Development of anti-matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) nanobodies as potential therapeutic and diagnostic tools.

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is an endopeptidase involved in cardiovascular disease and cancer. To date, no highly selective MMP-2 inhibitors have been identified for potential use in humans. Aim of our work was to apply the nanobody technology to the generation of highly selective inhibitors of human MMP-2 and to assess their effects on platelet function and their applicability as conjugated nanobodies. We constructed a nanobody library after immunising an alpaca with human active MMP-2 and identified, after phage display and screening, one MMP-2 inhibitory nanobody (VHH-29), able to hinder the effects of MMP-2 on platelet activation, and one nanobody not inhibiting MMP-2 activity (VHH-136) which, chemically conjugated to a fluorescent probe, allowed the detection of human MMP-2 by flow-cytometry and immune-cytochemistry. In conclusion, we have generated and characterized two new nanotechnological molecular tools for human MMP-2 which represent promising agents for the study of MMP-2 in cardiovascular pathophysiology.

RNA aptamers as conformational probes and regulatory agents for plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.

The hallmark of serpins is the ability to undergo the so-called "stressed-to-relaxed" switch during which the surface-exposed reactive center loop (RCL) becomes incorporated as strand 4 in central beta-sheet A. RCL insertion drives not only the inhibitory reaction of serpins with their target serine proteases but also the conversion to the inactive latent state. RCL insertion is coupled to conformational changes in the flexible joint region flanking beta-sheet A. One interesting serpin is plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a fast and specific inhibitor of the serine proteases tissue-type and urokinase-type plasminogen activator. Via its flexible joints' region, native PAI-1 binds vitronectin and relaxed, protease-complexed PAI-1 certain endocytosis receptors. From a library of 35-nucleotides long 2'-fluoropyrimidine-containing RNA oligonucleotides, we have isolated two aptamers binding PAI-1 by the flexible joint region with low nanomolar K(D) values. One of the aptamers exhibited measurable binding to native PAI-1 only, while the other also bound relaxed PAI-1. While none of the aptamers inhibited the antiproteolytic effect of PAI-1, both aptamers inhibited vitronectin binding and the relaxed PAI-1-binding aptamer also endocytosis receptor binding. The aptamer binding exclusively to native PAI-1 increased the half-life for the latency transition to more than 6 h, manyfold more than vitronectin. Contact with Lys124 in the flexible joint region was critical for strong inhibition of the latency transition and the lack of binding to relaxed PAI-1. We conclude that aptamers yield important information about the serpin conformational switch and, because they can compete with high-affinity protein-protein interactions, may provide leads for pharmacological intervention.

Generation and in vitro characterisation of inhibitory nanobodies towards plasminogen activator inhibitor 1.

Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) is the principal physiological inhibitor of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and has been identified as a risk factor in cardiovascular diseases. In order to generate nanobodies against PAI-1 to interfere with its functional properties, we constructed three nanobody libraries upon immunisation of three alpacas with three different PAI-1 variants. Three panels of nanobodies were selected against these PAI-1 variants. Evaluation of the amino acid sequence identity of the complementarity determining region-3 (CDR3) reveals 34 clusters in total. Five nanobodies (VHH-s-a98, VHH-2w-64, VHH-s-a27, VHH-s-a93 and VHH-2g-42) representing five clusters exhibit inhibition towards PAI-1 activity. VHH-s-a98 and VHH-2w-64 inhibit both glycosylated and non-glycosylated PAI-1 variants through a substrate-inducing mechanism, and bind to two different regions close to αhC and the hinge region of αhF; the profibrinolytic effect of both nanobodies was confirmed using an in vitro clot lysis assay. VHH-s-a93 may inhibit PAI-1 activity by preventing the formation of the initial PAI-1t-PA complex formation and binds to the hinge region of the reactive centre loop. Epitopes of VHH-s-a27 and VHH-2g-42 could not be deduced yet. These five nanobodies interfere with PAI-1 activity through different mechanisms and merit further evaluation for the development of future profibrinolytic therapeutics.

In vitro and in vivo characterisation of the profibrinolytic effect of an inhibitory anti-rat TAFI nanobody.

One of the main disadvantages of current t-PA thrombolytic treatment is the increased bleeding risk. Upon activation, thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is a very powerful antifibrinolytic enzyme. Therefore, co-administration of a TAFI inhibitor during thrombolysis could reduce the required t-PA dose without compromising the thrombolytic efficacy. In this study we generated and characterised a nanobody that is inhibitory towards rat TAFI and evaluated its profibrinolytic property in vitro and in vivo. Nanobody VHH-rTAFI-i81 inhibits (at a 16-fold molar ratio nanobody over TAFI) the thrombin/thrombomodulin (T/TM)-mediated activation of rat TAFI (rTAFI) by 83 ± 1.8% with an IC50 of 0.46 (molar ratio nanobody over TAFI). The affinity (KA) of VHH-rTAFI-i81 for rTAFI, as determined by surface plasmon resonance (Biacore®), is 2.5 ± 0.2 x 10(10) M(-1) and illustrates a very strong binding. In an in vitro clot lysis assay, administration of VHH-rTAFI-i81 strongly enhances the degree of lysis and reduces time to reach full lysis of t-PA-mediated clot lysis. Epitope mapping discloses that Lys392 is of primary importance for the nanobody/rTAFI interaction besides minor contributions of Tyr175 and Glu183. In vivo application of VHH-rTAFI-i81 in a tissue factor-induced mouse thromboembolism model significantly decreases fibrin deposition in the lungs in the absence of exogenous administered t-PA. Nanobody VHH-rTAFI-i81 is a very potent inhibitor of T/TM-mediated TAFI activation. Co-administration of this nanobody and t-PA enhances the fibrinolytic efficacy. In an in vivo mouse thromboembolism model, VHH-rTAFI-i81 reduces fibrin deposition in the lungs.