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1 Protein Engineering and Research Department and 2 Joliot-Curie Biology Department, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
3 Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1700, USA
Reprint requests to: Bernard Maillère, Protein Engineering and Research Department, bat 152, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France; e-mail: bernard.maillere{at}cea.fr; fax: +(33) 1-69-08-90-71.
(RECEIVED May 26, 2004; FINAL REVISION July 21, 2004; ACCEPTED July 22, 2004)
| Abstract |
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Keywords: IgE; protein engineering; allergy; immunotherapy
Abbreviations: Api m 1, major bee venom allergen Api wt, recombinant form of Api m 1 Api mut, polysubstituted mutant of Api wt Api RCM, denatured and carboxymethylated form of Api m 1 HEL, hen egg lysozyme GdnHCl, guanidium chloride HLA II, Human Leukocyte Antigens of class II PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cells
| Introduction |
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IL-10 is an immunosuppressive cytokine, which diminishes the T cell activation and IgE secretion by B lymphocytes (Jeannin et al. 1998; Akdis and Blaser 1999), as it increases IgG4 production (Jeannin et al. 1998). Conventional specific immunotherapy with crude allergen extracts seems to induce IgG4 by specific B lymphocytes and sometimes IFN
by T lymphocytes. It is also followed by an IL-10 increase, which may account for the success of the treatment. Moreover, it was suggested by clinical studies performed in humans with short peptides (Muller et al. 1998; Oldfield et al. 2002) that the injected molecules do not necessarily require induction of protective antibodies. As a result, a new concept for successful immunotherapy has emerged: It should be possible to treat allergic patients with engineered molecules containing allergen-specific T cell epitopes but reacting weakly with specific IgE. These molecules could be either peptides or proteins. However, T cell epitopes vary from one individual to another and depend on the specificity of the HLA class II molecules that present them to the CD4+ T lymphocytes. Therefore, T cell epitopes containing peptides might be too short to cover all the T cell epitopes present in the entire population. In contrast, engineered proteins are expected to encompass most of the T cell epitopes of the native allergen. They are produced by recombinant technology, allowing a variety of sequence modifications and protein conjugations. Initially, most of these constructs have been engineered with the final attempt to affect the 3D structure of the molecule (Smith and Chapman 1996; Takai et al. 1997; Okada et al. 1998; Smith et al. 1998). Recent investigations have focused on mutated allergens with native-like structures. Based on the existence of natural variants, which weakly cross-react with Bet v1-specific antiserum, hypoallergenic mutants of this allergen have been proposed (Ferreira et al. 1998). Mutants of other allergens were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis (Swoboda et al. 2002). Other approaches consist in the construction of hybrids of homologous but noncrossreactive allergens (King et al. 2001) and in the oligomerization of the native monomeric molecules (Vrtala et al. 2001). Overall, a growing interest appears for the engineering of allergens and the design of hypoallergenic molecules.
Bee venom immunotherapy is an efficient treatment for bee venom allergy, but provokes undesirable side effects for approximately 15% of patients (Muller et al. 1992). Among the different components of the bee venom, the PLA2 is recognized as the major allergen (Api m 1) since most prick-test positive patients possess Api m 1-specific IgE (King et al. 1976). Recognition by these antibodies is mainly dependent on the conformation of the allergen (Schneider et al. 1994). A number of T cell epitopes from Api m 1 have been already delineated by proliferative cellular assays performed with PBMC from allergic patients (Carballido et al. 1993; Kammerer et al. 1997; Texier et al. 2002). They appear to be localized mainly in the central and C-terminal parts of the molecule. In agreement with these data, we found that the sequences 76106 and 111134 comprise multiple HLA II binding regions, the sequence 8197 being able to bind to 10 different HLA II molecules (Texier et al. 2000, 2001). Therefore, we used all these observations to create mutations and deletions in exposed areas of Api m 1 and outside the T cell epitope regions in order to reduce its IgE reactivity but not its capacity to stimulate T cells. Our data show that accumulation of mutations provokes a progressive loss of IgE reactivity although they do not disturb the secondary structure of the mutants. The mutant called Api mut combines all the mutations and one deletion. It exhibits an altered tertiary structure but also a strongly reduced antigenicity for polyclonal specific IgE from allergic patients.
| Results |
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-helices and
-sheets (Adler et al. 1973), in agreement with the crystal structure of Api m 1 (Scott et al. 1990). Thus, Api mut and the native molecule are folded and share similar elements of secondary structure.
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106115. Therefore, local alteration of the surface of the molecule does not affect recognition by antibodies. Strikingly, even Api ABCDGH, which contains 23 mutations, was almost as antigenic as the native molecule, with a loss of recognition of about 15-fold only. In sharp contrast, deletion 106115 applied to this mutant, giving Api mut, completely abrogated antibody recognition. No reactivity was found at the maximal concentration of 10,000 nM, the difference being estimated as greater than a factor of 500. A very similar pattern of loss of recognition was seen for the specific IgG.
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max) of a Trp reflects the polarity of its environment. In the nonpolar core of a globular protein,
max is around 330 nm, whereas in a hydrophilic environment
max reaches 355 nm. Thus, any change in
max reveals a conformational change in a protein. Figure 5B
max of Api wt and Api mut as a function of temperature. The
max of both proteins shifts from 342 nm to 350 nm upon denaturation. This suggests that the Trp are in a similar environment in both proteins below 25°C. However, the thermal unfolding curves are dramatically different. That of Api wt exhibits a sharp transition starting above 65°C, with a mid transition at about 70°C. In contrast, the denaturation of Api mut is progressive, starting above 25°C with a mid transition at about 50°C. A sharper slope and a higher mid-transition point indicate a stronger stability of the structure. Hence, the results clearly indicate that Api mut is much less stable than Api wt. Accordingly, the unfolding of both proteins by Gd-nHCl at 10°C, 22°C, and 37°C lead to a similar conclusion (Fig. 5C
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| Discussion |
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As the B cell epitopes of Api m 1 were essentially of the conformational type (Schneider et al. 1994; Texier et al. 2002), we investigated the secondary and tertiary structure of the molecules by CD and fluorescence spectroscopy. We observed that Api wt and Api mut shared a similar content of secondary structure (Fig. 1
), whatever the temperature investigated. In contrast, at around 37°C, Api mut progressively loses a tight packing of the tertiary structure. Thus, it acquires precisely the structural features of the so-called molten globule state. As conformational epitopes generally involve amino acids located on separate strands of the molecule, the loss of recognition of Api mut by Api m 1-specific antibodies may not only result from the direct contribution of the changes of amino acids we have introduced, but also from the indirect effect of the mutations on the stability of the molecule. However, it is not possible to discriminate which of these two effects contributes the most to the loss of recognition of Api mut. Interestingly, such alterations of the tertiary structure by point mutations have been observed in molecules different from Api m 1, namely the bovine pancreas PLA2 (Yuan et al. 1999), the AB11 allergen of the nematode ascaris (McDermott et al. 2001), and IL-6 (Matthews et al. 2000). Although we destabilized the tertiary structure by extensively mutating the surface of the protein, we can speculate that introduction of a limited number of mutations at key positions could also affect the tertiary structure in a similar way. Such positions are expected to be mainly buried in the core of the molecule.
When designing the Api mut protein, we also aimed to maintain the specific T cell activity of the native molecule. A number of studies on allergic patients have shown that the two main stimulating regions are concentrated in the C-terminal half of this allergen (Carballido et al. 1993; Kammerer et al. 1997; Texier et al. 2002) and correspond to regions rich in HLA-DR binding sequences: 76106 and 111134 (Texier et al. 2000 , 2001). Based on all the binding data, mutations were introduced outside the 76106 and 116134 regions. As the 8198 human T cell epitope (Carballido et al. 1993; Kammerer et al. 1997) is also an epitope in BALB/c mice (Texier et al. 1999), we investigated its presentation to T cells in this mouse model and showed that Api mut and Api wt share a common repertoire of specific T cells. It is likely that this would be also the case for CD4+ lymphocytes from allergic patients.
Finally, the loss of recognition of Api mut by IgE and its inability to induce Api wt-specific antibodies may be sufficient to reduce the risk of anaphylactic shock, at least for the majority of the patients. Considering the number of side effects observed during immunotherapy of patients allergic to hymenoptera venom (around 15%) (Muller et al. 1992), this is the major property expected for a future treatment. As suggested by mice immunization experiments, Api mut should not be able to elicit Api m 1 neutralizing antibodies in contrast to conventional immunotherapy. However, as the major region that contains the human T cell epitopes has been kept free of mutations, we expect that Api mut would be recognized by human T cells specific for Api wt. This property should contribute to the efficacy of the treatment as suggested by several authors (Smith and Chapman 1996; Takai et al. 1997; Ferreira et al. 1998; Muller et al. 1998; Okada et al. 1998; Smith et al. 1998; Vrtala et al. 2001; Oldfield et al. 2002; Swoboda et al. 2002). Recent works performed in humans with short peptides containing T cell epitopes have been found to provide some clinical benefits (Muller et al. 1998; Oldfield et al. 2002) although they probably did not elicit neutralizing antibodies. They seem to favor the appearance of IL-10-secreting T lymphocytes and hence a decrease of T cell activation and IgE secretion (Akdis and Blaser 1999). It is expected to be sufficient to efficiently reduce the allergic symptoms but this needs to be demonstrated in large clinical trials.
| Materials and methods |
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Expression, purification and in vitro refolding of the recombinant proteins
Expression was done in the E. coli strain M 15 pREP4 (Qiagen) at 37°C. Bacteria were grown in Terrific Broth (Difco) supplemented with 0.4% glycerol (v/v), 200 mg/L ampicillin and 30 mg/L kanamycin. Protein expression was induced with 0.05 mM IPTG (Eurobio). Inclusion bodies were recovered from the bacteria and finally solubilized in 10 mL of denaturing buffer (7 M Gdn-HCl, 0.1 M NaH2PO4, 10 mM Tris-HCl at pH 8). Inclusion bodies were sulfonated by adding 0.3 M anhydrous Na2SO3 and 0.5 mL of Thannhauser reagent (Thannhauser et al. 1984) and dialysed twice against 500 mL of UNTI 10 buffer (8 M urea, 0.1 M NaH2PO4, 10 mM Tris-HCl at pH 8, 10 mM imidazole). The proteins were then purified by immobilized metal ion (Ni+) affinity chromatography (IMAC) using a HiTrap Chelating Sepharose Fast Flow gel (Pharmacia) according to the manufacturers instructions. The eluted proteins were precipitated overnight by dialysis against 5 mM acetic acid and the precipitate was extensively washed with water. The sulfonated protein was resuspended in the denaturing buffer GT (6 M Gdn-HCl, 0.1 M Tris-HCl at pH 8) at 0.5 mg/mL (A280) and refolded by dialysis against 25 volumes of renaturation buffer (0.9 M GdnHCl, 0.1 M Tris-HCl at pH 8.3, 10% glycerol (v/v), 8 mM cysteine, 1 mM cystine) for 48 h at 4°C in the dark. The refolded, soluble proteins were separated from protein aggregates by centrifugation at 4500 rpm for 1 h at 4°C. The sample was dialysed for 24 h against 25 volumes of PG buffer (20 mM Na2HPO4 at pH 8.5, 10% glycerol) at 4°C. The protein was then concentrated by ultrafiltration on an Amicon YM 10 kDa membrane (Amicon, Millipore) to a concentration of approximately 1.5 mg/mL. The concentrated protein was dialysed against 100 volumes of 20 mM Na2HPO4 at pH 8.5 to remove glycerol and was stored at 20°C. Approximately 100 mg/L of recombinant protein was recovered after purification and the refolding yield varies from 5% to 30%.
Elisa assays
Purified PLA2 from bee venom (Api m 1) (Sigma) was purified on a C4 Vydac column using a water / acetonitrile / trifluoroacetic acid gradient to eliminate melittin. Sera from allergic patients were a kind gift of Prof. F. Leynadier (Hôpital Tenon, Paris). Female BALB/c mice were immunized subcutaneously with 1.6 nmole of Api wt or Api mut emulsified in CFA and with the same amount of peptide in IFA three weeks later. Mice were bled two weeks after the last injection and individual titers were measured by ELISA. Microtiter ELISA plates were coated overnight with a 63 nM solution of Api m 1, Api wt, Api mut, or HEL in adsorption buffer (0.1 M borate at pH 8.2) and then saturated with saturation buffer (0.1 M Tris-HCl at pH 7.5, 0.3% BSA, 0.003% thimerosal) for 5 h at room temperature. Before use, the plates were washed with washing buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl at pH 7.5, 0.05% Tween). All incubations were made at room temperature in dilution buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl at pH 7.4, 1 M NaCl, 0.05% Tween, 0.2% BSA, 0.003% thimerosal). Dilutions of a pool of sera from four allergic patients, or individual sera, were added with or without a competitor protein. After incubation for 2 h, bound specific IgE or IgG were detected by biotinylated anti-human IgE (1/250 final dilution; Southern Biotechnology Associates, Interchim), anti-human IgG (1/8000 final dilution; Southern Biotechnology Associates) or anti-mouse IgG (Sigma). Detection was done with a streptavidin phosphatase conjugate (1/2000 final dilution; Amersham) and 4-methy-lumbelliferyl phosphate substrate (Sigma) diluted in detection buffer (50 mM carbonate at pH 9.8, 1 mM MgCl2). After 30 min of incubation, plates were analyzed on a spectrofluorimeter Fluorolite 1000 (Dynex) or Victor2 (Perkin Elmer) with an excitation at 365 nm and an emission at 450 nm.
Stimulation of murine T cells with the Api m 1 mutants
Api m 1-specific T cell hybridomas (5G5.7 and 3A2.9) are specific for the peptide 8198/I-Ed combination (Texier et al. 1999). They were maintained in DMEM-supplemented medium (DMEM [Sigma], 10% FCS, 4 mM glutamine, 2 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 µg/mL gentamycine, 1% nonessential amino acids, 10 mM HEPES, 5 x 105 M 2-ME). T cell stimulating assays were performed in flat-bottomed 96-well tissue culture plates (Nunc) in a final volume of 0.2 mL. Hybridoma cells (5 x 104 cells) were mixed with splenocytes from BALB/c mice (5 x 105 cells) and appropriate concentrations of the proteins. Cultures were incubated 24 h at 37°C and supernatants were subsequently harvested and frozen. The supernatants were thawed and subjected to a CTLL assay. Briefly, IL2/IL4 dependent CTLL cells were cultured in RPMI-supplemented medium (RPMI 1640 [Sigma], 5% FCS, 2 mM glutamine, 10 mM HEPES, 100 µg/mL gentamycine, 5 x 105 M 2-ME). After extensive washing, 104 cells were distributed into each well containing 50 µL of supernatant pre-warmed at 37°C and plates were placed in the CO2 incubator for 24 h. Tritiated thymidine (1 µCi/well, 5 Ci/mmole; Amersham) was added and the cells were harvested 6 h later by aspiration on glass fiber filters. Incorporated thymidine was detected by scintillation counting using a
-counter (Perkin Elmer). T cell stimulation of bulk populations was performed as follows: Female BALB/c mice 8 to 12 wk old were immunized subcutaneously with 1.6 nmole of Api mut or Api wt emulsified in CFA and with the same quantity emulsified in IFA 15 d later. Twelve days later, spleen cells were suspended in RPMI-supplemented medium containing 1% of autologous normal mouse serum instead of FCS. They were plated at 106 cells/well in triplicate in 96-well microtiter plates (Nunc) with and without antigens. T cell stimulation was monitored by CTLL assay as described above.
CD spectropolarimetry and fluorescence spectroscopy
CD experiments were performed on a CD6 spectrodichrograph (Jobin-Yvon Instruments) as previously described (Chenal et al. 2002). Far-UV and near-UV CD spectra were measured in 0.5 mm and 10 mm path length quartz cells. Api wt and Api mut concentrations were 30 µM and 24.3 µM, respectively. The samples were buffered using 20 mM sodium phosphate (pH 8). Each far-UV and near-UV spectrum represents the average of 10 and 30 scans, respectively. Fluorescence measurements were performed with a FP-750 spectrofluorometer (Jasco) in a thermostated cell holder as previously described (Chenal et al. 2002). The protein concentration was 1.2 µM. Each maximal emission wavelength (
max) is the average calculated from three emission spectrum measurements.
| Footnotes |
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| Acknowledgments |
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