Development of proteome-wide binding reagents for research and diagnostics

Reproducibility and Variability of Protein Analytes Measured Using a Multiplexed Modified Aptamer Assay

BACKGROUND

There is growing interest in the use of multiplexed aptamer-based assays for large-scale proteomic studies. However, the analytic, short- and long-term variation of the measured proteins is largely uncharacterized.

METHODS

We quantified 4001 plasma protein analytes from 42 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study in split samples and at multiple visits using a multiplexed modified aptamer assay. We calculated the CV, Spearman correlation, and intraclass correlation (ICC) between split samples and evaluated the short-term (4-9 weeks) and long-term (approximately 20 years) variability using paired t-tests with log-transformed protein concentrations and Bonferroni-corrected significance thresholds. We performed principal component (PC) analysis of protein analyte concentrations and evaluated their associations with age, sex, race, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

RESULTS

The mean baseline age was 57 years at the first visit, 43% of participants were male and 57% were white. Among 3693 protein analytes that passed quality control, half (n = 1846) had CVs < 5.0%, Spearman correlations > 0.89, and ICCs > 0.96 among the split samples. Over the short term, only 1 analyte had a statistically significant difference between the 2 time points, whereas, over approximately 20 years, 866 analytes (23.4%) had statistically significant differences (P < 1.4 × 10^-5, 681 increased, 185 decreased). PC1 had high correlations with age (-0.73) and eGFR (0.60). PC2 had moderate correlation with male sex (0.18) and white race (0.31).

CONCLUSIONS

Multiplexed modified aptamer technology can assay thousands of proteins with excellent precision. Our results support the potential for large-scale studies of the plasma proteome over the lifespan.

High-Density Antigen Microarrays for the Assessment of Antibody Selectivity and Off-Target Binding

With the increasing availability of collections of antibodies, their evaluation in terms of binding selectivity becomes an important but challenging task. Planar antigen microarrays are very suitable tools to address this task and provide a powerful proteomics platform for the characterization of the binding selectivity of antibodies toward thousands of antigens in parallel. In this chapter, we describe our in-house developed procedures for the generation of high-density planar antigen microarrays with over 21,000 features. We also provide the details of the assay protocol, which we routinely use for the assessment of binding selectivity of the polyclonal antibodies generated within the Human Protein Atlas.

Current applications of antibody microarrays

The concept of antibody microarrays is one of the most versatile approaches within multiplexed immunoassay technologies. These types of arrays have increasingly become an attractive tool for the exploratory detection and study of protein abundance, function, pathways, and potential drug targets. Due to the properties of the antibody microarrays and their potential use in basic research and clinical analytics, various types of antibody microarrays have already been developed. In spite of the growing number of studies utilizing this technique, few reviews about antibody microarray technology have been presented to reflect the quality and future uses of the generated data. In this review, we provide a summary of the recent applications of antibody microarray techniques in basic biology and clinical studies, providing insights into the current trends and future of protein analysis.

Emerging Affinity-Based Proteomic Technologies for Large-Scale Plasma Profiling in Cardiovascular Disease

Plasma biomarkers that reflect molecular states of the cardiovascular system are central for clinical decision making. Routinely used plasma biomarkers include troponins, natriuretic peptides, and lipoprotein particles, yet interrogate only a modest subset of pathways relevant to cardiovascular disease. Systematic profiling of a larger portion of circulating plasma proteins (the plasma proteome) will provide opportunities for unbiased discovery of novel markers to improve diagnostic or predictive accuracy. In addition, proteomic profiling may inform pathophysiological understanding and point to novel therapeutic targets. Obstacles for comprehensive proteomic profiling include the immense size and structural heterogeneity of the proteome, and the broad range of abundance levels, as well. Proteome-wide, untargeted profiling can be performed in tissues and cells with tandem mass spectrometry. However, applications to plasma are limited by the need for complex preanalytical sample preparation stages limiting sample throughput. Multiplexing of targeted methods based on capture and detection of specific proteins are therefore receiving increasing attention in plasma proteomics. Immunoaffinity assays are the workhorse for measuring individual proteins but have been limited for proteomic applications by long development times, cross-reactivity preventing multiplexing, specificity issues, and incomplete sensitivity to detect proteins in the lower range of the abundance spectrum (below picograms per milliliter). Emerging technologies to address these issues include nucleotide-labeled immunoassays and aptamer reagents that can be automated for efficient multiplexing of thousands of proteins at high sample throughput, coupling of affinity capture methods to mass spectrometry for improved specificity, and ultrasensitive detection systems to measure low-abundance proteins. In addition, proteomics can now be integrated with modern genomics tools to comprehensively relate proteomic profiles to genetic variants, which may both influence binding of affinity reagents and serve to validate the target specificity of affinity assays. The application of deep quantitative proteomic profiling to large cohorts has thus become increasingly feasible with emerging affinity methods. The aims of this article are to provide the broad readership of Circulation with a timely overview of emerging methods for affinity proteomics and recent progress in cardiovascular medicine based on such methods.

Affinity Proteomics Exploration of Melanoma Identifies Proteins in Serum with Associations to T-Stage and Recurrence

BACKGROUND

Blood-based proteomic profiling may aid and expand our understanding of diseases and their different phenotypes. The aim of the presented study was to profile serum samples from patients with malignant melanoma using affinity proteomic assays to describe proteins in the blood stream that are associated to stage or recurrence of melanoma.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Multiplexed protein analysis was conducted using antibody suspension bead arrays. A total of 232 antibodies against 132 proteins were selected from (i) a screening with 4595 antibodies and 32 serum samples from melanoma patients and controls, (ii) antibodies used for immunohistochemistry, (iii) protein targets previously related with melanoma. The analysis was performed with 149 serum samples from patients with malignant melanoma. Antibody selectivity was then assessed by Western blot, immunocapture mass spectrometry, and epitope mapping. Lastly, indicative antibodies were applied for IHC analysis of melanoma tissues.

RESULTS

Serum levels of regucalcin (RGN) and syntaxin 7 (STX7) were found to be lower in patients with both recurring tumors and a high Breslow's thickness (T-stage 3/4) compared to low thickness (T-stage 1/2) without disease recurrence. Serum levels of methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1-like (MTHFD1L) were instead elevated in sera of T3/4 patients with recurrence. The analysis of tissue sections with S100A6 and MTHFD1L showed positive staining in a majority of patients with melanoma, and S100A6 was significantly associated to T-stage.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings provide a starting point to further study RGN, STX7, MTHFD1L and S100A6 in serum to elucidate their involvement in melanoma progression and to assess a possible contribution to support clinical indications.

Multiplexed protein profiling by sequential affinity capture

Antibody microarrays enable parallelized and miniaturized analysis of clinical samples, and have proven to provide novel insights for the analysis of different proteomes. However, there are concerns that the performance of such direct labeling and single antibody assays are prone to off‐target binding due to the sample context. To improve selectivity and sensitivity while maintaining the possibility to conduct multiplexed protein profiling, we developed a multiplexed and semi‐automated sequential capture assay. This novel bead‐based procedure encompasses a first antigen capture, labeling of captured protein targets on magnetic particles, combinatorial target elution and a read‐out by a secondary capture bead array. We demonstrate in a proof‐of‐concept setting that target detection via two sequential affinity interactions reduced off‐target contribution, while lowered background and noise levels, improved correlation to clinical values compared to single binder assays. We also compared sensitivity levels with single binder and classical sandwich assays, explored the possibility for DNA‐based signal amplification, and demonstrate the applicability of the dual capture bead‐based antibody microarray for biomarker analysis. Hence, the described concept enhances the possibilities for antibody array assays to be utilized for protein profiling in body fluids and beyond.

pMINERVA: A donor-acceptor system for the in vivo recombineering of scFv into IgG molecules

Phage display is the most widely used method for selecting binding molecules from recombinant antibody libraries. However, validation of the phage antibodies often requires early production of the cognate full-length immunoglobulin G (IgG). The conversion of phage library outputs to a full immunoglobulin via standard subcloning is time-consuming and limits the number of clones that can be evaluated. We have developed a novel system to convert scFvs from a phage display vector directly into IgGs without any in vitro subcloning steps. This new vector system, named pMINERVA, makes clever use of site-specific bacteriophage integrases that are expressed in Escherichia coli and intron splicing that occurs within mammalian cells. Using this system, a phage display vector contains both bacterial and mammalian regulatory regions that support antibody expression in E. coli and mammalian cells. A single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody is expressed on the surface of bacteriophage M13 as a genetic fusion to the gpIII coat protein. The scFv is converted to an IgG that can be expressed in mammalian cells by transducing a second E. coli strain. In that strain, the phiC31 recombinase fuses the heavy chain constant domain from an acceptor plasmid to the heavy chain variable domain and introduces controlling elements upstream of the light chain variable domain. Splicing in mammalian cells removes a synthetic intron containing the M13 gpIII gene to produce the fusion of the light chain variable domain to the constant domain. We show that phage displaying a scFv and recombinant IgGs generated using this system are expressed at wild-type levels and retain normal function. Use of the pMINERVA completely eliminates the labor-intensive subcloning and DNA sequence confirmation steps currently needed to convert a scFv into a functional IgG Ab.

Shift-Western Blotting: Separate Analysis of Protein and DNA from Protein-DNA Complexes

The electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) is the most frequently used experiment for studying protein-DNA interactions and to identify DNA-binding proteins. Protein-DNA complexes formed during EMSA experiments can be further analyzed by shift-western blotting, where the protein and DNA components contained in a polyacrylamide gel are transferred to stacked membranes: First a nitrocellulose membrane retains the proteins while double-stranded DNA passes through the nitrocellulose membrane and binds only to a charged membrane placed below. Immobilized proteins can then be stained with specific antibodies while the DNA can be detected by a radioactive label or a nonradioactive detection system. Shift-western blotting can overcome many limitations of supershift experiments and allows for the analysis of complex protein-DNA complexes containing multiple protein factors. Moreover, proteins and/or DNA may be recovered from membranes after the blotting step for further analysis by other means.

Subcellular localization of K+ channels in mammalian brain neurons: remarkable precision in the midst of extraordinary complexity

Potassium channels (KChs) are the most diverse ion channels, in part due to extensive combinatorial assembly of a large number of principal and auxiliary subunits into an assortment of KCh complexes. Their structural and functional diversity allows KChs to play diverse roles in neuronal function. Localization of KChs within specialized neuronal compartments defines their physiological role and also fundamentally impacts their activity, due to localized exposure to diverse cellular determinants of channel function. Recent studies in mammalian brain reveal an exquisite refinement of KCh subcellular localization. This includes axonal KChs at the initial segment, and near/within nodes of Ranvier and presynaptic terminals, dendritic KChs found at sites reflecting specific synaptic input, and KChs defining novel neuronal compartments. Painting the remarkable diversity of KChs onto the complex architecture of mammalian neurons creates an elegant picture of electrical signal processing underlying the sophisticated function of individual neuronal compartments, and ultimately neurotransmission and behavior.