cells produce high quantities of antibody candidates without labor-intensive cloning in a 3-5 week time frame. When an optimal drug candidate has been selected, pools generated with EASE-containing vectors can also be used in subsequent cloning steps to make cell lines with improved expression levels. We demonstrate that EASE increases expression in nonamplified pools in addition to increasing amplification and viability of clonal cell lines generated with the EASE-containing vectors compared with pools and cell lines generated without EASE.     

A high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure for the purification of mouse monoclonal antibodies

High-performance liquid chromatography was applied to the purification of monoclonal antibodies from mouse ascites fluid. The method was based on anion-exchange chromatography using a TSK DEAE-5PW column and a gradient elution with 20 mM Tris, pH 8.5, and 20 mM Tris, pH 8.5, containing 2.0 M sodium acetate. The method can be applied to analytic or preparative scale separations. Purified immunoglobulins were isolated from samples of 20 to 100 microliter containing up to 19 mg total protein. The average recovery of total protein was 89 +/- 12%. Recovery of the immunoglobulins, based on recovery of immunological activity, was quantitative. In addition to separating the immunoglobulins from the other serum proteins, the various classes of IgG were resolved.     

Characterization of monoclonal antibodies to glycodelin and recombinant glycodelin

Glycodelin-A belongs to the lipocalin superfamily. Although it is associated with normal endometrial growth during the menstrual cycle, fertilization and normal pregnancy in humans, the molecular mechanism of its biological action has not been elucidated. To undertake studies to understand the functional relevance of any molecule, obtaining large quantities of the protein becomes essential. With the ultimate aim of purifying glycodelin either from its natural sources (human amniotic fluid) or the recombinant glycodelin from bacterial recombinant lysates, we raised monoclonal antibodies to this protein. As immunogens, recombinant glycodelin expressed in E. coli and Pichia pastoris as well as glycodelin from amniotic fluid were used. The monoclonal antibodies generated were characterized with respect to binding to both the native as well as the recombinant proteins using ELISA, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry.     

Discovery and characterization of hydroxylysine in recombinant monoclonal antibodies

Tryptic peptide mapping analysis of a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-expressed, recombinant IgG1 monoclonal antibody revealed a previously unreported +16 Da modification. Through a combination of MSⁿ experiments, and preparation and analysis of known synthetic peptides, the possibility of a sequence variant (Ala to Ser) was ruled out and the presence of hydroxylysine was confirmed. Post-translational hydroxylation of lysine was found in a consensus sequence (XKG) known to be the site of modification in other proteins such as collagen, and was therefore presumed to result from the activity of the CHO homolog of the lysyl hydroxylase complex. Although this consensus sequence was present in several locations in the antibody sequence, only a single site on the heavy-chain Fab was found to be modified.     

Molecular and immunochemical characteristics of monoclonal and recombinant antibodies specific to bisphenol A

Four anti-bisphenol A monoclonal antibodies (mabs) were obtained and each characterized by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Among these mabs, BBA-2187 was the most reactive towards bisphenol A. The quantitation limit of the ELISA assay for bisphenol A was 0.13 ng/ml, which is more sensitive than the other immunoassays reported. Then, the cDNA clones encoding variable heavy and variable light chains of these four mabs were isolated, and used for construction of four single-chain Fv (scFv) antibody genes, which were expressed in Escherichia coli cells. The reactivity of four scFv antibodies towards bisphenol A in ELISA was comparable to those of the parent mabs. The most sensitive assay was achieved with BBA-2187scFv. Its cross-reactivity to the related compounds was similar to that of the parent mab. Based on the reactivity of heterologous combinations of VH and VL fragments, it was found that the unique structure of the framework region 2 in the VL of BBA-2187 appeared to be important for specific assembly together with the VH.