Engineered high-affinity nanobodies recognizing staphylococcal Protein A and suitable for native isolation of protein complexes

In addition to its high affinity for antibody Fc domains, staphylococcal Protein A has been shown to bind certain Fab domains. We investigated this in order to develop a small, recombinant Protein A-binding alternative to immunoglobulin G (IgG) from nanobodies, single-domain antibodies derived from a camelid variant IgG’s variable region. We engineered a nanobody with affinity solely for Protein A as well as a dimerized version of higher affinity for typical multidomain Protein A constructs. Because this recombinant nanobody can be immobilized using a cleavable crosslinker, it has proven to be suitable for the isolation and mild elution of protein complexes in native conditions.     

抗c-Myc标签纳米抗体的筛选与应用

目的: 以c-Myc-GST蛋白为靶分子,从纳米抗体噬菌体展示免疫文库中筛选能够特异性识别c-Myc标签(EQKLISEEDL)的纳米抗体。方法: 采用固相淘选技术,筛选出能与c-Myc标签特异性结合的噬菌体,phage-ELISA鉴定阳性克隆并测序,通过基因重组技术将阳性噬菌体编码的纳米抗体基因克隆至原核表达载体pET25b(+),再转化至大肠杆菌Rosetta(DE3),IPTG诱导表达,SDS-PAGE分析重组蛋白表达情况。采用间接ELISA和量子点免疫荧光法验证纳米抗体的结合活性和特异性。结果: 通过4轮固相淘选,具有结合活性的噬菌体克隆得到了有效富集,回收率提高了145倍,阳性率从20.83%提高至85.4%。将phage-ELISA鉴定显色值高的两个纳米抗体A25和A26分别进行了重组表达,SDS-PAGE结果显示均为可溶性表达,表达量为60 mg/L。间接ELISA结果表明重组蛋白A25和A26都能够识别c-Myc标签,量子点免疫荧光法验证得到纳米抗体A25能够对SP2/0细胞内的c-Myc蛋白进行检测。结论: 成功地筛选出与c-Myc标签结合的纳米抗体噬菌体克隆,构建了两个抗c-Myc标签纳米抗体的原核表达载体并实现了可溶性表达,为检测胞内c-Myc蛋白奠定了基础。     

Nanobodies as novel therapeutic agents in envenomation

Background

An effective therapy against envenoming should be a priority in view of the high number scorpion stings and snakebites. Serum therapy is still widely applied to treat the envenomation victims; however this approach suffers from several shortcomings. The employment of monoclonal antibodies might be an outcome as these molecules are at the core of a variety of applications from protein structure determination to cancer treatment. The progress of activities in the twilight zone between genetic and antibody engineering have led to the development of a unique class of antibody fragments. These molecules possess several benefits and lack many possible disadvantages over classical antibodies. Within recombinant antibody formats, nanobodies or single domain antigen binding fragments derived from heavy chain only antibodies in camelids occupy a privileged position.

A nanobody directed to a functional epitope on VEGF,as a novel strategy for cancer treatment

Compelling evidence suggests that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), due to its essential role in angiogenesis, is a critical target for cancer treatment. Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against VEGF are important class of drugs used in cancer therapy. However, the cost of production, large size, and immunogenicity are main drawbacks of conventional monoclonal therapy. Nanobodies are the smallest antigen-binding antibody fragments, which occur naturally in camelidae. Because of their remarkable features, we decided to use an immune library of nanobody to direct phage display to recognition of novel functional epitopes on VEGF. Four rounds of selection were performed and six phage-displayed nanobodies were obtained from an immune phage library. The most reactive clone in whole-cell ELISA experiments, was purified and assessed in proliferation inhibition assay. Purified ZFR-5 not only blocked interaction of VEGF with its receptor in cell ELISA experiments, but also was able to significantly inhibit proliferation response of human umbilical vein endothelial cells to VEGF in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, our study demonstrates that by using whole-cell ELISA experiments, nanobodies against antigenic regions included in interaction of VEGF with its receptors can be directed. Because of unique and intrinsic properties of a nanobody and the ability of selected nanobody for blocking the epitope that is important for biological function of VEGF, it represents novel potential drug candidate.     

绵羊肌肉生长抑制素MSTN原核表达及其纳米抗体文库的构建与鉴定

克隆绵羊肌肉生长抑制素（myostatin,MSTN）基因并在大肠杆菌中诱导表达,纯化重组蛋白免疫健康的双峰驼（Bactrian camel）,分离其外周血淋巴细胞提取总RNA,利用RT-PCR扩增骆驼重链抗体IgG2、IgG3的可变区（VHH）基因片段,将VHH片段与pCANTAB5E连接后电转入大肠杆菌TG1构建纳米抗体文库。结果显示,纳米抗体文库容量为9.5×10⁵,挑取部分克隆进行测序分析,所获得的纳米抗体文库具有良好的多态性,为进一步筛选绵羊MSTN的高特异性纳米抗体片段奠定了基础。     

Nanobody interaction unveils structure,dynamics and proteotoxicity of the Finnish-type amyloidogenic gelsolin variant

AGel amyloidosis, formerly known as familial amyloidosis of the Finnish-type, is caused by pathological aggregation of proteolytic fragments of plasma gelsolin. So far, four mutations in the gelsolin gene have been reported as responsible for the disease. Although D187N is the first identified variant and the best characterized, its structure has been hitherto elusive. Exploiting a recently-developed nanobody targeting gelsolin, we were able to stabilize the G2 domain of the D187N protein and obtained, for the first time, its high-resolution crystal structure. In the nanobody-stabilized conformation, the main effect of the D187N substitution is the impairment of the calcium binding capability, leading to a destabilization of the C-terminal tail of G2. However, molecular dynamics simulations show that in the absence of the nanobody, D187N-mutated G2 further misfolds, ultimately exposing its hydrophobic core and the furin cleavage site. The nanobody's protective effect is based on the enhancement of the thermodynamic stability of different G2 mutants (D187N, G167R and N184K). In particular, the nanobody reduces the flexibility of dynamic stretches, and most notably decreases the conformational entropy of the C-terminal tail, otherwise stabilized by the presence of the Ca²⁺ ion. A Caenorhabditis elegans-based assay was also applied to quantify the proteotoxic potential of the mutants and determine whether nanobody stabilization translates into a biologically relevant effect. Successful protection from G2 toxicity in vivo points to the use of C. elegans as a tool for investigating the mechanisms underlying AGel amyloidosis and rapidly screen new therapeutics.     

不同给药途径的治疗性纳米抗体研究进展

骆驼科及鲨鱼科动物血清中天然存在的纳米抗体具有不同于传统单克隆抗体的独特结构和分子量,这为抗体药物开发提供了全新的思路。纳米抗体较小的分子量和优异的稳定性使其在给药方面具有更大的灵活性,可以在一定程度上克服传统单克隆抗体在给药途径方面存在的局限性。同时,较小的分子量使纳米抗体具有双重药代动力学特征,既有优异的组织渗透性,又表现出快速的血液清除。重点介绍纳米抗体的药物代谢动力学特征和进一步改善药代动力学的方法,综述不同给药途径的纳米抗体药物研究进展,对其治疗特定疾病的可行性、安全性以及治疗效果进行分析,以期为纳米抗体药物研发中给药途径的选择提供参考。     

A simple nanobody-based competitive ELISA to detect antibodies against African swine fever virus

African swine fever virus (ASFV) infection is a big threat to the global pig industry. Because there is no effective vaccine, rapid, low-cost, and simple diagnosis methods are necessary to detect the ASFV infection in pig herds. Nanobodies, with advantages of small molecular weight and easy genetic engineering, have been universally used as reagents for developing diagnostic kits. In this study, the recombinant ASFV-p30 was expressed and served as an antigen to immunize the Bactrian camel. Then, seven nanobodies against ASFV-p30 were screened using phage display technique. Subsequently, the seven nanobodies fused horseradish peroxidase (nanobody-HRP) were secretory expressed and one fusion protein ASFV-p30-Nb75-HRP was selected with the highest sensitivity in blocking ELISA. Using the ASFV-p30-Nb75-HRP fusion protein as a probe, a competitive ELISA (cELISA) was developed for detecting anti-ASFV antibodies in pig sera. The cut-off value of cELISA was determined to be 22.7% by testing 360 negative pig sera. The detection limit of the cELISA for positive pig sera was 1:320, and there was no cross-reaction with anti-other swine virus antibodies. The comparative assay showed that the agreement of the cELISA with a commercial ELISA kit was 100%. More importantly, the developed cELISA showed low cost and easy production as a commercial kit candidate. Collectively, a simple nanobody-based cELISA for detecting antibodies against ASFV is developed and it provides a new method for monitoring ASFV infection in the pig herds.