EP1179178A1 - Peptides lineaires actifs au plan immunobiologique: methode amelioree d'identification et de localisation - Google Patents

Peptides lineaires actifs au plan immunobiologique: methode amelioree d'identification et de localisation

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Publication number
EP1179178A1
EP1179178A1 EP00928224A EP00928224A EP1179178A1 EP 1179178 A1 EP1179178 A1 EP 1179178A1 EP 00928224 A EP00928224 A EP 00928224A EP 00928224 A EP00928224 A EP 00928224A EP 1179178 A1 EP1179178 A1 EP 1179178A1
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European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
epitope
amino acid
epitopes
potential
acid residues
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EP00928224A
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German (de)
English (en)
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William J. Kokolus
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Individual
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Individual
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Priority claimed from US09/552,461 external-priority patent/US6780598B1/en
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Publication of EP1179178A1 publication Critical patent/EP1179178A1/fr
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/68—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving proteins, peptides or amino acids
    • G01N33/6878—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving proteins, peptides or amino acids in eptitope analysis
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to locating protein epitopes and more particularly to novel methods for identifying, determining the location, and the optimal length of immunobiologically active amino acid sequences.
  • Epitopes or antigenic determinants of a protein antigen represent the sites that are recognized as binding sites by certain immune components such as antibodies or immunocompetent cells. While epitopes are defined only in a functional sense i.e. by their ability to bind to antibodies or immunocompetent cells , it is usually accepted that there is a structural basis for their immunological reactivity.
  • Epitopes are classified as either being continuous and discontinuous (Atassi and
  • discontinuous epitopes are composed of sequences of amino acids throughout an antigen and rely on the tertiary structure or folding of the protein to bring the sequences together and form the epitope.
  • continuous epitopes are linear peptide fragments of the antigen that are able to bind to antibodies raised against the intact antigen.
  • Hydrophilicity has been used as the basis for determining protein epitopes by analyzing an amino acid sequence in order to find the point of greatest local hydrophilicity as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,554, 101. Hopp and Woods (See Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 78, No. 6, pp. 3824-3828, Jun. 1981) have shown that by assigning each amino acid a relative hydrophilicity numerical value and then averaging local hydrophilicity so that the location of the highest local average hydrophilicity values represent the locations of the continuous epitopes. However, this method does not provide any information as to the optimal length of the continuous epitope.
  • amino acid sequence of a protein as measured by the Kyte-Doolittle (Kyte and Doolittle, 1982, J. Mol. Biol. vol. 72, p. 105) scale, is commonly used to evaluate the hydrophilic and hydrophobic tendencies of polypeptide chains by using a hydropathy scale.
  • Each amino acid in the polypeptide chain is assigned a value reflecting its relative hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity which are averaged across a moving section of the sequence.
  • This method offers a graphic visualization of the hydropathic character of the amino acid chain. It is theorized that by using the hydropathic character of the sequence, interior sequence regions which are usually composed of hydrophobic amino acids can be distinguished from hydrophilic exterior sequence regions. This information offers the ability to evaluate the possible secondary structure. However this model, does not predict the optimal length of the epitope or indicate if the effective size of epitopes is unique for each protein molecule.
  • Window as used herein means the number of amino acid residues in a curve segment.
  • Lagging as used herein means to move across the entire amino acid residues sequence increasing by one (1) in each step.
  • Period number as used herein means the number of amino acids assigned as the period between -180° to + 180° in the negative cosine function plot.
  • Fiber-Correlation Value means a numerical value which is indicative of the fit between the hydropathy plot curve and a negative cosine function wherein the value may be positive or negative depending on the fit. The better the fit the more positive the value.
  • Epipe as used herein means the portion of an antigen that binds specifically with the binding site of an antibody or a receptor on a lymphocyte.
  • “Potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope” as used herein means an epitope wherein the curve segment of the hydrophilicity plot correlates with the negative cosine function giving a fit- correlation value.
  • “Potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope set” as used herein means a set of epitopes having a positive fit-correlation value for a specific period assigned to the negative cosine curve.
  • “Ho-Hi-Ho theoretical epitopes” as used herein means the epitopes in the potential epitope set that have ranking values that exhibit the most oscillating behavior about an equilibrium position and either converge towards or diverge away from this equilibrium position and are deemed the most immunobiologically-active linear peptides.
  • Number Range as used herein means the numerated amino acid sequence number region of the amino acid sequence having a length equal to a period number, i.e. if the period is 10, then the sequence number ranges could be 1-10, 2-11, 3-12 and so on until (n-(m- ⁇ )) where n is equal to the number of amino acid residues in the entire polypeptide and Iff is the period number.
  • Immune responses arise as a result of exposure to foreign stimuli.
  • the compound that evokes the response is referred to as antigen or as immunogen.
  • An immunogen is any agent capable of inducing an immune response.
  • an antigen is any agent capable of binding specifically to components of the immune response, such as lymphocytes and antibodies.
  • Compounds may have one or more epitopes capable of reacting with immune components.
  • a primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for determining immunobiologically-active linear peptide epitopes and their optimal length.
  • Another object of the present invention is to identify immunobiologically-active linear peptide epitopes without the need for time consuming and expensive testing regimes to determine immunogenic activity, such as in vivo animal testing and/or in vitro assay testing.
  • a further object of this invention is to determine the immunopotency of an epitope and provide a ranking system delineating between dominant and subdominant epitopes.
  • a still further object is to provide monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies highly specific for the peptide epitopes of the present invention which may be utilized in diagnostic testing procedures to determine the presence of an antigen is serum.
  • Yet another object of the present invention is to provide for synthetic peptides from a protein having the specific amino acid sequence and length determined by the methods herein that may be used in an immunization regime wherein the synthetic peptides are recognized by the body's immune system and induce production of immune components such as antibodies and/or immunocompetent cells, i.e. B and T cells that will react with the peptide or the entire protein.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide a method to determine the optimal length of a peptide that binds to antibodies and/or immunocompetent cells.
  • Still another object is to provide for nucleic acid molecules encoding for the immunobiologically-active linear peptide epitopes having an optimal length found by the methods disclosed herein.
  • the foregoing objects are achieved by fitting a hydrophilicity and/or hydrophobicity plot generated for the amino acid linear sequence of a polypeptide to a mathematically generated continuous curve which has at least a maximum positive value thereby generating potential epitope sets which include ranked potential epitopes which contain a specific number of amino acid residues.
  • These sets of ranked potential epitopes may be used to determine immunobiologically-active linear peptides by comparison methods, such as a comparison between the sets to determine the set exhibiting the greatest amount of oscillating behavior about an equilibrium position; comparing the ranked potential epitopes with other epitopes generated by propensity scales; comparing with a previously generated plot such as hydrophilicity, accessibility, hydrophobicity and the like; and/or combinations thereof.
  • the set of potential epitopes that exhibit the most alternating positioning about an equilibrium position when juxtaposed on the hydrophilicity and/or hydrophobicity plot are deemed the immunobiologically-active epitopes.
  • Their optimal length corresponds to the specific number of amino acid residues in the set of ranked potential epitopes.
  • This invention relates to an improved method for determining the optimal length of an immunobiologically active epitope that does not require either in vivo animal testing or in vitro immunoassay testing regimes. Unexpectedly it has been discovered by this inventor that an alternating rhythmic pattern in the ranked potential epitopes provides the necessary information to determine the optimal length.
  • the method for determining the optimal length of an immunobiologically-active linear peptide epitope comprises the following steps: a) providing a curve characterizing the hydrophilicity and/or hydrophobicity of the linear sequence of amino acid residues of a polypeptide; b) generating at least one potential epitope set comprising at least one potential epitope by fitting a window of the curve of step (a) to a mathematically generated continuous curve, the continuous curve having repeating values at regular intervals with at least a maximum positive value, the window containing a specific number of amino acid residues and the window is lagged through the curve of step (a); c) increasing the number of residues in the window after each lagging; d) determining and ranking potential epitopes for each set by selecting potential epitopes having a positive-fit correlation value determined by fitting curves in step (b) thereby providing a set of ranked potential epitopes for each window of residues used in step (b), the most positive-fit correlation value ranked first in each potential epi
  • the potential epitopes are generated by fitting a hydrophilicity curve generated by plotting hydropathy values according to the prediction method of Kyte- Doolittle and correlating this curve to a negative cosine function thereby generating Ho-Hi- Ho theoretical epitopes.
  • the method of the present invention may be used to determine the length of a contiguous amino acid sequence of a polypeptide characterized by a hydrophobic- hydrophilic-hydrophobic motif, the method comprising the steps of: a) assigning an average hydropathy value to each amino acid of the polypeptide; b) generating a hydrophilicity plot using the average hydropathy value of each amino acid; c) fitting a curve segment of the hydrophilicity plot to a negative cosine function, wherein a specific period number value of the negative cosine function equates to the number of amino acids in the curve segment, the period number increasing within a predetermined chosen period number range after each sequential lagging through the hydrophilicity plot thereby providing fit- correlation values for each curve segment across the linear sequence when using the specific period number value; d) generating a potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope set for each specific period number value within the chosen period number range, wherein each potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope set contains potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitopes
  • Ho epitope set according to positive fit-correlation values wherein the epitope having highest positive-fit correlation value is ranked number one thereby providing ranked Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes for each specific period number value; f) examining the positioning of at least the highest ranked Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes of each set relative to the linear sequence of the generated plot in step (a) to determine at least one set of Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes that exhibits alternating positioning about an equilibrium position wherein the ranking values of the Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes converge towards or diverge away from the equilibrium position; and g) designating the Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes of the set having the most alternating ranking values that converge or diverge as the immunologically active epitopes which have an optimal length equating to numeric value of amino acid residues in the potential epitopes.
  • the present invention further provides for a Ho-Hi-Ho epitope of contiguous amino acid residues from a polypeptide wherein the Ho-Hi-Ho epitope is defined by a motif of two hydrophobic and one hydrophilic regions arranged in the following manner
  • Ho-Hi-Ho epitope peptide has an optimal length of amino acid residues from about 3 to about 250.
  • the optimal length of amino acid residues is determined by the methods of the present invention.
  • an antigenic composition comprising a Ho-Hi-Ho epitope of contiguous amino acid residues from a polypeptide wherein the Ho-Hi-Ho epitope is characterized by a hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic motif and an approximated -180° to +180° negative cosine hydrophilicity pattern having an optimal length of amino acid residues from about 3 to about 250. Additionally, the optimal length may be determined by the method disclosed in the present invention.
  • diagnostic testing method comprising the steps of: (i) providing a sample;
  • a diagnostic testing method comprising the steps of: (i) providing an antisera sample
  • the above diagnostic testing method may include a tissue sample which may be contacted with at least one Ho-Hi-Ho epitope.
  • the present invention also provides for isolated nucleic acid molecules that encode for the Ho-Hi-Ho immunobiologically active epitope having an optimal length determined by the methods of the present invention.
  • the nucleic acid molecule may include; a cDNA molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence of the coding region of the epitope, isolated DNA or RNA molecule or a genetic variant thereof which encodes the immunobiologically active epitope.
  • Figure 1 shows the hydropathy plot for the amino acid sequence of Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and the oscillating behavior of the Ho-Hi-Ho theoretical rankings.
  • PSA Prostate Specific Antigen
  • Figure 2 shows the hydropathy plot for the amino acid sequence of Gelonin and the oscillating behavior of the Ho-Hi-Ho theoretical rankings.
  • the present invention is concerned with providing methods for identifying immunobiologically-active linear epitopes, determining the length of continuous amino acid residues of the identified epitopes and locating their position in a protein antigen.
  • the method to identify immunobiologically-active linear epitopes, and particularly epitopes characterized by a hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic motif includes generating average propensity values for each amino acid of the protein sequence. These average values may be determined from propensity scales that describe the tendency of each residue to be associated with properties such as accessibility, hydrophilicity , hydrophobicity and/or mobility. Preferably, the average value is determined by a hydrophilicity parameter. These average values may then be plotted.
  • the average values of amino acids can be obtained from any of the methods well known in the art including, but not limited to Kyte-Doolittle tables (Kyte and Doolittle, 1982, J. Mol. Biol., vol 72, p.
  • Kyte-Doolittle measurement scale is used wherein a hydropathy value is assigned to each natural amino acid based on side chain (i) interior-exterior distribution and (ii) water-vapor transfer free energy as determined by water-vapor partition coefficients.
  • the Kyte-Doolittle hydropathy index values include the following:
  • Threonine (-0.7), Tryptophan (-0.9), Serine (-0.8), Tyrosine (-1.3), Proline (-1.6), Histidine (-3.2), Glutamic acid (-3.5), Glutamine (-3.5), Aspartic acid (-3.5), Asparagine (-3.5), Lysine (-3.9), Arginine (-4.5).
  • the above values when used for plotting a curve will provide a hydrophobicity curve. To generate a hydrophilicity curve the sign of the index values must be reversed, e.g., Isoleucine becomes (-9.5).
  • the average hydropathy value of each amino acid is accomplished by averaging the hydropathy values of the amino acid residues within a predetermined segment.
  • the segment may include any number, however, in a preferred embodiment the length of the segment is 5 amino acids.
  • a window average hydropathy value is calculated for each amino acid residue by assigning the average hydropathy value to the amino acid at the center point of each of the moving segments.
  • Average hydropathy values are obtained by shifting the segment by a single amino acid along the entire amino acid sequence of the protein as it advances from the amino to the carboxyl terminus. This is repeated until each amino acid residue is the center point of a segment has been assigned a average hydropathy value. A hydrophilicity an/or hydrophobicity plot of these average hydropathy values is then generated.
  • the plot can be obtained manually, any commercially available or shareware software, or the source code for a custom computer program included in the above-identified reference by Kyte and Doolittle.
  • the hydropathy plot may be generated by the software package "Wisconsin Package v4" commercially available from Genetics Computer Group,
  • Figure 1 and Figure 2 are representative examples of a hydropathy plot for prostate specific antigen (PSA) and gelonin, a plant toxin, respectively.
  • PSA prostate specific antigen
  • the resulting curve is then fitted to a mathematically generated continuous curve wherein the curve has repeating values at regular intervals with a maximum positive value.
  • the mathematically generated curves may include, but is not limited to trigonometric curves, such as sine, cosine, negative cosine curves, and other curve such as gaussian curves and the like.
  • the trigonometric function is a negative cosine function which will identify curve regions representing areas having a hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic (Ho-Hi-Ho) pattern.
  • negative cosine curve The definition of the negative cosine curve is described according to Abramowitz and Stegun, Eds., HANDBOOK OF MATHEMATICAL FUNCTIONS WITH FORMULAS, GRAPHS AND MATHEMATICAL TABLES, National Bureau of Standards and Applied Mathematics, Series #55, June 1964, p. 71-79. Additionally, the specific definition of the negative cosine curve provided in the Microsoft Fortran Library, version 5.1.
  • successive segments of a protein Kyte-Doolittle hydropathy curve are fitted with the negative cosine curve function using custom software with the source code defined in Appendix A.
  • the custom software determines a fit-correlation value for sequential regions of amino acid residues of the protein.
  • the fit-correlation values are dependent upon the period number of the negative cosine curve function which determines the assigned number of amino acids in each region (window).
  • the assigned number of amino acids in a curve segment (window) is equivalent to the period number used in the negative cosine function.
  • the period number represents the length of amino acid residues in the hydropathy curve segment that will be analyzed.
  • one set (containing of negative cosine function-hydropathy curve region fit-correlation values is generated specific to that period number.
  • the set of fit-correlation values will contain (n-(m-l)) values, where If is the number of amino acids in the protein and Iff is the period number used in the negative cosine curve function.
  • the fit-correlation process is lagged (shifted) over the entire range of amino acids in the polypeptide by increasing the value of / by one (1) until the value (n-(nt-l)) is reached. Subsequently, the period number Iff of the negative cosine curve function is increased by one (1) in order to generate the next potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope set.
  • the numerical value for Iff may be any number greater than 2 extending to the number of amino acid residues in the polypeptide, and preferably, between 3 and 50 thereby creating 48 potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope sets. Each potential epitope set varies slightly in location as the negative cosine function period number used to generate each set is changed; accordingly, the fit-correlation values vary slightly.
  • the mathematical perspective of the negative cosine function curve-fit algorithm is altered. This enables the algorithm to detect sequential amino acid hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic patterns of a particular length not readily distinguished visually.
  • amino acid sequence number ranges that project a hydropathy curve segment having a fit correlation with the negative cosine curve function and are considered the potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitopes.
  • a positive-fit correlation value indicates the potential presence of a immunobiologically-active linear epitope in the corresponding amino acid sequence number range, i.e. a hydrophobic- hydrophilic-hydrophobic sequence with dominant (high positive-fit correlation) or subdominant (low positive-fit correlation) immunobiological epitope activity. For each period number Iff, a set of fit-correlation values is generated.
  • period number Iff of the negative cosine curve function is chosen from 3 to 50 then there will be 48 different potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope sets wherein each set represent a hydropathy curve-negative cosine curve function fit analysis for the entire protein antigen.
  • Each one of these sets has different amino acid sequence number ranges because the period number is changed for each set.
  • the amino acid number ranges for a period number (iff) of 10 may include amino acid residues in the number ranges 1-10, 2-11, 3-12, 4-13, and the average hydropathy value for each amino acid in the curve segment (period number range) is inputted into the software program until / is equal to (n-(nt-l)).
  • the output will give a fit-correlation value for each one of the number ranges such as, 1-10, 2-11, 3-12. More specifically, when using a protein antigen which has 237 amino acid residues in the sequence, / will increase by one until number range 228-237 is inputted into the program. A period number (Iff) of 11 will include amino acid numbers from 1-11, 2-12, 3-13, 4-14 until / is equal to 227 and number range 227-237 is reached. A set of fit-correlation values from each period number Iff spans the entire protein antigen and provides a potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope set.
  • each one of the potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope sets the potential epitopes are ranked according to the magnitude of the positive-fit correlation values.
  • the epitope with the highest fit-correlation value is assigned the number one (1) ranking in each set. This is repeated for each of the sets, that is for each set generated by one of the 48 period numbers utilized by the negative cosine fitting custom software in the range from 3 to 50.
  • the number of amino acid residues in the ranked Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes corresponds to the period number Iff used in the negative cosine function which generated the original potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope set.
  • the ranked potential epitopes for each set are superimposed on the hydrophilicity plot so that the sequence of amino acid residues in the potential epitopes are juxtaposed on the plot to correspond to the linear sequence of the polypeptide as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
  • Each of the generated sets of ranked Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes are plotted on the generated hydrophilicity curve thereby providing a plurality of different plots, each one representing a different period number Iff.
  • This oscillating of the ranking values of the positioned potential epitopes about an equilibrium position may be exhibited in several different plots but the set of potential epitopes having the greatest number of epitopes that exhibit the oscillating behavior provides information for the optimal length.
  • the period number Iff that was used to generate the set of potential epitopes is consider the optimal number of amino acid residues in an immunobiologically active epitope.
  • the disclosed method of generating a plurality of potential epitope sets (for a polypeptide) by fitting a hydrophilicity curve to the curve generated by a negative cosine function may be used with other data to determine and/or verify the optimal length.
  • the ranked potential epitopes for each set, having a specific length of amino acid residues and a Ho-Hi-Ho motif may be compared or correlated with other ranked epitopes (for the polypeptide in question found) by well known propensity scales that are based on accessibility, hydrophilicity, flexibility, and the like.
  • statistical methods may be used to determine the highest correlation coefficient between the rankings of potential epitopes and epitopes found by propensity scales.
  • the potential epitope sets may be fitted or juxtaposed on other generated plots including hydrophobicity,
  • the method of the present invention can be used to select immunobiologically-active linear peptide epitopes from a variety of polypeptides once the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide is determined. Any method know in the art which can determine the amino acid sequence of a protein may be used in the present invention. A preferred method is briefly explained.
  • the first step in the sequence determination of a protein is to cleave the polypeptide chain into smaller peptides and then separate homogeneous samples of these peptides. Trypsin is especially useful for this initial cleavage, because of its specificity for lysine and arginine residues. A polypeptide chain containing five such residues, for example, will be cleaved by trypsin into six shorter peptides.
  • the shorter peptides are separated and analyzed.
  • the amino acid sequence of the isolated peptides is then determined by the sequential cleavage of amino acids from the carboxyl-terminal and amino-terminal ends of each peptide. This can be accomplished by the use of exopeptidases which are specific for the amino- or carboxyl-terminal ends of the peptide chain, or by chemical methods.
  • Carboxypeptidase successively cleaves amino acids from the carboxyl-terminal end of the peptide and it is possible to determine the sequence of the amino acids by following the time course for the release of the amino acids.
  • the most useful chemical method for the analysis of peptide sequences is the reaction of N-terminal amino acids with phenylisothiocyanate.
  • This reaction removes amino acids sequentially from the N-terminal end of the chain as their phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) derivatives.
  • isothiocyanate undergoes nucleophilic attack by the terminal amino group of the peptide to give a substituted thiourea.
  • This step is carried out in dilute base.
  • the terminal amino group of the thiourea attacks the peptide bond of the terminal amino acid to give the phenylthiohydantoin derivative of the original N-terminal amino acid.
  • This amino acid may be identified by chromatography and by comparing with standard phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of known amino acids. Cleavage of the peptide bond gives a new N-terminal amino acid that may be identified by repetition of the whole process.
  • the method of the present invention may be used to select Ho-Hi-Ho epitopes from cancer cells, viral, microbial, and other molecules of basic and clinical research interest including, but not limited to examples provided below: Lymphokines and Interferons: IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, JL-4, IL-S, JL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-11, IL-12, IFN- ⁇ , IFN- ⁇ , IFN-
  • Hormones and Growth Factors nerve growth factor, somatotropin, somatomedins, parathormone, FSH, LH, EGF, TSH THS-releasing factor, HGH, GRHR, PDGF, IGF-I, IGF-II, TGF- ⁇ , GM-CSF, M-CSF, G- CSF1, erythropoietin.
  • Tumor Markers and Tumor Suppressors ⁇ -HCG, 4-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase, GM2, GD2 GD3, MAGE-1, MAGE-2, MAGE-3, MUC-1, MUC-2, MUC-3, MUC-4, MUC-18, ICAM-1, C-CAM, V-CAM, ELAM, NM23, EGFR, E-cadherin, N-CAM, CEA, DCC, PSA, Her2- «ew, UTAA, melanoma antigen p75, K19, HKer 8, pMel 17, tyrosinase related proteins 1 and 2, p97, p53, RB, APC, DCC, NF-1, NF-2, WT-1, MEN-I, MEN-II, BRCA1, VHL, FCC and MCC.
  • Oncogenes ras, myc, neu, ra erb, src, fmsjun, trk ret, gsp, hst, bcl and abil.
  • Complement Cascade Proteins and Receptors Clq, Clr, Cls, C4, C2, Factor D, Factor B, properdin, C3, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, Cllnh, Factor H, C4b-binding protein, DAF, membrane cofactor protein, anaphylatoxin inactivator S protein, HRF, MIRL, CR1, CR2, CR3, CR4, C3a/C4a receptor, C5a receptor.
  • HTV gag, pol, qp41, gpl20, vifi tat, rev, nefi vpr, vpu, vpx
  • HSV ribonucleotide reductase, ⁇ -TIF, ICP4, ICP8, 1CP35, LAT-related proteins, gB, gC, gD, gE, gH, gl, gj
  • influenza hemagluttinin, neuraminidase, PB1, PB2, PA, NP, M b M 2 , NS ,, NS 2
  • papillomaviruses El, E2, E3, E4, E5a, E5b, E6, E7, E8, LI, L2
  • adenovirus El A, E1B, E2, E3, E4, E5, LI, L2, L3, L4, L5
  • Epstein-Barr Virus EBNA
  • Hepatitis B Virus Hepati
  • the Ho-EB-Ho epitopes of the present invention can be used in diagnostic tests, such as immunoassays, to detect viruses, microbes and malignant cells.
  • Immunoassays in their most simple and direct sense, are binding assays.
  • Certain preferred immunoassays are various types of enzyme linked immunosorbent assays, radioimmunoassays, immunofluorescence and surface plasmon resonance. Immunohistochemical detection using tissue sections is also particularly useful. However, it should be appreciated that detection methods are not limited to such techniques, and Western blotting, dot blotting, FACS analyses, and the like may be used.
  • peptides can be synthesized that correspond to the exact amino acid sequence and length of residues.
  • polyclonal antibodies or monoclonal antibodies can be generated specific for a peptide.
  • monoclonal antibodies are produced by immunizing animals, such as rats or mice with the peptide antigen of choice. Once the animals are making a good antibody response the spleens or lymph node cells are removed and a cell suspension prepared. These cells are fused with a myeloma cell line by the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) which promotes membrane fusion. Only a small proportion of the cells fuse successfully. The fusion mixture is then set up in a culture with medium containing "HAT". HAT is a mixture of Hypoxanthine, Aminopterin and Thymidine. Aminopterin is a powerful toxin which blocks a metabolic pathway.
  • PEG polyethylene glycol
  • spleen cells can grow in HAT medium, but the myeloma cells die in HAT medium because they have a metabolic defect and cannot use the bypass pathway.
  • the culture When the culture is set up in the HAT medium it contains spleen cells, myeloma cells and fused cells.
  • the spleen cells die in culture naturally after 1-2 weeks and the myeloma cells are killed by the HAT medium. Only fused cells survive because they have the immortality of the myeloma cells and the metabolic bypass of the spleen cells. Some of the fused cells will have the antibody producing capacity of spleen cells.
  • the wells containing growing cells are tested for production of the desired antibody (often by RIA or ELISA) and, if positive, the cultures are cloned, that is, plated out so that only one cell is in each well.
  • This process produces a clone of cells derived from a single progenitor, which is both immortal and produces monoclonal antibody.
  • monoclonal antibodies may be used as reagents for numerous applications ranging from specific diagnostic tests to "magic bullets" in immunotherapy of different types of cancer.
  • various drugs or toxins may be conjugated to the monoclonal antibodies and delivered to the tumor cells against which the antibodies are specific.
  • the Ho-Hi-Ho epitopes of the present invention can also be used in prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines to elicit immune responses.
  • Vaccines produced by microorganism such as yeast, through recombinant DNA technology provide another area that may be benefitted by the present invention.
  • the DNA that codes for a Ho-Hi-Ho epitope can be spliced into the DNA of yeast, which, in turn can produce copies of the peptide.
  • production of vaccines against hepatitis B may provide greater quantities of a safer vaccine than the vaccine prepared from blood plasma of humans.
  • Synthetic vaccine can be prepared by chemically synthesizing a chain of amino acids corresponding to the sequence of amino acids of the Ho-Hi-Ho epitopes.
  • the amino acid chain containing the Ho-Hi-Ho epitopes is disposed on a physiologically acceptable carrier and diluted with an acceptable medium.
  • the synthetic vaccines may contain one or a plurality of Ho-Hi-Ho epitopes of at least one antigen.
  • Vaccines are contemplated for the following antigens, including, but not limited to Hepatitis B surface antigen histocompatibility antigens, influenza hemagglutinin, fowl plague virus hemagglutinin and rag weed allergens Ra3 and Ra5.
  • vaccines are contemplated for the antigens of the following viruses including, but not limited to vaccinia, Epstein Barr virus, polio, rubella, cytomegalovirus, small pox, herpes, simplex types I and II, yellow fever, and many others.
  • Antigen compositions are contemplated by the present invention which include antibodies specific for peptides with a hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic motif having a length of amino acid residues determined by the method of the present invention and which may be administered in the form of injectable, pharmaceutical compositions.
  • a typical composition for such a purpose comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • the composition may contain about 10 mg of human serum albumin and from about 20 to 200 micrograms of the labeled monoclonal antibody or fragment thereof per milliliter of phosphate buffer containing NaCl.
  • Other pharmaceutically acceptable carriers include aqueous solution, non-toxic excipients, including salts, preservative, buffers and the like.
  • non-aqueous solvents examples include propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, vegetable oil and injectable organic esters such as ethyloleate.
  • Aqueous carrier include water, alcoholic/aqueous solutions, saline solutions, parenteral vehicles such as sodium chloride, Ringer's dextrose, etc.
  • Intravenous vehicles include fluid and nutrient replenishers. The pH and exact concentration of the various components in the pharmaceutical composition are adjusted according to routine skills in the art. It is further contemplated that a chain of nucleotides specific to code for a preferred
  • Ho-Hi-Ho epitope may be used for immunization compositions.
  • immunization techniques in which DNA constructs are introduced directly into mammalian tissue in vivo have been developed.
  • DNA vaccines they use eukaryotic expression vectors to produce immunizing proteins in the vaccinated host.
  • Methods of delivery include intramuscular and intradermal saline injections of DNA or gene gun bombardment of skin with DNA-coated gold beads.
  • gene gun-delivered DNA initiates responses by transfected or antigen-bearing epidermal Langerhans cells that move in lymph from bombarded skin to the draining lymph nodes.
  • the method can be used to test the potential antigenicity of a peptide antigen prior to being used to generate bulk antisera for vaccines.
  • the Ho-Hi-Ho epitope of a test antigen can be compared to its standard Ho-Hi-Ho epitope (obtained when the antigen was known to generate efficacious vaccine). Any deviations from the standard values may indicate alteration or denaturation of the antigen. This is also applicable not just for peptide antigens but for any protein. Specifically, if the fff-value is determined by the methods of the present invention for a protein, then this value can be used as a comparative value used to determine if a protein used for immunization is viable.
  • the protein may have been denatured before the immunization. This knowledge may cause the re-immunize a subject to ensure a sufficient and correct immunological response to the protein.
  • the method can be used to determine Ho- Hi-Ho epitopes involved in enzyme-substrate interaction, in protein-protein interaction, protein-nucleic acid interactions, protein-lipid interactions, protein-carbohydrate interactions and the like.
  • the methods of the present invention may also be used to alter the immunogenicity of a Ho-Hi-Ho epitope, once it has been determined by the methods of the present invention, by altering the amino acid composition therein. Specifically, certain amino acids within the Ho-Hi-Ho epitope may be replaced thereby either increasing or decreasing the fit between the negative cosine curve and generated hydrophilicity curve.
  • affinity for the epitope binding site by either an antibody or receptor on a lymphocyte can be increased or decreased.
  • prostate specific antigen as a polypeptide having immunobiologically active linear epitopes will help to illustrate the present invention.
  • the negative cosine curve function of a specific period number was fitted with custom software using the source code disclosed in Appendix A to successive segments of the PSA and gelonin Kyte-Doolittle hydropathy curve. Each point along the hydropathy curve obtained in Example 1 was fitted to a negative cosine curve function from -180° to +180°.
  • the period number of the negative cosine curve function was changed from 8 to 40 producing a series of 33 potential Ho-Hi-Ho epitope sets.
  • a fit-correlation value was obtained for each lag point / along the amino acid sequence in each chosen period number
  • the ranked potential epitopes for each set were juxtaposed on the hydrophilicity plot so that the sequence of amino acid residues in the ranked theoretical epitopes corresponded to the linear sequence of the polypeptides of PSA and Gelonin.
  • the amino acid sequence of each ranked Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitope had a specific location corresponding to the placement of the same amino acid sequence found in the polypeptide.
  • the immunobiologically- active epitopes are those ranked Ho-Hi-Ho potential epitopes that exhibit the most oscillating behavior about an equilibrium position that either converges to or diverges away from this position.
  • the number of amino acid residues in these ranked potential epitopes was assigned to be the optimal length of the immunobiologically-active epitope. It may be concluded from this example that several amino acid regions in PSA and gelonin adhered strongly to the hydrophobic-hydrophilic- hydrophobic amino acid hydropathy pattern of the protein Ho-Hi-Ho theoretical epitope. This local rhythmic hydropathy pattern enables a protein-specific number of amino acids in the region to act as an immunobiologically active epitope.
  • the epitope length indicated by the optimal negative cosine function period number is specific for PSA (19 amino acids) and for gelonin (31 amino acids). It is theorized that Ho-Hi-Ho theoretical epitopes and their specific length are biochemical entities inherent in a protein. Also, the primary amino acid sequence thus plays a vital role in determining the location, length and immunobiological potency of protein Ho-Hi-Ho theoretical epitopes.

Abstract

Cette invention concerne l'identification d'épitopes protéiniques, plus particulièrement une nouvelle méthode d'identification et de détermination de l'emplacement, de la longueur optimale de résidus d'acides aminés et du pouvoir immunobiologique d'épitopes protéiniques. Cette méthode consiste reporter des valeurs d'hydrophilie et/ou d'hydrophobie sur une courbe continue obtenue mathématiquement, ce qui permet de générer au moins un jeu d'épitopes potentiels qui renferment des épitopes potentiels classés comportant un nombre défini de résidus d'acides aminés. On présume que Les peptides linéaires actifs au plan immunobiologique sont des épitopes potentiels dont le positionnement présente l'alternance la plus marquée par rapport à une position d'équilibre lorsqu'ils sont juxtaposés sur le graphique d'hydrophilie et/ou d'hydrophobie et que leur longueur optimale correspond au nombre spécifique de résidus d'acides aminés dans le jeu d'épitopes potentiels classés. La séquence d'acides aminés des épitopes protéiniques selon l'invention présente un motif hydrophobique-hydrophilique-hydrophobique.
EP00928224A 1999-04-20 2000-04-19 Peptides lineaires actifs au plan immunobiologique: methode amelioree d'identification et de localisation Withdrawn EP1179178A1 (fr)

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US552461 1990-07-16
US13023099P 1999-04-20 1999-04-20
US130230P 1999-04-20
US09/552,461 US6780598B1 (en) 1997-06-13 2000-04-18 Method of identifying and locating immunobiologically-active linear peptides
PCT/US2000/010585 WO2000063693A1 (fr) 1999-04-20 2000-04-19 Peptides lineaires actifs au plan immunobiologique: methode amelioree d'identification et de localisation

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US7582299B2 (en) 2001-04-26 2009-09-01 Biogen Idec Ma Inc. Cripto-specific antibodies
AU2002950183A0 (en) * 2002-07-12 2002-09-12 The Council Of The Queensland Institute Of Medical Research Expression of hydrophobic proteins
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