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McMaster B, Thorpe C, Ogg G, Deane CM, Koohy H. Can AlphaFold's breakthrough in protein structure help decode the fundamental principles of adaptive cellular immunity? Nat Methods 2024; 21:766-776. [PMID: 38654083 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-024-02240-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
T cells are essential immune cells responsible for identifying and eliminating pathogens. Through interactions between their T-cell antigen receptors (TCRs) and antigens presented by major histocompatibility complex molecules (MHCs) or MHC-like molecules, T cells discriminate foreign and self peptides. Determining the fundamental principles that govern these interactions has important implications in numerous medical contexts. However, reconstructing a map between T cells and their antagonist antigens remains an open challenge for the field of immunology, and success of in silico reconstructions of this relationship has remained incremental. In this Perspective, we discuss the role that new state-of-the-art deep-learning models for predicting protein structure may play in resolving some of the unanswered questions the field faces linking TCR and peptide-MHC properties to T-cell specificity. We provide a comprehensive overview of structural databases and the evolution of predictive models, and highlight the breakthrough AlphaFold provided the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin McMaster
- MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Christopher Thorpe
- Open Targets, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Graham Ogg
- MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Hashem Koohy
- MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Alan Turning Fellow in Health and Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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Qian X, Yang G, Li F, Zhang X, Zhu X, Lai X, Xiao X, Wang T, Wang J. DeepLION2: deep multi-instance contrastive learning framework enhancing the prediction of cancer-associated T cell receptors by attention strategy on motifs. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1345586. [PMID: 38515756 PMCID: PMC10956474 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1345586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires provide valuable insights into complex human diseases, including cancers. Recent advancements in immune sequencing technology have significantly improved our understanding of TCR repertoire. Some computational methods have been devised to identify cancer-associated TCRs and enable cancer detection using TCR sequencing data. However, the existing methods are often limited by their inadequate consideration of the correlations among TCRs within a repertoire, hindering the identification of crucial TCRs. Additionally, the sparsity of cancer-associated TCR distribution presents a challenge in accurate prediction. Methods To address these issues, we presented DeepLION2, an innovative deep multi-instance contrastive learning framework specifically designed to enhance cancer-associated TCR prediction. DeepLION2 leveraged content-based sparse self-attention, focusing on the top k related TCRs for each TCR, to effectively model inter-TCR correlations. Furthermore, it adopted a contrastive learning strategy for bootstrapping parameter updates of the attention matrix, preventing the model from fixating on non-cancer-associated TCRs. Results Extensive experimentation on diverse patient cohorts, encompassing over ten cancer types, demonstrated that DeepLION2 significantly outperformed current state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, Matthews correlation coefficient, and area under the curve (AUC). Notably, DeepLION2 achieved impressive AUC values of 0.933, 0.880, and 0.763 on thyroid, lung, and gastrointestinal cancer cohorts, respectively. Furthermore, it effectively identified cancer-associated TCRs along with their key motifs, highlighting the amino acids that play a crucial role in TCR-peptide binding. Conclusion These compelling results underscore DeepLION2's potential for enhancing cancer detection and facilitating personalized cancer immunotherapy. DeepLION2 is publicly available on GitHub, at https://github.com/Bioinformatics7181/DeepLION2, for academic use only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyang Qian
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Medical and Health Big Data, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Guang Yang
- Department of Clinical Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Fan Li
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Medical and Health Big Data, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Xuanping Zhang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Medical and Health Big Data, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Xiaoyan Zhu
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Medical and Health Big Data, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Xin Lai
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Medical and Health Big Data, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Xiao Xiao
- Genomics Institute, Geneplus-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Tao Wang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Jiayin Wang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Medical and Health Big Data, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
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Kim DN, McNaughton AD, Kumar N. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Expedite Antibody Design and Enhance Antibody-Antigen Interactions. Bioengineering (Basel) 2024; 11:185. [PMID: 38391671 PMCID: PMC10886287 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering11020185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
This perspective sheds light on the transformative impact of recent computational advancements in the field of protein therapeutics, with a particular focus on the design and development of antibodies. Cutting-edge computational methods have revolutionized our understanding of protein-protein interactions (PPIs), enhancing the efficacy of protein therapeutics in preclinical and clinical settings. Central to these advancements is the application of machine learning and deep learning, which offers unprecedented insights into the intricate mechanisms of PPIs and facilitates precise control over protein functions. Despite these advancements, the complex structural nuances of antibodies pose ongoing challenges in their design and optimization. Our review provides a comprehensive exploration of the latest deep learning approaches, including language models and diffusion techniques, and their role in surmounting these challenges. We also present a critical analysis of these methods, offering insights to drive further progress in this rapidly evolving field. The paper includes practical recommendations for the application of these computational techniques, supplemented with independent benchmark studies. These studies focus on key performance metrics such as accuracy and the ease of program execution, providing a valuable resource for researchers engaged in antibody design and development. Through this detailed perspective, we aim to contribute to the advancement of antibody design, equipping researchers with the tools and knowledge to navigate the complexities of this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doo Nam Kim
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Andrew D McNaughton
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Neeraj Kumar
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99352, USA
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Liu R, Wang Q, Zhang X. Identification of prognostic coagulation-related signatures in clear cell renal cell carcinoma through integrated multi-omics analysis and machine learning. Comput Biol Med 2024; 168:107779. [PMID: 38061153 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is a threat to public health with high morbidity and mortality. Clinical evidence has shown that cancer-associated thrombosis poses significant challenges to treatments, including drug resistance and difficulties in surgical decision-making in ccRCC. However, the coagulation pathway, one of the core mechanisms of cancer-associated thrombosis, recently found closely related to the tumor microenvironment and immune-related pathway, is rarely researched in ccRCC. Therefore, we integrated bulk RNA-seq data, DNA mutation and methylation data, single-cell data, and proteomic data to perform a comprehensive analysis of coagulation-related genes in ccRCC. First, we demonstrated the importance of the coagulation-related gene set by consensus clustering. Based on machine learning, we identified 5 coagulation signature genes and verified their clinical value in TCGA, ICGC, and E-MTAB-1980 databases. It's also demonstrated that the specific expression patterns of coagulation signature genes driven by CNV and methylation were closely correlated with pathways including apoptosis, immune infiltration, angiogenesis, and the construction of extracellular matrix. Moreover, we identified two types of tumor cells in single-cell data by machine learning, and the coagulation signature genes were differentially expressed in two types of tumor cells. Besides, the signature genes were proven to influence immune cells especially the differentiation of T cells. And their protein level was also validated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruijie Liu
- Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
| | - Qi Wang
- Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
| | - Xiaoping Zhang
- Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
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Chen J, Zhao B, Lin S, Sun H, Mao X, Wang M, Chu Y, Hong L, Wei D, Li M, Xiong Y. TEPCAM: Prediction of T-cell receptor-epitope binding specificity via interpretable deep learning. Protein Sci 2024; 33:e4841. [PMID: 37983648 PMCID: PMC10731497 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
The recognition of T-cell receptor (TCR) on the surface of T cell to specific epitope presented by the major histocompatibility complex is the key to trigger the immune response. Identifying the binding rules of TCR-epitope pair is crucial for developing immunotherapies, including neoantigen vaccine and drugs. Accurate prediction of TCR-epitope binding specificity via deep learning remains challenging, especially in test cases which are unseen in the training set. Here, we propose TEPCAM (TCR-EPitope identification based on Cross-Attention and Multi-channel convolution), a deep learning model that incorporates self-attention, cross-attention mechanism, and multi-channel convolution to improve the generalizability and enhance the model interpretability. Experimental results demonstrate that our model outperformed several state-of-the-art models on two challenging tasks including a strictly split dataset and an external dataset. Furthermore, the model can learn some interaction patterns between TCR and epitope by extracting the interpretable matrix from cross-attention layer and mapping them to the three-dimensional structures. The source code and data are freely available at https://github.com/Chenjw99/TEPCAM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junwei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and BiotechnologyShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Bowen Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and BiotechnologyShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Shenggeng Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and BiotechnologyShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Heqi Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and BiotechnologyShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Xueying Mao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and BiotechnologyShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Meng Wang
- Hunan Provincial Key Lab on Bioinformatics, School of Computer Science and EngineeringCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
| | - Yanyi Chu
- Department of PathologyStanford University School of MedicineStandfordCaliforniaUSA
| | - Liang Hong
- Institute of Natural Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
- Artificial Intelligence Biomedical Center, Zhangjiang Institute for Advanced Study, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Dong‐Qing Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and BiotechnologyShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Min Li
- Hunan Provincial Key Lab on Bioinformatics, School of Computer Science and EngineeringCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
| | - Yi Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and BiotechnologyShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
- Artificial Intelligence Biomedical Center, Zhangjiang Institute for Advanced Study, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
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Mudd P, Borcherding N, Kim W, Quinn M, Han F, Zhou J, Sturtz A, Schmitz A, Lei T, Schattgen S, Klebert M, Suessen T, Middleton W, Goss C, Liu C, Crawford J, Thomas P, Teefey S, Presti R, O'Halloran J, Turner J, Ellebedy A. Antigen-specific CD4 + T cells exhibit distinct transcriptional phenotypes in the lymph node and blood following vaccination in humans. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3304466. [PMID: 37790414 PMCID: PMC10543502 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3304466/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 infection and mRNA vaccination induce robust CD4+ T cell responses that are critical for the development of protective immunity. Here, we evaluated spike-specific CD4+ T cells in the blood and draining lymph node (dLN) of human subjects following BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination using single-cell transcriptomics. We analyze multiple spike-specific CD4+ T cell clonotypes, including novel clonotypes we define here using Trex, a new deep learning-based reverse epitope mapping method integrating single-cell T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing and transcriptomics to predict antigen-specificity. Human dLN spike-specific T follicular helper cells (TFH) exhibited distinct phenotypes, including germinal center (GC)-TFH and IL-10+ TFH, that varied over time during the GC response. Paired TCR clonotype analysis revealed tissue-specific segregation of circulating and dLN clonotypes, despite numerous spike-specific clonotypes in each compartment. Analysis of a separate SARS-CoV-2 infection cohort revealed circulating spike-specific CD4+ T cell profiles distinct from those found following BNT162b2 vaccination. Our findings provide an atlas of human antigen-specific CD4+ T cell transcriptional phenotypes in the dLN and blood following vaccination or infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Charles Goss
- Division of Biostatistics, Washington University in St.Louis
| | - Chang Liu
- Washington University School of Medicine
| | | | | | | | | | - Jane O'Halloran
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Washington University in St.Louis
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