Patent Application: US-201514704651-A

Abstract:
described are multimeric proteinaceous molecules comprising at least two members that bind each other via a region of noncovalent interaction , wherein a first of the members comprises a conditionally reactive group that , when activated , cleaves a covalent bond within the first member . cleavage of the covalent bond results in a reduction in the binding strength with which the at least two members bind to each other via the region of noncovalent interaction . the reduction in the binding strength can result in the separation of the members under mild conditions .

Description:
mhc class i complexes ( mhc multimers ) were prepared as previously described with minor modifications . ( 1 ) hla - a2 . 1 - peptide multimers were generated with the following three peptides : influenza - a matrix 58 - 66 ( sequence gilgfvftl ( seq id no : 2 )) and the two influenza a matrix 58 - 66 variants gil * fvftl ( seq id no : 3 and gilgfvf * l ( seq id no : 4 ) where * is 3 - amino - 3 -( 2 - nitrophenyl ) propionic acid . mhc class i - peptide multimers were subsequently purified , biotinylated by bira , purified and stored at − 20 ° c . in 16 % glycerol . mhc multimers or , where indicated , tetrameric complexes of mhc multimers containing the wild - type influenza a matrix 58 - 66 epitope , or the g4 * or t8 * variants of this epitope , were exposed for one huor to uv ( camag , 366 nm ) in 20 mm tris - hcl , ph 7 . 0 / 150 mm nacl / 0 . 5 mm dithiothreitol ( dtt ) in the presence or absence of mhc class i binding peptides . subsequently , the complex was exposed to 37 ° c . for 15 - 45 minutes to induce dissociation of peptide - free mhc class i complexes . ( 2 ) samples were then analyzed by gel filtration chromatography to determine mhc dissociation , or were incubated with phycoerythrin - labeled streptavidin to generate tetrameric complexes of mhc multimers ( mhc tetramers ). mhc tetramers were purified by gel filtration chromatography and stored at − 20 ° c . in 16 % glycerol until further use . thawed peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( pbmc ) samples and ctl clones were incubated for five minutes with pe - labeled mhc tetramers at 37 ° c ., fitc - labeled anti - cd8 antibody was added and incubation was continued for 15 minutes at room temperature . prior to facs analysis , cells were stained with propidium iodide to be able to gate out dead cells . samples were analyzed by flow cytometry using a facscalibur and cellquest software ( becton dickinson ). forward and side scatter parameters were used to define lymphocyte populations . to test the feasibility of generating mhc multimers of which the bound peptide could be liberated at will , we generated hla - a2 . 1 multimers with either the wild - type influenza a matrix 58 - 66 epitope , or two variants of this epitope in which either amino acid 4 or amino acid 8 was replaced by the uv - sensitive beta - amino acid 3 ( fig1 ). mhc class i multimer formation was efficient for all three peptides and the multimers formed were purified by gel filtration chromatography . to assess whether the resulting peptide - mhc multimers could be induced to dissociate , the three types of multimers were exposed to uv , incubated at 37 ° c . to induce dissociation of remaining peptide - free mhc class i molecules and then analyzed by gel filtration chromatography . whereas , the peptide - mhc multimer containing the parental influenza a epitope is fully insensitive to uv exposure ( fig2 a top panel ), exposure of mhc class i multimers containing either the g4 * ( data not shown ) or the t8 * epitope ( fig2 a bottom panel ) leads to a substantial reduction in the amount of mhc complex recovered . furthermore , the remaining material most likely consists , at least in part , of free mhc class i heavy chains rather than peptide - mhc class i multimers , as suggested by the fact that the elution time of remaining material is slightly greater than that of the starting material . to assess whether the addition of mhc class i binding ligands could protect the dissociation of uv - sensitive mhc complexes upon uv exposure , the same reactions were performed either in the presence of one of two different hla - a2 . 1 - binding peptides ( hy 311 - 319 ; mart i 26 - 35 ( a2l mutant ), or the hla - a3 - binding peptide gp100 ( 614 - 622 ). addition of either of the three peptides to mhc class i molecules containing the parental influenza a epitope does not affect the recovery of the mhc class i multimer , regardless of whether the multimer is exposed to uv , consistent with the notion that this parental mhc multimer is stable under both conditions ( data not shown ). importantly , while addition of the hla - a3 - binding peptide that is not expected to interact with hla - a2 . 1 does not lead to a substantial increase in the recovery of the uv - sensitive g4 * ( not shown ) or t8 * peptide - containing ( fig2 b ) mhc multimer , the addition of either hla - a2 . 1 - binding peptide leads to a highly increased recovery ( fig2 b ). these data are consistent with the notion that the peptide - free mhc molecules that are generated upon exposure of the g4 *- or t8 *- containing mhc multimer to uv can efficiently bind known hla - a2 . 1 ligands but not a control peptide . to directly establish whether the uv - sensitive mhc class i multimers that had been protected by addition of hla - a2 . 1 ligands had bound these ligands , mhc multimers generated in the presence of either the mart i 26 - 35 ( a2l mutant ), influenza a matrix 58 - 66 , hy ( smcy ) 311 - 319 , or cmv pp65 495 - 503 peptide were purified and converted to tetrameric complexes of mhc multimers . the resulting mhc tetramers were subsequently used to stain either a mart i - specific t - cell clone ( fig3 ) or peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a donor with both cmv pp65 495 - 503 and influenza a matrix 58 - 66 - specific cd8 + t - cells ( fig4 ). in all cases tested , mhc tetramers generated following peptide exchange bind antigen - specific t - cells with equal sensitivity and specificity as compared to conventional mhc tetramers . these experiments provide formal proof that mhc multimers generated by peptide exchange are structurally indistinguishable from conventional peptide - mhc multimers and can be used to probe pmhc - tcr interactions , in this case following oligomerization . to establish whether peptide exchange could also be performed on uv - sensitive tetrameric complexes of mhc class i multimers , t8 *- containing mhc multimers were converted to tetrameric complexes and subsequently exposed to uv in the presence of either the cmv pp65 495 - 503 , mart i 26 - 35 ( a2l mutant ), or hy ( smcy ) 311 - 319 peptide . the resulting tetrameric mhc complexes were subsequently used without further purification to stain peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a cmv - positive donor . remarkably , mhc tetramers generated by uv exposure of t8 *- containing mhc tetramers in the presence of the cmv pp65 495 - 503 epitope detect cmv - specific t - cells at an equal frequency and with similar intensity as conventional cmv pp65 495 - 503 - specific mhc tetramers ( fig5 ). the specificity of this binding is underscored by the fact that mhc tetramers prepared in parallel reactions with either the mart i 26 - 35 ( a2l mutant ), or hy ( smcy ) 311 - 319 peptide do not show measurable binding to cd8 + lymphocytes of this donor . uv exchange technology was used to generate mhc molecules that are receptive to binding of ligands that carry a label . mhc exchange reactions were carried out in the presence of a peptide ligand that had been labeled with a tetramethylrhodamine dye . as shown in fig6 , subsequent analysis of these reactions reveals that this technology can be used to allow binding of a labeled ligand , in this case a fluorescent peptide . consequently , mhc exchange technology can also be used to screen for compounds ( e . g ., peptides and other small molecules ) that can enhance or interfere with such binding . the principle of such a screen , here exemplified using fluorescence anisotropy , is outlined in fig7 . modification of known mhc - binding peptides allows the generation of ligands that are sensitive to chemical cleavage , variants of the influenza a matrix 58 - 66 peptide were produced in which a diol - containing building block is incorporated . an example of such a modified ligand is given in fig8 a . exposure of such modified ligands to periodate leads to cleavage of these ligands , as exemplified in fig9 . the current data describe a novel approach for the generation of mhc complexes that are occupied with a peptide of choice . the main limitation in the production of such complexes has been the instability of peptide - free mhc molecules . consequently , the technology that is now widely accepted for the generation of recombinant mhc molecules is the separate production of a batch of ligand - occupied mhc molecules for each single ligand . this results in a very time - consuming and costly production process , yielding small batches specific for only one application . here , we demonstrate that mhc molecules occupied by a ligand of choice can be generated by the selective release of a previously bound ligand , by exposure to conditions that do not directly affect the stability of the mhc complex itself . in the current set of experiments , dissociation of mhc - bound ligand was achieved through the use of a light - sensitive peptide variant . however , it is apparent that such dissociation may equally well be achieved through the use of peptide variants that are sensitive to other defined conditions . in particular , the development of peptide - mhc complexes using peptide variants that are sensitive to chemical cleavage appear useful in this respect . in addition , dissociation may also be achieved without peptide cleavage , by inducing a reduced affinity of the bound ligand for mhc through chemical - or light - induced modification . furthermore , while the approach for ligand exchange has here been developed for mhc class i molecules , this approach should be equally useful to prepare ligand - occupied mhc class ii molecules or non - classical mhc molecules ( exemplified by cd1 and qa1 molecules ). recombinant mhc molecules generated through chemical - or light - induced peptide release will be of substantial use to generate the vast collections of mhc complexes that are currently used in clinical and preclinical research . in addition , the ability to generate mhc ligands occupied by a desired ligand through simple exchange should greatly facilitate efforts to produce gmp grade mhc molecules that can be used for selective antigen - specific t - cell depletion or enrichment . finally , the ability to perform peptide exchange on preformed mhc complexes forms a viable strategy to generate microarrays of mhc complexes occupied with large collections of peptide antigens . such mhc microarrays may form useful tools for the high throughput analysis of the antigen - specific t - cell repertoire . 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