High-throughput generation of synthetic antibodies from highly functional minimalist phage-displayed libraries

We have previously established a minimalist approach to antibody engineering by using a phage-displayed framework to support complementarity determining region (CDR) diversity restricted to a binary code of tyrosine and serine. Here, we systematically augmented the original binary library with additional levels of diversity and examined the effects. The diversity of the simplest library, in which only heavy chain CDR positions were randomized by the binary code, was expanded in a stepwise manner by adding diversity to the light chain, by diversifying non-paratope residues that may influence CDR conformations, and by adding additional chemical diversity to CDR-H3. The additional diversity incrementally improved the affinities of antibodies raised against human vascular endoethelial growth factor and the structure of an antibody-antigen complex showed that tyrosine side-chains are sufficient to mediate most of the interactions with antigen, but a glycine residue in CDR-H3 was critical for providing a conformation suitable for high-affinity binding. Using new high-throughput procedures and the most complex library, we produced multiple high-affinity antibodies with dissociation constants in the single-digit nanomolar range against a wide variety of protein antigens. Thus, this fully synthetic, minimalist library has essentially recapitulated the capacity of the natural immune system to generate high-affinity antibodies. Libraries of this type should be highly useful for proteomic applications, as they minimize inherent complexities of natural antibodies that have hindered the establishment of high-throughput procedures. Furthermore, analysis of a large number of antibodies derived from these well-defined and simplistic libraries allowed us to uncover statistically significant trends in CDR sequences, which provide valuable insights into antibody library design and into factors governing protein-protein interactions.     

Tyrosine plays a dominant functional role in the paratope of a synthetic antibody derived from a four amino acid code

The antigen-binding fragment Fab-YADS2 recognizes vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and was derived from a library with chemical diversity restricted to only four amino acids (Tyr, Ser, Ala and Asp). The structure of the Fab:antigen complex revealed that the structural paratope is dominated by Tyr side-chains. Isothermal titration calorimetry and cell-based assays show that restricted chemical diversity does not limit the affinity or specificity of Fab-YADS2, which behaves in a manner comparable to natural antibodies. Mutagenesis experiments reveal that the functional paratope is dominated by Tyr, which represents 11 of the 15 functionally important residues. However, mutagenesis experiments also indicate that substitution of any of these tyrosine residues by Phe does not significantly affect binding to VEGF. Furthermore, saturation mutagenesis shows that replacement of three functionally important tyrosine residues by combinations of other hydrophobic residues is not only tolerated, but can actually improve affinity. The results support a model for na?ve antigen recognition in which large Tyr side-chains establish binding contacts with antigen, and small Ser and Ala side-chains serve as auxiliaries that help to position Tyr in favorable binding conformations. While Tyr may not be optimal for any particular antigen contact, it is nonetheless capable of mediating favorable interactions with a diverse array of surfaces. Furthermore, the side-chain hydroxyl group makes Tyr significantly more hydrophilic than Phe and other hydrophobic amino acids. Increased hydrophilicity may reduce non-specific binding in the unbound state, and this may be critical for a na?ve repertoire that is exposed to a diverse range of potential antigenic surfaces. The results show that the chemical nature of Tyr endows the amino acid with a privileged role in antigen recognition, and this likely explains the high abundance of Tyr in natural antigen-binding sites.     

噬菌体抗体库筛选技术

噬菌体展示技术（Ｐｈａｇｅ Ｄｉｓｐｌａｙ Ｔｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｙ）为制备高亲和性抗体提供了有力的工具。噬菌体抗体库的筛选是其中关键的环节,为了提高筛选效率,用包被在固体表面的抗原进行筛选的传统方法不断地被改进,如宿主菌直接洗脱和双层膜筛选系统和抗抗体替代抗原筛选系统。将噬菌体感染宿主菌的过程与筛选过程相关联,产生了选择性感染筛选系统。     

A structure-based database of antibody variable domain diversity

The diversity of natural antibodies is limited by the genetic mechanisms that engender diversity and the functional requirements of antigen binding. Using an in vitro-evolved autonomous heavy chain variable domain (V(H)H-RIG), we have investigated the limits of structurally-tolerated diversity in the three complementarity-determining regions and a fourth loop within the third framework region. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of the V(H)H-RIG domain at 1.9A resolution and used it to guide the design of phage-displayed libraries encompassing the four loops. The libraries were subjected to selections for structural stability, and a database of structurally-tolerated sequences was compiled from the sequences of approximately 1000 unique clones. The results reveal that all four loops accommodate significantly greater diversity than is observed in nature. Thus, it appears that most sequence biases in the natural immune repertoire arise from factors other than structural constraints and, consequently, it should be possible to enhance the functions of antibodies significantly through in vitro evolution.     

Comprehensive functional maps of the antigen-binding site of an anti-ErbB2 antibody obtained with shotgun scanning mutagenesis

Shotgun scanning combinatorial mutagenesis was used to study the antigen-binding site of Fab2C4, a humanized monoclonal antibody fragment that binds to the extracellular domain of the human oncogene product ErbB2. Essentially all the residues in the Fab2C4 complementarity determining regions (CDRs) were alanine-scanned using phage-displayed libraries that preferentially allowed side-chains to vary as the wild-type or alanine. A separate homolog-scan was performed using libraries that allowed side-chains to vary only as the wild-type or a similar amino acid residue. Following binding selections to isolate functional clones, DNA sequencing was used to determine the wild-type/mutant ratios at each varied position, and these ratios were used to assess the contributions of each side-chain to antigen binding. The alanine-scan revealed that most of the side-chains that contribute to antigen binding are located in the heavy chain, and the Fab2C4 three-dimensional structure revealed that these residues fall into two groups. The first group consists of solvent-exposed residues which likely make energetically favorable contacts with the antigen and thus comprise the functional-binding epitope. The second group consists of buried residues with side-chains that pack against other CDR residues and apparently act as scaffolding to maintain the functional epitope in a binding-competent conformation. The homolog-scan involved subtle mutations, and as a result, only a subset of the side-chains that were intolerant to alanine substitutions were also intolerant to homologous substitutions. In particular, the 610 A2 functional epitope surface revealed by alanine-scanning shrunk to only 369 A2 when mapped with homologous substitutions, suggesting that this smaller subset of side-chains may be involved in more precise contacts with the antigen. The results validate shotgun scanning as a rapid and accurate method for determining the functional contributions of individual side-chains involved in protein-protein interactions.     

Large scale production of phage antibody libraries using a bioreactor

One of the limitations of the use of phage antibody libraries in high throughput selections is the production of sufficient phage antibody library at the appropriate quality. Here, we successfully adapt a bioreactor-based protocol for the production of phage peptide libraries to the production of phage antibody libraries. The titers obtained in the stirred-tank bioreactor are 4 to 5 times higher than in a standard shake flask procedure, and the quality of the phage antibody library produced is indistinguishable to that produced using standard procedures as assessed by Western blotting and functional selections. Availability of this protocol will facilitate the use of phage antibody libraries in high-throughput scale selections.     

Large scale production of phage antibody libraries using a bioreactor

One of the limitations of the use of phage antibody libraries in high throughput selections is the production of sufficient phage antibody library at the appropriate quality. Here, we successfully adapt a bioreactor-based protocol for the production of phage peptide libraries to the production of phage antibody libraries. The titers obtained in the stirred-tank bioreactor are 4 to 5 times higher than in a standard shake flask procedure, and the quality of the phage antibody library produced is indistinguishable to that produced using standard procedures as assessed by Western blotting and functional selections. Availability of this protocol will facilitate the use of phage antibody libraries in high-throughput scale selections.     

Phage antibody display libraries: a powerful antibody discovery platform for immunotherapy

Phage display technology (PDT), a combinatorial screening approach, provides a molecular diversity tool for creating libraries of peptides/proteins and discovery of new recombinant therapeutics. Expression of proteins such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) on the surface of filamentous phage can permit the selection of high affinity and specificity therapeutic mAbs against virtually any target antigen. Using a number of diverse selection platforms (e.g. solid phase, solution phase, whole cell and in vivo biopannings), phage antibody libraries (PALs) from the start point provides great potential for the isolation of functional mAb fragments with diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. Given the pivotal role of PDT in the discovery of novel therapeutic/diagnostic mAbs, in the current review, we provide an overview on PALs and discuss their impact in the advancement of engineered mAbs.     

Molecular recognition by a binary code

Functional antibodies were obtained from a library of antigen-binding sites generated by a binary code restricted to tyrosine and serine. An antibody raised against human vascular endothelial growth factor recognized the antigen with high affinity (K(D)=60 nM) and high specificity in cell-based assays. The crystal structure of another antigen binding fragment in complex with its antigen (human death receptor DR5) revealed the structural basis for this minimalist mode of molecular recognition. Natural antigen-binding sites are enriched for tyrosine and serine, and we show that these amino acid residues are intrinsically well suited for molecular recognition. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that molecular recognition can evolve from even the simplest chemical diversity.     

A Two-in-One antibody engineered from a humanized interleukin 4 antibody through mutation in heavy chain complementarity-determining regions

A mono-specific antibody may recruit a second antigen binding specificity, thus converting to a dual-specific Two-in-One antibody through mutation at the light chain complementarity-determining regions (CDRs). It is, however, unknown whether mutation at the heavy chain CDRs may evolve such dual specificity. Herein, we examined the CDRs of a humanized interleukin 4 (IL4) antibody using alanine scanning and structural modeling, designed libraries of mutants in regions that tolerate mutation, and isolated dual specific antibodies harboring mutation at the heavy chain CDRs only. We then affinity improved an IL4/IL5 dual specific antibody to variants with dissociation constants in the low nanomolar range for both antigens. The results demonstrate the full capacity of antibodies to evolve dual binding specificity.     

A Two-in-One antibody engineered from a humanized interleukin 4 antibody through mutation in heavy chain complementarity-determining regions

A mono-specific antibody may recruit a second antigen binding specificity, thus converting to a dual-specific Two-in-One antibody through mutation at the light chain complementarity-determining regions (CDRs). It is, however, unknown whether mutation at the heavy chain CDRs may evolve such dual specificity. Herein, we examined the CDRs of a humanized interleukin 4 (IL4) antibody using alanine scanning and structural modeling, designed libraries of mutants in regions that tolerate mutation, and isolated dual specific antibodies harboring mutation at the heavy chain CDRs only. We then affinity improved an IL4/IL5 dual specific antibody to variants with dissociation constants in the low nanomolar range for both antigens. The results demonstrate the full capacity of antibodies to evolve dual binding specificity.     

人源抗EPO基因工程抗体重链可变区的克隆和鉴定

利用噬菌体抗体显示技术筛选 EPO的人源抗体 ,得到了抗 EPO的人源抗体的重链基因。此抗体基因在噬菌体表面呈现的抗体分子具有良好的抗体活性和特异性。为制备完整的、具有更高亲和力的抗体打下了基础。     

High-affinity human antibodies from phage-displayed synthetic Fab libraries with a single framework scaffold

Phage-displayed synthetic antibody libraries were built on a single human framework by introducing synthetic diversity at solvent-exposed positions within the heavy chain complementarity-determining regions (CDRs). The design strategy of mimicking natural diversity using tailored codons had been validated previously with scFv libraries, which produced antibodies that bound to antigen, murine vascular endothelial growth factor (mVEGF), with affinities in the 100nM range. To improve library performance, we constructed monovalent and bivalent antigen-binding fragment (Fab) libraries, and explored different CDR-H3 diversities by varying the amino acid composition and CDR length. A Fab with sub-nanomolar affinity for mVEGF was obtained from a library with CDR-H3 diversity designed to contain all 20 naturally occurring amino acids. We then expanded the library by increasing the variability of CDR-H3 length and using tailored codons that mimicked the amino acid composition of natural CDR-H3 sequences. The library was tested against a panel of 13 protein antigens and high-affinity Fabs were obtained for most antigens. Furthermore, the heavy chain of an anti-mVEGF clone was recombined with a library of light chain CDRs, and the affinity was improved from low nanomolar to low picomolar. The results demonstrated that high-affinity human antibodies can be generated from libraries with completely synthetic CDRs displayed on a single scaffold.     

Comprehensive mutagenesis of the C-terminal domain of the M13 gene-3 minor coat protein: the requirements for assembly into the bacteriophage particle

Filamentous bacteriophage assemble at the host membrane in a non-lytic process; the gene-3 minor coat protein (P3) is required for release from the membrane and subsequently, for recognition and infection of a new host. P3 contains at least three distinct domains: two N-terminal domains that mediate host recognition and infection, and a C-terminal domain (P3-C) that is required for release from the host cell following phage assembly and contributes to the structural stability of the phage particle. A comprehensive mutational analysis of the 150 residue P3-C revealed that only 24 side-chains, located within the last 70 residues of sequence, were necessary for efficient incorporation into a wild-type coat. The results reveal that the requirements for the assembly of P3 into the phage particle are quite lax and involve only a few key side-chains. These findings shed light on the functional and structural requirements for filamentous phage assembly, and they may provide guidelines for the engineering of improved coat proteins as scaffolds for phage display technology.     

A minimized M13 coat protein defines the requirements for assembly into the bacteriophage particle

The M13 filamentous bacteriophage coat is a symmetric array of several thousand alpha-helical major coat proteins (P8) that surround the DNA core. P8 molecules initially reside in the host membrane and subsequently transition into their role as coat proteins during the phage assembly process. A comprehensive mutational analysis of the 50-residue P8 sequence revealed that only a small subset of the side-chains were necessary for efficient incorporation into a wild-type (wt) coat. In the three-dimensional structure of P8, these side-chains cluster into three functional epitopes: a hydrophobic epitope located near the N terminus and two epitopes (one hydrophobic and the other basic) located near the C terminus on opposite faces of the helix. The results support a model for assembly in which the incorporation of P8 is mediated by intermolecular interactions involving these functional epitopes. In this model, the N-terminal hydrophobic epitope docks with P8 molecules already assembled into the phage particle in the periplasm, and the basic epitope interacts with the acidic DNA backbone in the cytoplasm. These interactions could facilitate the transition of P8 from the membrane into the assembling phage, and the incorporation of a single P8 would be completed by the docking of additional P8 molecules with the second hydrophobic epitope at the C terminus. We constructed a minimized P8 that contained only nine non-Ala side-chains yet retained all three functional epitopes. The minimized P8 assembled into the wt coat almost as efficiently as wt P8, thus defining the minimum requirements for protein incorporation into the filamentous phage coat. The results suggest possible mechanisms of natural viral evolution and establish guidelines for the artificial evolution of improved coat proteins for phage display technology.     

Rabbit immune repertoires as sources for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies: the impact of kappa allotype-correlated variation in cysteine content on antibody libraries selected by phage display

The rabbit immune repertoire has long been a rich source of diagnostic polyclonal antibodies. Now it also holds great promise as a source of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. On the basis of phage display technology, we recently reported the first humanization of a rabbit monoclonal antibody. The allotypic diversity of rabbit immunoglobulins prompted us to compare different rabbit immune repertoires for the generation and humanization of monoclonal antibodies that bind with strong affinity to antigens involved in tumor angiogenesis. In particular, we evaluated the diversity of unselected and selected chimeric rabbit/human Fab libraries that were derived from different kappa light chain allotypes. Most rabbit light chains have an extra disulfide bridge that links the variable and constant domains in addition to the two intrachain disulfide bridges shared with mouse and human kappa light chains. Here we evaluate the impact of this increased disulfide bridge complexity on the generation and selection of chimeric rabbit/human Fab libraries. We demonstrate that rabbits with mutant bas and wild-type parental b9 allotypes are excellent sources for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Featured among the selected clones with b9 allotype is a rabbit/human Fab that binds with a dissociation constant of 1nM to both human and mouse Tie-2, which will facilitate its evaluation in mouse models of human cancer. Examination of 228 new rabbit antibody sequences allowed for a comprehensive comparison of the LCDR3 and HCDR3 length diversity in rabbits. This study revealed that rabbits exhibit an HCDR3 length distribution more closely related to human antibodies than mouse antibodies.     

Domain libraries: Synthetic diversity for de novo design of antibody V-regions

A completely synthetic gene library encoding the variable light (VL) immunoglobulin domains has been constructed in vitro. The library was constructed by assembling a set of six oligodeoxyribonucleotides (oligos) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Three out of the six overlapping oligonucleotides were synthesized with randomized complementarity determining regions (CDR) with the codon pattern, (NNS)_n, where N is any of the four nucleotides (nt) and n is the number of codons with variation in the CDR. The framework regions, taken from the D1.3 anti-lysozyme antibody (Ab), were kept intact. Overlapping regions of approx. 20 nt, together with two additional flanking primers carrying the desired restriction sites, allowed the construction of a library in one single PCR reaction. The VL library was cloned into the phage display vector pEXmide3, and ten randomly picked clones were sequenced. These sequences exhibited complete diversity in all the three CDR and the codons for five canonical amino acid (aa) residues were kept intact and identified. Seven clones contained the full-length gene for the VL domain while deletions were observed in three clones. The restricted use of nt at the third position successfully avoided the stop codons TGA and TAA, whereas the stop codon TAG is read as Gln in an amber suppressor strain. We call this synthetic Ab diversity Domain Library, and it represents an example of syntheticlibraries with extensive, multiple randomized sequences. The use of Domain Libraries opens up the possibility for design in Ab engineering, e.g., additional CDR regions can be added or their length varied. Furthermore, the use of synthetic gene libraries, constructed with the Domain Library strategy, is not limited to the construction of synthetic Ab fragments, but can be used in the design of other types of proteins.     

Length of the antibody heavy chain complementarity determining region 3 as a specificity-determining factor

The antigen binding site of an antibody is made up of residues residing in six hypervariable loops of the heavy and light chains. In most cases several or all of these loops are required for the establishment of the antigen-binding surface. Five of these loops display a limited diversity in length and sequence while the third complementarity determining region (CDR) of the heavy chain is highly different between antibodies not only with respect to sequence but also with respect to length. Its extensive diversity is a key component in the establishment of binding sites allowing for the recognition of essentially any antigen by humoral immunity. The relative importance of its sequence vs its length diversity in this context is however, not very well established. To investigate this matter further we have used an approach employing combinatorial antibody libraries and antigen-specific selection in the search for CDRH3 length and sequence diversity compatible with a given antigen specificity, the major antigenic determinant on the tumour-associated antigen mucin-1. In this way we have now defined heavy chain CDR3 length as a critical parameter in the creation of an antigen-specific binding site. We also propose that this may reflect a dependence of a particular structure of this hypervariable loop, the major carrier of diversity in the binding site, for establishment of a given specificity.     

A phage display system for studying the sequence determinants of protein folding.

We have developed a phage display system that provides a means to select variants of the IgG binding domain of peptostreptococcal protein L that fold from large combinatorial libraries. The premise underlying the selection scheme is that binding of protein L to IgG requires that the protein be properly folded. Using a combination of molecular biological and biophysical methods, we show that this assumption is valid. First, the phage selection procedure strongly selects against a point mutation in protein L that disrupts folding but is not in the IgG binding interface. Second, variants recovered from a library in which the first third of protein L was randomized are properly folded. The degree of sequence variation in the selected population is striking: the variants have as many as nine substitutions in the 14 residues that were mutagenized. The approach provides a selection for "foldedness" that is potentially applicable to any small binding protein.     

Display of somatostatin-related peptides in the complementarity determining regions of an antibody light chain

Peptide display in antibody complementarity determining regions (CDRs) offers several advantages over other peptide display systems including the potential to graft heterologous peptide sequences into multiple positions in the same backbone molecule. Despite the presence of six CDRs in an antibody variable domain, the majority of insertions reported have been made in heavy chain CDR3 (h-CDR3) which may be explained in part by the highly variable length and sequence diversity found in h-CDR3 in native antibodies. The ability to graft peptide sequences into CDRs is restricted by amino acids in these loops that make structural contacts to framework regions or are oriented towards the hydrophobic interior and are important for the proper folding of the antibody. To identify such positions in human kappa-light chain CDR1 (kappa-CDR1) and CDR2 (kappa-CDR2), we performed alignments of 1330 kappa-light chain variable region amino acid sequences and 19 variable region X-ray crystal structures. From analyses of these alignments, we predict insertion points where sequences can be grafted into kappa-CDR1 and kappa-CDR2 to prepare synthetic antibody molecules. We then tested these predictions by inserting somatostatin and somatostatin-related sequences into kappa-CDR1 and kappa-CDR2, and analyzing the expression and ability of the modified antibodies to bind to membranes containing somatostatin receptor 5. These results expand the repertoire of CDRs that can be used for the display of heterologous peptides in the CDRs of antibodies.