新生儿Fc受体研究进展

新生儿Fc受体(FcRn)是由α链和β链两个亚基以非共价键的形式组成的异源二聚体,在免疫球蛋白IgG转运和代谢中发挥着重要作用.对FcRn的分子结构、转运机制及其功能进行了综述.     

Regulation of the Formyl Peptide Receptor 1 (FPR1) Gene in Primary Human Macrophages

The formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR1) is mainly expressed by mammalian phagocytic leukocytes and plays a role in chemotaxis, killing of microorganisms through phagocytosis, and the generation of reactive oxygen species. A large number of ligands have been identified triggering FPR1 including formylated and non-formylated peptides of microbial and endogenous origin. While the expression of FPR1 in neutrophils has been investigated intensively, knowledge on the regulation of FPR1 expression in polarized macrophages is lacking. In this study we show that primary human neutrophils, monocytes and resting macrophages do express the receptor on their cell surface. Polarization of macrophages with IFNγ, LPS and with the TLR8 ligand 3M-002 further increases FPR1 mRNA levels but does not consistently increase protein expression or chemotaxis towards the FPR1 ligand fMLF. In contrast, polarization of primary human macrophages with IL-4 and IL-13 leading to the alternative activated macrophages, reduces FPR1 cell surface expression and abolishes chemotaxis towards fMLF. These results show that M2 macrophages will not react to triggering of FPR1, limiting the role for FPR1 to chemotaxis and superoxide production of resting and pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages.     

Extending Serum Half-life of Albumin by Engineering Neonatal Fc Receptor (FcRn) Binding

A major challenge for the therapeutic use of many peptides and proteins is their short circulatory half-life. Albumin has an extended serum half-life of 3 weeks because of its size and FcRn-mediated recycling that prevents intracellular degradation, properties shared with IgG antibodies. Engineering the strictly pH-dependent IgG-FcRn interaction is known to extend IgG half-life. However, this principle has not been extensively explored for albumin. We have engineered human albumin by introducing single point mutations in the C-terminal end that generated a panel of variants with greatly improved affinities for FcRn. One variant (K573P) with 12-fold improved affinity showed extended serum half-life in normal mice, mice transgenic for human FcRn, and cynomolgus monkeys. Importantly, favorable binding to FcRn was maintained when a single-chain fragment variable antibody was genetically fused to either the N- or the C-terminal end. The engineered albumin variants may be attractive for improving the serum half-life of biopharmaceuticals.     

Dissection of the Neonatal Fc Receptor (FcRn)-Albumin Interface Using Mutagenesis and Anti-FcRn Albumin-blocking Antibodies

Albumin is the most abundant protein in blood and plays a pivotal role as a multitransporter of a wide range of molecules such as fatty acids, metabolites, hormones, and toxins. In addition, it binds a variety of drugs. Its role as distributor is supported by its extraordinary serum half-life of 3 weeks. This is related to its size and binding to the cellular receptor FcRn, which rescues albumin from intracellular degradation. Furthermore, the long half-life has fostered a great and increasing interest in utilization of albumin as a carrier of protein therapeutics and chemical drugs. However, to fully understand how FcRn acts as a regulator of albumin homeostasis and to take advantage of the FcRn-albumin interaction in drug design, the interaction interface needs to be dissected. Here, we used a panel of monoclonal antibodies directed towards human FcRn in combination with site-directed mutagenesis and structural modeling to unmask the binding sites for albumin blocking antibodies and albumin on the receptor, which revealed that the interaction is not only strictly pH-dependent, but predominantly hydrophobic in nature. Specifically, we provide mechanistic evidence for a crucial role of a cluster of conserved tryptophan residues that expose a pH-sensitive loop of FcRn, and identify structural differences in proximity to these hot spot residues that explain divergent cross-species binding properties of FcRn. Our findings expand our knowledge of how FcRn is controlling albumin homeostasis at a molecular level, which will guide design and engineering of novel albumin variants with altered transport properties.     

雌激素调节人血管紧张肽原基因表达的顺式作用元件分析

为了鉴定人血管紧张肽原（ＡＧＴ）基因的雌激素调控元件,在ＡＧＴ基因转录起始点和ＴＡＴＡ框之间的一段核苷酸序列与雌激素应答元件共有寡核苷酸序列高度同源,通过电泳迁移率变动分析,证明该ＤＮＡ序列为雌激素应答元件（ＨＡＧ ＥＲＥ）。将带有ＨＡＧＥＲＥ的ＡＧＴ基因核心启动子同氯霉素乙酰转移酶（ＣＡＴ）报道基因融合,或将多拷贝ＨＡＧ ＥＲＥ同ＴＫ核心启动子连接,再与ＣＡＴ基因融合,构成表达载体,与人雌激素     

The raspberry Gene Is Involved in the Regulation of the Cellular Immune Response in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila is an extremely useful model organism for understanding how innate immune mechanisms defend against microbes and parasitoids. Large foreign objects trigger a potent cellular immune response in Drosophila larva. In the case of endoparasitoid wasp eggs, this response includes hemocyte proliferation, lamellocyte differentiation and eventual encapsulation of the egg. The encapsulation reaction involves the attachment and spreading of hemocytes around the egg, which requires cytoskeletal rearrangements, changes in adhesion properties and cell shape, as well as melanization of the capsule. Guanine nucleotide metabolism has an essential role in the regulation of pathways necessary for this encapsulation response. Here, we show that the Drosophila inosine 5''-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), encoded by raspberry (ras), is centrally important for a proper cellular immune response against eggs from the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi. Notably, hemocyte attachment to the egg and subsequent melanization of the capsule are deficient in hypomorphic ras mutant larvae, which results in a compromised cellular immune response and increased survival of the parasitoid.     

重组腺相关病毒2型/人肿瘤坏死因子受体:Fc(rAAV2/hTNFR:Fc)的构建和生物学活性研究

为研究腺相关病毒2型载体应用于类风湿性关节炎进行基因治疗的可行性,首先构建携带人肿瘤坏死因子Ⅱ型受体胞外区和人免疫球蛋白IgG1Fc段融合基因的重组2型腺相关病毒(rAAV2／hTNFR：Fc),并对其生物学活性进行研究。以RT—PCR分别从U937和人淋巴细胞总RNA中扩增人肿瘤坏死因子Ⅱ型受体胞外区和人免疫球蛋白IgG1Fc段基因,并以重叠延伸PCR的方法将二者融合后克隆入pSNAV1载体质粒进行重组病毒生产,在进行重组病毒理化分析后,以TNFa细胞毒中和试验来研究该重组病毒的生物学活性。结果显示：所构建的重组病毒rAAV2／hTNFR：Fc基因结构与预期一致;病毒在体外感染BHK-21细胞后,含TNFR：Fc融合蛋白的表达上清可以有效中和人、大鼠、小鼠TNFα对L929的细胞毒性。所研究构建的重组腺相关病毒可以用来作为阻断TNFα的手段,进行类风湿性关节炎的基因治疗研究。     

X-ray Crystal Structures of Monomeric and Dimeric Peptide Inhibitors in Complex with the Human Neonatal Fc Receptor,FcRn

The neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn, is responsible for the long half-life of IgG molecules in vivo and is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. A family of peptides comprising the consensus motif GHFGGXY, where X is preferably a hydrophobic amino acid, was shown previously to inhibit the human IgG:human FcRn protein-protein interaction (Mezo, A. R., McDonnell, K. A., Tan Hehir, C. A., Low, S. C., Palombella, V. J., Stattel, J. M., Kamphaus, G. D., Fraley, C., Zhang, Y., Dumont, J. A., and Bitonti, A. J. (2008) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 105, 2337–2342). Herein, the x-ray crystal structure of a representative monomeric peptide in complex with human FcRn was solved to 2.6 Å resolution. The structure shows that the peptide binds to human FcRn at the same general binding site as does the Fc domain of IgG. The data correlate well with structure-activity relationship data relating to how the peptide family binds to human FcRn. In addition, the x-ray crystal structure of a representative dimeric peptide in complex with human FcRn shows how the bivalent ligand can bridge two FcRn molecules, which may be relevant to the mechanism by which the dimeric peptides inhibit FcRn and increase IgG catabolism in vivo. Modeling of the peptide:FcRn structure as compared with available structural data on Fc and FcRn suggest that the His-6 and Phe-7 (peptide) partially mimic the interaction of His-310 and Ile-253 (Fc) in binding to FcRn, but using a different backbone topology.     

Human Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide Receptor: Cloning of the Gene (GIPR) and cDNA

Gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), which is released from the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells and plays a crucial role in the regulation of insulin secretion during the postprandial phase. We have isolated the human gene (GIPR) and cDNA encoding the GIP receptor by a combination of the conventional screening and polymerase chain reaction procedures. Human GIP receptor cDNA encodes a protein of 466 amino acids that is 81.5 and 81.2% identical to the previously cloned hamster and rat GIP receptor, respectively. Hydropathic analysis shows the presence of a signal peptide and seven potential transmembrane domains, a feature characteristic of the VIP/glucagon/secretin receptor family of G protein-coupled receptors. The human GIPR gene is about 13.8 kb long, consists of 14 exons, and carries 17Alurepeats.     

Transgenic Rabbits That Overexpress the Neonatal Fc Receptor (FcRn) Generate Higher Quantities and Improved Qualities of Anti-Thymocyte Globulin (ATG)

Immune suppression with rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (rATG) is a well-established therapeutic concept for preventing host rejection of transplanted organs and graft versus host disease. Increasing the efficiency of rATG production by reducing the number of animals would be highly beneficial to lower cost and to improve quality standards. We have developed transgenic (Tg) mice and rabbits that overexpress the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) and have shown an augmented humoral immune response in these animals. To test whether our FcRn Tg rabbits produced rATG more efficiently, we immunized them and their New Zealand White controls with live Jurkat cells. By day 21 after immunization, Tg animals produced significantly, 1.5 times higher amount of total IgG compared to their wt littermates. Also, the binding efficiency of Tg sera to Jurkat cells and their complement-mediated cytotoxicity was significantly higher. The purified Tg IgG preparation contained 2.6 the amount of Jurkat specific IgG as the wt preparation analyzed by complement-mediated lysis, suggesting greater antigen-specific B cell activation in the Tg rabbits. To test this hypothesis, immunization with ovalbumin and human α₁-antitrypsin was performed, resulting in significantly greater numbers of antigen-specific B-cells in the FcRn Tg rabbits as compared with wt controls. The shift towards significantly larger populations of antigen-specific B cells relative to the non-specific B cell pool is further corroborated by our previous findings in FcRn Tg mice. Consequently, our FcRn Tg rabbits have the potential to offer substantial qualitative and quantitative improvements for the production of rATG and other polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies.     

Association of bovine neonatal Fc receptor a-chain gene (FCGRT) haplotypes with serum IgG concentration in newborn calves

This report describes allelic variation in FCGRT (which encodes the a-chain of FcRn) and its association with variation of IgG concentration in neonatal calves. Five SNPs were identified by sequencing 1305 bp of FCGRT genomic DNA from a multi-breed panel of 96 cattle and 27 founders of a reference population. These SNPs defined five FCGRT haplotypes that were verified by segregation and used to test association of FCGRT with neonatal IgG concentration in a case-control study. This study established that dams with FCGRT haplotype 3 had a significantly greater risk of failure of passive transfer in their calves (odds ratio [OR] = 3.80, CI95% 1.10–13.18, p = 0.035). Calves with FCGRT haplotype 2 were less likely to have high levels of passively acquired immunoglobulin (OR = 0.18, CI95% 0.05–0.68, p = 0.011). These results indicate that the bovine FCGRT haplotype markers are in linkage disequilibrium with genetic risk factors affecting passive transfer of IgG in beef cattle, an important determinant of neonatal calf morbidity and mortality.     

The NMDA Receptor NR1 Subunit is Critically Involved in the Regulation of NMDA Receptor Activity by C-terminal Src kinase (Csk)

Previous studies have shown that Csk plays critical roles in the regulation of neural development, differentiation and glutamate-mediated synaptic plasticity. It has been found that Csk associates with the NR2A and 2B subunits of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in a Src activity-dependent manner and serves as an intrinsic mechanism to provide a “brake” on the induction of long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) mediated by NMDARs. In contrast to the NR2A and 2B subunits, no apparent tyrosine phosphorylation is found in the NR1 subunit of NMDARs. Here, we report that Csk can also associate with the NR1 subunit in a Src activity-dependent manner. The truncation of the NR1 subunit C-tail which contains only one tyrosine (Y837) significantly reduced the Csk association with the NR1-1a/NR2A receptor complex. Furthermore, we found that either the truncation of NR2A C-tail at aa 857 or the mutation of Y837 in the NR1-1a subunit to phenylalanine blocked the inhibition of NR1-1a/NR2A receptors induced by intracellular application of Csk. Thus, both the NR1 and NR2 subunits are required for the regulation of NMDAR activity by Csk.     

Cross-species Binding Analyses of Mouse and Human Neonatal Fc Receptor Show Dramatic Differences in Immunoglobulin G and Albumin Binding

The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) regulates the serum half-life of both IgG and albumin through a pH-dependent mechanism that involves salvage from intracellular degradation. Therapeutics and diagnostics built on IgG, Fc, and albumin fusions are frequently evaluated in rodents regarding biodistribution and pharmacokinetics. Thus, it is important to address cross-species ligand reactivity with FcRn, because in vivo testing of such molecules is done in the presence of competing murine ligands, both in wild type (WT) and human FcRn (hFcRn) transgenic mice. Here, binding studies were performed in vitro using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and surface plasmon resonance with recombinant soluble forms of human (shFcRn^WT) and mouse (smFcRn^WT) receptors. No binding of albumin from either species was observed at physiological pH to either receptor. At acidic pH, a 100-fold difference in binding affinity was observed. Specifically, smFcRn^WT bound human serum albumin with a K_D of ∼90 μm, whereas shFcRn^WT bound mouse serum albumin with a K_D of 0.8 μm. shFcRn^WT ignored mouse IgG1, and smFcRn^WT bound strongly to human IgG1. The latter pair also interacted at physiological pH with calculated affinity in the micromolar range. In all cases, binding of albumin and IgG from either species to both receptors were additive. Cross-species albumin binding differences could partly be explained by non-conserved amino acids found within the α2-domain of the receptor. Such distinct cross-species FcRn binding differences must be taken into consideration when IgG- and albumin-based therapeutics and diagnostics are evaluated in rodents for their pharmacokinetics.     

Differential Regulation of Transferrin Receptor Gene Expression in Human Hemopoietic Cells: Molecular and Cellular Aspects

Abstract

As we have shown earlier (-)¹²⁵lodocyanopindolol (¹²⁵ICYP) binding to β-adrenoceptors (β-AR) in human mononuclear leucocytes (MNL) yields evidence for the existence of high affinity (B_hiaff) and low affinity (B_loaff) binding sites. We studied the regulation of these 2 classes of binding sites during 240 min of (-)-epinephrine (EPI) infusion (0.1 μg/kg/min) (n=8) in male healthy volunteers. Saturation experiments were performed on MNL membranes with ¹²⁵ICYP over a large concentration range (1–550 pmol/l). Binding parameters were calculated by computer analysis assuming 2 classes of binding sites. We found a preinfusion value of 830±50 [sites/cell] (K_D=1.5±0.2 pmol/l) of B_hiaff binding sites and 5210±510 [sites/cell] (K_D=420±80 pmol/l) of B_loaff. During EPI infusion we observed biphasic modulation of the B_hiaff and an inverse modulation of the B_loaff. After 40 min of EPI B_hiaff increased to 1970±280 [sites/cell] (K_D=4.2±0.8 pmol/l), whereas B_loaff decreased to 2720±280 [sites/cell] (K_D=140±70 pmol/l); despite constant plasma epinephrine concentration (PEC) after 240 min of EPI B_hiaff changed to 1310±240 [sites/cell] (K_D=2.8±1.0 pmol/l) vs. 4370±760 [sites/cell] (K_D=190±100 pmol/l) B_loaff. These results suggest an interdependent inverse modulation of the 2 classes of binding sites for ¹²⁵ICYP on MNL during EPI infusion.     

Association of FcRn Heavy Chain Encoding Gene (FCGRT) Polymorphisms with IgG Content in Bovine Colostrum

In this study, we evaluated haplotypes of the bovine FCGRT (encoding the FcRn heavy chain) and their relationship to the IgG concentration in bovine colostrum. Four single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), classified into five haplotypes, were identified in a total of 49 Holstein-Frisians cows. Haplotype 5 was found to be significantly associated with a high IgG level ([OR] = 9.90, 95%CI = 1.11–88.34, p = 0.016) and haplotype 2 exhibited a similar trend ([OR] = 2.89, 95%CI = 1.17–7.11, p = 0.019).