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Yanakieva D, Vollmer L, Evers A, Siegmund V, Arras P, Pekar L, Doerner A, Valldorf B, Kolmar H, Zielonka S, Krah S. Cattle-derived knob paratopes grafted onto peripheral loops of the IgG1 Fc region enable the generation of a novel symmetric bispecific antibody format. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1238313. [PMID: 37942319 PMCID: PMC10628450 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1238313] [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] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In this work we present a novel symmetric bispecific antibody format based on engraftments of cattle-derived knob paratopes onto peripheral loops of the IgG1 Fc region. For this, knob architectures obtained from bovine ultralong CDR-H3 antibodies were inserted into the AB loop or EF loop of the CH3 domain, enabling the introduction of an artificial binding specificity into an IgG molecule. We demonstrate that inserted knob domains largely retain their binding affinities, resulting into bispecific antibody derivatives versatile for effector cell redirection. Essentially, generated bispecifics demonstrated adequate biophysical properties and were not compromised in their Fc mediated functionalities such as FcRn or FcγRIIIa binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Desislava Yanakieva
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Lena Vollmer
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Andreas Evers
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Vanessa Siegmund
- Early Protein Supply and Characterization, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Paul Arras
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Lukas Pekar
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Achim Doerner
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | - Harald Kolmar
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Stefan Zielonka
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Simon Krah
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
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Huang R, Warner Jenkins G, Kim Y, Stanfield RL, Singh A, Martinez-Yamout M, Kroon GJ, Torres JL, Jackson AM, Kelley A, Shaabani N, Zeng B, Bacica M, Chen W, Warner C, Radoicic J, Joh J, Dinali Perera K, Sang H, Kim T, Yao J, Zhao F, Sok D, Burton DR, Allen J, Harriman W, Mwangi W, Chung D, Teijaro JR, Ward AB, Dyson HJ, Wright PE, Wilson IA, Chang KO, McGregor D, Smider VV. The smallest functional antibody fragment: Ultralong CDR H3 antibody knob regions potently neutralize SARS-CoV-2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2303455120. [PMID: 37722054 PMCID: PMC10523490 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303455120] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Cows produce antibodies with a disulfide-bonded antigen-binding domain embedded within ultralong heavy chain third complementarity determining regions. This "knob" domain is analogous to natural cysteine-rich peptides such as knottins in that it is small and stable but can accommodate diverse loops and disulfide bonding patterns. We immunized cattle with SARS-CoV-2 spike and found ultralong CDR H3 antibodies that could neutralize several viral variants at picomolar IC50 potencies in vitro and could protect from disease in vivo. The independent CDR H3 peptide knobs were expressed and maintained the properties of the parent antibodies. The knob interaction with SARS-CoV-2 spike was revealed by electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry and established ultralong CDR H3-derived knobs as the smallest known recombinant independent antigen-binding fragment. Unlike other vertebrate antibody fragments, these knobs are not reliant on the immunoglobulin domain and have potential as a new class of therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruiqi Huang
- Applied Biomedical Science Institute, San Diego, CA92127
| | | | - Yunjeong Kim
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS66506
| | - Robyn L. Stanfield
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Amrinder Singh
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Maria Martinez-Yamout
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Gerard J. Kroon
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Jonathan L. Torres
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Abigail M. Jackson
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Abigail Kelley
- Applied Biomedical Science Institute, San Diego, CA92127
| | - Namir Shaabani
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | | | | | - Wen Chen
- Ligand Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA92121
| | | | | | - Joongho Joh
- School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY40202
| | - Krishani Dinali Perera
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS66506
| | - Huldah Sang
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS66506
| | - Tae Kim
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS66506
| | - Jianxiu Yao
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS66506
| | - Fangzhu Zhao
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Devin Sok
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Dennis R. Burton
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Jeff Allen
- Ligand Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA92121
| | | | - Waithaka Mwangi
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS66506
| | - Donghoon Chung
- School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY40202
| | - John R. Teijaro
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Andrew B. Ward
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - H. Jane Dyson
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Peter E. Wright
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
- The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Ian A. Wilson
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
- The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Kyeong-Ok Chang
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS66506
| | | | - Vaughn V. Smider
- Applied Biomedical Science Institute, San Diego, CA92127
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA92037
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Pekar L, Klewinghaus D, Arras P, Carrara SC, Harwardt J, Krah S, Yanakieva D, Toleikis L, Smider VV, Kolmar H, Zielonka S. Milking the Cow: Cattle-Derived Chimeric Ultralong CDR-H3 Antibodies and Their Engineered CDR-H3-Only Knobbody Counterparts Targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Elicit Potent NK Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity. Front Immunol 2021; 12:742418. [PMID: 34759924 PMCID: PMC8573386 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.742418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [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: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
In this work, we have generated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-specific cattle-derived ultralong CDR-H3 antibodies by combining cattle immunization with yeast surface display. After immunization, ultralong CDR-H3 regions were specifically amplified and grafted onto an IGHV1-7 scaffold by homologous recombination to facilitate Fab display. Antigen-specific clones were readily obtained by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and reformatted as chimeric antibodies. Binning experiments revealed epitope targeting of domains I, II, and IV of EGFR with none of the generated binders competing with Cetuximab, Matuzumab, or EGF for binding to EGFR. Cattle-derived chimeric antibodies were potent in inducing antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) against EGFR-overexpressing tumor cells with potencies (EC50 killing) in the picomolar range. Moreover, most of the antibodies were able to significantly inhibit EGFR-mediated downstream signaling. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a minor fraction of CDR-H3 knobs derived from generated antibodies was capable of independently functioning as a paratope facilitating EGFR binding when grafted onto the Fc part of human IgG1. Besides slightly to moderately diminished capacities, these engineered Knobbodies largely retained main properties of their parental antibodies such as cellular binding and triggering of ADCC. Hence, Knobbodies might emerge as promising tools for biotechnological applications upon further optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Pekar
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Daniel Klewinghaus
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Paul Arras
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Stefania C. Carrara
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Julia Harwardt
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Simon Krah
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Desislava Yanakieva
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Lars Toleikis
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Vaughn V. Smider
- The Applied Biomedical Science Institute, San Diego, CA, United States
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Harald Kolmar
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Stefan Zielonka
- Protein Engineering and Antibody Technologies, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
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