A factor VIIIa-mimetic bispecific antibody, Mim8, ameliorates bleeding upon severe vascular challenge in hemophilia A mice.

Hemophilia A is a bleeding disorder resulting from deficient factor VIII (FVIII), which normally functions as a cofactor to activated factor IX (FIXa) that facilitates activation of factor X (FX). To mimic this property in a bispecific antibody format, a screening was conducted to identify functional pairs of anti-FIXa and anti-FX antibodies, followed by optimization of functional and biophysical properties. The resulting bispecific antibody (Mim8) assembled efficiently with FIXa and FX on membranes, and supported activation with an apparent equilibrium dissociation constant of 16 nM. Binding affinity with FIXa and FX in solution was much lower, with equilibrium dissociation constant values for FIXa and FX of 2.3 and 1.5 µM, respectively. In addition, the activity of Mim8 was dependent on stimulatory activity contributed by the anti-FIXa arm, which enhanced the proteolytic activity of FIXa by 4 orders of magnitude. In hemophilia A plasma and whole blood, Mim8 normalized thrombin generation and clot formation, with potencies 13 and 18 times higher than a sequence-identical analogue of emicizumab. A similar potency difference was observed in a tail vein transection model in hemophilia A mice, whereas reduction of bleeding in a severe tail-clip model was observed only for Mim8. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic parameters of Mim8 were investigated and a half-life of 14 days shown in cynomolgus monkeys. In conclusion, Mim8 is an activated FVIII mimetic with a potent and efficacious hemostatic effect based on preclinical data.

Tapasin facilitation of natural HLA-A and -B allomorphs is strongly influenced by peptide length, depends on stability, and separates closely related allomorphs.

Despite an abundance of peptides inside a cell, only a small fraction is ultimately presented by HLA-I on the cell surface. The presented peptides have HLA-I allomorph-specific motifs and are restricted in length. So far, detailed length studies have been limited to few allomorphs. Peptide-HLA-I (pHLA-I) complexes of different allomorphs are qualitatively and quantitatively influenced by tapasin to different degrees, but again, its effect has only been investigated for a small number of HLA-I allomorphs. Although both peptide length and tapasin dependence are known to be important for HLA-I peptide presentation, the relationship between them has never been studied. In this study, we used random peptide libraries from 7- to 13-mers and studied binding in the presence and absence of a recombinant truncated form of tapasin. The data show that HLA-I allomorphs are differentially affected by tapasin, different lengths of peptides generated different amounts of pHLA-I complexes, and HLA-A allomorphs are generally less restricted than HLA-B allomorphs to peptides of the classical length of 8-10 aa. We also demonstrate that tapasin facilitation varies for different peptide lengths, and that the correlation between high degree of tapasin facilitation and low stability is valid for different random peptide mixes of specific lengths. In conclusion, these data show that tapasin has specificity for the combination of peptide length and HLA-I allomorph, and suggest that tapasin promotes formation of pHLA-I complexes with high on and off rates, an important intermediary step in the HLA-I maturation process.

Peptide-MHC class I stability is a better predictor than peptide affinity of CTL immunogenicity.

Efficient presentation of peptide-MHC class I (pMHC-I) complexes to immune T cells should benefit from a stable peptide-MHC-I interaction. However, it has been difficult to distinguish stability from other requirements for MHC-I binding, for example, affinity. We have recently established a high-throughput assay for pMHC-I stability. Here, we have generated a large database containing stability measurements of pMHC-I complexes, and re-examined a previously reported unbiased analysis of the relative contributions of antigen processing and presentation in defining cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) immunogenicity [Assarsson et al., J. Immunol. 2007. 178: 7890-7901]. Using an affinity-balanced approach, we demonstrated that immunogenic peptides tend to be more stably bound to MHC-I molecules compared with nonimmunogenic peptides. We also developed a bioinformatics method to predict pMHC-I stability, which suggested that 30% of the nonimmunogenic binders hitherto classified as "holes in the T-cell repertoire" can be explained as being unstably bound to MHC-I. Finally, we suggest that nonoptimal anchor residues in position 2 of the peptide are particularly prone to cause unstable interactions with MHC-I. We conclude that the availability of accurate predictors of pMHC-I stability might be helpful in the elucidation of MHC-I restricted antigen presentation, and might be instrumental in future search strategies for MHC-I epitopes.

Tapasin discriminates peptide-human leukocyte antigen-A*02:01 complexes formed with natural ligands.

A plethora of peptides are generated intracellularly, and most peptide-human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-I interactions are of a transient, unproductive nature. Without a quality control mechanism, the HLA-I system would be stressed by futile attempts to present peptides not sufficient for the stable peptide-HLA-I complex formation required for long term presentation. Tapasin is thought to be central to this essential quality control, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we report that the N-terminal region of tapasin, Tpn(1-87), assisted folding of peptide-HLA-A*02:01 complexes according to the identity of the peptide. The facilitation was also specific for the identity of the HLA-I heavy chain, where it correlated to established tapasin dependence hierarchies. Two large sets of HLA-A*02:01 binding peptides, one extracted from natural HLA-I ligands from the SYFPEITHI database and one consisting of medium to high affinity non-SYFPEITHI ligands, were studied in the context of HLA-A*02:01 binding and stability. We show that the SYFPEITHI peptides induced more stable HLA-A*02:01 molecules than the other ligands, although affinities were similar. Remarkably, Tpn(1-87) could functionally discriminate the selected SYFPEITHI peptides from the other peptide binders with high sensitivity and specificity. We suggest that this HLA-I- and peptide-specific function, together with the functions exerted by the more C-terminal parts of tapasin, are major features of tapasin-mediated HLA-I quality control. These findings are important for understanding the biogenesis of HLA-I molecules, the selection of presented T-cell epitopes, and the identification of immunogenic targets in both basic research and vaccine design.

The outermost N-terminal region of tapasin facilitates folding of major histocompatibility complex class I.

Tapasin (Tpn) is an ER chaperone that is uniquely dedicated to MHC-I biosynthesis. It binds MHC-I molecules, integrates them into peptide-loading complexes, and exerts quality control of the bound peptides; only when an "optimal peptide" is bound will the MHC-I be released and exported to the cell surface for presentation to T cells. The exact mechanisms of Tpn quality control and the criteria for being an optimal peptide are still unknown. Here, we have generated a recombinant fragment of human Tpn, Tpn(1-87) (representing the 87 N-terminal and ER-luminal amino acids of the mature Tpn protein). Using a biochemical peptide-MHC-I-binding assay, recombinant Tpn(1-87) was found to specifically facilitate peptide-dependent folding of HLA-A*0201. Furthermore, we used Tpn(1-87) to generate a monoclonal antibody, alphaTpn(1-87)/80, specific for natural human Tpn and capable of cellular staining of ER localized Tpn. Using overlapping peptides, the epitope of alphaTpn(1-87)/80 was located to Tpn(40-44), which maps to a surface-exposed loop on the Tpn structure. Together, these results demonstrate that the N-terminal region of Tpn can be recombinantly expressed and adopt a structure, which at least partially resembles that of WT Tpn, and that this region of Tpn features chaperone activity facilitating peptide binding of MHC-I.

Identification and preclinical development of an anti-proteolytic uPA antibody for rheumatoid arthritis.

Blocking the proteolytic capacity of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) reduces arthritis progression in the collagen-induced mouse arthritis model to an extent that is on par with the effect of blocking tumor necrosis factor-alpha by etanercept. Seeking to develop a novel therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, a humanized mAb, NNC0266-0043, was selected for its dual inhibition of both the zymogen activation and the proteolytic capacity of human uPA. The antibody revealed nonlinear elimination kinetics in cynomolgus monkeys consistent with binding to and turnover of endogenous uPA. At a dose level of 20.6 mg kg-1, the antibody had a plasma half-life of 210 h. Plasma uPA activity, a pharmacodynamic marker of anti-uPA therapy, was reduced to below the detection limit during treatment, indicating that an efficacious plasma concentration was reached. Pharmacokinetic modeling predicted that sufficient antibody levels can be sustained in arthritis patients dosed subcutaneously once weekly. The anti-uPA mAb was also well tolerated in cynomolgus monkeys at weekly doses up to 200 mg kg-1 over 4 weeks. The data from cynomolgus monkeys and from human material presented here indicates that anti-uPA mAb NNC0266-0043 is suitable for clinical testing as a novel therapeutic for rheumatic diseases. KEY MESSAGES: Background: Anti-uPA therapy is on par with etanercept in a mouse arthritis model. A new humanized antibody blocks activation and proteolytic activity of human uPA. The antibody represents a radically novel mode-of-action in anti-rheumatic therapy. The antibody has PK/PD properties in primates consistent with QW clinical dosing.

Peptide binding to HLA class I molecules: homogenous, high-throughput screening, and affinity assays.

The Human MHC Project aims at large-scale description of peptide-HLA binding to a wide range of HLA molecules covering all populations of the world and the accompanying generation of bioinformatics tools capable of predicting binding of any given peptide to any given HLA molecule. Here, the authors present a homogenous, proximity-based assay for detection of peptide binding to HLA class I molecules. It uses a conformation-dependent anti-HLA class I antibody, W6/32, as one tag and a biotinylated recombinant HLA class I molecule as the other tag, and a proximity-based signal is generated through the luminescent oxygen channeling immunoassay technology (abbreviated LOCI and commercialized as AlphaScreen). Compared with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based peptide-HLA class I binding assay, the LOCI assay yields virtually identical affinity measurements, although having a broader dynamic range, better signal-to-background ratios, and a higher capacity. They also describe an efficient approach to screen peptides for binding to HLA molecules. For the occasional user, this will serve as a robust, simple peptide-HLA binding assay. For the more dedicated user, it can easily be performed in a high-throughput screening mode using standard liquid handling robotics and 384-well plates. We have successfully applied this assay to more than 60 different HLA molecules, leading to more than 2 million measurements.

The peptide-binding specificity of HLA-A*3001 demonstrates membership of the HLA-A3 supertype.

Human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) molecules are highly polymorphic peptide receptors, which select and present endogenously derived peptide epitopes to CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (CTL). The specificity of the HLA-I system is an important component of the overall specificity of the CTL immune system. Unfortunately, the large and rapidly increasing number of known HLA-I molecules seriously complicates a comprehensive analysis of the specificities of the entire HLA-I system (as of June 2008, the international HLA registry holds >1,650 unique HLA-I protein entries). In an attempt to reduce this complexity, it has been suggested to cluster the different HLA-I molecules into "supertypes" of largely overlapping peptide-binding specificities. Obviously, the HLA supertype concept is only valuable if membership can be assigned with reasonable accuracy. The supertype assignment of HLA-A*3001, a common HLA haplotype in populations of African descent, has variously been assigned to the A1, A3, or A24 supertypes. Using a biochemical HLA-A*3001 binding assay, and a large panel of nonamer peptides and peptide libraries, we here demonstrate that the specificity of HLA-A*3001 most closely resembles that of the HLA-A3 supertype. We discuss approaches to supertype assignment and underscore the importance of experimental verification.

Structure of a SARS coronavirus-derived peptide bound to the human major histocompatibility complex class I molecule HLA-B*1501.

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I system comprises a highly polymorphic set of molecules that specifically bind and present peptides to cytotoxic T cells. HLA-B*1501 is a prototypical member of the HLA-B62 supertype and only two peptide-HLA-B*1501 structures have been determined. Here, the crystal structure of HLA-B*1501 in complex with a SARS coronavirus-derived nonapeptide (VQQESSFVM) has been determined at high resolution (1.87 A). The peptide is deeply anchored in the B and F pockets, but with the Glu4 residue pointing away from the floor in the peptide-binding groove, making it available for interactions with a potential T-cell receptor.

Oriented coupling of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) to sensor surfaces using light assisted immobilisation technology.

Controlled and oriented immobilisation of proteins for biosensor purposes is of extreme interest since this provides more efficient sensors with a larger density of active binding sites per area compared to sensors produced by conventional immobilisation. In this paper oriented coupling of a major histocompatibility complex (MHC class I) to a sensor surface is presented. The coupling was performed using light assisted immobilisation--a novel immobilisation technology which allows specific opening of particular disulphide bridges in proteins which then is used for covalent bonding to thiol-derivatised surfaces via a new disulphide bond. Light assisted immobilisation specifically targets the disulphide bridge in the MHC-I molecule alpha(3)-domain which ensures oriented linking of the complex with the peptide binding site exposed away from the sensor surface. Structural analysis reveals that a similar procedure can be used for covalent immobilisation of MHC class II complexes. The results open for the development of efficient T cell sensors, sensors for recognition of peptides of pathogenic origin, as well as other applications that may benefit from oriented immobilisation of MHC proteins.

Stability of peptide-HLA-I complexes and tapasin folding facilitation--tools to define immunogenic peptides.

Only a small fraction of the peptides generated inside the cell end up being presented by HLA-I on the cell surface. High stability of peptide-HLA-I complexes and a low HLA-I tapasin-facilitation have been proposed to predict immunogenicity. We here set out to investigate if these parameters correlated and defined immunogenic peptides. Both peptide-HLA-B(?)08:01 and peptide-HLA-A(?)02:01 complexes showed small differences in tapasin-facilitation and larger differences in stability. This suggests that the stability of immunogenic peptide-HLA-I complexes vary above an HLA-I allomorph dependent lower limit (e.g. >2h for HLA-A(?)02:01), immunogenicity predicted by tapasin-facilitation may be defined by an equally allomorph unique upper value (e.g. tapasin-facilitation <1.5 for HLA-A(?)02:01), and variation above the stability-threshold does not directly reflect a variation in tapasin-facilitation.

Real-time, high-throughput measurements of peptide-MHC-I dissociation using a scintillation proximity assay.

Efficient presentation of peptide-MHC class I complexes to immune T cells depends upon stable peptide-MHC class I interactions. Theoretically, determining the rate of dissociation of a peptide-MHC class I complexes is straightforward; in practical terms, however, generating the accurate and closely timed data needed to determine the rate of dissociation is not simple. Ideally, one should use a homogenous assay involving an inexhaustible and label-free assay principle. Here, we present a homogenous, high-throughput peptide-MHC class I dissociation assay, which by and large fulfill these ideal requirements. To avoid labeling of the highly variable peptide, we labeled the invariant ß2m and monitored its dissociation by a scintillation proximity assay, which has no separation steps and allows for real-time quantitative measurement of dissociation. Validating this work-around to create a virtually label-free assay, we showed that rates of peptide-MHC class I dissociation measured in this assay correlated well with rates of dissociation rates measured conventionally with labeled peptides. This assay can be used to measure the stability of any peptide-MHC class I combination, it is reproducible and it is well suited for high-throughput screening. To exemplify this, we screened a panel of 384 high-affinity peptides binding to the MHC class I molecule, HLA-A*02:01, and observed the rates of dissociation that ranged from 0.1h to 46h depending on the peptide used.

NetMHCpan, a method for quantitative predictions of peptide binding to any HLA-A and -B locus protein of known sequence.

BACKGROUND: Binding of peptides to Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules is the single most selective step in the recognition of pathogens by the cellular immune system. The human MHC class I system (HLA-I) is extremely polymorphic. The number of registered HLA-I molecules has now surpassed 1500. Characterizing the specificity of each separately would be a major undertaking. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we have drawn on a large database of known peptide-HLA-I interactions to develop a bioinformatics method, which takes both peptide and HLA sequence information into account, and generates quantitative predictions of the affinity of any peptide-HLA-I interaction. Prospective experimental validation of peptides predicted to bind to previously untested HLA-I molecules, cross-validation, and retrospective prediction of known HIV immune epitopes and endogenous presented peptides, all successfully validate this method. We further demonstrate that the method can be applied to perform a clustering analysis of MHC specificities and suggest using this clustering to select particularly informative novel MHC molecules for future biochemical and functional analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Encompassing all HLA molecules, this high-throughput computational method lends itself to epitope searches that are not only genome- and pathogen-wide, but also HLA-wide. Thus, it offers a truly global analysis of immune responses supporting rational development of vaccines and immunotherapy. It also promises to provide new basic insights into HLA structure-function relationships. The method is available at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetMHCpan.

CTL epitopes for influenza A including the H5N1 bird flu; genome-, pathogen-, and HLA-wide screening.

The purpose of the present study is to perform a global screening for new immunogenic HLA class I (HLA-I) restricted cytotoxic T cell (CTL) epitopes of potential utility as candidates of influenza A-virus diagnostics and vaccines. We used predictions of antigen processing and presentation, the latter encompassing 12 different HLA class I supertypes with >99% population coverage, and searched for conserved epitopes from available influenza A viral protein sequences. Peptides corresponding to 167 predicted peptide-HLA-I interactions were synthesized, tested for peptide-HLA-I interactions in a biochemical assay and for influenza-specific, HLA-I-restricted CTL responses in an IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay. Eighty-nine peptides could be confirmed as HLA-I binders, and 13 could be confirmed as CTL targets. The 13 epitopes, are highly conserved among human influenza A pathogens, and all of these epitopes are present in the emerging bird flu isolates. Our study demonstrates that present technology enables a fast global screening for T cell immune epitopes of potential diagnostics and vaccine interest. This technology includes immuno-bioinformatics predictors with the capacity to perform fast genome-, pathogen-, and HLA-wide searches for immune targets. To exploit this new potential, a coordinated international effort to analyze the precious source of information represented by rare patients, such as the current victims of bird flu, would be essential.

Crystal structures of two peptide-HLA-B*1501 complexes; structural characterization of the HLA-B62 supertype.

MHC class I molecules govern human cytotoxic T cell responses. Their specificity determines which peptides they sample from the intracellular protein environment and then present to human cytotoxic T cells. More than 1100 different MHC class I proteins have been found in human populations and it would be a major undertaking to address each of these specificities individually. Based upon their peptide binding specificity, they are currently subdivided into 12 supertypes. Several of these HLA supertypes have not yet been described at the structural level. To support a comprehensive understanding of human immune responses, the structure of at least one member of each supertype should be determined. Here, the structures of two immunogenic peptide-HLA-B*1501 complexes are described. The structure of HLA-B*1501 in complex with a peptide (LEKARGSTY, corresponding to positions 274-282 in the Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen-3A) was determined to 2.3 A resolution. The structure of HLA-B*1501 in complex with a peptide (ILGPPGSVY) derived from human ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme-E2 corresponding to positions 91-99 was solved to 1.8 A resolution. Mutual comparisons of these two structures with structures from other HLA supertypes define and explain the specificity of the P2 and P9 peptide anchor preferences in the B62 HLA supertype. The P2 peptide residue binds to the B-pocket in HLA-B*1501. This pocket is relatively large because of the small Ser67 residue located at the bottom. The peptide proximal part of the B-pocket is hydrophobic, which is consistent with P2 anchor residue preference for Leu. The specificity of the B-pocket is determined by the Met45, Ile66 and Ser67 residues. The apex of the B-pocket is hydrophilic because of the Ser67 residue. The P9 peptide residue binds to the F-pocket in HLA-B*1501. The residues most important for the specificity of this pocket are Tyr74, Leu81, Leu95, Tyr123 and Trp147. These residues create a hydrophobic interior in the F-pocket and their spatial arrangement makes the pocket capable of containing large, bulky peptide side chains. Ser116 is located at the bottom of the F-pocket and makes the bottom of this pocket hydrophilic. Ser116, may act as a hydrogen-bonding partner and as such is a perfect place for binding of a Tyr9 peptide residue. Thus, based on structure information it is now possible to explain the peptide sequence specificity of HLA-B*1501 as previously determined by peptide binding and pool sequencing experiments.

Definition of supertypes for HLA molecules using clustering of specificity matrices.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins are encoded by extremely polymorphic genes and play a crucial role in immunity. However, not all genetically different MHC molecules are functionally different. Sette and Sidney (1999) have defined nine HLA class I supertypes and showed that with only nine main functional binding specificities it is possible to cover the binding properties of almost all known HLA class I molecules. Here we present a comprehensive study of the functional relationship between all HLA molecules with known specificities in a uniform and automated way. We have developed a novel method for clustering sequence motifs. We construct hidden Markov models for HLA class I molecules using a Gibbs sampling procedure and use the similarities among these to define clusters of specificities. These clusters are extensions of the previously suggested ones. We suggest splitting some of the alleles in the A1 supertype into a new A26 supertype, and some of the alleles in the B27 supertype into a new B39 supertype. Furthermore the B8 alleles may define their own supertype. We also use the published specificities for a number of HLA-DR types to define clusters with similar specificities. We report that the previously observed specificities of these class II molecules can be clustered into nine classes, which only partly correspond to the serological classification. We show that classification of HLA molecules may be done in a uniform and automated way. The definition of clusters allows for selection of representative HLA molecules that can cover the HLA specificity space better. This makes it possible to target most of the known HLA alleles with known specificities using only a few peptides, and may be used in construction of vaccines. Supplementary material is available at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/researchgroups/immunology/supertypes.html.