Metabolic installation of macrophage-recruiting glycan ligand on tumor cell surface for in vivo tumor suppression.

Synthetic probes that could direct immune cells against tumors are potential immunotherapeutics. We herein report in vivo tumor suppression via an intravenously injected abiotic sialic acid (TCCSia) that could be metabolically incorporated into tumor cell surface to yield of a high affinity ligand (TCCSiaα2,3-Gal) of Siglec-1 specifically expressed on macrophages. We observed marked suppression of pulmonary metastasis and subcutaneous tumor growth of B16F10 melanoma cells in mice with TCCSia, suggesting the utility of abiotic sialic acid to modulate tumor immunity via recruiting Siglec+ immune cells.

Installation of high-affinity Siglec-1 ligand on tumor surface for macrophage-engaged tumor suppression.

Siglecs that binds cell surface sialoglycans are a family of immunomodulatory receptors, of which, Siglec-7 expressed on natural killer (NK) cells promotes tumor immunoevation while the role of Siglec-1 expressed on macrophages on tumor development remains largely unexplored. Herein, we selectively introduced high affinity sialoside ligands of Siglec-1 and Siglec-7 to tumor cell surface via in vivo Strain-promoted Azide-Alkyne cyclization of TCCSiaα2,3-Lactose or FITCSiaα2,6-Lactose with 9-azido sialic acid (AzSia) metabolically installed on tumor cell surface. We found that TCCSiaα2,3-Lactose conjugated on tumor surface moderately inhibited tumor growth while FITCSiaα2,6-Lactose promote tumor growth. These results suggest high-affinity ligand of Siglec-1 dispalyed on tumors surface provide a new perspective for tumor immunotherapy.

Identification of lectin counter-receptors on cell membranes by proximity labeling.

Lectin-glycan interactions play important roles in many biological systems, but the nature of glycoprotein counter-receptors expressed on cell membranes is often poorly understood. To help overcome this problem, we developed a method based on proximity labeling technology. Using a peroxidase-coupled lectin, addition of H2O2 and tyramide-biotin substrates leads to generation of short-range biotin radicals that biotinylate proteins in the immediate vicinity of the bound lectin, which can subsequently be identified. As a proof-of-principle, sialoadhesin-horseradish peroxidase-human IgG1 Fc recombinant protein constructs were precomplexed with anti-Fc antibodies, bound to human erythrocytes and reacted with H2O2 and tyramide-SS-biotin. The erythrocyte membrane protein with strongest biotinylation was identified as glycophorin A, in agreement with early studies using lectin overlay and reglycosylation approaches. As a further test of the method, the plant lectin MAL II was conjugated with horseradish peroxidase and used in proximity labeling of human erythrocytes. Glycophorin A was again selectively labeled, which is consistent with previous reports that MAL II has high affinity for glycophorin. This method could be applied to other lectins to identify their membrane counter-receptors.

Mouse Siglec-1 Mediates trans-Infection of Surface-bound Murine Leukemia Virus in a Sialic Acid N-Acyl Side Chain-dependent Manner.

Siglec-1 (sialoadhesin, CD169) is a surface receptor on human cells that mediates trans-enhancement of HIV-1 infection through recognition of sialic acid moieties in virus membrane gangliosides. Here, we demonstrate that mouse Siglec-1, expressed on the surface of primary macrophages in an interferon-α-responsive manner, captures murine leukemia virus (MLV) particles and mediates their transfer to proliferating lymphocytes. The MLV infection of primary B-cells was markedly more efficient than that of primary T-cells. The major structural protein of MLV particles, Gag, frequently co-localized with Siglec-1, and trans-infection, primarily of surface-bound MLV particles, efficiently occurred. To explore the role of sialic acid for MLV trans-infection at a submolecular level, we analyzed the potential of six sialic acid precursor analogs to modulate the sialylated ganglioside-dependent interaction of MLV particles with Siglec-1. Biosynthetically engineered sialic acids were detected in both the glycolipid and glycoprotein fractions of MLV producer cells. MLV released from cells carrying N-acyl-modified sialic acids displayed strikingly different capacities for Siglec-1-mediated capture and trans-infection; N-butanoyl, N-isobutanoyl, N-glycolyl, or N-pentanoyl side chain modifications resulted in up to 92 and 80% reduction of virus particle capture and trans-infection, respectively, whereas N-propanoyl or N-cyclopropylcarbamyl side chains had no effect. In agreement with these functional analyses, molecular modeling indicated reduced binding affinities for non-functional N-acyl modifications. Thus, Siglec-1 is a key receptor for macrophage/lymphocyte trans-infection of surface-bound virions, and the N-acyl side chain of sialic acid is a critical determinant for the Siglec-1/MLV interaction.

A human-specific mutation limits nonhuman primate efficacy in preclinical xenotransplantation studies.

BACKGROUND: Patients diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure face high mortality rates. A potential therapeutic approach for these patients is the use of extracorporeal porcine liver perfusion, to serve as a form of "liver dialysis." Previously, our laboratory has shown that, during a 72-hour extracorporeal perfusion with human blood, porcine Kupffer cells bind to and phagocytose human erythrocytes causing the hematocrit to fall to 2.5% of the original value. Subsequently, erythrocyte binding has been shown to involve N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) on the surface of human erythrocytes and sialoadhesin on the surface of the porcine Kupffer cells. METHODS: Given that no primate other than the human is known to express the majority of its sialic acid as Neu5Ac, we evaluated whether nonhuman primates would provide adequate evaluation of the loss of erythrocytes that might be expected in a clinical trial of extracorporeal porcine liver perfusion. RESULTS: We found that while porcine macrophages readily bound human erythrocytes, binding of nonhuman primate erythrocytes was significantly reduced (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that nonhuman primates may fail to serve as an adequate model for studying extracorporeal porcine liver perfusion because of the fact that porcine macrophages do not bind nonhuman primate erythrocytes.

Additive inhibition of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection with the soluble sialoadhesin and CD163 receptors.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is an economically important swine disease to the swine industry worldwide. Current PRRS vaccines are only partially effective and new vaccine development faces great challenges. Sialoadhesin (Sn) and CD163 are the two essential receptors for PRRSV infection of porcine alveolar macrophage (PAM). To investigate the feasibility of the soluble viral receptors for PRRS control, in the present study we generated recombinant adenovirus (rAd) expressing the four N-terminal Ig-like domains of porcine Sn (Sn4D), the fifth SRCR domain (SRCR5) or domains 5-9 (SRCR59) of porcine CD163 as porcine Fc (pFc) fusion proteins. Efficient expression of the soluble viral receptors in the rAd-transduced cells was confirmed by RT-PCR and Western blotting. To detect their antiviral activities, the soluble viral receptors were purified from the media of rAd-transduced cells and identified by Western blotting. The viral binding assay showed that the soluble receptors Sn4D-Fc and SRCR59-Fc, but not SRCR5-Fc and the control pFc, were able to bind to PRRSV particles. The viral infection blocking assays showed that co-treatment of PRRSV with different concentrations of Sn4D-Fc and SRCR59-Fc proteins resulted in a much higher (72.1%-77.6%) reduction in PRRSV-positive cell number than the single protein treatment (45.1%-60.0% or 44.0%-56.2%). To investigate the feasibility of delivering the soluble viral receptors to PAM, two pig cell lines were transduced with rAd-Sn4D-Fc and/or rAd-SRCR59-Fc using a transwell culture system. PAM cells were infected with PRRSV and then co-cultured with the rAd-transduced cells. Viral titration assay showed that co-cultivation of the infected PAM with rAd-Sn4D-Fc- and rAd-SRCR59-Fc-transduced cells resulted in much higher (by ∼3.5 log) reduction in the viral titers (TCID50) than that of co-cultivation with the single vector-transduced cells (by ∼1.0 log). Further studies showed that the rAd co-delivered soluble receptors Sn4D-Fc and SRCR59-Fc had dose-dependent and temporal antiviral effect against three different PRRSV strains. Since the data presented indicate an additive anti-PRRSV activity between the soluble receptors Sn4D-Fc and SRCR59-Fc, we conclude that the two rAd vectors generated will be useful for development a novel reagent for PRRS control.

Analysis of the binding sites of porcine sialoadhesin receptor with PRRSV.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) can infect pigs and cause enormous economic losses to the pig industry worldwide. Porcine sialoadhesin (pSN) and CD163 have been identified as key viral receptors on porcine alveolar macrophages (PAM), a main target cell infected by PRRSV. In this study, the protein structures of amino acids 1-119 from the pSN and cSN (cattle sialoadhesin) N-termini (excluding the 19-amino acid signal peptide) were modeled via homology modeling based on mSN (mouse sialoadhesin) template structures using bioinformatics tools. Subsequently, pSN and cSN homology structures were superposed onto the mSN protein structure to predict the binding sites of pSN. As a validation experiment, the SN N-terminus (including the wild-type and site-directed-mutant-types of pSN and cSN) was cloned and expressed as a SN-GFP chimera protein. The binding activity between SN and PRRSV was confirmed by WB (Western blotting), FAR-WB (far Western blotting), ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and immunofluorescence assay. We found that the S107 amino acid residue in the pSN N-terminal played a crucial role in forming a special cavity, as well as a hydrogen bond for enhancing PRRSV binding during PRRSV infection. S107 may be glycosylated during PRRSV infection and may also be involved in forming the cavity for binding PRRSV along with other sites, including W2, Y44, S45, R97, R105, W106 and V109. Additionally, S107 might also be important for pSN binding with PRRSV. However, the function of these binding sites must be confirmed by further studies.