Phage constructs targeting gonadotropin-releasing hormone for fertility control: evaluation in cats.

OBJECTIVES: Phage-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) constructs with potential contraceptive properties were generated in our previous study via selection from a phage display library using neutralizing GnRH antibodies as selection targets. In mice, these constructs invoked the production of antibodies against GnRH and suppressed serum testosterone. The goal of this study was to evaluate this vaccine against GnRH for its potential to suppress reproductive characteristics in cats. METHODS: Sexually mature male cats were injected with a phage-GnRH vaccine using the following treatment groups: (1) single phage-GnRH vaccine with adjuvant; (2) phage-GnRH vaccine without adjuvant and half-dose booster 1 month later; or (3) phage-GnRH vaccine with adjuvant and two half-dose boosters with adjuvant 3 and 6 months later. Anti-GnRH antibodies and serum testosterone, testicular volume and sperm characteristics were evaluated monthly for 7-9 months. RESULTS: All cats developed anti-GnRH antibodies following immunization. Serum antibody titers increased significantly after booster immunizations. In group 3, serum testosterone was suppressed 8 months after primary immunization. Total testicular volume decreased in group 1 by 24-42% and in group 3 by 15-36% at 7 months after immunization, indicating potential gonadal atrophy. Vacuolation of epididymides was observed histologically. Although all cats produced sperm at the conclusion of the study, normal morphology was decreased as much as 38%. Phage alone produced no local or systemic reactions. Immunization of phage with AdjuVac produced unacceptable injection site reactions. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Our phage-based vaccine against GnRH demonstrated a potential for fertility impairment in cats. Future research is required to optimize vaccine regimens and identify animal age groups most responsive to the vaccine. If permanent contraception (highly desirable in feral and shelter cats) cannot be achieved, the vaccine has a potential use in zoo animals or pets where multiple administrations are more practical and/or reversible infertility is desirable.

Immunocontraception: Filamentous Bacteriophage as a Platform for Vaccine Development.

BACKGROUND: Population control of domestic, wild, invasive, and captive animal species is a global issue of importance to public health, animal welfare and the economy. There is pressing need for effective, safe, and inexpensive contraceptive technologies to address this problem. Contraceptive vaccines, designed to stimulate the immune system in order to block critical reproductive events and suppress fertility, may provide a solution. Filamentous bacteriophages can be used as platforms for development of such vaccines. OBJECTIVE: In this review authors highlight structural and immunogenic properties of filamentous phages, and discuss applications of phage-peptide vaccines for advancement of immunocontraception technology in animals. RESULTS: Phages can be engineered to display fusion (non-phage) peptides as coat proteins. Such modifications can be accomplished via genetic manipulation of phage DNA, or by chemical conjugation of synthetic peptides to phage surface proteins. Phage fusions with antigenic determinants induce humoral as well as cell-mediated immune responses in animals, making them attractive as vaccines. Additional advantages of the phage platform include environmental stability, low cost, and safety for immunized animals and those administering the vaccines. CONCLUSION: Filamentous phages are viable platforms for vaccine development that can be engineered with molecular and organismal specificity. Phage-based vaccines can be produced in abundance at low cost, are environmentally stable, and are immunogenic when administered via multiple routes. These features are essential for a contraceptive vaccine to be operationally practical in animal applications. Adaptability of the phage platform also makes it attractive for design of human immunocontraceptive agents.

Molecular cloning, sequencing, and distribution of feline GnRH receptor (GnRHR) and resequencing of canine GnRHR.

GnRH receptors play vital roles in mammalian reproduction via regulation of gonadotropin secretion, which is essential for gametogenesis and production of gonadal steroids. GnRH receptors for more than 20 mammalian species have been sequenced, including human, mouse, and dog. This study reports the molecular cloning and sequencing of GnRH receptor (GnRHR) cDNA from the pituitary gland of the domestic cat, an important species in biomedical research. Feline GnRHR cDNA is composed of 981 nucleotides and encodes a 327 amino acid protein. Unlike the majority of mammalian species sequenced so far, but similar to canine GnRHR, feline GnRHR protein lacks asparagine in position three of the extracellular domain of the protein. At the amino acid level, feline GnRHR exhibits 95.1% identity with canine, 93.8% with human, and 88.9% with mouse GnRHR. Comparative sequence analysis of GnRHRs for multiple mammalian species led to resequencing of canine GnRHR, which differed from that previously published by a single base change that translates to a different amino acid in position 193. This single base change was confirmed in dogs of multiple breeds. Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis of GnRHR messenger RNA in different tissues from four normal cats indicated the presence of amplicons of varying lengths, including full-length as well as shortened GnRHR amplicons, pointing to the existence of truncated GnRHR transcripts in the domestic cat. This study is the first insight into molecular composition and expression of feline GnRHR and promotes better understanding of receptor organization, and distribution in various tissues of this species.

Phage display allows identification of zona pellucida-binding peptides with species-specific properties: novel approach for development of contraceptive vaccines for wildlife.

Multiple phage-peptide constructs, where the peptides mimic sperm epitopes that bind to zona pellucida (ZP) proteins, were generated via selection from a phage display library using a novel approach. Selections were designed to allow for identification of ZP-binding phage clones with potential species-specific properties, an important feature for wildlife oral vaccines as the goal is to control overpopulation of a target species while not affecting non-target species' reproduction. Six phage-peptide antigens were injected intramuscularly into pigs and corresponding immune responses evaluated. Administration of the antigens into pigs stimulated production of anti-peptide antibodies, which were shown to act as anti-sperm antibodies. Potentially, such anti-sperm antibodies could interfere with sperm delivery or function in the male or female genital tract, leading to contraceptive effects. Staining of semen samples collected from different mammalian species, including pig, cat, dog, bull, and mouse, with anti-sera from pigs immunized with ZP-binding phage allowed identification of phage-peptide constructs with different levels of species specificity. Based on the intensity of the immune responses and specificity of these responses in different species, two of the antigens with fusion peptide sequences GEGGYGSHD and GQQGLNGDS were recognized as the most promising candidates for development of contraceptive vaccines for wild pigs.

Specificity and promiscuity in human glutaminase interacting protein recognition: insight from the binding of the internal and C-terminal motif.

A large number of cellular processes are mediated by protein-protein interactions, often specified by particular protein binding modules. PDZ domains make up an important class of protein-protein interaction modules that typically bind to the C-terminus of target proteins. These domains act as a scaffold where signaling molecules are linked to a multiprotein complex. Human glutaminase interacting protein (GIP), also known as tax interacting protein 1, is unique among PDZ domain-containing proteins because it is composed almost exclusively of a single PDZ domain rather than one of many domains as part of a larger protein. GIP plays pivotal roles in cellular signaling, protein scaffolding, and cancer pathways via its interaction with the C-terminus of a growing list of partner proteins. We have identified novel internal motifs that are recognized by GIP through combinatorial phage library screening. Leu and Asp residues in the consensus sequence were identified to be critical for binding to GIP through site-directed mutagenesis studies. Structure-based models of GIP bound to two different surrogate peptides determined from nuclear magnetic resonance constraints revealed that the binding pocket is flexible enough to accommodate either the smaller carboxylate (COO(-)) group of a C-terminal recognition motif or the bulkier aspartate side chain (CH(2)COO(-)) of an internal motif. The noncanonical ILGF loop in GIP moves in for the C-terminal motif but moves out for the internal recognition motifs, allowing binding to different partner proteins. One of the peptides colocalizes with GIP within human glioma cells, indicating that GIP might be a potential target for anticancer therapeutics.

Infective and inactivated filamentous phage as carriers for immunogenic peptides.

The focus of this study is on development of vaccines using filamentous phage as a delivery vector for immunogenic peptides. The use of phage as a carrier for immunogenic peptides provides significant benefits such as high immunogenicity, low production costs, and high stability of phage preparations. However, introduction of live recombinant phage into the environment might represent a potential ecological problem. This, for example, may occur when vaccines are used in oral or nasal formulations in field conditions for wild and feral animals. To address this issue, comparative studies of antigenic properties of live and inactivated (non-viable) phage were accomplished. Inactivated phage, if released, will not propagate and will degrade as any other protein. In these experiments, a model phage clone that was previously selected from a phage display library and shown to stimulate production of anti-sperm antibodies with contraceptive properties was used. Multiple methods of phage inactivation were tested, including drying, freezing, autoclaving, heating, and UV irradiation. Under studied conditions, heating at 76°C for 3h, UV irradiation, and autoclaving resulted in complete phage inactivation. Phage samples treated by heat and UV were characterized by spectrophotometry and electron microscopy. To test antigenicity, live and inactivated phage preparations were injected into mice and antibody responses assayed by ELISA. It was found that phage killed by heat causes little to no immune responses, probably due to destruction of phage particles. In contrast, UV-inactivated phage stimulated production of IgG serum antibodies at the levels comparable to live phage. Thus, vaccines formulated to include UV-inactivated filamentous phage might represent environmentally safe alternatives to live phage vaccines.

ZP-binding peptides identified via phage display stimulate production of sperm antibodies in dogs.

Zona pellucida (ZP) glycoproteins play a central role in sperm-oocyte binding and fertilization. Sperm protein sequences that are involved in sperm-ZP recognition and have an important role in fertilization represent attractive targets for development of contraceptive vaccines, yet are currently unknown. To identify peptide sequences that recognize and bind to ZP proteins, we developed a novel selection procedure from phage display libraries that utilizes intact oocytes surrounded by ZP proteins. The major advantage of this procedure is that ZP proteins remain in their native conformation unlike a selection protocol previously published that utilized solubilized ZP on artificial solid support. Several peptides of 7 and 12 amino acids with binding specificity to canine ZP proteins were identified. Four of them (LNSFLRS, SSWYRGA, YLPIYTIPSMVY, and NNQSPILKLSIH) plus a control ZP-binding peptide (YLPVGGLRRIGG) from the literature were synthesized and tested for antigenic properties in dogs. NNQSPILKLSIH peptide stimulated production of anti-peptide antibodies. These antibodies bind to the acrosomal region of the canine sperm cell, demonstrating ability to act as sperm antibodies. The identified ZP-binding peptides (mimicking sperm cell surface antigens) may be useful in the design of immunocontraceptive agents for dogs.

Generation and characterization of recombinant feline beta-galactosidase for preclinical enzyme replacement therapy studies in GM1 gangliosidosis.

Lysosomal beta-galactosidase is required for the degradation of GM1 ganglioside and other glycolipids and glycoproteins with a terminal galactose moiety. Deficiency of this enzyme leads to the lysosomal storage disorder, GM1 gangliosidosis, marked by severe neurodegeneration resulting in premature death. As a step towards preclinical studies for enzyme replacement therapy in an animal model of GM1 gangliosidosis, a feline beta-galactosidase cDNA was cloned into a mammalian expression vector and subsequently expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells. The enzyme secreted into culture medium exhibited specific activity on two synthetic substrates as well as on the native beta-galactosidase substrate, GM1 ganglioside. The enzyme was purified from transfected CHO-K1 cell culture medium by chromatography on PATG-agarose. The affinity-purified enzyme preparation consisted mainly of the protein with approximate molecular weight of 94 kDa and displayed immunoreactivity with antibodies raised against a 16-mer synthetic peptide corresponding to C-terminal amino acid sequence deduced from the feline beta-galactosidase cDNA.

Phage display for generating peptide reagents.

This unit presents detailed protocols for selection and propagation of landscape phages, which are fusions of filamentous phage fd (or its close relatives M13 and f1) and foreign DNA that result in chimeric phage virions with foreign peptides (8 to 9 amino acids long) covering the entire surface of the phage particles. These landscape phages bind specifically to mammalian and bacterial cells, spores, or discrete molecular targets.

Designing allosteric peptide ligands targeting a globular protein.

Patented signal analytic algorithms applied to hydrophobically transformed, numerical amino acid sequences have previously been used to design short, protein-targeted, L or D retro-inverso peptides. These peptides have demonstrated allosteric and/or indirect agonist effects on a variety of G-protein and tyrosine kinase coupled membrane receptors with 30% to over 80% hit rates. Here we extend these approaches to a globular protein target. We designed eight peptide ligands targeting an ELISA antibody responsive protein, beta-galactosidase, betaGAL. Three of the eight 14mer peptides allosterically activated betaGAL with ELISA methodology. Using Bayesian statistics, this 38% hit rate would have occurred 2 x 10(-9) by chance. These peptides demonstrated binding site competitive or noncompetitive interactions, suggesting allosteric site multiplicity with respect to their betaGAL binding-mediated ELISA signal. Kinetic studies demonstrated the temperature dependence of the betaGAL peptide binding functions. Using the van't Hoff relation, we found evidence for enthalpy-entropy compensation. This relation is often found for hydrophobic interactions in aqueous media, and is consistent with the postulated hydrophobic series encoding underlying our protein-targeted, peptide design methods. It appears that our algorithmic, hydrophobic autocovariance eigenvector template approach to the design of allosteric peptides targeting membrane receptors may also be applicable to the design of peptide ligands targeting nonmembrane involved globular proteins.

Novel metal clusters isolated from blood are lethal to cancer cells.

Unfolding and subsequent aggregation of proteins is a common phenomenon that is linked to many human disorders. Misfolded hemoglobin is generally manifested in various autoimmune, infectious and inherited diseases. We isolated micrometer and submicrometer particles, termed proteons, from human and animal blood. Proteons lack nucleic acids but contain two major polypeptide populations with homology to the hemoglobin alpha-chain. Proteons form by reversible seeded aggregation of proteins around proteon nucleating centers (PNCs). PNCs are comprised of 1- to 2-nm metallic nanoclusters containing 40-300 atoms. Each milliliter of human blood contained approximately 7 x 10(13) PNCs and approximately 3 x 10(8) proteons. Exposure of isolated blood plasma to elevated temperatures increased the number of proteons. When an aliquot of this heated plasma was introduced into untreated plasma that was subsequently heated, the number of proteons further increased, reaching a maximum after a total of three such iterations. Small concentrations of PNCs were lethal to cultured cancer cells, whereas noncancerous cells were much less affected.

Cell targeted phagemid rescued by preselected landscape phage.

We have developed a gene delivery system that utilizes a cell-binding helper phage preselected from a landscape phage display library, and a phagemid harboring a marker gene and all regulatory elements (origins of replication and promoter-enhancer cassettes) necessary for replication of the phagemid and expression of the marker gene in the targeted cell. All the proteins required for encapsulation of the phagemid DNA and cell targeting are provided by the phage helper and are separate from the phagemid. Therefore, the resultant Phagemid Infective Particles (PIPs) are able to bind and infect target cells and express the marker gene from within the cell. Our approach, shown here for glioma cells, differs from others in that a phagemid expressing a model marker or particular therapeutic gene can be easily exchanged for a phagemid expressing a different therapeutic gene. Also, a different helper phage, selected from a phage display library, such as the f8-8-mer landscape library used here, can target any cell type and direct the encapsulation of any therapeutic gene encoding phagemid. Because of its versatility, the PIPs system may be readily used for optimization of the gene-delivery strategies applied to specific cell and tissue targets.

Phage matrix for isolation of glioma cell membrane proteins.

Cell-binding ligands for RG2 rat glioma were identified in our recent study from a library of peptides that are displayed as fusion molecules on phage particles. Here, one of the phage clones was used to affinity purify those cell membrane components to which the displayed peptides bind. This phage clone, displaying the ELRGDSLP peptide, was shown to recognize glioma cells specifically in comparison to control phage-expressing peptides of either similar or irrelevant sequences. Blocking experiments with synthetic RGDS peptide demonstrated that the phage-glioma cell recognition occurs via the RGD motif known to be present in many integrin-binding proteins. To form an affinity matrix that would bind to glioma cell membrane molecules, ELRGDSLP phage particles were cross-linked using dextran polymer. Whole cell lysate from RG2 rat glioma cells was passed through the matrix, resulting in the isolation of cell membrane components having strong affinity to the peptides on phage and molecules associated with those components. One of the isolated proteins was found to be CD44s, a cell surface adhesion molecule involved in glioma cell invasion and migration, which likely formed a complex with an RGD-binding integrin. Cell membrane proteins isolated with this innovative approach could be used for the design of cell-specific anticancer treatments.

Phage probes for malignant glial cells.

Early diagnosis and effective treatment of malignant gliomas, which are heterogeneous brain tumors with variable expression of cell surface markers, are inhibited by the lack of means to characterize and target tumor-selective molecules. To create molecular profiles for RG2 rat glioma cells, we used phage display technology, an approach capable of producing valuable ligands to unknown cell surface targets. The ligands were selected from libraries of peptides displayed as fusion molecules on phage particles. Modifications of the selection conditions resulted in identification of three distinctive families of peptide ligands for malignant glioma cells. The first family with V (D)/(G) L P (E)/(T) H(3) binding motif appeared to target a marker that is common for glioma cells, normal brain cells, and cells of non-brain origin. The second group of peptide-presented phage displayed D (T)/S/(L) T K consensus sequence and contained peptides with pronounced glioma-selective properties. Phage clones expressing peptides with E (L)/V/(S) R G D S motif were found in cell lysates and represented the third family of glioma-specific ligands. All peptides within this family contain the RGD amino acid sequence, which is known to bind to a number of integrins. Phage clones that belong to this family were internalized by RG2 glioma cells about 63-fold more efficiently than by astrocytes. The approach described could be applicable for accurate detection of glioma expression patterns in individual tumors. Such patterns could be beneficial in the design of effective combinations of drugs for anti-glioma treatments.

Peptide biosensor for recognition of cross-species cell surface markers.

Biosensors based on phage display-derived peptides as biorecognition molecules were used for the detection of cell surface cross-species markers in tissue homogenates. The peptide selected for murine myofibers was immobilized onto the surface of an acoustic wave sensor by biotin-streptavidin coupling. To detect peptide-receptor interaction, the sensors were exposed to muscle and control (kidney, liver, brain) tissue homogenates. The sensor showed a strong response to murine muscle. The amplitudes of the responses to the feline muscle homogenates were lower compared to those of the murine muscle, while the same K(d) indicated that the peptide has cross-species affinity. In contrast, murine kidney, liver and brain homogenates produced insignificant responses. Specificity of the sensor was shown in a blocking experiment, as reduced signal was detected when muscle preparations were preincubated with free peptide. Additionally, when muscle-specific peptide was replaced with two different random control peptides, the sensors produced no response to murine muscle. Suitability of peptide ligands for a variety of species can be evaluated using this technology.

Targeting peptides for microglia identified via phage display.

Screening with a 7-mer phage display peptide library, a panel of cell-targeting peptides for the murine microglial cell line, EOC 20, was recognized. A number of similar, but not identical, sets of sequences representing more than 75% of all the cell line-binding clones were identified. Comparative analysis indicated that motif S/(T) F T/(X) Y W is present in the vast majority of the binding sequences. The selectivity and specificity of the dominant peptide sequence identified for microglia was confirmed using both phage displaying the peptide and the synthetic peptide alone.

Recognition of cell-specific binding of phage display derived peptides using an acoustic wave sensor.

ASSLNIA, a peptide selected for murine myofibers using phage display technology, was immobilized onto an acoustic wave sensor. The sensor responded to murine and feline muscle homogenates indicating crosspieces interactions. Kidney, liver, and brain preparations produced insignificant responses.