METHOD FOR SCREENING COMBINATORIAL BEAD LIBRARY.
CAPTURING CELLS FROM BODY FLUIDS. AND
LIGANDS FOR CANCER CELLS
Derick H. Lau and Kit S. Lam
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to screening methods for one-bead-one-compound
combinatorial libraries and includes a screening assay that uses live cells to identify
synthetic ligands that promote attachment and growth or proliferation of epithelial
cells. Also included are ligands specific for epithelial cancer cells. The invention
also relates to methods for isolating and capturing epithelial cells, including benign
(non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous) cells, from body fluids.
2. Description of Related Art
One-bead-one-compound combinatorial bead libraries (see Lam, Kit S. et
al. "A new type of synthetic peptide library for identifying ligand-binding
activity. " Nature 354 (1991): 82-84), such as one-bead-one-compound peptide
libraries, are being used to study cell adhesion properties of cancer cells. Using
random peptide bead libraries and suspended cancer cells, peptide ligands that
promote cell attachment have been identified for lymphoma (Park, Steven,1 Renil
Manat, Brian Vikstrom, Nail Amro, and Kit S. Lam. "Identification of peptide
ligands for «4B1 integrin receptor as potential targeting agents for non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma, " abstract in Peptides: The Wave of the Future, 2nd International
Peptide Symposium in conjunction with the 17th American Peptide Symposium, San
Diego, CA (June 9-14, 2001)) and prostate cancer cell lines (Pennington,
Michael E. , Kit S. Lam and Anne E. Cress. "The use of a combinatorial library
method to isolate human tumor cell adhesion peptides. " Molecular Diversity 2
(1996): 19-28; DeRoock, Ian B., Michael E. Pennington, Thomas C. Sroka, Kit
S. Lam, G. Tim Bowden, Elisabeth L. Bair, and Anne E. Cress. "Synthetic
Peptides Inhibit Adhesion of Human Tumor Cells to Extracellular Matrix
Proteins." Cancer Research 61 (April 15, 2001): 3308-13).
In the existing methods, live cells in suspension are incubated for about one
to four hours with a bead library, and the library is then screened for beads with
peptide ligands that promote cell attachment. This is done by visual selection - the
beads are examined under a dissecting microscope and those beads with attached
cells are removed using a micropipet. Further steps are then performed to confirm
that the removed beads are in fact capable of binding the particular type of cells
tested. Then, the peptides on those beads are sequenced. (See Pennington et al.,
"Use of a combinatorial library method," 19-28.)
In another existing method of testing live cells for peptide ligands that affect
cell growth on culture plates, a bead library is prepared having selectively
cleavable peptides such that a proportion of the peptide on each bead is attached to
the bead by a cleavable linker. When the library is treated with a cleaving agent,
enough of the peptides are released from the beads to cause the biological effect,
and the rest of the peptides remain bound to the beads to allow for later sequencing .
Suspended cells are incubated in tissue culture wells with a few beads and with
peptides released from the beads. The effect of the released peptides on the cells
(inhibition or stimulation of cell growth) is determined, and the corresponding
beads are removed. The sequences of the attached peptides are then determined.
(See U. S. pat. no. 5,510,240, issued April 23, 1996 to Lam, Kit S. et al.)
The existing methods, however, are not satisfactory in certain cases. The
methods are difficult to use with epithelial cells, which include the majority of solid
cancer cell cultures, such as lung cancer cells, that exist as adherent cultures rather
than as suspended cells. With incubation periods of only a few hours, these cells
are often only weakly attached to the beads and may easily fall off, rendering the
screening method less accurate because some beads with attached cells are missed.
Also, the existing methods may not detect cell surface receptors that may be altered
by trypsin and/or EDTA. Trypsinization is commonly used to separate tissues or
cell cdltures into a single-cell suspension for testing with a combinatorial library.
The treatment with trypsin may eliminate some, or alter the conformation of, cell
surface receptors. In addition, the existing methods do not select for peptide
ligands that promote cell growth or proliferation, but, rather, for ligands involved
in cell attachment, particularly short-term attachment.
Thus, there is a need for a screening assay that is specific and sensitive,
works well with epithelial cells, can be used to detect cell surface receptors
susceptible to trypsin, and selects for ligands that promote not only cell attachment,
but also cell growth or proliferation.
There is also a need for an efficient method of isolating and capturing
epithelial cells, including benign and malignant cells, from body fluids, such as
blood, urine, pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, ascite, and cerebrospinal fluid.
In particular, there is a need for a method of isolating and capturing cancer cells
to assist in diagnosis.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a method for screening a combinatorial
bead library for ligands that promote the attachment and growth or proliferation of
epithelial cells. The method satisfies the need for an assay that is specific and
sensitive, that can be used to detect cell surface receptors susceptible to trypsin,
and that can identify ligands that promote cell growth and proliferation. The
method comprises introducing a suspension of live cells to a combinatorial library
of small molecules, peptides, or other types of molecules, incubating the cells with
the library for about 24 to 72 hours, identifying a solid phase support of the library
with cells growing on the support, isolating the solid phase support, and
determining the chemical structure of the compound attached to that solid phase
support.
The invention also includes ligands specific for cell attachment and growth
or proliferation of epithelial cancer cells, having the chemical structure of
cXGXGXXc, in which "c" is D-cysteine; "X" is any L-, D-, unnatural, or
modified amino acid; and "G" is glycine.
The present invention is also directed to a method for isolating and capturing
cells from body fluids and satisfies the need for an efficient method of isolating and
capturing epithelial cells from body fluids. The method comprises introducing a
sample of body fluid to a multiplicity of beads with one or more known ligands
specific for one or more particular types of cell, incubating the body fluid with the
beads for about 24 to 72 hours, identifying a bead with cells growing on the bead,
isolating the bead, and recovering the cells growing on the bead.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a diagram depicting the steps of the cell-growth-on-bead assay.
Fig. 1A shows attached epithelial cells.
Fig. IB shows the detached epithelial cells of Fig. 1A in suspension.
Fig. 1C shows the epithelial cells being mixed with the beads of the bead
library.
Fig. ID shows a top view of three beads, in which two beads have a
monolayer of cells growing on the bead.
Fig. IE shows a top view of the three beads of Fig. ID, after staining, in
which the two beads with a monolayer of cells growing on the bead are stained,
and the one bead without any cells is not stained.
Fig. 2 is a diagram depicting the steps of the method for isolating and
capturing epithelial cells from body fluids.
Fig. 2A shows a centrifuge tube containing a sample of body fluid,
containing cells, which has been removed from the human body.
Fig. 2B shows the centrifuge tube containing the body fluid, in which the
cells have been allowed to sediment.
Fig. 2C shows the cells being mixed with beads.
Fig. 2D shows a top view of the beads and the cells, in which some cells are
attached and growing on the beads, and some cells remain unattached.
Fig. 2E shows the beads and the cells after the cells have been removed
from the beads.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
One embodiment of the invention includes a method, referred to as the cell-
growth-on-bead assay, for screening a one-bead-one-compound combinatorial bead
library for ligands that promote cell attachment and growth or proliferation.
Ligands that promote cell attachment and growth or proliferation of cancer cells are
also described. Another embodiment of the invention includes a method for
isolating and capturing epithelial cells, such as benign or malignant cells, from
body fluids. This method can be used to aid in the diagnosis of cancer.
Cell-Growth-on-Bead Assay
The cell-growth-on-bead assay of the first embodiment includes the
following steps, as shown in Fig. 1. A one-bead-one-compound combinatorial
library is prepared. The library is preferably synthesized using the " split synthesis "
approach described in Lam et al. , "A new type of synthetic peptide library, " 82-84.
The compounds of the library may be small molecules, peptides, or other types of
molecules. An example of a suitable library is a peptide library containing
cXXXXXXc peptides, where "c" is D-cysteine which provides intramolecular
cyclization by disulfide bonding, and "X" is any L, D, unnatural, or modified
amino acid. A suitable solid phase support, such as beads or discs made of
polystyrene, agarose, acrylamide, glass, plastic, or paramagnetic substances, is
used. Polystyrene beads have been found satisfactory. A standard synthetic solid
phase peptide synthesis method, such as fluorenylmethyoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)
chemistry or t-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) chemistry, is used. For purposes of
illustration, the combinatorial library referred to below is a peptide bead library,
although it is understood that this is only one example of a library that can be used
in this embodiment and that other libraries will also work.
A suspension of live mammalian cells is prepared according to methods
known to those skilled in the art. The cells are preferably epithelial cells and may
be cancerous or non-cancerous. Human cancer cells from a cell line_or derived
from biopsy specimens or body fluid of cancer patients may be used. Fig. 1A
shows attached epithelial cells 10. Fig. IB shows the same cells 10 in suspension.
Suspended live cells 10 are mixed with the peptide library in culture
medium, as shown in Fig. 1C, and distributed into culture plates. The ratio of cells
to peptide beads is preferably about 10:1, but can range from about 1:1 to 100:1.
The suspension of cells 10 and beads 12 is mixed gently for sufficient time to
assure contact of beads 12 with suspended cells 10. The culture plates are
incubated in a tissue culture incubator at about 4° C to about 37° C, preferably
37° C, for a period of about 24 to about 72 hours. The suspension of cells 10 and
beads 12 may be kept still or mixed, either continuously or intermittently, during
the incubation period.
After the incubation period, beads 12 are observed under a dissecting
microscope. The presence of an increased number of cells 10 or beads 14 covered
with a monolayer of cells, as shown in Fig. ID, evidences cell growth or
proliferation. These beads 14 (referred to as "positive" beads) are removed from
the culture plates. A tetrazolium dye that stains live, but not dead, cells can be
used to facilitate the identification and removal of the positive beads. If a dye is
used, all of the beads are removed after the incubation period and resuspended in
fresh medium in new culture plates. The dye is added. The plates are then
incubated in a tissue culture incubator at 25° C to 37° C for about one to
four hours. Live cells 10 convert the dye to a colored metabolite, which results in
beads 14 with attached cells appearing colored, allowing them to be easily
distinguished from beads 16 without attached cells, which appear colorless, as
shown in Fig. IE. Other dyes that stain live cells can also be used.
After positive beads 14 are removed from the plates, attached cells 10 are
separated from the beads. This can be done with the addition of a chaotrophic
agent, such as 8 M guanidine hydrochloride, or a protease, such as trypsin.
The amino acid sequence of the ligand on each isolated positive bead 14 is
then determined. This is preferably done with an automated protein sequencer,
such as the Procise 494 (Applied Biosy stems, Foster City, CA). Alternatively, the
peptide can be released via a cleavable linker and the amino acid sequence
determined by mass spectroscopy. If the ligand on the bead consists of a small
molecule, mass spectroscopy, and/or encoding strategies can be used.
Using the cell-growth-on-bead assay of the first embodiment, ligands that
promote cell attachment and growth or proliferation have been identified. By
structure/activity relationship studies, ligands identified for epithelial cancer cells,
such as those of lung cancer, have the general structure of cXGXGXXc, where "c"
is D-cysteine; "X" is any L, D, unnatural, or modified amino acid; and "G" is
glycine.
Method of Isolating and Capturing Cells from Body Fluids
The second embodiment of the invention is a method to isolate and capture
benign or malignant epithelial cells from mammalian body fluids as shown in
Fig. 2. The method car *" e used to capture cancer cells from body fluids, such as
blood, urine, pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, ascite, and cerebrospinal fluid.
As shown in Fig. 2A, a sample of fluid 20 is removed from the body and
placed in centrifuge tube 22 for about 10 minutes to allow cells 24 to settle to the
bottom, as shown in Fig. 2B. A sample of the sediment containing cells 24 is then
resuspended in culture medium. About 0.1 to 0.5 ml of sediment in about 2 ml of
culture medium works well.
A suitable solid phase support, such as beads or discs made of polystyrene,
agarose, acrylamide, glass, plastic, or paramagnetic substances, is used.
Polystyrene beads have been found to be satisfactory. For purposes of illustration,
beads are used as the solid phase support. Approximately 5,000 to 10,000 beads
containing one or more known ligands specific for one or more particular cell types
are sterilized with ethanol. The ligands may consist of small molecules, peptides,
or other molecules. Generally, one ligand is used; however, more than one ligand
may also be used.
The cell suspension and sterile beads 26 are mixed gently in a cell culture
dish for a few minutes to assure contact of beads 26 with suspended cells 24, as
shown in Fig. 2C. The mixture is incubated in a tissue culture incubator under 5 %
carbon dioxide at about 4° C to about 37° C, preferably 37° C. The dish is
observed under a microscope daily for a period of about 24 to about 72 hours to
check for cell attachment and growth, as shown in Fig. 2D. The medium may be
changed if necessary. Typically, a culture can be maintained for up to about
four weeks depending on the rate of cell proliferation on the beads. Cells 28
attached to beads 26 are recovered when the number of cells is sufficient for
counting, morphologic examination, molecular analysis, and further culturing.
The medium is pipetted off the culture dish, and beads 26 with attached
cells 28 are rinsed with fresh medium to remove unattached cells 30, such as red
blood cells, and other cell debris. Beads 26 with attached cells 28 are transferred
to a fresh dish. Attached cells 28 are removed from beads 26 with trypsin and/or
EDTA, as shown in Fig. 2E. Isolated cells 28 are transferred to a centrifuge tube
containing fresh culture medium and concentrated by centrifugation at 500 xg. The
supernatant is removed, and the cells are spread on a glass slide by direct smearing
or by cytospin. Cells on glass slides can be preserved in fixatives such as 95 %
alcohol and then stained with Giemsa or Papanicolou stain for subsequent
morphologic examination.
The concentrated cells can also be fixed in 10% formalin or 4%
paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraffin. The cell block can be sectioned into
5 μ slices and placed on glass slides for morphologic staining and/or
immunohistochemical staining to identify special antigens, for example,
carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and estrogen receptor (ER), if necessary to aid
in diagnosis of cancer. In addition, the cells recovered can be analyzed with other
cellular or molecular techniques such as laser scanning cytometry, Western
blotting, and microarray.
The cells recovered from the beads may also be cultured for expansion of
cell number or for long-term maintenance. After having been separated from the
beads, cells are pipetted into a 15 ml centrifuge tube. The cell pellet is
resuspended in an appropriate amount of medium in a culture dish or flask. The
cell culture is kept in a tissue culture incubator under 5% carbon dioxide at 37° C.
Cells harvested from the culture can be stored long-term in 90% serum and 10%
DMSO under liquid nitrogen.
Example of Cell-Growth-on-Bead Assay
A one-bead-one-peptide combinatorial library, containing random
cXXXXXXc peptides, was prepared using the "split synthesis" method of Lam et
al. , "A new type of synthetic peptide library, " 82-84. The random peptide library
contained 196 = 4.7 x 107 possible permutations of the formula cXXXXXXc,
where "c" is D-cysteine, and "X" is one of 19 natural L-amino acids.
TentaGel polystyrene beads, with a diameter of 80 μm and with grafted
polyethylene glycol of 0.25 mmol/g, were used as a solid phase support (Rapp
Polymere, Germany). A synthetic solid phase method using
fluorenylmethyoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) chemistry was adapted for synthesizing the
peptide bead library.
The non-small-cell lung cancer cell line, A549 (American Type Culture
Collection, Manassas, VA), was used. The cell line was maintained in appropriate
culture media as recommended by American Type Culture Collection. Cells were
grown to confluency in DMEM culture medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf
serum. Attached cells were recovered with trypsin/EDTA, washed, and
resuspended as single cells in culture medium.
About 150,000 peptide beads were mixed with approximately one million
suspended cells in 15 ml of culture medium and distributed into six 3-cm culture
plates. The culture plates were agitated gently at about 100 rpm for about
10 minutes. The culture plates were then incubated in a tissue culture incubator at
37° C for about 24 hours to about 72 hours.
A dissecting microscope was used to examine the beads at about 24, 48, and
72 hours. After about 24 to 72 hours, beads with a monolayer of cells were
observed. Out of a library of about 150,000 beads, about 20 to 30 beads typically
exhibited cell growth.
At the end of the incubation period, all of the beads were removed and
resuspended in fresh medium in a new culture plate. An MTT
([3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl] tetrazolium bromide) (Sigma,
St. Louis, MO) dye solution was added to each culture plate to a final concentration
of 0.5 mg/ml. The plates were incubated in a tissue culture incubator at 37° C for
about two hours to allow the purple color to develop. Each purple-colored peptide
bead was isolated and removed. The attached cells were separated from the beads
with 8 M guanidine hydrochloride.
The amino acid sequence of each isolated peptide bead was determined using
an automated Procise 494 protein sequencer (Applied Biosy stems, Foster City,
CA). Several consensus peptide sequences were determined, one of which was
cNGRGEQc, where "c" is D-cysteine. This peptide was resynthesized on beads,
which were then rescreened with the A549 cells using the assay of the invention.
Virtually all of the beads with this sequence exhibited cell attachment and growth
on their surfaces.
To test the sensitivity of the assay, blank beads and a linear XXXXXX
peptide bead library of 150,000 beads were each spiked with 10 positive peptide
beads carrying the sequence cNGRGEQc. These libraries were each screened with
the A549 cells. The peptide beads with the sequence of cNGRGEQc were isolated
with a recovery rate of 90% to 100% in two separate experiments.
To test cell type specificity of beads carrying the peptide ligand
cNGRGEQc , cell growth of two other non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines , Calu- 1
and H178, was observed on 70% to 90% of the peptide beads. On the other hand,
cell growth was observed on only 10% of the peptide beads with the non-malignant
bronchoepithelial cell line, HBE-1. Thus, the cNGRGEQc peptide is a ligand
specific for promoting cell attachment and growth of malignant cells of the lung.
Through additional secondary library screening and structure/activity
relationship studies, other ligands for epithelial cells have been identified, including
the following, where "c" is D-cysteine: c-DGChgGAN-c, where Chg is a-
cyclohexylglycine; c-NGBpaGQM-c, where Bpa is 4-benzoylphenylalanine;
c-NGAcdtGDBpa-c, where Acdt is 4-amino-4-carboxy-l , l-dioxo-
tetrahydrothiopyran; c-NGTGDG-c; c-NGQGAG-c; c-NGYGSF-c; and
c-NGNleGYG-c, where Nle is norleucine.
Example of Method for Isolating and Capturing Cells from Body Fluid
A sample of human pleural fluid was placed in a centrifuge tube, and the
cells were allowed to settle to the bottom of the tube for 10 minutes. A sample of
about 0.1 to 0.5 ml of the sediment containing the cells was resuspended in about
2 ml of culture medium.
TentaGel polystyrene beads, with a diameter of 80 μ and with grafted
polyethylene glycol of 0.25 mmol/g, were used as a solid phase support (Rapp
Polymere, Germany). Approximately 5,000 to 10,000 beads having the ligand
cNGRGEQc were prepared. The beads were sterilized with 75 % ethanol. The cell
suspension and the sterile beads were mixed gently in a 3-cm cell culture dish for
five minutes. The dish was incubated in a tissue culture incubator under 5%
carbon dioxide at 37° C. The dish was observed daily under a microscope for
about 24 to 72 hours to check for cell attachment and/or growth. Cell growth was
observed at 24 hours. Cells attached to beads were recovered after 72 hours.
The medium was pipetted off the culture dish, and the beads were rinsed
with fresh medium to remove unattached cells, such as red blood cells, and other
cell debris. Attached cells were removed from the beads with trypsin/EDTA,
transferred to a centrifuge tube with fresh culture medium, and concentrated by
centrimgation at 500 xg. The supernatant was removed, and the cells were spread
on a glass slide by direct smearing or by cytospin. Cells on glass slides were
preserved in 95 % alcohol and stained with Giemsa or Papanicolou stain. The cells
were identified as malignant adenocarcinoma cells which had a large nucleus,
prominent nucleoli, and mucin in the cytoplasm.
The invention has been described above with reference to the preferred
embodiments. Those skilled in the art may envision other embodiments and
variations of the invention that fall within the scope of the claims.