Immunization with a peptide mimicking lipoteichoic acid induces memory B cells in BALB/c mice.

BACKGROUND: There is an urgent clinical need for developing novel immunoprophylaxis and immunotherapy strategies against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). In our previous work, immunization with a tetra-branched multiple antigenic peptide, named MAP2-3 that mimics lipoteichoic acid, a cell wall component of S. aureus, successfully induced a humoral immune response and protected BALB/c mice against S. aureus systemic infection. In this study, we further investigated whether vaccination with MAP2-3 can elicit immunologic memory. METHODS: BALB/c mice were immunized with MAP2-3 five times. After one month of the last vaccination, mice were challenged with heat-killed S. aureus via intraperitoneal injection. After a 7-day inoculation, the percentage of plasma cells, memory B cells, effector memory T cells, and follicular helper T cells were detected by flow cytometry. The levels of IL-6, IL-21, IL-2, and IFN-γ were measured by real-time PCR and ELISA. Flow cytometry results were compared by using one-way ANOVA or Mann-Whitney test, real-time PCR results were compared by using one-way ANOVA, and ELISA results were compared by using one-way ANOVA or student's t-test. RESULTS: The percentage of plasma cells and memory B cells in the spleen and bone marrow from the MAP2-3 immunized mice was significantly higher than that from the control mice. The percentage of effector memory T cells in spleens and lymphoid nodes as well as follicular helper T cells in spleens from the MAP2-3 immunized mice were also higher. Moreover, the levels of IL-6 and IL-21, two critical cytokines for the development of memory B cells, were significantly higher in the isolated splenocytes from immunized mice after lipoteichoic acid stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: Immunization with MAP2-3 can efficiently induce memory B cells and memory T cells.

Immunization with a peptide mimicking Lipoteichoic acid protects mice against Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a major component of the cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), is not generally considered as an ideal vaccine candidate since it is a thymus-independent antigen. In this study, we screened a 12-mer phage peptide library and identified a series of peptide sequences that can mimic the epitope of LTA. A tetra-branched multiple antigenic peptide, named MAP2-3, comprising one of the positive peptide sequences (GHKEDRQWCQHS), was synthesized. Immunization with MAP2-3 induced LTA-specific IgG antibodies, prolonged the survival time, and decreased the bacterial burden in organs of mice infected with S. aureus. Moreover, passive immunization with polyclonal anti-MAP2-3 sera reduced bacterial load in organs of mice with bacteremia, alleviated acute lung injury in mice with pneumonia, and decreased the size of lesions in mice with skin infection. The number of LTA-specific antibody-secreting cells in the spleen of MAP2-3 immunized mice were significantly higher than that in the control mice. In summary, as a surrogate of LTA, vaccination with MAP2-3 elicited humoral immune response and protected mice from S. aureus infection. This study provides a new option to design vaccines against S. aureus.

A Multiple Antigenic Peptide Mimicking Peptidoglycan Induced T Cell Responses to Protect Mice from Systemic Infection with Staphylococcus aureus.

Due to the enormous capacity of Staphylococcus aureus to acquire antibiotic resistance, it becomes imperative to develop vaccines for decreasing the risk of its life-threatening infections. Peptidoglycan (PGN) is a conserved and major component of S. aureus cell wall. However, it has not been used as a vaccine candidate since it is a thymus-independent antigen. In this study, we synthesized a multiple antigenic peptide, named MAP27, which comprised four copies of a peptide that mimics the epitope of PGN. After immunization with MAP27 five times and boosting with heat-inactivated bacterium one time, anti-MAP27 serum bound directly to S. aureus or PGN. Immunization with MAP27 decreased the bacterial burden in organs of BALB/c mice and significantly prolonged their survival time after S. aureus lethal-challenge. The percentage of IFN-γ(+)CD3(+) T cells and IL-17(+)CD4(+) T cells in spleen, as well as the levels of IFN-γ, IL-17A/F and CCL3 in spleen and lung, significantly increased in the MAP27-immunized mice after infection. Moreover, in vitro incubation of heat-inactivated S. aureus with splenocytes isolated from MAP27-immunized mice stimulated the production of IFN-γ and IL-17A/F. Our findings demonstrated that MAP27, as a thymus-dependent antigen, is efficient at eliciting T cell-mediated responses to protect mice from S. aureus infection. This study sheds light on a possible strategy to design vaccines against S. aureus.

[A Paralytic shellfish poisoning GTX2,3 mimic peptide isolated from phage display: characterization and potential applications].

AIM: To screen peptide mimics of PSP (Paralytic shellfish poisoning) GTX2,3 from a random 12-mer phage display peptide library and to identify and characterize the specificity and accuracy of the peptide mimotope of GTX2,3. METHODS: The monoclonal antibody against GTX2,3 (mAb E(9);F(10);) was used as a target to screen the 12-mer phage display peptide library and the specificity of phage clones were identified by sandwich ELISA and blocking assay. The peptide sequences of positive phage clones were determined and analyzed by DNA sequencing. The affinity and specificity of synthetic peptide were identified by a competitive ELISA. RESULTS: The 20 clones were identified to be specific reactivity with the mAb E(9);F(10);. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed seven different types of mimotope sequence, most of which contained a common motif DXLXPP(X presents random acid amino), X was random amino acid. The Phage No.2(phage 2), the clone with mimotope sequence WPSLDXLXPPSY showed the strongest binding, and inhibited the reactivity of the mAb with GTX2,3. Another ELISA result showed that synthetic peptide-1 (SP-1) which contain mimotope amino acid sequence was able to inhibit the mAb- GTX2,3 interaction. CONCLUSION: The mimotope peptide of GTX2,3 is obtained by using the phage display technology. The results also showed that SP-1 bind to mAb E(9);F(10); at the same site as GTX2,3.

Production and characterization of a cross-reactive monoclonal antibody to lipopolysaccharide.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is located on the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of sepsis, which continues to be a leading cause of death in the intensive care units. There are many strains and serotypes of gram-negative bacteria and each individual has a unique kind of LPS. In addition, LPS belongs to thymus-independent (TI) antigen, making it difficult to produce high-affinity, cross-reactive monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against LPS. Here we report a novel method to produce cross-reactive murine MAbs against LPS by mixed immunization with whole cell bacteria, commercial LPS, and synthetic peptide, which simulates the structure of LPS. Using this approach, an MAb designated SMU-3A8 was generated, which can react with four commercial LPSs and seven gram-negative bacteria with high affinity suited for ELISA, dot-ELISA, Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and flow cytometry. Our results provide a new strategy for the generation of high-affinity, cross-reactive MAbs against LPS and other TI antigens.

Advanced oxidation protein products induce mesangial cell perturbation through PKC-dependent activation of NADPH oxidase.

Mesangial deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) is a hallmark of several glomerular diseases including diabetic nephropathy. Accumulation of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) has been found in diabetes and chronic kidney disease and linked to mesangial ECM deposition and progressive glomerulosclerosis in these disorders. Although emerging evidence implicates AOPPs as the renal pathogenic factors, the underlying mechanisms have not been investigated. Here, using cultured rat mesangial cells (MCs) as a model, we identify AOPPs as the important mediators for activation of MC NADPH oxidase. Exposure of MCs to AOPPs, through membrane-associated phosphorylation of PKCalpha, induced rapid phosphorylation of cytosolic p47(phox) and its membrane translocation, enhanced interaction of p47(phox) with the membrane components p22(phox) and Nox4, and increased expression of these key regulatory subunits of NADPH oxidase. Challenge with AOPPs triggered cytosolic superoxide generation, resulting in upregulation of fibronectin and collagen IV genes and proteins and overexpression of TGF-beta1 via a PKC-NADPH oxidase-dependent pathway, as these downstream events were blocked by the inhibitors of PKC, inhibitors of NADPH oxidase, or the cytosolic superoxide scavenger. These data provide new information for understanding the molecular basis underlying AOPP-induced MC perturbation and might be a central step toward development of new interventions.

[Computer-aided molecular modeling and activity estimation for ligand screening with specific phage clone as the target].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the interaction between tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) mimotopes and TNF alpha-binding peptides screened from random phage display peptide library with TNF alpha mimotopes displayed on phage clone as the target, the computational docking program AutoDock (with confirmation calculations using Discover) was used to predict and analyze the binding modes of LLT-18 (TNF alpha binding peptide, sequence EHMALTYPFRPP) with TNF alpha, after which LCS-7 (TNF alpha mimic phage clone, displayed positive sequence c-RRPAQSG-c) was docked to LLT-18 manually. The binding between LLT-18 and TNF alpha or LCS-7 was stabilized predominantly through electrostatic interaction and H-bond formation. The Arg residues in TNF alpha or LCS-7 were important for their interaction with LLT-18. For LLT-18, the key amino acid residues were Glu1, His2, Met3 and Tyr7. These results suggest the feasibility of screening ligand to single epitope with specific phage clone as the target, and of predicting the interaction between small peptides by computer-aided molecular modeling.

[Screening of short peptides binding to cell surface interleukin-2 receptor alpha chain].

OBJECTIVE: To screen and characterize the short peptides which bind specifically to interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor alpha chain (IL-2Ralpha) for acquisition of small antagonists for blocking the binding of IL-2 with IL-2Ralpha. METHODS: 12-mer phage displayed peptide library was screened with the target cells of MT-2 cells which expressed IL-2Ralpha at high levels. The binding phage clones were eluted by anti-IL-2Ralpha monoclonal antibody. After 3 rounds of screening, the positive phage clones were identified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry, and the amino acid sequences of the positive clones were deduced from the DNA sequences. RESULTS: Seven positive clones were screened out of the 17 phage clones bound to MT-2 cells. The positive clone M15 could bind specifically to MT-2 cell and PHA-activated peripheral blood monouclear cells. Amino acid sequence analysis identified 6 sequences, all of which contained hydrophilic residues, and 5 of these 6 sequences included Tyr, Phe and Leu conservative residues. CONCLUSION: The peptide sequences containing Tyr, Phe conservative residues identified in this study can bind to cell surface IL-2Ralpha.

[Screening and identification of human telomerase reverse transcriptase epitopes from random phage display peptide library].

OBJECTIVE: To identify and characterize the epitopes of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). METHODS: A random phage displayed dodecapeptide library was screened with anti-hTERT antibody. The selected phage clones were identified by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, anti-hTERT antibody blocking assay and competitive inhibition assay. RESULTS: After 3 rounds of screening, 13 of 24 randomly selected phage clones were identified as positive clones that could specifically bind to anti-hTERT antibody but not to normal mouse IgG. Amino acid sequences deduced from DNA sequences showed 11 different sequences with high percentage of histone and hydrophilic amino acids. CONCLUSION: Eleven epitopes have been obtained that can effectively mimic hTERT, which will be useful for the research of small-molecule inhibitor targeting at hTERT.

[Screening of mimotope of Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysaccharide from phage-displayed peptide].

OBJECTIVE: To identify and characterize the mimotope of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from cyclic 7-mer phage peptide library. METHODS: Cyclic 7-mer phage-displayed peptide library was screened using monoclonal antibody 2F4 (mAb 2F4) against Salmonella typhimurium LPS as the target, and the selected clones were tested by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and specific antigen inhibition ELISA. RESULTS: After 3 round of screening, 34 of the 38 selected clones were identified as positive for binding to mAb 2F4. Salmonella typhimurium LPS was capable of inhibiting the binding between the cones and mAb 2F4, with the 50% inhibitory concentration of all the positive clones within the range of 0.125-0.250 microg/ml. Sequence analysis was performed for 10 of the positive clones, whose amino acid sequences were subsequently deduced, and 7 of them had conservative amino acid of P-X-WAS-X-W with the mean hydrophobic amino acid content of 71.4% in all the sequences. CONCLUSION: The phage-displayed peptide is capable of simulating the epitope of Salmonella typhimurium LPS.

[Screening of short peptides that bind specifically to osteosarcoma cells by phage-displayed peptide library].

OBJECTIVE: To obtain short peptides which bind specifically to osteosarcoma cells os-732 by means of screening from 12 peptide libraries. METHODS: Osteosarcoma cells os-732 were used as the target cells and osteoblasts as the absorber cells for subtraction biopanning from a 12-mer peptide phage-display library. After 3 rounds of screening, the positive phage clones were identified by cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry, and the amino acid sequences were deduced by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Nine positive phage clones screened out of 20 clones showed specific binding with osteosarcoma os-732, but no conserved motif was found in these peptides. CONCLUSION: The specific peptides screened from the phage library may be used as potential candidates as ligands for tumor-targeting therapy. The results also suggested that there are different epitopes on the surface of tumor cells.

[Screening of TNF-alpha mimotopes from c7c phage display peptide library].

AIM: To acquire oligo-peptides mimicking TNF-alpha epitopes. METHODS: The TNF-alpha mimotopes were screened from c7c phage display peptide library by using neutralizing mAb J1D9 against TNF-alpha, and positive clones were identified by sandwich ELISA. RESULTS: 9 out of 20 phage clones were identified as positive clones which can bind to mAb J1D9. The deduced amino acid sequence analysis showed three different sequences: c-RRPAQSG-c, c-NKHNRKI-c and c-RGMSRKI-c. CONCLUSION: All of the three peptides obtained can mimic the epitopes of TNF-alpha and bind to mAb J1D9.