Use of a Microfluidic Platform To Evaluate and Predict Reagent Performance in Microtiter Plate-Based Immunoassays

Selection and characterization of antibodies are critically important in establishing robust immunoassays to support the development efforts of vaccines. Plate-based ELISA can be time- and resource-intensive to select initial antibody clones or characterize downstream resupply lots while providing limited information regarding the binding characteristics of the antibodies beyond concentration-response curves. This work applied the microfluidic Gyrolab to holistically evaluate immunoassay reagents through analyses of concentration-response curves as well as antibody-antigen interactions visualized in column images and affinity estimates. We exploited the automation capability of the Gyrolab to reduce the resources (time, reagents, and scientists) required for screening and evaluating antibody reagents. Using a flexible semi-universal assay format, we compared antibody clones for selection and resupply lots of sera and monoclonal antibodies in a simple "plug-and-play" manner without antibody modifications. We found that the performance of antibodies in the Gyrolab correlated well with the trends observed in traditional ELISAs, while the Gyrolab provided additional advantages over plate-based assays such as column images of antibody binding and affinity measurements.

Development of an Aptamer-Based Electrochemical Microfluidic Device for Viral Vaccine Quantitation

Global deployment of vaccines poses significant challenges in the distribution and use of the accompanying immunoassays, one of the standard methods for quality control of vaccines, particularly when establishing assays in countries worldwide to support testing/release upon importation. This work describes our effort toward developing an integrated, portable device to carry out affinity assays for viral particles quantification in viral vaccines by incorporating (i) aptamers, (ii) microfluidic devices, and (iii) electrochemical detection. We generated and characterized more than eight aptamers against multiple membrane proteins of cytomegalovirus (CMV), which we used as a model system and designed and fabricated electrochemical microfluidic devices to measure CMV concentrations in a candidate vaccine under development. The aptamer-based assays provided a half maximal effective concentration, EC₅₀, of 12 U/mL, comparable to that of an ELISA using a pair of antibodies (EC₅₀ 60 U/mL). The device measured relative CMV concentrations accurately (within ±10% bias) and precisely (11%, percent relative standard deviation). This work represents the critical first steps toward developing simple, affordable, and robust affinity assays for global deployment without the need for sensitive equipment and extensive analyst training.

RNA-Puzzles Round III: 3D RNA structure prediction of five riboswitches and one ribozyme

RNA-Puzzles is a collective experiment in blind 3D RNA structure prediction. We report here a third round of RNA-Puzzles. Five puzzles, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, all structures of riboswitch aptamers and puzzle 7, a ribozyme structure, are included in this round of the experiment. The riboswitch structures include biological binding sites for small molecules (S-adenosyl methionine, cyclic diadenosine monophosphate, 5-amino 4-imidazole carboxamide riboside 5'-triphosphate, glutamine) and proteins (YbxF), and one set describes large conformational changes between ligand-free and ligand-bound states. The Varkud satellite ribozyme is the most recently solved structure of a known large ribozyme. All puzzles have established biological functions and require structural understanding to appreciate their molecular mechanisms. Through the use of fast-track experimental data, including multidimensional chemical mapping, and accurate prediction of RNA secondary structure, a large portion of the contacts in 3D have been predicted correctly leading to similar topologies for the top ranking predictions. Template-based and homology-derived predictions could predict structures to particularly high accuracies. However, achieving biological insights from de novo prediction of RNA 3D structures still depends on the size and complexity of the RNA. Blind computational predictions of RNA structures already appear to provide useful structural information in many cases. Similar to the previous RNA-Puzzles Round II experiment, the prediction of non-Watson-Crick interactions and the observed high atomic clash scores reveal a notable need for an algorithm of improvement. All prediction models and assessment results are available at http://ahsoka.u-strasbg.fr/rnapuzzles/.

Development and Characterization of an HPV Type-16 Specific Modified DNA Aptamer for the Improvement of Potency Assays

Measuring vaccine potency is critical for vaccine release and is often accomplished using antibody-based ELISAs. Antibodies can be associated with significant drawbacks that are often overlooked including lot-to-lot variability, problems with cell-line maintenance, limited stability, high cost, and long discovery lead times. Here, we address many of these issues through the development of an aptamer, known as a slow off-rate modified DNA aptamer (SOMAmer), which targets a vaccine antigen in the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil. The aptamer, termed HPV-07, was selected to bind the Type 16 virus-like-particle (VLP) formed by the self-assembling capsid protein L1. It is capable of binding with high sensitivity (EC₅₀ of 0.1 to 0.4 μg/mL depending on assay format) while strongly discriminating against other VLP types. The aptamer competes for binding with the neutralizing antibody H16.V5, indicating at least partial recognition of a neutralizing and clinically relevant epitope. This makes it a useful reagent for measuring both potency and stability. When used in an ELISA format, the aptamer displays both high precision (intermediate precision of 6.3%) and a large linear range spanning from 25% to 200% of a typical formulation. To further exploit the advantages of aptamers, a simplified mix and read assay was also developed. This assay format offers significant time and resource reductions compared to a traditional ELISA. These results show aptamers are suitable reagents for biological potency assays, and we expect that their implementation could improve upon current assay formats.

Metal Ion-Mediated Nucleobase Recognition by the ZTP Riboswitch

The ZTP riboswitch is a widespread family of regulatory RNAs that upregulate de novo purine synthesis in response to increased intracellular levels of ZTP or ZMP. As an important intermediate in purine biosynthesis, ZMP also serves as a proxy for the concentration of N10-formyl-tetrahydrofolate, a key component of one-carbon metabolism. Here, we report the structure of the ZTP riboswitch bound to ZMP at a resolution of 1.80 Å. The RNA contains two subdomains brought together through a long-range pseudoknot further stabilized through helix-helix packing. ZMP is bound at the subdomain interface of the RNA through a set of interactions with the base, ribose sugar, and phosphate moieties of the ligand. Unique to nucleobase recognition by RNAs, the Z base is inner-sphere coordinated to a magnesium cation bound by two backbone phosphates. This interaction, along with steric hindrance by the backbone, imparts specificity over chemically similar compounds such as ATP/AMP.

A disconnect between high-affinity binding and efficient regulation by antifolates and purines in the tetrahydrofolate riboswitch

The tetrahydrofolate (THF) riboswitch regulates folate transport and metabolism in a number of Firmicutes by cooperatively binding two molecules of THF. To further understand this riboswitch's specificity for THF, binding and regulatory activity of a series of THF analogs and antifolates were examined. Our data reveal that although binding is dominated by the RNA's interactions with the pterin moiety, the para-aminobenzoic acid (pABA) moiety plays a significant role in transcriptional regulation. Further, we find that adenine and several other analogs bind with high affinity by an alternative binding mechanism. Despite a similar affinity to THF, adenine is a poor regulator of transcriptional attenuation. These results demonstrate that binding alone does not determine a compound's effectiveness in regulating the activity of the riboswitch-a complication in current efforts to develop antimicrobials that target these RNAs.

Engineering modular 'ON' RNA switches using biological components

Riboswitches are cis-acting regulatory elements broadly distributed in bacterial mRNAs that control a wide range of critical metabolic activities. Expression is governed by two distinct domains within the mRNA leader: a sensory 'aptamer domain' and a regulatory 'expression platform'. Riboswitches have also received considerable attention as important tools in synthetic biology because of their conceptually simple structure and the ability to obtain aptamers that bind almost any conceivable small molecule using in vitro selection (referred to as SELEX). In the design of artificial riboswitches, a significant hurdle has been to couple the two domains enabling their efficient communication. We previously demonstrated that biological transcriptional 'OFF' expression platforms are easily coupled to diverse aptamers, both biological and SELEX-derived, using simple design rules. Here, we present two modular transcriptional 'ON' riboswitch expression platforms that are also capable of hosting foreign aptamers. We demonstrate that these biological parts can be used to facilely generate artificial chimeric riboswitches capable of robustly regulating transcription both in vitro and in vivo. We expect that these modular expression platforms will be of great utility for various synthetic biological applications that use RNA-based biosensors.

Nucleotides adjacent to the ligand-binding pocket are linked to activity tuning in the purine riboswitch

Direct sensing of intracellular metabolite concentrations by riboswitch RNAs provides an economical and rapid means to maintain metabolic homeostasis. Since many organisms employ the same class of riboswitch to control different genes or transcription units, it is likely that functional variation exists in riboswitches such that activity is tuned to meet cellular needs. Using a bioinformatic approach, we have identified a region of the purine riboswitch aptamer domain that displays conservation patterns linked to riboswitch activity. Aptamer domain compositions within this region can be divided into nine classes that display a spectrum of activities. Naturally occurring compositions in this region favor rapid association rate constants and slow dissociation rate constants for ligand binding. Using X-ray crystallography and chemical probing, we demonstrate that both the free and bound states are influenced by the composition of this region and that modest sequence alterations have a dramatic impact on activity. The introduction of non-natural compositions result in the inability to regulate gene expression in vivo, suggesting that aptamer domain activity is highly plastic and thus readily tunable to meet cellular needs.

The structure of a tetrahydrofolate-sensing riboswitch reveals two ligand binding sites in a single aptamer

Transport and biosynthesis of folate and its derivatives are frequently controlled by the tetrahydrofolate (THF) riboswitch in Firmicutes. We have solved the crystal structure of the THF riboswitch aptamer in complex with folinic acid, a THF analog. Uniquely, this structure reveals two molecules of folinic acid binding to a single structured domain. These two sites interact with ligand in a similar fashion, primarily through recognition of the reduced pterin moiety. 7-deazaguanine, a soluble analog of guanine, binds the riboswitch with nearly the same affinity as its natural effector. However, 7-deazaguanine effects transcriptional termination to a substantially lesser degree than folinic acid, suggesting that the cellular guanine pool does not act upon the THF riboswitch. Under physiological conditions the ligands display strong cooperative binding, with one of the two sites playing a greater role in eliciting the regulatory response, which suggests that the second site may play another functional role.