Homogenous Scavenging Resolves Low-Purification Yield/Selectivity Caused by Secondary Binding of Protein-A to Antigen-Binding Antibody Fragments.

Antigen-binding fragments of antibodies are biotechnologically useful agents for decorating drug delivery systems, for blocking cell-surface receptors in cell culture, for recognizing analytes in biosensors, and potentially as therapeutics. They are typically produced by enzymatic digestion of full antibodies and isolated from the undesirable fragment crystallizable (Fc) by affinity chromatography using Protein-A columns. However, while Protein-A has a strong "classical" interaction with Fc fragments, it can also more weakly bind to an "alternative" site on the heavy chain variable region of antigen-binding fragments. As such, purifying small amounts of antibody fragments by Protein-A chromatography can result in low yield. Moreover, loading larger amounts of antibody fragments onto a Protein-A column can result in poor separation, because of competition of Fc and antigen-binding fragments for immobilized Protein-A. This study demonstrates that Protein-A-based homogeneous scavenging resolves this issue by precisely controlling the stoichiometry of Protein-A to Fc fragments, something that is not possible for conventional flow-type systems, such as affinity chromatography.

An ELISA for detection of complement-bound circulating immune complexes in mice.

Measurements of complement-bound circulating immune complexes (cCICs) in pre-clinical studies may provide important information about the etiology of certain pathology findings suggestive of being immune complex mediated. This article describes the development and qualification of a universal methodology to measure cCIC in mice after dosing with species foreign proteins. The assay is a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay - exclusively based on commercially available reagents - that could detect mouse IgG bound to complement C3 independent of the test-substance present in the plasma sample. Heat-aggregated serum was used as positive control. The assay was qualified by assessment of acceptance criteria, stability of positive control, precision, and specificity. Finally, the performance of the assay was tested using plasma from mice administered either of three different proteins, i.e bovine serum albumin (BSA), a fully human monoclonal antibody, and a humanized monoclonal antibody.

Assessment of Proteus mirabilis Antigen Immunological Complexes by Atomic Force Microscopy.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is being increasingly used to directly measure protein interactions in nearly physiological environments. Here, protocols for atomic force microscopy (AFM) for visualization of antigen-antibody complexes are presented. The technique is used to demonstrate complexes formed by rheumatoid arthritis patient antibodies with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) isolated from P. mirabilis (O3) strain S1959 and a synthetic antigen (LPS epitope of 6 N-alpha-(D-galacturonoyl)-L-lysine residues).

Turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay revisited to enhance its sensitivity via an optofluidic laser.

Turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay (TIIA) is a classic immunodiagnostic method that has been extensively used for biomarker detection. However, the low sensitivity of this technique hinders its applications in the early diagnosis of diseases. Here, a new concept, optofluidic laser TIIA (OFL-TIIA), is proposed and demonstrated for sensitive protein detection. In contrast to the immunoreaction in traditional TIIA, in which the single-pass laser loss is detected, the immunoreaction in the OFL-TIIA method takes place in a laser cavity, which considerably increases the loss induced by antigen-antibody complexes (AACs) via the amplification effect of the laser. A commercial IgG TIIA kit was selected as a demonstrative model to characterize the performance of OFL-TIIA. A wide dynamic range of five orders of magnitude with an exceptional limit of detection (LOD) (1.8 × 10-10 g/L) was achieved. OFL-TIIA is a fast, sensitive, and low-cost immunoassay with a simple homogeneous and wash-free process and low-volume sample consumption, thus providing a new detection platform for disease diagnostics.

A novel general and efficient technique for dissociating antigen in circulating immune complexes.

Circulating immune complexes (CICs) are produced during the immune response. It is more clinically important to establish a general and efficient CICs dissociation technique for the detection of antigens for CICs other than the detection of free antigens in the serum. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) two-precipitation separation and glycine-HCl as a buffer system were employed to develop a general and efficient buffer dissociation technique to separate CICs from serum and dissociate antigens from CICs. The measurement value of new PEG two-precipitation separation technique was higher than traditional PEG precipitation separation technique. There were slight differences in the dissociation conditions of HCV Core-IC, HIV P24-IC, Ins-IC and TG-IC as compared to HBsAg-IC. The detection of antigens in HBsAg-IC, HCV Core-IC, HIV P24-IC, Ins-IC and TG-IC with this technique was superior to that with HCl Dissociation, Trypsin Digestion or Immune Complex Transfer technique. PEG two-precipitation dissociation technique may reduce macromolecular protein and the adhesion of free antigens during the co-precipitation, which increases the efficiency of separation and precipitation of CICs. This technique also avoids the damage of reagents to antigens, assuring the repeatability, reliability and validity. Thus, this technique is application in samples negative or positive for free antigens.

Immune complexes in chronic Chagas disease patients are formed by exovesicles from Trypanosoma cruzi carrying the conserved MASP N-terminal region.

The exovesicles (EVs) are involved in pathologic host-parasite immune associations and have been recently used as biomarkers for diagnosis of infectious diseases. The release of EVs by Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, has recently been described, with different protein cargoes including the MASP multigene family of proteins MASPs are specific to this parasite and characterized by a conserved C-terminal (C-term) region and an N-terminal codifying for a signal peptide (SP). In this investigation, we identified immature MASP proteins containing the MASP SP in EVs secreted by the infective forms of the parasite. Those EVs are responsible for the formation of immune complexes (ICs) containing anti-MASP SP IgGs in patients with different (cardiac, digestive and asymptomatic) chronic Chagas disease manifestations. Moreover, purified EVs as well as the MASP SP inhibit the action of the complement system and also show a significant association with the humoral response in patients with digestive pathologies. These findings reveal a new route for the secretion of MASP proteins in T. cruzi, which uses EVs as vehicles for immature and misfolded proteins, forming circulating immune complexes. Such complexes could be used in the prognosis of digestive pathologies of clinical forms of Chagas disease.

Purification and Immunoprotection Evaluation of AaHIV from Complex Venom Metalloproteinases of Deinagkistrodon acutus.

The aim of this study was to investigate the immunoprotective effects of AaHIV in mice. After purification, a 12% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was performed. Bicinchoninic acid was used to determine the molecular weight and concentration of AaHIV. AaHIV, venom complex (VC), and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were subsequently used to immunize the mice three times, and the blood was sampled 1 week after the third immunization to determine the serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody titer. A skin-bleeding inhibition assay and toxin-eliminating assay were performed on the immunized mice. The purity and concentration of AaHIV were 86.6% and 1.20 mg/mL, respectively. The AaHIV group exhibited higher antibody titers than the VC group. The survival rate of the AaHIV group (7/10) was significantly higher than that of the PBS group (0/10) (P = 0.0031). The high titer of antibodies induced by AaHIV partially neutralized the bleeding activity of the Deinagkistrodon acutus venom complex.

[Screening for Potential Drug Targets by Comprehensive Identification of Disease-specific Antigens Incorporated into Immune Complexes in Patients with Immunological Diseases].

Our immune system resembles an intelligent security system, which continually monitors for foreign invaders (infectious diseases); however, in some cases, this system recognizes healthy parts as something harmful or foreign and then attacks them (autoimmune diseases). The defining characteristics of an autoimmune disease are the existence of T- and B-cell autoreactivity against self proteins (autoantigens). In addition to autoimmune diseases, aberrant host proteins that occur during a certain state of diseases (e.g., cancer) can be recognized as an autoantigen. Immune complexes (ICs) are produced during an immune response and may reflect some aspects of an ongoing immune response. Therefore, the identity of antigens incorporated into ICs provides the information that in the future may aid in the development of diagnosis and treatment strategies for autoimmune diseases, infection, cancer, and transplantation therapy, and this information might be more relevant than information on free antigens. We developed a novel proteomic strategy (immune complexome analysis) in which ICs are separated from serum, followed by direct tryptic digestion and nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the identification and profiling of antigens in circulating ICs. We applied this strategy to the analysis of circulating ICs in autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, Takayasu's arteritis, mixed connective tissue disease, dermatomyositis, Sjögren's syndrome, systemic scleroderma, and systemic lupus erythematosus), infectious diseases and cancers. In this review, we mainly discuss the results for autoimmune diseases.

FcγRIIIa-Syk Co-signal Modulates CD4+ T-cell Response and Up-regulates Toll-like Receptor (TLR) Expression.

CD4(+) T-cells in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients show altered T-cell receptor signaling, which utilizes Fc-receptor γ-chain FcRγ-Syk. A role for FcγRIIIa activation from immune complex (IC) ligation and sublytic terminal complement complex (C5b-9) in CD4(+) T-cell responses is not investigated. In this study, we show that the ICs present in SLE patients by ligating to FcγRIIIa on CD4(+) T-cells phosphorylate Syk and provide a co-stimulatory signal to CD4(+) T-cells in the absence of CD28 signal. This led to the development of pathogenic IL-17A(+) and IFN-γ(high) CD4(+) T-cells in vitro. Cytokines IL-1ß, IL-6, TGF-ß1, and IL-23 were the only requirement for the development of both populations. SLE patients CD4(+) T-cells that expressed CD25, CD69, and CD98 bound to ICs showed pSyk and produced IFN-γ and IL-17A. This FcγRIIIa-mediated co-signal differentially up-regulated the expression of IFN pathway genes compared with CD28 co-signal. FcγRIIIa-pSyk up-regulated several toll-like receptor genes as well as the HMGB1 and MyD88 gene transcripts. ICs co-localized with these toll-like receptor pathway proteins. These results suggest a role for the FcγRIIIa-pSyk signal in modulating adaptive immune responses.

Tethered-bead, immune sandwich assay.

We describe a proof-of-principle, immune sandwich assay in which immune complexes link micron-size beads via DNA tethers to a sensor surface. The number of tethered beads, counted using low-magnification microscopy, provides a measure of the concentration of analyte. The prototype assay was sensitive to pM concentration of analyte. In theory, the assay could be sensitive to sub-fM analyte because beads attached via single-immune complexes and DNA strands form tethers, and tether formation in the absence of analyte is extremely rare. The limiting step at present is binding of streptavidin at the end of DNA to biotin on capture beads. Potential advantages of this type of sensor are discussed.

A novel strategy for the rapid preparation and isolation of intact immune complexes from peptide mixtures.

The development and application of a miniaturized affinity system for the preparation and release of intact immune complexes are demonstrated. Antibodies were reversibly affinity-adsorbed on pipette tips containing protein G´ and protein A, respectively. Antigen proteins were digested with proteases and peptide mixtures were exposed to attached antibodies; forming antibody-epitope complexes, that is, immune complexes. Elution with millimolar indole propionic acid (IPA)-containing buffers under neutral pH conditions allowed to effectively isolate the intact immune complexes in purified form. Size exclusion chromatography was performed to determine the integrity of the antibody-epitope complexes. Mass spectrometric analysis identified the epitope peptides in the respective SEC fractions. His-tag-containing recombinant human glucose-6-phosphate isomerase in combination with an anti-His-tag monoclonal antibody was instrumental to develop the method. Application was extended to the isolation of the intact antibody-epitope complex of a recombinant human tripartite motif 21 (rhTRIM21) auto-antigen in combination with a rabbit polyclonal anti-TRIM21 antibody. Peptide chip analysis showed that antibody-epitope binding of rhTRIM21 peptide antibody complexes was not affected by the presence of IPA in the elution buffer. By contrast, protein G´ showed an ion charge structure by electrospray mass spectrometry that resembled a denatured conformation when exposed to IPA-containing buffers. The advantages of this novel isolation strategy are low sample consumption and short experimental duration in addition to the direct and robust methodology that provides easy access to intact antibody-antigen complexes under neutral pH and low salt conditions for subsequent investigations.

Co-expression and co-purification of antigen-antibody complexes in bacterial cytoplasm and periplasm.

Recombinant antibodies in single-domain format (VHHs) have been recently used for stabilizing antigens during their purification and crystallization. VHHs are also known for their structural stability, and a significant part of them share the characteristic of remaining functionally folded also in the absence of the internal disulfide bond. Therefore, they can be expressed as intrabodies in cell cytoplasm as well as in the bacterial periplasm. This evidence means that, in theory, VHHs can be co-expressed with their antigens independently on the redox constrains. It has also suggested the idea of using co-expression and co-purification of antigen-antibody complexes for maximizing the stabilizing effect of the antibody on its antigen during all the production steps for both cytoplasmic and periplasmic expression strategies.

Immune complexes and persistent high levels of serum vitamin B12.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with persistent high levels of serum vitamin B12 were often referred to Hematology departments. In this study, characteristic of patients with serum vitamin B12 levels higher than 2500 pmol/L (high B12) were studied. METHODS: Prevalence of high B12 was evaluated during a 10-month period. Samples with high B12 were incubated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and a new measurement of vitamin B12 was carried out using the supernatant. As a pilot study, 26 frozen samples with high B12 were evaluated for changes in vitamin B12 after PEG. Moreover, a prospective study was carried out during three consecutive months. Size exclusion chromatography was employed to demonstrate the presence of immune complexes (ICs) with plasma vitamin B12-binding proteins in some serum samples with high B12. RESULTS: Prevalence of high B12 was 1.3%. Results from 26 frozen samples and from a prospective study (28 cases) showed that undergoing vitamin B12 treatment was the main cause of high B12. However, ICs were detected in 10 frozen samples and in seven cases (25%) of the prospective study, respectively. Serum vitamin B12 decreased to normal values after precipitation with PEG, and size exclusion chromatography confirmed ICs. An association with autoimmune or hematological disorders was observed. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with repeatedly high B12 levels, ICs were detected in approximately 25% of samples. Precipitation with PEG is an easy method to confirm the presence of ICs and to evaluate serum vitamin B12 levels in these patients.

Classical complement pathway components C1r and C1s: purification from human serum and in recombinant form and functional characterization.

C1r and C1s are the proteases responsible for the activation and proteolytic activity of the C1 complex of the classical complement pathway, respectively. They are assembled into a Ca(2+)-dependent C1s-C1r-C1r-C1s tetramer which in turn associates with the recognition protein C1q. The C1 complex circulates in serum as a zymogen and is activated upon binding of C1q to appropriate targets, such as antigen-antibody complexes. This property is used for the purification of C1r and C1s from human serum after binding of C1 to insoluble immune complexes. Disruption of the bound C1 complex by EDTA releases C1r and C1s which are further separated by ion-exchange chromatography; both proteins can be reassembled in the presence of calcium ions and the reconstituted tetramer isolated by gel filtration. In this chapter, we describe the purification of the activated and proenzyme forms of C1r and C1s and of the proenzyme C1s-C1r-C1r-C1s tetramer as well as methods for their biochemical and functional characterization. The production of recombinant C1s and of the proenzyme tetramer in a baculovirus-insect cell system, and their purification by affinity chromatography is also presented.

Identification of autoantigens in body fluids by combining pull-downs and organic precipitations of intact immune complexes with quantitative label-free mass spectrometry.

Most autoimmune diseases are multifactorial diseases and are caused by the immunological reaction against a number of autoantigens. Key for understanding autoimmune pathologies is the knowledge of the targeted autoantigens, both initially and during disease progression. We present an approach for autoantigen identification based on isolation of intact autoantibody-antigen complexes from body fluids. After organic precipitation of high molecular weight proteins and free immunoglobulins, released autoantigens were identified by quantitative label-free liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. We confirmed feasibility of target enrichment and identification from highly complex body fluid proteomes by spiking of a predefined antibody-antigen complex at low level of abundance. As a proof of principle, we studied the blinding disease autoimmune uveitis, which is caused by autoreactive T-cells attacking the inner eye and is accompanied by autoantibodies. We identified three novel autoantigens in the spontaneous animal model equine recurrent uveitis (secreted acidic phosphoprotein osteopontin, extracellular matrix protein 1, and metalloproteinase inhibitor 2) and confirmed the presence of the corresponding autoantibodies in 15-25% of patient samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Thus, this workflow led to the identification of novel autoantigens in autoimmune uveitis and may provide a versatile and useful tool to identify autoantigens in other autoimmune diseases in the future.

Optimization of separation and digestion conditions in immune complexome analysis.

Immune complexome analysis is a method for identifying and profiling of antigens in circulating immune complexes (CICs); it involves separation of immune complexes from serum, direct tryptic digestion of these complexes, and protein analysis via nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS). To improve this method, we initially investigated the effects of two factors-the gradient elution program and nano-LC column type (C18-packed, C8-packed, or packed spray capillary column)-on the numbers of peptides and proteins identified. Longer gradient elution times resulted in higher identification capability throughout the range of 25-400 min. Moreover, the packed spray capillary column supported identification of more peptides and proteins than did any other column. In addition, microwave-assisted digestion was compared with conventional digestion, which involved incubation overnight at 37 °C. Microwave-assisted digestion produced more partially digested peptides than did conventional digestion. However, the percentages of miscleaved peptides in all of the identified peptides in microwave-assisted digestion of immune complexes (a protein mixture) were lower than those in the physical stimulation-assisted digestion of a model protein. Microwave-assisted digestion is slightly inferior to, or as effective as, conventional digestion, but it drastically reduces the digestion time.

Gold-linked electrochemical immunoassay on single-walled carbon nanotube for highly sensitive detection of human chorionic gonadotropin hormone.

A new sensitive gold-linked electrochemical immunoassay (GLEIA) for the detection of the pregnancy marker human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) has been developed using the direct electrochemical detection of Au nanoparticles. We utilized single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) microelectrodes; 24 SWCNT microelectrodes were arrayed on a single Si substrate 25×30 mm² in size, for the development of a new GLEIA (SWCNT-GLEIA). This SWCNT-GLEIA provided convenient and cost-effective tests with the required antibody and antigen sample volumes as small as 2.0 µL for a group of 4 SWCNT microelectrodes. In addition, this assay also exhibited properties of high sensitivity and selectivity benefitting from the intrinsic extraordinary features of SWCNTs. Using scanning electron microscopy, we also observed Au nanoparticle-labeled antigen-antibody complexes immobilized on the surface of the SWCNT microelectrodes. The concentration of the pregnancy marker (hCG) showed a linear relationship with the current intensity obtained from differential pulse voltammetry measurements with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.4 pg/mL (0.024 mIU/mL) hCG. This LOD is 15 times more sensitive than a previous GLEIA, which used screen-printed carbon electrodes.

Class II MHC self-antigen presentation in human B and T lymphocytes.

Human CD4(+) T cells process and present functional class II MHC-peptide complexes, but the endogenous peptide repertoire of these non-classical antigen presenting cells remains unknown. We eluted and sequenced HLA-DR-bound self-peptides presented by CD4(+) T cells in order to compare the T cell-derived peptide repertoire to sequences derived from genetically identical B cells. We identified several novel epitopes derived from the T cell-specific proteome, including fragments of CD4 and IL-2. While these data confirm that T cells can present peptides derived from the T-cell specific proteome, the vast majority of peptides sequenced after elution from MHC were derived from the common proteome. From this pool, we identified several identical peptide epitopes in the T and B cell repertoire derived from common endogenous proteins as well as novel endogenous epitopes with promiscuous binding. These findings indicate that the endogenous HLA-DR-bound peptide repertoire, regardless of APC type and across MHC isotype, is largely derived from the same pool of self-protein.

Plasmapheresis in immunologic renal disease.

Plasmapheresis has been used in the management of immunologic renal disease for the last 40 years. The rationale behind this approach is to remove pathogenic immune mediators, such as autoantibodies and immune complexes, from the circulation. There may also be benefit in depleting proinflammatory molecules, such as complement components and coagulation factors. Initial experience was gained in Goodpasture's disease, in which antiglomerular basement membrane antibodies were known to be pathogenic. More recently, a role for autoantibodies has become clear in small-vessel systemic vasculitis and some cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome/thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Removal of immune complexes is thought to be important in cryoglobulinemia and systemic lupus erythematosus. Plasmapheresis is used in renal transplantation for the treatment of acute antibody-mediated rejection, and for desensitization of patients with preformed anti-HLA antibodies or those receiving an ABO-incompatible transplant. Although many of the early studies were uncontrolled, there has been an increasing number of randomized controlled trials in recent years. The aim of this article is to summarize current indications for the use of plasmapheresis in immunologic renal disease.

Crystallization of a challenging antigen-antibody complex: TLR3 ECD with three noncompeting Fabs.

The mechanism of action of therapeutic antibodies can be elucidated from the three-dimensional crystal structures of their complexes with antigens, but crystallization remains the primary bottleneck to structure determination. Methods that resulted in the successful crystallization of TLR3 ECD in complex with Fab fragments from three noncompeting, neutralizing anti-TLR3 antibodies are presented. The crystallization of this 238 kDa complex was achieved through fine purification of the quaternary complex of TLR3 with the three Fab fragments combined with microseed matrix screening and additive screening. Fine purification entailed the application of a very shallow gradient in anion-exchange chromatography, resulting in the resolution of two separate complex peaks which had different crystallizabilities. Subsequent structure determination defined the epitopes of the respective antibodies and revealed a mechanistic hypothesis that is currently under investigation. The results also showed that cocrystallization with multiple noncompeting Fab fragments can be a viable path when an antigen complex with a single Fab proves to be recalcitrant to crystallization.