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Achleitner L, Winter M, Aguilar PP, Lingg N, Jungbauer A, Klausberger M, Satzer P. Robust and resource-efficient production process suitable for large-scale production of baculovirus through high cell density seed train and optimized infection strategy. N Biotechnol 2024; 80:46-55. [PMID: 38302001 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2024.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 01/08/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
The aim of this study was the development of a scalable production process for high titer (108 pfu/mL and above) recombinant baculovirus stocks with low cell line-derived impurities for the production of virus-like particles (VLP). To achieve this, we developed a high cell density (HCD) culture for low footprint cell proliferation, compared different infection strategies at multiplicity of infection (MOI) 0.05 and 0.005, different infection strategies and validated generally applicable harvest criteria of cell viability ≤ 80%. We also investigated online measurable parameters to observe the baculovirus production. The infection strategy employing a very low virus inoculum of MOI 0.005 and a 1:2 dilution with fresh medium one day after infection proved to be the most resource efficient. There, we achieved higher cell-specific titers and lower host cell protein concentrations at harvest than other tested infection strategies with the same MOI, while saving half of the virus stock for infecting the culture compared to other tested infection strategies. HCD culture by daily medium exchange was confirmed as suitable for seed train propagation, infection, and baculovirus production, equally efficient as the conventionally propagated seed train. Online measurable parameters for cell concentration and average cell diameter were found to be effective in monitoring the production process. The study concluded that a more efficient VLP production process in large scale can be achieved using this virus stock production strategy, which could also be extended to produce other proteins or extracellular vesicles with the baculovirus expression system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Achleitner
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Muthgasse 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Martina Winter
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Muthgasse 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Patricia Pereira Aguilar
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Muthgasse 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nico Lingg
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Muthgasse 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alois Jungbauer
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Muthgasse 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter Satzer
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Muthgasse 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
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Perkmann T, Koller T, Perkmann-Nagele N, Ozsvar-Kozma M, Eyre D, Matthews P, Bown A, Stoesser N, Breyer MK, Breyer-Kohansal R, Burghuber OC, Hartl S, Aletaha D, Sieghart D, Quehenberger P, Marculescu R, Mucher P, Radakovics A, Klausberger M, Duerkop M, Holzer B, Hartmann B, Strassl R, Leitner G, Grebien F, Gerner W, Grabherr R, Wagner OF, Binder CJ, Haslacher H. Increasing test specificity without impairing sensitivity: lessons learned from SARS-CoV-2 serology. J Clin Pathol 2023; 76:770-777. [PMID: 36041815 DOI: 10.1136/jcp-2022-208171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Serological tests are widely used in various medical disciplines for diagnostic and monitoring purposes. Unfortunately, the sensitivity and specificity of test systems are often poor, leaving room for false-positive and false-negative results. However, conventional methods were used to increase specificity and decrease sensitivity and vice versa. Using SARS-CoV-2 serology as an example, we propose here a novel testing strategy: the 'sensitivity improved two-test' or 'SIT²' algorithm. METHODS SIT² involves confirmatory retesting of samples with results falling in a predefined retesting zone of an initial screening test, with adjusted cut-offs to increase sensitivity. We verified and compared the performance of SIT² to single tests and orthogonal testing (OTA) in an Austrian cohort (1117 negative, 64 post-COVID-positive samples) and validated the algorithm in an independent British cohort (976 negatives and 536 positives). RESULTS The specificity of SIT² was superior to single tests and non-inferior to OTA. The sensitivity was maintained or even improved using SIT² when compared with single tests or OTA. SIT² allowed correct identification of infected individuals even when a live virus neutralisation assay could not detect antibodies. Compared with single testing or OTA, SIT² significantly reduced total test errors to 0.46% (0.24-0.65) or 1.60% (0.94-2.38) at both 5% or 20% seroprevalence. CONCLUSION For SARS-CoV-2 serology, SIT² proved to be the best diagnostic choice at both 5% and 20% seroprevalence in all tested scenarios. It is an easy to apply algorithm and can potentially be helpful for the serology of other infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Perkmann
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Thomas Koller
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | | | - Maria Ozsvar-Kozma
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - David Eyre
- Big Data Institute, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Abbie Bown
- Public Health England Porton Down, Salisbury, UK
| | - Nicole Stoesser
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Marie-Kathrin Breyer
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Clinic Penzing, Vienna, Austria
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria
| | - Robab Breyer-Kohansal
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Clinic Penzing, Vienna, Austria
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria
| | - Otto C Burghuber
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria
- Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Slyvia Hartl
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Clinic Penzing, Vienna, Austria
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria
- Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniel Aletaha
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniela Sieghart
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter Quehenberger
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Rodrig Marculescu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Patrick Mucher
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Astrid Radakovics
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Duerkop
- Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Barba Holzer
- Institute for Veterinary Disease Control, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Moedling, Austria
| | - Boris Hartmann
- Institute for Veterinary Disease Control, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Moedling, Austria
| | - Robert Strassl
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Gerda Leitner
- Department of Blood Group Serology and Transfusion Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Grebien
- Institute for Medical Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Wilhelm Gerner
- Institute of Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for an Optimized Prediction of Vaccination Success in Pigs, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright, UK (current)
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Oswald F Wagner
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Christoph J Binder
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Helmuth Haslacher
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
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Hausjell CS, Klausberger M, Ernst W, Grabherr R. Evaluation of an inducible knockout system in insect cells based on co-infection and CRISPR/Cas9. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289178. [PMID: 37498808 PMCID: PMC10374150 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Due to comparably high product titers and low production costs, the baculovirus/insect cell expression system is considered a versatile production platform in the biopharmaceutical industry. Its excellence in producing complex multimeric protein assemblies, including virus-like particles (VLPs), which are considered promising vaccine candidates to counter emerging viral threats, made the system even more attractive. However, the co-formation of budded baculovirus during VLP production poses a severe challenge to downstream processing. In order to reduce the amount of budded baculovirus in the expression supernatant we developed an inducible knockout system based on CRISPR/Cas9 and co-infection with two baculoviral vectors: one bringing along the Cas9 nuclease and the other one having incorporated the sequence for sgRNA expression. With our set-up high titer viruses can be generated separately, as only when both viruses infect cells simultaneously a knockout can occur. When budding essential genes gp64 and vp80 were targeted for knockout, we measured a reduction in baculovirus titer by over 90%. However, as a consequence, we also determined lower overall eYFP fluorescence intensity showing reduced recombinant protein production, indicating that further improvements in engineering as well as purification are required in order to ultimately minimize costs and timeframes for vaccine production utilizing the baculovirus/insect cell expression system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Sophie Hausjell
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Wolfgang Ernst
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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Zhu R, Canena D, Sikora M, Klausberger M, Seferovic H, Mehdipour AR, Hain L, Laurent E, Monteil V, Wirnsberger G, Wieneke R, Tampé R, Kienzl NF, Mach L, Mirazimi A, Oh YJ, Penninger JM, Hummer G, Hinterdorfer P. Author Correction: Force-tuned avidity of spike variant-ACE2 interactions viewed on the single-molecule level. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1142. [PMID: 36854739 PMCID: PMC9973231 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36905-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rong Zhu
- grid.9970.70000 0001 1941 5140Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Daniel Canena
- grid.9970.70000 0001 1941 5140Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Mateusz Sikora
- grid.419494.50000 0001 1018 9466Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany ,grid.10420.370000 0001 2286 1424Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ,Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7A, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- grid.5173.00000 0001 2298 5320Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hannah Seferovic
- grid.9970.70000 0001 1941 5140Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Ahmad Reza Mehdipour
- grid.419494.50000 0001 1018 9466Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany ,grid.5342.00000 0001 2069 7798Center for Molecular Modeling, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lisa Hain
- grid.9970.70000 0001 1941 5140Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- grid.5173.00000 0001 2298 5320Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria ,grid.5173.00000 0001 2298 5320Core Facility Biomolecular & Cellular Analysis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Vanessa Monteil
- grid.24381.3c0000 0000 9241 5705Department of Laboratory Medicine, Unit of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Ralph Wieneke
- grid.7839.50000 0004 1936 9721Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Robert Tampé
- grid.7839.50000 0004 1936 9721Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Nikolaus F. Kienzl
- grid.5173.00000 0001 2298 5320Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- grid.5173.00000 0001 2298 5320Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ali Mirazimi
- grid.24381.3c0000 0000 9241 5705Department of Laboratory Medicine, Unit of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden ,grid.419788.b0000 0001 2166 9211National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yoo Jin Oh
- grid.9970.70000 0001 1941 5140Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Josef M. Penninger
- grid.417521.40000 0001 0008 2788Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Vienna, Austria ,grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Gerhard Hummer
- Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. .,Institute of Biophysics, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Peter Hinterdorfer
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria.
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5
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Zhu R, Canena D, Sikora M, Klausberger M, Seferovic H, Mehdipour AR, Hain L, Laurent E, Monteil V, Wirnsberger G, Wieneke R, Tampé R, Kienzl NF, Mach L, Mirazimi A, Oh YJ, Penninger JM, Hummer G, Hinterdorfer P. Force-tuned avidity of spike variant-ACE2 interactions viewed on the single-molecule level. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7926. [PMID: 36566234 PMCID: PMC9789309 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35641-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent waves of COVID-19 correlate with the emergence of the Delta and the Omicron variant. We report that the Spike trimer acts as a highly dynamic molecular caliper, thereby forming up to three tight bonds through its RBDs with ACE2 expressed on the cell surface. The Spike of both Delta and Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant enhance and markedly prolong viral attachment to the host cell receptor ACE2, as opposed to the early Wuhan-1 isolate. Delta Spike shows rapid binding of all three Spike RBDs to three different ACE2 molecules with considerably increased bond lifetime when compared to the reference strain, thereby significantly amplifying avidity. Intriguingly, Omicron (B.1.1.529) Spike displays less multivalent bindings to ACE2 molecules, yet with a ten time longer bond lifetime than Delta. Delta and Omicron (B.1.1.529) Spike variants enhance and prolong viral attachment to the host, which likely not only increases the rate of viral uptake, but also enhances the resistance of the variants against host-cell detachment by shear forces such as airflow, mucus or blood flow. We uncover distinct binding mechanisms and strategies at single-molecule resolution, employed by circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants to enhance infectivity and viral transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong Zhu
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Daniel Canena
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Mateusz Sikora
- Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7A, 30-387, Kraków, Poland
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hannah Seferovic
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Ahmad Reza Mehdipour
- Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Center for Molecular Modeling, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lisa Hain
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Core Facility Biomolecular & Cellular Analysis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Vanessa Monteil
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Unit of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Ralph Wieneke
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Robert Tampé
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Nikolaus F Kienzl
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ali Mirazimi
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Unit of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
- National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yoo Jin Oh
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Josef M Penninger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
| | - Gerhard Hummer
- Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Institute of Biophysics, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Peter Hinterdorfer
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria.
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6
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Chan JFW, Oh YJ, Yuan S, Chu H, Yeung ML, Canena D, Chan CCS, Poon VKM, Chan CCY, Zhang AJ, Cai JP, Ye ZW, Wen L, Yuen TTT, Chik KKH, Shuai H, Wang Y, Hou Y, Luo C, Chan WM, Qin Z, Sit KY, Au WK, Legendre M, Zhu R, Hain L, Seferovic H, Tampé R, To KKW, Chan KH, Thomas DG, Klausberger M, Xu C, Moon JJ, Stadlmann J, Penninger JM, Oostenbrink C, Hinterdorfer P, Yuen KY, Markovitz DM. A molecularly engineered, broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus lectin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV infection in vivo. Cell Rep Med 2022; 3:100774. [PMID: 36195094 PMCID: PMC9519379 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
"Pan-coronavirus" antivirals targeting conserved viral components can be designed. Here, we show that the rationally engineered H84T-banana lectin (H84T-BanLec), which specifically recognizes high mannose found on viral proteins but seldom on healthy human cells, potently inhibits Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (including Omicron), and other human-pathogenic coronaviruses at nanomolar concentrations. H84T-BanLec protects against MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infection in vivo. Importantly, intranasally and intraperitoneally administered H84T-BanLec are comparably effective. Mechanistic assays show that H84T-BanLec targets virus entry. High-speed atomic force microscopy depicts real-time multimolecular associations of H84T-BanLec dimers with the SARS-CoV-2 spike trimer. Single-molecule force spectroscopy demonstrates binding of H84T-BanLec to multiple SARS-CoV-2 spike mannose sites with high affinity and that H84T-BanLec competes with SARS-CoV-2 spike for binding to cellular ACE2. Modeling experiments identify distinct high-mannose glycans in spike recognized by H84T-BanLec. The multiple H84T-BanLec binding sites on spike likely account for the drug compound's broad-spectrum antiviral activity and the lack of resistant mutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China; Academician Workstation of Hainan Province, Hainan Medical University-The University of Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Tropical Infectious Diseases, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China; Carol Yu Centre for Infection, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Yoo Jin Oh
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Shuofeng Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Hin Chu
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Man-Lung Yeung
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China; Carol Yu Centre for Infection, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Daniel Canena
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Chris Chung-Sing Chan
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Vincent Kwok-Man Poon
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Chris Chun-Yiu Chan
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Anna Jinxia Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Jian-Piao Cai
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Zi-Wei Ye
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Lei Wen
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Terrence Tsz-Tai Yuen
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Kenn Ka-Heng Chik
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Huiping Shuai
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Yixin Wang
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Yuxin Hou
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Cuiting Luo
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Wan-Mui Chan
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Zhenzhi Qin
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Ko-Yung Sit
- Department of Surgery, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Wing-Kuk Au
- Department of Surgery, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Maureen Legendre
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, and the Programs in Immunology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Cancer Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Rong Zhu
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Lisa Hain
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Hannah Seferovic
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Robert Tampé
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biocenter, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Kelvin Kai-Wang To
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China; Carol Yu Centre for Infection, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Kwok-Hung Chan
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | | | - Miriam Klausberger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Cheng Xu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - James J Moon
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Johannes Stadlmann
- Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Josef M Penninger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Vienna, Austria; Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Chris Oostenbrink
- Institute for Molecular Modelling and Simulation, Department of Material Science and Process Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter Hinterdorfer
- Department of Experimental Applied Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria.
| | - Kwok-Yung Yuen
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Centre for Virology, Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China; Academician Workstation of Hainan Province, Hainan Medical University-The University of Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Tropical Infectious Diseases, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China; Carol Yu Centre for Infection, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Department of Microbiology, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangdong Province, China.
| | - David M Markovitz
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, and the Programs in Immunology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Cancer Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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7
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Atzl M, Muendlein A, Winder T, Fraunberger P, Brandtner EM, Geiger K, Klausberger M, Duerkop M, Sprenger L, Mutschlechner B, Volgger A, Benda M, Severgnini L, Jaeger JB, Drexel H, Lang A, Leiherer A. SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific and NP-specific antibody response of healthcare workers in the westernmost Austrian state Vorarlberg: a prospective cohort study. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e052130. [PMID: 35613821 PMCID: PMC9174531 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Austria, and particularly its westernmost federal state Vorarlberg, developed an extremely high incidence rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide are known to have an increased risk of contracting the disease within the working environment and, therefore, the seroprevalence in this population is of particular interest. We thus aimed to analyse SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody dynamics in Vorarlberg HCWs. DESIGN Prospective cohort study of HCWs including testing at three different time points for the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies specific for nucleocapsid protein (NP) and receptor-binding domain (RBD). SETTING All five state hospitals of Vorarlberg. PARTICIPANTS A total of 395 HCWs, enrolled in June 2020 (time point 1 (t1)), 2 months after the end of the first wave, retested between October and November at the beginning of the second wave (time point 2 (t2)) and again at the downturn of the second wave in January 2021 (time point 3 (t3)). MAIN OUTCOMES We assessed weak and strong seropositivity and associated factors, including demographic and clinical characteristics, symptoms consistent with COVID-19 infection, infections verified by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and vaccinations. RESULTS At t1, 3% of HCWs showed strong IgG-specific responses to either NP or RBD. At t2, the rate had increased to 4%, and at t3 to 14%. A strong response was found to be stable for up to 10 months. Overall, only 55% of seropositive specimen had antibodies against both antigens RBD and NP; 29% had only RBD-specific and 16% only NP-specific antibodies. Compared with the number of infections found by RT-PCR, the number of HCWs being seropositive was 38% higher. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE Serological testing based on only one antigen implicates the risk of missing infections; thus, the set of antigens should be broadened in the future. The seroprevalence among participating HCWs was comparable to the general population in Austria. Nevertheless, in view of undetected infections, monitoring and surveillance should be reconsidered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Atzl
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Axel Muendlein
- Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT), Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Thomas Winder
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Peter Fraunberger
- Medical Central Laboratories, Feldkirch, Austria
- Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein
| | - Eva-Maria Brandtner
- Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT), Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Kathrin Geiger
- Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT), Feldkirch, Austria
- Medical Central Laboratories, Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Mark Duerkop
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Wien, Austria
| | - Lukas Sprenger
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
- Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein
| | - Beatrix Mutschlechner
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
- Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein
| | - Andreas Volgger
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Magdalena Benda
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
- Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein
| | - Luciano Severgnini
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Johannes B Jaeger
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria
| | - Heinz Drexel
- Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT), Feldkirch, Austria
- Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein
- Department of Internal Medicine and Intensive Care, Academic Teaching Hospital Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria
- Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Alois Lang
- Agency for Preventive and Social Medicine, Bregenz, Austria
| | - Andreas Leiherer
- Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT), Feldkirch, Austria
- Medical Central Laboratories, Feldkirch, Austria
- Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein
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8
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Klausberger M, Kienzl NF, Stadlmayr G, Grünwald‐Gruber C, Laurent E, Stadlbauer K, Stracke F, Vierlinger K, Hofner M, Manhart G, Gerner W, Grebien F, Weinhäusel A, Mach L, Wozniak‐Knopp G. Designed SARS‐CoV‐2 receptor binding domain variants form stable monomers. Biotechnol J 2022; 17:e2100422. [PMID: 35078277 PMCID: PMC9011732 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202100422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Revised: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike (S)‐protein is a prime target of virus‐neutralizing antibodies present in convalescent sera of COVID‐19 patients and thus is considered a key antigen for immunosurveillance studies and vaccine development. Although recombinant expression of RBD has been achieved in several eukaryotic systems, mammalian cells have proven particularly useful. The authors aimed to optimize RBD produced in HEK293‐6E cells towards a stable homogeneous preparation and addressed its O‐glycosylation as well as the unpaired cysteine residue 538 in the widely used RBD (319‐541) sequence. The authors found that an intact O‐glycosylation site at T323 is highly relevant for the expression and maintenance of RBD as a monomer. Furthermore, it was shown that deletion or substitution of the unpaired cysteine residue C538 reduces the intrinsic propensity of RBD to form oligomeric aggregates, concomitant with an increased yield of the monomeric form of the protein. Bead‐based and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays utilizing these optimized RBD variants displayed excellent performance with respect to the specific detection of even low levels of SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies in convalescent sera. Hence, these RBD variants could be instrumental for the further development of serological SARS‐CoV‐2 tests and inform the design of RBD‐based vaccine candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Klausberger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Nikolaus F. Kienzl
- Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Gerhard Stadlmayr
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Immunotherapeutics University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Clemens Grünwald‐Gruber
- Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry and BOKU Core Facility Mass Spectrometry University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
- BOKU Core Facility Biomolecular & Cellular Analysis University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Katharina Stadlbauer
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Immunotherapeutics University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Florian Stracke
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Immunotherapeutics University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Klemens Vierlinger
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources Austrian Institute of Technology Giefinggasse 4 Vienna 1210 Austria
| | - Manuela Hofner
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources Austrian Institute of Technology Giefinggasse 4 Vienna 1210 Austria
| | - Gabriele Manhart
- Institute of Medical Biochemistry University of Veterinary Medicine Veterinärplatz 1 Vienna 1210 Austria
| | - Wilhelm Gerner
- Institute of Immunology University of Veterinary Medicine Veterinärplatz 1 Vienna 1210 Austria
| | - Florian Grebien
- Institute of Medical Biochemistry University of Veterinary Medicine Veterinärplatz 1 Vienna 1210 Austria
| | - Andreas Weinhäusel
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources Austrian Institute of Technology Giefinggasse 4 Vienna 1210 Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
| | - Gordana Wozniak‐Knopp
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Immunotherapeutics University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Muthgasse 18 Vienna 1190 Austria
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9
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De Vos J, Pereira Aguilar P, Köppl C, Fischer A, Grünwald-Gruber C, Dürkop M, Klausberger M, Mairhofer J, Striedner G, Cserjan-Puschmann M, Jungbauer A, Lingg N. Production of full-length SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein from Escherichia coli optimized by native hydrophobic interaction chromatography hyphenated to multi-angle light scattering detection. Talanta 2021; 235:122691. [PMID: 34517577 PMCID: PMC8284068 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2021.122691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The nucleocapsid protein (NP) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical for several steps of the viral life cycle, and is abundantly expressed during infection, making it an ideal diagnostic target protein. This protein has a strong tendency for dimerization and interaction with nucleic acids. For the first time, high titers of NP were expressed in E. coli with a CASPON tag, using a growth-decoupled protein expression system. Purification was accomplished by nuclease treatment of the cell homogenate and a sequence of downstream processing (DSP) steps. An analytical method consisting of native hydrophobic interaction chromatography hyphenated to multi-angle light scattering detection (HIC-MALS) was established for in-process control, in particular, to monitor product fragmentation and multimerization throughout the purification process. 730 mg purified NP per liter of fermentation could be produced by the optimized process, corresponding to a yield of 77% after cell lysis. The HIC-MALS method was used to demonstrate that the NP product can be produced with a purity of 95%. The molecular mass of the main NP fraction is consistent with dimerized protein as was verified by a complementary native size-exclusion separation (SEC)-MALS analysis. Peptide mapping mass spectrometry and host cell specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed the high product purity, and the presence of a minor endogenous chaperone explained the residual impurities. The optimized HIC-MALS method enables monitoring of the product purity, and simultaneously access its molecular mass, providing orthogonal information complementary to established SEC-MALS methods. Enhanced resolving power can be achieved over SEC, attributed to the extended variables to tune selectivity in HIC mode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelle De Vos
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Chemical Engineering, 1050, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Patricia Pereira Aguilar
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria; acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, 1190, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Christoph Köppl
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, 1190, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Fischer
- acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, 1190, Vienna, Austria
| | - Clemens Grünwald-Gruber
- BOKU Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Dürkop
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria; Novasign GmbH, 1190, Vienna, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Gerald Striedner
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria; acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, 1190, Vienna, Austria; enGenes Biotech GmbH, 1190, Vienna, Austria
| | - Monika Cserjan-Puschmann
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria; acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, 1190, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alois Jungbauer
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria; acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, 1190, Vienna, Austria
| | - Nico Lingg
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria; acib - Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, 1190, Vienna, Austria
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10
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Schwestka J, König-Beihammer J, Shin YJ, Vavra U, Kienzl NF, Grünwald-Gruber C, Maresch D, Klausberger M, Laurent E, Stadler M, Manhart G, Huber J, Hofner M, Vierlinger K, Weinhäusel A, Swoboda I, Binder CJ, Gerner W, Grebien F, Altmann F, Mach L, Stöger E, Strasser R. Impact of Specific N-Glycan Modifications on the Use of Plant-Produced SARS-CoV-2 Antigens in Serological Assays. Front Plant Sci 2021; 12:747500. [PMID: 34646292 PMCID: PMC8503525 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.747500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein plays a key role in the virus-host cell interaction, and viral infection. The RBD is a major target for neutralizing antibodies, whilst recombinant RBD is commonly used as an antigen in serological assays. Such assays are essential tools to gain control over the pandemic and detect the extent and durability of an immune response in infected or vaccinated populations. Transient expression in plants can contribute to the fast production of viral antigens, which are required by industry in high amounts. Whilst plant-produced RBDs are glycosylated, N-glycan modifications in plants differ from humans. This can give rise to the formation of carbohydrate epitopes that can be recognized by anti-carbohydrate antibodies present in human sera. For the performance of serological tests using plant-produced recombinant viral antigens, such cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants (CCDs) could result in false positives. Here, we transiently expressed an RBD variant in wild-type and glycoengineered Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and characterized the impact of different plant-specific N-glycans on RBD reactivity in serological assays. While the overall performance of the different RBD glycoforms was comparable to each other and to a human cell line produced RBD, there was a higher tendency toward false positive results with sera containing allergy-related CCD-antibodies when an RBD carrying β1,2-xylose and core α1,3-fucose was used. These rare events could be further minimized by pre-incubating sera from allergic individuals with a CCD-inhibitor. Thereby, false positive signals obtained from anti-CCD antibodies, could be reduced by 90%, on average.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Schwestka
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julia König-Beihammer
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Yun-Ji Shin
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrike Vavra
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Nikolaus F. Kienzl
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Clemens Grünwald-Gruber
- Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniel Maresch
- Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- Core Facility Biomolecular & Cellular Analysis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Stadler
- Institute of Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gabriele Manhart
- Institute for Medical Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jasmin Huber
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Manuela Hofner
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Klemens Vierlinger
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Weinhäusel
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ines Swoboda
- Biotechnology Section, FH Campus Wien, University of Applied Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christoph J. Binder
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Wilhelm Gerner
- Institute of Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Grebien
- Institute for Medical Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Friedrich Altmann
- Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eva Stöger
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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11
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Perkmann T, Koller T, Perkmann-Nagele N, Klausberger M, Duerkop M, Holzer B, Hartmann B, Mucher P, Radakovics A, Ozsvar-Kozma M, Wagner OF, Binder CJ, Haslacher H. Spike Protein Antibodies Mediate the Apparent Correlation between SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Antibodies and Neutralization Test Results. Microbiol Spectr 2021; 9:e0021821. [PMID: 34132615 PMCID: PMC8552595 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00218-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Perkmann
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Koller
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Miriam Klausberger
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Duerkop
- Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Barbara Holzer
- Department for Animal Health, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Moedling, Austria
| | - Boris Hartmann
- Department for Animal Health, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Moedling, Austria
| | - Patrick Mucher
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid Radakovics
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Ozsvar-Kozma
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Oswald F. Wagner
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christoph J. Binder
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Helmuth Haslacher
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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12
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Hoffmann D, Mereiter S, Jin Oh Y, Monteil V, Elder E, Zhu R, Canena D, Hain L, Laurent E, Grünwald-Gruber C, Klausberger M, Jonsson G, Kellner MJ, Novatchkova M, Ticevic M, Chabloz A, Wirnsberger G, Hagelkruys A, Altmann F, Mach L, Stadlmann J, Oostenbrink C, Mirazimi A, Hinterdorfer P, Penninger JM. Identification of lectin receptors for conserved SARS-CoV-2 glycosylation sites. EMBO J 2021; 40:e108375. [PMID: 34375000 PMCID: PMC8420505 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2021108375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
New SARS‐CoV‐2 variants are continuously emerging with critical implications for therapies or vaccinations. The 22 N‐glycan sites of Spike remain highly conserved among SARS‐CoV‐2 variants, opening an avenue for robust therapeutic intervention. Here we used a comprehensive library of mammalian carbohydrate‐binding proteins (lectins) to probe critical sugar residues on the full‐length trimeric Spike and the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS‐CoV‐2. Two lectins, Clec4g and CD209c, were identified to strongly bind to Spike. Clec4g and CD209c binding to Spike was dissected and visualized in real time and at single‐molecule resolution using atomic force microscopy. 3D modelling showed that both lectins can bind to a glycan within the RBD‐ACE2 interface and thus interferes with Spike binding to cell surfaces. Importantly, Clec4g and CD209c significantly reduced SARS‐CoV‐2 infections. These data report the first extensive map and 3D structural modelling of lectin‐Spike interactions and uncovers candidate receptors involved in Spike binding and SARS‐CoV‐2 infections. The capacity of CLEC4G and mCD209c lectins to block SARS‐CoV‐2 viral entry holds promise for pan‐variant therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Hoffmann
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Stefan Mereiter
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Yoo Jin Oh
- Institute of Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Vanessa Monteil
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Unit of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Rong Zhu
- Institute of Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Daniel Canena
- Institute of Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Lisa Hain
- Institute of Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- Department of Biotechnology and BOKU Core Facility Biomolecular & Cellular Analysis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gustav Jonsson
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Max J Kellner
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Novatchkova
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Melita Ticevic
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Antoine Chabloz
- Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Astrid Hagelkruys
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Friedrich Altmann
- Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Johannes Stadlmann
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Chris Oostenbrink
- Department for Material Sciences and Process Engineering, Institute for Molecular Modeling and Simulation, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ali Mirazimi
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Unit of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.,National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Josef M Penninger
- IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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13
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Shin YJ, König-Beihammer J, Vavra U, Schwestka J, Kienzl NF, Klausberger M, Laurent E, Grünwald-Gruber C, Vierlinger K, Hofner M, Margolin E, Weinhäusel A, Stöger E, Mach L, Strasser R. N-Glycosylation of the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain Is Important for Functional Expression in Plants. Front Plant Sci 2021; 12:689104. [PMID: 34211491 PMCID: PMC8239413 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.689104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Nicotiana benthamiana is used worldwide as production host for recombinant proteins. Many recombinant proteins such as monoclonal antibodies, growth factors or viral antigens require posttranslational modifications like glycosylation for their function. Here, we transiently expressed different variants of the glycosylated receptor binding domain (RBD) from the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in N. benthamiana. We characterized the impact of variations in RBD-length and posttranslational modifications on protein expression, yield and functionality. We found that a truncated RBD variant (RBD-215) consisting of amino acids Arg319-Leu533 can be efficiently expressed as a secreted soluble protein. Purified RBD-215 was mainly present as a monomer and showed binding to the conformation-dependent antibody CR3022, the cellular receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and to antibodies present in convalescent sera. Expression of RBD-215 in glycoengineered ΔXT/FT plants resulted in the generation of complex N-glycans on both N-glycosylation sites. While site-directed mutagenesis showed that the N-glycans are important for proper RBD folding, differences in N-glycan processing had no effect on protein expression and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Ji Shin
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julia König-Beihammer
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrike Vavra
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jennifer Schwestka
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Nikolaus F. Kienzl
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- Department of Biotechnology, Core Facility Biomolecular and Cellular Analysis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Clemens Grünwald-Gruber
- Department of Chemistry, Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Klemens Vierlinger
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Manuela Hofner
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Emmanuel Margolin
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Andreas Weinhäusel
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eva Stöger
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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14
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Klausberger M, Duerkop M, Haslacher H, Wozniak-Knopp G, Cserjan-Puschmann M, Perkmann T, Lingg N, Aguilar PP, Laurent E, De Vos J, Hofner M, Holzer B, Stadler M, Manhart G, Vierlinger K, Egger M, Milchram L, Gludovacz E, Marx N, Köppl C, Tauer C, Beck J, Maresch D, Grünwald-Gruber C, Strobl F, Satzer P, Stadlmayr G, Vavra U, Huber J, Wahrmann M, Eskandary F, Breyer MK, Sieghart D, Quehenberger P, Leitner G, Strassl R, Egger AE, Irsara C, Griesmacher A, Hoermann G, Weiss G, Bellmann-Weiler R, Loeffler-Ragg J, Borth N, Strasser R, Jungbauer A, Hahn R, Mairhofer J, Hartmann B, Binder NB, Striedner G, Mach L, Weinhäusel A, Dieplinger B, Grebien F, Gerner W, Binder CJ, Grabherr R. A comprehensive antigen production and characterisation study for easy-to-implement, specific and quantitative SARS-CoV-2 serotests. EBioMedicine 2021; 67:103348. [PMID: 33906067 PMCID: PMC8099623 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Antibody tests are essential tools to investigate humoral immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. While first-generation antibody tests have primarily provided qualitative results, accurate seroprevalence studies and tracking of antibody levels over time require highly specific, sensitive and quantitative test setups. METHODS We have developed two quantitative, easy-to-implement SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests, based on the spike receptor binding domain and the nucleocapsid protein. Comprehensive evaluation of antigens from several biotechnological platforms enabled the identification of superior antigen designs for reliable serodiagnostic. Cut-off modelling based on unprecedented large and heterogeneous multicentric validation cohorts allowed us to define optimal thresholds for the tests' broad applications in different aspects of clinical use, such as seroprevalence studies and convalescent plasma donor qualification. FINDINGS Both developed serotests individually performed similarly-well as fully-automated CE-marked test systems. Our described sensitivity-improved orthogonal test approach assures highest specificity (99.8%); thereby enabling robust serodiagnosis in low-prevalence settings with simple test formats. The inclusion of a calibrator permits accurate quantitative monitoring of antibody concentrations in samples collected at different time points during the acute and convalescent phase of COVID-19 and disclosed antibody level thresholds that correlate well with robust neutralization of authentic SARS-CoV-2 virus. INTERPRETATION We demonstrate that antigen source and purity strongly impact serotest performance. Comprehensive biotechnology-assisted selection of antigens and in-depth characterisation of the assays allowed us to overcome limitations of simple ELISA-based antibody test formats based on chromometric reporters, to yield comparable assay performance as fully-automated platforms. FUNDING WWTF, Project No. COV20-016; BOKU, LBI/LBG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Duerkop
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Novasign GmbH Vienna, Austria
| | - Helmuth Haslacher
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Gordana Wozniak-Knopp
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; CD Laboratory for innovative Immunotherapeutics, Vienna, Austria
| | - Monika Cserjan-Puschmann
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | - Thomas Perkmann
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nico Lingg
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | - Patricia Pereira Aguilar
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; BOKU Core Facility Biomolecular & Cellular Analysis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU),Vienna, Austria
| | - Jelle De Vos
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Department of Chemical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Manuela Hofner
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Barbara Holzer
- Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Department for Animal Health, Moedling, Austria
| | - Maria Stadler
- Institute of Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gabriele Manhart
- Institute for Medical Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Klemens Vierlinger
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Margot Egger
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Konventhospital Barmherzige Brueder Linz and Ordensklinikum Linz Barmherzige Schwestern, Linz, Austria
| | - Lisa Milchram
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Gludovacz
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nicolas Marx
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christoph Köppl
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | - Christopher Tauer
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jürgen Beck
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniel Maresch
- BOKU Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Clemens Grünwald-Gruber
- BOKU Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria; Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Peter Satzer
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | - Gerhard Stadlmayr
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; CD Laboratory for innovative Immunotherapeutics, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrike Vavra
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Austria
| | - Jasmin Huber
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Wahrmann
- Department of Medicine III, Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Farsad Eskandary
- Department of Medicine III, Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Marie-Kathrin Breyer
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Otto Wagner Hospital, Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniela Sieghart
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter Quehenberger
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Gerda Leitner
- Department of Blood Group Serology and Transfusion Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert Strassl
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alexander E Egger
- Central Institute for Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Innsbruck University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Christian Irsara
- Central Institute for Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Innsbruck University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Andrea Griesmacher
- Central Institute for Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Innsbruck University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Gregor Hoermann
- Central Institute for Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Innsbruck University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria; MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory, Munich, Germany
| | - Günter Weiss
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Rosa Bellmann-Weiler
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Judith Loeffler-Ragg
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Nicole Borth
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Austria
| | - Alois Jungbauer
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | - Rainer Hahn
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | | | - Boris Hartmann
- Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Department for Animal Health, Moedling, Austria
| | - Nikolaus B Binder
- Technoclone Herstellung von Diagnostika und Arzneimitteln GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gerald Striedner
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria; Novasign GmbH Vienna, Austria; ACIB-Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria; enGenes Biotech GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Weinhäusel
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benjamin Dieplinger
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Konventhospital Barmherzige Brueder Linz and Ordensklinikum Linz Barmherzige Schwestern, Linz, Austria
| | - Florian Grebien
- Institute for Medical Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Wilhelm Gerner
- Institute of Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria; Christian Doppler Laboratory for an Optimized Prediction of Vaccination Success in Pigs, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria; Present address: The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright, United Kingdom
| | - Christoph J Binder
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
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15
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Klausberger M, Leneva IA, Egorov A, Strobl F, Ghorbanpour SM, Falynskova IN, Poddubikov AV, Makhmudova NR, Krokhin A, Svitich OA, Grabherr R. Off-target effects of an insect cell-expressed influenza HA-pseudotyped Gag-VLP preparation in limiting postinfluenza Staphylococcus aureus infections. Vaccine 2020; 38:859-867. [PMID: 31718898 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.10.083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Revised: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 10/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Clinical and historical data underscore the ability of influenza viruses to ally with Staphylococcus aureus and predispose the host for secondary bacterial pneumonia, which is a leading cause of influenza-associated mortality. This is fundamental because no vaccine for S. aureus is available and the number of antibiotic-resistant strains is alarmingly rising. Hence, this leaves influenza vaccination the only strategy to prevent postinfluenza staphylococcal infections. In the present work, we assessed the off-target effects of a Tnms42 insect cell-expressed BEI-treated Gag-VLP preparation expressing the HA of A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (H1N1) in preventing S. aureus superinfection in mice pre-infected with a homologous or heterologous H1N1 viral challenge strain. Our results demonstrate that matched anti-hemagglutinin immunity elicited by a VLP preparation may suffice to prevent morbidity and mortality caused by lethal secondary bacterial infection. This effect was observed even when employing a single low antigen dose of 50 ng HA per animal. However, induction of anti-hemagglutinin immunity alone was not helpful in inhibiting heterologous viral replication and subsequent bacterial infection. Our results indicate the potential of the VLP vaccine approach in terms of immunogenicity but suggest that anti-HA immunity should not be considered as the sole preventive method for combatting influenza and postinfluenza bacterial infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria.
| | - Irina A Leneva
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow, Russia
| | - Andrey Egorov
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow, Russia; Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
| | - Florian Strobl
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (ACIB), Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Irina N Falynskova
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander V Poddubikov
- Department of Microbiology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nailya R Makhmudova
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow, Russia
| | - Artem Krokhin
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Oxana A Svitich
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow, Russia
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
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16
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Klausberger M, Leneva IA, Falynskova IN, Vasiliev K, Poddubikov AV, Lindner C, Kartaschova NP, Svitich OA, Stukova M, Grabherr R, Egorov A. The Potential of Influenza HA-Specific Immunity in Mitigating Lethality of Postinfluenza Pneumococcal Infections. Vaccines (Basel) 2019; 7:vaccines7040187. [PMID: 31744208 PMCID: PMC6963476 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines7040187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Influenza virus infections pre-dispose an individual to secondary pneumococcal infections, which represent a serious public health concern. Matching influenza vaccination was demonstrated helpful in preventing postinfluenza bacterial infections and associated illnesses in humans. Yet, the impact of influenza hemagglutinin (HA)-specific immunity alone in this dual-infection scenario remains elusive. In the present study, we assessed the protective effect of neutralizing and non-neutralizing anti-hemagglutinin immunity in a BALB/c influenza-pneumococcus superinfection model. Our immunogens were insect cell-expressed hemagglutinin-Gag virus-like particles that had been differentially-treated for the inactivation of bioprocess-related baculovirus impurities. We evaluated the potential of several formulations to restrain the primary infection with vaccine-matched or -mismatched influenza strains and secondary bacterial replication. In addition, we investigated the effect of anti-HA immunity on the interferon status in mouse lungs prior to bacterial challenge. In our experimental setup, neutralizing anti-HA immunity provided significant but incomplete protection from postinfluenza bacterial superinfection, despite effective control of viral replication. In view of this, it was surprising to observe a survival advantage with non-neutralizing adaptive immunity when using a heterologous viral challenge strain. Our findings suggest that both neutralizing and non-neutralizing anti-HA immunity can reduce disease and mortality caused by postinfluenza pneumococcal infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria;
- Correspondence: (M.K.); (R.G.); Tel.: +43-1-47654-79858 (M.K.); +43-1-47654-79006 (R.G.)
| | - Irina A. Leneva
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow 105064, Russia; (I.A.L.); (I.N.F.); (N.P.K.); (O.A.S.); (A.E.)
| | - Irina N. Falynskova
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow 105064, Russia; (I.A.L.); (I.N.F.); (N.P.K.); (O.A.S.); (A.E.)
| | - Kirill Vasiliev
- Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, St. Petersburg 197376, Russia; (K.V.); (M.S.)
| | - Alexander V. Poddubikov
- Department of Microbiology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow 105064, Russia;
| | - Claudia Lindner
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Nadezhda P. Kartaschova
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow 105064, Russia; (I.A.L.); (I.N.F.); (N.P.K.); (O.A.S.); (A.E.)
| | - Oxana A. Svitich
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow 105064, Russia; (I.A.L.); (I.N.F.); (N.P.K.); (O.A.S.); (A.E.)
| | - Marina Stukova
- Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, St. Petersburg 197376, Russia; (K.V.); (M.S.)
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria;
- Correspondence: (M.K.); (R.G.); Tel.: +43-1-47654-79858 (M.K.); +43-1-47654-79006 (R.G.)
| | - Andrej Egorov
- Department of Virology, I. Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera, Moscow 105064, Russia; (I.A.L.); (I.N.F.); (N.P.K.); (O.A.S.); (A.E.)
- Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, St. Petersburg 197376, Russia; (K.V.); (M.S.)
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17
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Koczka K, Ernst W, Palmberger D, Klausberger M, Nika L, Grabherr R. Development of a Dual-Vector System Utilizing MicroRNA Mimics of the Autographa californica miR-1 for an Inducible Knockdown in Insect Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E533. [PMID: 30691228 PMCID: PMC6387257 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20030533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The baculovirus-insect cell expression system is a popular tool for the manufacturing of various attractive recombinant products. Over the years, several attempts have been made to engineer and further improve this production platform by targeting host or baculoviral genes by RNA interference. In this study, an inducible knockdown system was established in insect (Sf9) cells by combining an artificial microRNA precursor mimic of baculoviral origin and the bacteriophage T7 transcription machinery. Four structurally different artificial precursor constructs were created and tested in a screening assay. The most efficient artificial microRNA construct resulted in a 69% reduction in the fluorescence intensity of the target enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP). Next, recombinant baculoviruses were created carrying either the selected artificial precursor mimic under the transcriptional control of the T7 promoter or solely the T7 RNA polymerase under a baculoviral promoter. Upon co-infecting Sf9 cells with these two viruses, the fluorescence intensity of eYFP was suppressed by ~30⁻40% on the protein level. The reduction in the target mRNA level was demonstrated with real-time quantitative PCR. The presented inducible knockdown system may serve as an important and valuable tool for basic baculovirus-insect cell research and for the improvement of production processes using this platform.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krisztina Koczka
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology - acib, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Wolfgang Ernst
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology - acib, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Dieter Palmberger
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology - acib, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology - acib, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Lisa Nika
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology - acib, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
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18
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Steppert P, Burgstaller D, Klausberger M, Kramberger P, Tover A, Berger E, Nöbauer K, Razzazi‐Fazeli E, Jungbauer A. Separation of HIV‐1 gag virus‐like particles from vesicular particles impurities by hydroxyl‐functionalized monoliths. J Sep Sci 2017; 40:979-990. [DOI: 10.1002/jssc.201600765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Revised: 11/23/2016] [Accepted: 11/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Petra Steppert
- Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Daniel Burgstaller
- Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria
| | | | | | - Eva Berger
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology Vienna Austria
| | - Katharina Nöbauer
- VetCore Facility for Research University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Vienna Austria
| | | | - Alois Jungbauer
- Department of Biotechnology University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology Vienna Austria
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Steppert P, Burgstaller D, Klausberger M, Tover A, Berger E, Jungbauer A. Quantification and characterization of virus-like particles by size-exclusion chromatography and nanoparticle tracking analysis. J Chromatogr A 2017; 1487:89-99. [PMID: 28110946 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2016.12.085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2016] [Revised: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 12/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The rapid quantification of enveloped virus-like particles (VLPs) requires orthogonal methods to obtain reliable results. Three methods-nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), size-exclusion HPLC (SE-HPLC) with UV detection, and detection with multi-angle light scattering (MALS)-for quantification of enveloped VLPs have been compared, and the lower and upper limits of detection and quantification have been evaluated. NTA directly counts the enveloped VLPs, and a particle number is obtained with a lower limit of detection (LLOD) of 1.7×107part/mL and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 3.4×108part/mL. SE-HPLC with UV detection was calibrated with standards characterized by NTA, and a LLOD of 6.9×109part/mL and LLOQ of 2.1×1010part/mL were found. SE-HPLC with MALS does not require a pre-calibrated sample because with a spherical model based on the Rayleigh-Gans-Debye approximation, the particle concentration can be directly deduced from the scattered light. A LLOD of 4.8×108part/mL and LLOQ of 2.1×109part/mL were measured and substantially lower compared to the UV method. The absolute particle concentration measured by SE-HPLC-MALS is one order of magnitude lower compared to measurement by NTA, which is explained by the wide size distribution of an enveloped VLP suspension. The model used for evaluation of light scattering data assumes monodisperse, homogeneous, and spherical particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Steppert
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniel Burgstaller
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | | | - Alois Jungbauer
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria; ACIB GmbH, Vienna, Austria.
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Steppert P, Burgstaller D, Klausberger M, Berger E, Aguilar PP, Schneider TA, Kramberger P, Tover A, Nöbauer K, Razzazi-Fazeli E, Jungbauer A. Purification of HIV-1 gag virus-like particles and separation of other extracellular particles. J Chromatogr A 2016; 1455:93-101. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2016.05.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2015] [Revised: 05/04/2016] [Accepted: 05/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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Klausberger M, Tscheliessnig R, Neff S, Nachbagauer R, Wohlbold TJ, Wilde M, Palmberger D, Krammer F, Jungbauer A, Grabherr R. Globular Head-Displayed Conserved Influenza H1 Hemagglutinin Stalk Epitopes Confer Protection against Heterologous H1N1 Virus. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0153579. [PMID: 27088239 PMCID: PMC4835069 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2015] [Accepted: 03/31/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Significant genetic variability in the head region of the influenza A hemagglutinin, the main target of current vaccines, makes it challenging to develop a long-lived seasonal influenza prophylaxis. Vaccines based on the conserved hemagglutinin stalk domain might provide broader cross-reactive immunity. However, this region of the hemagglutinin is immunosubdominant to the head region. Peptide-based vaccines have gained much interest as they allow the immune system to focus on relevant but less immunogenic epitopes. We developed a novel influenza A hemagglutinin-based display platform for H1 hemagglutinin stalk peptides that we identified in an epitope mapping assay using human immune sera and synthetic HA peptides. Flow cytometry and competition assays suggest that the identified stalk sequences do not recapitulate the epitopes of already described broadly neutralizing stalk antibodies. Vaccine constructs displaying 25-mer stalk sequences provided up to 75% protection from lethal heterologous virus challenge in BALB/c mice and induced antibody responses against the H1 hemagglutinin. The developed platform based on a vaccine antigen has the potential to be either used as stand-alone or as prime-vaccine in combination with conventional seasonal or pandemic vaccines for the amplification of stalk-based cross-reactive immunity in humans or as platform to evaluate the relevance of viral peptides/epitopes for protection against influenza virus infection.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology
- Antibodies, Viral/immunology
- Epitopes/immunology
- Female
- Flow Cytometry
- Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus/chemistry
- Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus/genetics
- Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus/immunology
- Humans
- Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype/immunology
- Influenza Vaccines/administration & dosage
- Influenza, Human/immunology
- Influenza, Human/prevention & control
- Influenza, Human/virology
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Orthomyxoviridae Infections/immunology
- Orthomyxoviridae Infections/prevention & control
- Orthomyxoviridae Infections/virology
- Peptide Fragments/genetics
- Peptide Fragments/immunology
- Protein Conformation
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Rupert Tscheliessnig
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Silke Neff
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Raffael Nachbagauer
- Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Teddy John Wohlbold
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Monika Wilde
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dieter Palmberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Krammer
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Alois Jungbauer
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
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Wilde M, Klausberger M, Palmberger D, Ernst W, Grabherr R. Tnao38, high five and Sf9--evaluation of host-virus interactions in three different insect cell lines: baculovirus production and recombinant protein expression. Biotechnol Lett 2013; 36:743-9. [PMID: 24375231 PMCID: PMC3955137 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-013-1429-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2013] [Accepted: 12/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF WORK A comparative analysis of new and established insect cell lines, in regard to process relevant parameters, provide data that can be exploited for designing more robust and effective protein production processes. The baculovirus-insect cell expression system has been efficiently used for the production of heterologous proteins. Three different insect cell lines Tnao38, High Five and Sf9 were compared in terms of virus susceptibility, baculovirus production and product yield of an intra-cellularly (YFP) and extra-cellularly (influenza A virus hemagglutinin)-expressed recombinant protein. The Tnao38 and High Five cell lines exhibited higher (tenfold) susceptibility to baculovirus infection than Sf9 cells, whereas Sf9 cells showed a higher (100-fold) capacity for production of infectious virus particles. Analysis of recombinant protein expression revealed considerably higher product yields in Tnao38 and High Five cells as compared to Sf9 cells, for both model proteins. Overall, the two Trichoplusia ni-derived cell lines, High Five and Tnao38, were significantly more efficient in terms of secreting proteins such as the glycoprotein hemagglutinin of influenza A virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Wilde
- Vienna Institute of BioTechnology (VIBT), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Muthgasse 11, 1190, Vienna, Austria,
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Klausberger M, Wilde M, Palmberger D, Hai R, Albrecht RA, Margine I, Hirsh A, García-Sastre A, Grabherr R, Krammer F. One-shot vaccination with an insect cell-derived low-dose influenza A H7 virus-like particle preparation protects mice against H7N9 challenge. Vaccine 2013; 32:355-62. [PMID: 24262313 PMCID: PMC3906608 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.11.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2013] [Revised: 11/04/2013] [Accepted: 11/07/2013] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Human infections with a novel influenza A H7N9 subtype virus were reported in China recently. The virus caused severe disease with high mortality rates and it raised concerns over its pandemic potential. Here, we assessed in the mouse model protective efficacy of single immunisations with low vaccine doses of insect cell-derived H7 virus-like particles, consisting of hemagglutinin and matrix protein. Vaccinated mice were fully protected and survived a stringent lethal challenge (100 mLD50) with H7N9, even after a single, unadjuvanted, low vaccine dose (0.03 μg). Serum analysis revealed broad reactivity and hemagglutination inhibition activity across a panel of divergent H7 strains. Moreover, we detected significant levels of cross-reactivity to related group 2 hemagglutinins. These data demonstrate that virus-like particle vaccines have the potential to induce broadly protective immunity against the novel H7N9 virus and a variety of other H7 strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Klausberger
- Vienna Institute of BioTechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Monika Wilde
- Vienna Institute of BioTechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dieter Palmberger
- Vienna Institute of BioTechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Rong Hai
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Randy A Albrecht
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Irina Margine
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ariana Hirsh
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Adolfo García-Sastre
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Reingard Grabherr
- Vienna Institute of BioTechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Krammer
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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24
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Gerster P, Kopecky EM, Hammerschmidt N, Klausberger M, Krammer F, Grabherr R, Mersich C, Urbas L, Kramberger P, Paril T, Schreiner M, Nöbauer K, Razzazi-Fazeli E, Jungbauer A. Purification of infective baculoviruses by monoliths. J Chromatogr A 2013; 1290:36-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2013.03.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2013] [Revised: 03/13/2013] [Accepted: 03/15/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Abstract
The baculovirus/insect cell system has proven to be a powerful tool for the expression of eukaryotic proteins. Therapeutics, especially in the field of vaccinology, are often composed of several different protein subunits. Conventional baculoviral expression schemes largely lack efficient strategies for simultaneous multi-gene expression. The MultiBac technology which is based on an engineered genome of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus in combination with specially designed transfer vectors is an elegant way for flexible generation of multi-subunit proteins in insect cells. Yet, the glycosylation pattern of insect cell-derived products is not favorable for many applications. Therefore, a modified version of MultiBac, SweetBac, was generated allowing for a flexible glycosylation of target proteins in insect cells. Beyond the SweetBac technology MultiBac can further be designed for bridging the gap between cell engineering and transient modulation of host genes for improved and product tailored expression of recombinant proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dieter Palmberger
- Vienna Institute of BioTechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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