Impact of tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis immunization during pregnancy on subsequent infant immunization seroresponses: follow-up from a large randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Pertussis immunization during pregnancy results in high pertussis antibody concentrations in young infants but may interfere with infant immune responses to post-natal immunization.

Methods: This phase IV, multi-country, open-label study assessed the immunogenicity and safety of infant primary vaccination with DTaP-HepB-IPV/Hib and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). Enrolled infants (6-14 weeks old) were born to mothers who were randomized to receive reduced-antigen-content diphtheria-tetanus-three-component acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap group) or placebo (control group) during pregnancy (27-36 weeks' gestation) with crossover immunization postpartum.

A CD40L-targeting protein reduces autoantibodies and improves disease activity in patients with autoimmunity.

The CD40/CD40L axis plays a central role in the generation of humoral immune responses and is an attractive target for treating autoimmune diseases in the clinic. Here, we report the generation and clinical results of a CD40L binding protein, VIB4920, which lacks an Fc domain, therefore avoiding platelet-related safety issues observed with earlier monoclonal antibody therapeutics that targeted CD40L. VIB4920 blocked downstream CD40 signaling events, resulting in inhibition of human B cell activation and plasma cell differentiation, and did not induce platelet aggregation in preclinical studies.

Crystal structure of the human 4-1BB/4-1BBL complex.

4-1BBL is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily and is the ligand for the TNFR superfamily receptor, 4-1BB. 4-1BB plays an immunomodulatory role in T cells and NK cells, and agonists of this receptor have garnered strong attention as potential immunotherapy agents. Broadly speaking, the structural features of TNF superfamily members, their receptors, and ligand-receptor complexes are similar.

Characterizing the Overall Derivatization of Conjugated Oligomeric Proteins.

The analysis and accurate quantitation of bioconjugations proves challenging in the case of oligomeric proteins, especially when the size of the molecule or the nature of the conjugate do not allow the analysis of the intact protein under native conditions. In this case, analytical methods are frequently applied that result in a dissociation of non-covalently linked subunits. This limits the analysis to a description of individual subunits, thereby obscuring the accurate characterization of the overall functionalization.

Impact of Mutations on the Higher Order Structure and Activity of a Recombinant Uricase.

This study explores the structural and functional changes associated with a low-temperature thermal transition of 2 engineered bacterial uricase mutants. Uricase has a noncovalent homotetrameric structure, with 4 active sites located at the interface of subunits. Using differential scanning calorimetry, a low-temperature transition was identified at 42°C for mutant A and at 33°C for mutant B.

A Therapeutic Uricase with Reduced Immunogenicity Risk and Improved Development Properties.

Humans and higher primates are unique in that they lack uricase, the enzyme capable of oxidizing uric acid. As a consequence of this enzyme deficiency, humans have high serum uric acid levels. In some people, uric acid levels rise above the solubility limit resulting in crystallization in joints, acute inflammation in response to those crystals causes severe pain; a condition known as gout.

Lipid- and polyion complex-based micelles as agonist platforms for TNFR superfamily receptors.

Receptor clustering is important for signaling among the therapeutically relevant TNFR superfamily of receptors. In nature, this clustering is driven by trimeric ligands often presented in large numbers as cell surface proteins. Molecules capable of driving similar levels of clustering could make good agonists and hold therapeutic value.

A hingeless Fc fusion system for site-specific cleavage by IdeS.

Fusion of proteins to the Fc region of IgG is widely used to express cellular receptors and other extracellular proteins, but cleavage of the fusion partner is sometimes required for downstream applications. Immunoglobulin G-degrading enzyme of Streptococcus pyogenes (IdeS) is a protease with exquisite specificity for human IgG, and it can also cleave Fc-fusion proteins at a single site in the N-terminal region of the CH2 domain. However, the site of IdeS cleavage results in the disulfide-linked hinge region partitioning with the released protein, complicating downstream usage of the cleaved product.

Combining phage display with de novo protein sequencing for reverse engineering of monoclonal antibodies.

The enormous diversity created by gene recombination and somatic hypermutation makes de novo protein sequencing of monoclonal antibodies a uniquely challenging problem. Modern mass spectrometry-based sequencing will rarely, if ever, provide a single unambiguous sequence for the variable domains. A more likely outcome is computation of an ensemble of highly similar sequences that can satisfy the experimental data.

Enhanced catalysis of oxime-based bioconjugations by substituted anilines.

The conjugation of biomolecules by chemoselective oxime ligation is of great interest for the site-specific modification of proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates. These conjugations proceed optimally at a reaction pH of 4-5, but some biomolecules are not soluble or stable under these conditions. Aniline can be used as a nucleophilic catalyst to enhance the rate of oxime formation, but even in its presence, the reaction rate at neutral pH can be slower than desired, particularly at low reagent concentrations and/or temperature.

O-xylosylation in a recombinant protein is directed at a common motif on glycine-serine linkers.

Glycine-serine (GS) linkers are commonly used in recombinant proteins to connect domains. Here, we report the posttranslational O-glycosylation of a GS linker in a novel fusion protein. The structure of the O-glycan moiety is a xylose-based core substituted with hexose and sulfated hexauronic acid residues.

Fibronectin type III domains engineered to bind CD40L: cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of two complexes.

Tn3 proteins are a novel class of binding molecules based on the third fibronectin type III domain of human tenascin C. Target-specific Tn3 proteins are selected from combinatorial libraries in which three surface-exposed loops have been diversified. Here, the cocrystallization of two different Tn3 proteins in complex with CD40L, a therapeutic target for immunological disease, is reported.

Multivalent scaffold proteins as superagonists of TRAIL receptor 2-induced apoptosis.

Activation of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor 2 (TRAILR2) can induce apoptosis in a variety of human cancer cell lines and xenografts, while lacking toxicity in normal cells. The natural ligand and agonistic antibodies show antitumor activity in preclinical models of cancer, and this had led to significant excitement in the clinical potential of these agents. Unfortunately, this optimism has been tempered by trial data that, thus far, are not showing clear signs of efficacy in cancer patients.

Production of a human neutralizing monoclonal antibody and its crystal structure in complex with ectodomain 3 of the interleukin-13 receptor α1.

Gene deletion studies in mice have revealed critical roles for IL (interleukin)-4 and -13 in asthma development, with the latter controlling lung airways resistance and mucus secretion. We have now developed human neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against human IL-13Rα1 (IL-13 receptor α1) subunit that prevent activation of the receptor complex by both IL-4 and IL-13. We describe the crystal structures of the Fab fragment of antibody 10G5H6 alone and in complex with D3 (ectodomain 3) of IL-13Rα1.

Endogenous IL-11 signaling is essential in Th2- and IL-13-induced inflammation and mucus production.

IL-11 and IL-11 receptor (R)alpha are induced by Th2 cytokines. However, the role(s) of endogenous IL-11 in antigen-induced Th2 inflammation has not been fully defined. We hypothesized that IL-11, signaling via IL-11Ralpha, plays an important role in aeroallergen-induced Th2 inflammation and mucus metaplasia.

Confinement in nanopores at the oxide/water interface: modification of alumina adsorption properties.

There is limited knowledge on the influence of the pore size on surface phenomena (adsorption, dissolution, precipitation, etc.) at the oxide/water interface and a better understanding of the space confinement in nanoscale pores should have practical implications in different areas, such as transport of contaminants in the environment or heterogeneous catalyst preparation, to name a few. To investigate the modifications of the oxide adsorption properties at the oxide/water interface in a confined environment, the surface acidobasic and ion adsorption properties of six different aluminas (5 porous commercial aluminas with pore diameters ranging from 25 to 200 A and 1 non-porous alumina) were determined by means of acid-base titration and Ni(II) adsorption.

Blocking LIF action in the uterus by using a PEGylated antagonist prevents implantation: a nonhormonal contraceptive strategy.

Blastocyst implantation is a critical stage in the establishment of pregnancy. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is essential for mouse blastocyst implantation and also plays a role in human pregnancy. We examined the effect of a potent LIF antagonist (LA) on mouse implantation.

Affinity purification of interacting proteins from cell lysates.

INTRODUCTIONIn this protocol, recombinant protein or a chemically synthesized bioactive fragment is immobilized on resin and used as a probe to capture interacting proteins directly from a cell extract. Affinity-purified proteins are fractionated by gel electrophoresis and visualized by Coomassie staining. Proteins that interact specifically are identified by comparing this gel profile to one obtained from cell lysates passed over a control resin lacking the immobilized probe protein.

The structure of SOCS3 reveals the basis of the extended SH2 domain function and identifies an unstructured insertion that regulates stability.

SOCS3 is essential for regulating the extent, duration, and specificity of cellular responses to cytokines such as G-CSF and IL-6. Here we describe the solution structure of SOCS3, the first structure determined for any SOCS protein, in complex with a phosphotyrosine-containing peptide from the IL-6 receptor signaling subunit gp130. The structure of the complex shows that seven peptide residues form a predominantly hydrophobic binding motif.

Identification of the key LMO2-binding determinants on Ldb1.

The overexpression of LIM-only protein 2 (LMO2) in T-cells, as a result of chromosomal translocations, retroviral insertion during gene therapy, or in transgenic mice models, leads to the onset of T-cell leukemias. LMO2 comprises two protein-binding LIM domains that allow LMO2 to interact with multiple protein partners, including LIM domain-binding protein 1 (Ldb1, also known as CLIM2 and NLI), an essential cofactor for LMO proteins. Sequestration of Ldb1 by LMO2 in T-cells may prevent it binding other key partners, such as LMO4.