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Fillion AJ, Bricco AR, Lee HD, Korenchan D, Farrar CT, Gilad AA. Development of a synthetic biosensor for chemical exchange MRI utilizing in silico optimized peptides. NMR IN BIOMEDICINE 2023; 36:e5007. [PMID: 37469121 PMCID: PMC11075521 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.5007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI has been identified as a novel alternative to classical diagnostic imaging. Over the last several decades, many studies have been conducted to determine possible CEST agents, such as endogenously expressed compounds or proteins, that can be utilized to produce contrast with minimally invasive procedures and reduced or non-existent levels of toxicity. In recent years there has been an increased interest in the generation of genetically engineered CEST contrast agents, typically based on existing proteins with CEST contrast or modified to produce CEST contrast. We have developed an in silico method for the evolution of peptide sequences to optimize CEST contrast and showed that these peptides could be combined to create de novo biosensors for CEST MRI. A single protein, superCESTide, was designed to be 198 amino acids. SuperCESTide was expressed in E. coli and purified with size exclusion chromatography. The magnetic transfer ratio asymmetry generated by superCESTide was comparable to levels seen in previous CEST reporters, such as protamine sulfate (salmon protamine) and human protamine. These data show that novel peptides with sequences optimized in silico for CEST contrast that utilize a more comprehensive range of amino acids can still produce contrast when assembled into protein units expressed in complex living environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J. Fillion
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Alexander R. Bricco
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Harvey D. Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - David Korenchan
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, MA, USA
| | - Christian T. Farrar
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, MA, USA
| | - Assaf A. Gilad
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
- Department of Radiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
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Fillion AJ, Bricco AR, Lee HD, Korenchan D, Farrar CT, Gilad AA. Development of a Synthetic Biosensor for Chemical Exchange MRI Utilizing In Silico Optimized Peptides. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.08.531737. [PMID: 37016672 PMCID: PMC10071792 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.08.531737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been identified as a novel alternative to classical diagnostic imaging. Over the last several decades, many studies have been conducted to determine possible CEST agents, such as endogenously expressed compounds or proteins, that can be utilized to produce contrast with minimally invasive procedures and reduced or non-existent levels of toxicity. In recent years there has been an increased interest in the generation of genetically engineered CEST contrast agents, typically based on existing proteins with CEST contrast or modified to produce CEST contrast. We have developed an in-silico method for the evolution of peptide sequences to optimize CEST contrast and showed that these peptides could be combined to create de novo biosensors for CEST MRI. A single protein, superCESTide 2.0, was designed to be 198 amino acids. SuperCESTide 2.0 was expressed in E. coli and purified with size-exclusion chromatography. The magnetic transfer ratio asymmetry (MTR asym ) generated by superCESTide 2.0 was comparable to levels seen in previous CEST reporters, such as protamine sulfate (salmon protamine, SP), Poly-L-Lysine (PLL), and human protamine (hPRM1). This data shows that novel peptides with sequences optimized in silico for CEST contrast that utilizes a more comprehensive range of amino acids can still produce contrast when assembled into protein units expressed in complex living environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J. Fillion
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Alexander R. Bricco
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Harvey D. Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - David Korenchan
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, MA, USA
| | - Christian T. Farrar
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, MA, USA
| | - Assaf A. Gilad
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
- Department of Radiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
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Hossain SM, Gimenez G, Stockwell PA, Tsai P, Print CG, Rys J, Cybulska-Stopa B, Ratajska M, Harazin-Lechowska A, Almomani S, Jackson C, Chatterjee A, Eccles MR. Innate immune checkpoint inhibitor resistance is associated with melanoma sub-types exhibiting invasive and de-differentiated gene expression signatures. Front Immunol 2022; 13:955063. [PMID: 36248850 PMCID: PMC9554309 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.955063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Melanoma is a highly aggressive skin cancer, which, although highly immunogenic, frequently escapes the body’s immune defences. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), such as anti-PD1, anti-PDL1, and anti-CTLA4 antibodies lead to reactivation of immune pathways, promoting rejection of melanoma. However, the benefits of ICI therapy remain limited to a relatively small proportion of patients who do not exhibit ICI resistance. Moreover, the precise mechanisms underlying innate and acquired ICI resistance remain unclear. Here, we have investigated differences in melanoma tissues in responder and non-responder patients to anti-PD1 therapy in terms of tumour and immune cell gene-associated signatures. We performed multi-omics investigations on melanoma tumour tissues, which were collected from patients before starting treatment with anti-PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitors. Patients were subsequently categorized into responders and non-responders to anti-PD1 therapy based on RECIST criteria. Multi-omics analyses included RNA-Seq and NanoString analysis. From RNA-Seq data we carried out HLA phenotyping as well as gene enrichment analysis, pathway enrichment analysis and immune cell deconvolution studies. Consistent with previous studies, our data showed that responders to anti-PD1 therapy had higher immune scores (median immune score for responders = 0.1335, median immune score for non-responders = 0.05426, p-value = 0.01, Mann-Whitney U two-tailed exact test) compared to the non-responders. Responder melanomas were more highly enriched with a combination of CD8+ T cells, dendritic cells (p-value = 0.03) and an M1 subtype of macrophages (p-value = 0.001). In addition, melanomas from responder patients exhibited a more differentiated gene expression pattern, with high proliferative- and low invasive-associated gene expression signatures, whereas tumours from non-responders exhibited high invasive- and frequently neural crest-like cell type gene expression signatures. Our findings suggest that non-responder melanomas to anti-PD1 therapy exhibit a de-differentiated gene expression signature, associated with poorer immune cell infiltration, which establishes a gene expression pattern characteristic of innate resistance to anti-PD1 therapy. Improved understanding of tumour-intrinsic gene expression patterns associated with response to anti-PD1 therapy will help to identify predictive biomarkers of ICI response and may help to identify new targets for anticancer treatment, especially with a capacity to function as adjuvants to improve ICI outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sultana Mehbuba Hossain
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Gregory Gimenez
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Peter A. Stockwell
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Peter Tsai
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Cristin G. Print
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Janusz Rys
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Krakow, Poland
| | - Bozena Cybulska-Stopa
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Krakow, Poland
| | - Magda Ratajska
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
- Department of Biology and Medical Genetics, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Harazin-Lechowska
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Krakow, Poland
| | - Suzan Almomani
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Christopher Jackson
- Department of Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Aniruddha Chatterjee
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Michael R. Eccles
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
- *Correspondence: Michael R. Eccles,
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Krstic J, Deutsch A, Fuchs J, Gauster M, Gorsek Sparovec T, Hiden U, Krappinger JC, Moser G, Pansy K, Szmyra M, Gold D, Feichtinger J, Huppertz B. (Dis)similarities between the Decidual and Tumor Microenvironment. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10051065. [PMID: 35625802 PMCID: PMC9138511 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10051065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2022] [Revised: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Placenta-specific trophoblast and tumor cells exhibit many common characteristics. Trophoblast cells invade maternal tissues while being tolerated by the maternal immune system. Similarly, tumor cells can invade surrounding tissues and escape the immune system. Importantly, both trophoblast and tumor cells are supported by an abetting microenvironment, which influences invasion, angiogenesis, and immune tolerance/evasion, among others. However, in contrast to tumor cells, the metabolic, proliferative, migrative, and invasive states of trophoblast cells are under tight regulatory control. In this review, we provide an overview of similarities and dissimilarities in regulatory processes that drive trophoblast and tumor cell fate, particularly focusing on the role of the abetting microenvironments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelena Krstic
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria; (J.K.); (J.F.); (M.G.); (J.C.K.); (G.M.); (B.H.)
| | - Alexander Deutsch
- Division of Hematology, Medical University of Graz, Stiftingtalstrasse 24, 8010 Graz, Austria; (A.D.); (K.P.); (M.S.)
| | - Julia Fuchs
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria; (J.K.); (J.F.); (M.G.); (J.C.K.); (G.M.); (B.H.)
- Division of Biophysics, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Martin Gauster
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria; (J.K.); (J.F.); (M.G.); (J.C.K.); (G.M.); (B.H.)
| | - Tina Gorsek Sparovec
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 14, 8036 Graz, Austria; (T.G.S.); (U.H.); (D.G.)
| | - Ursula Hiden
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 14, 8036 Graz, Austria; (T.G.S.); (U.H.); (D.G.)
| | - Julian Christopher Krappinger
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria; (J.K.); (J.F.); (M.G.); (J.C.K.); (G.M.); (B.H.)
| | - Gerit Moser
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria; (J.K.); (J.F.); (M.G.); (J.C.K.); (G.M.); (B.H.)
| | - Katrin Pansy
- Division of Hematology, Medical University of Graz, Stiftingtalstrasse 24, 8010 Graz, Austria; (A.D.); (K.P.); (M.S.)
| | - Marta Szmyra
- Division of Hematology, Medical University of Graz, Stiftingtalstrasse 24, 8010 Graz, Austria; (A.D.); (K.P.); (M.S.)
| | - Daniela Gold
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 14, 8036 Graz, Austria; (T.G.S.); (U.H.); (D.G.)
| | - Julia Feichtinger
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria; (J.K.); (J.F.); (M.G.); (J.C.K.); (G.M.); (B.H.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Berthold Huppertz
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstrasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria; (J.K.); (J.F.); (M.G.); (J.C.K.); (G.M.); (B.H.)
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