Structural elucidation of the mesothelin-mucin-16/CA125 interaction.

Mesothelin (MSLN) is a cell-surface glycoprotein expressed at low levels on normal mesothelium but overexpressed in many cancers. Mesothelin has been implicated to play role/s in cell adhesion and multiple signaling pathways. Mucin-16/CA125 is an enormous cell-surface glycoprotein, also normally expressed on mesothelium and implicated in the progression and metastasis of several cancers, and directly binds mesothelin. However, the precise biological function/s of mesothelin and mucin-16/CA125 remain mysterious. We report protein engineering and recombinant production, qualitative and quantitative binding studies, and a crystal structure determination elucidating the molecular-level details governing recognition of mesothelin by mucin-16/CA125. The interface is small, consistent with the ∼micromolar binding constant and is free of glycan-mediated interactions. Sequence comparisons and modeling suggest that multiple mucin-16/CA125 modules can interact with mesothelin through comparable interactions, potentially generating a high degree of avidity at the cell surface to overcome the weak affinity, with implications for functioning and therapeutic interventions.

Effects of HLA single chain trimer design on peptide presentation and stability.

MHC class I "single-chain trimer" molecules, coupling MHC heavy chain, ß2-microglobulin, and a specific peptide into a single polypeptide chain, are widely used in research. To more fully understand caveats associated with this design that may affect its use for basic and translational studies, we evaluated a set of engineered single-chain trimers with combinations of stabilizing mutations across eight different classical and non-classical human class I alleles with 44 different peptides, including a novel human/murine chimeric design. While, overall, single-chain trimers accurately recapitulate native molecules, care was needed in selecting designs for studying peptides longer or shorter than 9-mers, as single-chain trimer design could affect peptide conformation. In the process, we observed that predictions of peptide binding were often discordant with experiment and that yields and stabilities varied widely with construct design. We also developed novel reagents to improve the crystallizability of these proteins and confirmed novel modes of peptide presentation.

Ex silico engineering of cystine-dense peptides yielding a potent bispecific T cell engager.

Cystine-dense peptides (CDPs) are a miniprotein class that can drug difficult targets with high affinity and low immunogenicity. Tools for their design, however, are not as developed as those for small-molecule and antibody drugs. CDPs have diverse taxonomic origins, but structural characterization is lacking. Here, we adapted Iterative Threading ASSEmbly Refinement (I-TASSER) and Rosetta protein modeling software for structural prediction of 4298 CDP scaffolds and performed in silico prescreening for CDP binders to targets of interest. Mammalian display screening of a library of docking-enriched, methionine and tyrosine scanned (DEMYS) CDPs against PD-L1 yielded binders from four distinct CDP scaffolds. One was affinity-matured, and cocrystallography yielded a high-affinity (KD = 202 pM) PD-L1-binding CDP that competes with PD-1 for PD-L1 binding. Its subsequent incorporation into a CD3-binding bispecific T cell engager produced a molecule with pM-range in vitro T cell killing potency and which substantially extends survival in two different xenograft tumor-bearing mouse models. Both in vitro and in vivo, the CDP-incorporating bispecific molecule outperformed a comparator antibody-based molecule. This CDP modeling and DEMYS technique can accelerate CDP therapeutic development.

A TfR-Binding Cystine-Dense Peptide Promotes Blood-Brain Barrier Penetration of Bioactive Molecules.

The impenetrability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to most conventional drugs impedes the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Interventions for diseases like brain cancer, neurodegeneration, or age-associated inflammatory processes require varied approaches to CNS drug delivery. Cystine-dense peptides (CDPs) have drawn recent interest as drugs or drug-delivery vehicles. Found throughout the phylogenetic tree, often in drug-like roles, their size, stability, and protein interaction capabilities make CDPs an attractive mid-size biologic scaffold to complement conventional antibody-based drugs. Here, we describe the identification, maturation, characterization, and utilization of a CDP that binds to the transferrin receptor (TfR), a native receptor and BBB transporter for the iron chaperone transferrin. We developed variants with varying binding affinities (KD as low as 216 pM), co-crystallized it with the receptor, and confirmed murine cross-reactivity. It accumulates in the mouse CNS at ~25% of blood levels (CNS blood content is only ~1%-6%) and delivers neurotensin, an otherwise non-BBB-penetrant neuropeptide, at levels capable of modulating CREB signaling in the mouse brain. Our work highlights the utility of CDPs as a diverse, easy-to-screen scaffold family worthy of inclusion in modern drug discovery strategies, demonstrated by the discovery of a candidate CNS drug delivery vehicle ready for further optimization and preclinical development.

Publisher Correction: Mammalian display screening of diverse cystine-dense peptides for difficult to drug targets.

In the original version of this Article the colour key for the amino acid enrichment score was inadvertently omitted from the lower panel of Figure 5b during the production process. This has now been corrected in the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Mammalian display screening of diverse cystine-dense peptides for difficult to drug targets.

Protein:protein interactions are among the most difficult to treat molecular mechanisms of disease pathology. Cystine-dense peptides have the potential to disrupt such interactions, and are used in drug-like roles by every clade of life, but their study has been hampered by a reputation for being difficult to produce, owing to their complex disulfide connectivity. Here we describe a platform for identifying target-binding cystine-dense peptides using mammalian surface display, capable of interrogating high quality and diverse scaffold libraries with verifiable folding and stability. We demonstrate the platform's capabilities by identifying a cystine-dense peptide capable of inhibiting the YAP:TEAD interaction at the heart of the oncogenic Hippo pathway, and possessing the potency and stability necessary for consideration as a drug development candidate. This platform provides the opportunity to screen cystine-dense peptides with drug-like qualities against targets that are implicated for the treatment of diseases, but are poorly suited for conventional approaches.

Anti-CD28 Antibody-Initiated Cytokine Storm in Canines.

BACKGROUND: CD28 signal blockade following T cell receptor activation is under intense investigation as a tolerance-inducing therapy for transplantation. Our goal is to produce a CD28-specific reagent as a therapy for the prevention of graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease in the canine model of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). METHODS: We infused a monoclonal mouse anti-canine CD28 antibody (1C6 mAb) into four dogs and a fragment of antigen-binding (1C6 Fab) into two dogs. Pharmacokinetics, pathology, cytokine release, and the crystal structure of 1C6 Fv were evaluated. RESULTS: Within an hour of an IV injection of the 1C6 mAb, the dogs became leukopenic and developed a steroid-refractory cytokine storm. Two of the dogs developed high fevers, one experienced diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, and another developed gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The cytokine storm was characterized by elevated plasma levels of MCP-1, IP-10, IL-10, IL-6, and TNF-α. In addition, one dog showed elevated levels of IL-2, IL-8, and IL-18. In contrast, infusion of 1C6 Fab was well tolerated without any side effects. Dry-coating 1C6 mAb onto tissue culture plates induced CD3-independent proliferation and TNF-alpha production. Crystal structure analysis revealed that 1C6 binds to canine CD28 in a manner different than previously reported for conventional agonistic or superagonistic antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that dogs and humans develop a similar cytokine storm following infusion ofanti-CD28 mAb, providing an appropriate large animal for further study. 1C6 Fab warrants evaluation as a tolerance-inducing reagent in the canine model of allogeneic HCT.

Kinetic analysis of a high-affinity antibody/antigen interaction performed by multiple Biacore users.

To explore the reliability of Biacore-based assays, 22 study participants measured the binding of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to a monoclonal antibody (mAb). Each participant was provided with the same reagents and a detailed experimental protocol. The mAb was immobilized on the sensor chip at three different densities and a two-step assay was used to determine the kinetic and affinity parameters of the PSA/mAb complex. First, PSA was tested over a concentration range of 2.5-600 nM to obtain k(a) information. Second, to define the k(d) of this stable antigen/antibody complex accurately, the highest PSA concentration was retested with the dissociation phase of each binding cycle monitored for 1h. All participants collected data that could be analyzed to obtain kinetic parameters for the interaction. The association and the extended-dissociation data derived from the three antibody surfaces were globally fit using a simple 1:1 interaction model. The average k(a) and k(d) for the PSA/mAb interaction as calculated from the 22 analyses were (4.1+/-0.6) x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1) and (4.5+/-0.6) x 10(-5) s(-1), respectively. Overall, the experimental standard errors in the rate constants were only approximately 14%. Based on the kinetic rate constants, the affinity (K(D)) of the PSA/mAb interaction was 1.1+/-0.2 nM.