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Discover how PEPperPRINT Peptide Microarray products have been used in different fields of research.

Autoantikehad täppismeditsiinis

Jaks, Viljar; Uibo, Raivo
Immuuntolerantsi häirumine, mille üheks väljundiks on antikehade teke organismile omaste biomolekulide vastu, on oluline patogeneetiline mehhanism mitmete laialdaselt levinud haiguste puhul ja seetõttu on autoantikehade määramine kujunenud oluliseks diagnostiliseks vahendiks. Artiklis on käsitletud autoantikehade esinemise olulisust haiguste tekke ja kulu prognoosimisel. Kuigi sellekohane info on veel üsna napp, on selge, et organismi immuunstaatuse muutus eelneb aastaid haiguse ilmnemisele ning autoimmuunset komponenti sisaldava haiguse kulg ja prognoos on seotud patsiendil esinevate kindlate autoantikehadega. Sellest tulenevalt võime loota, et organismi immuunstaatuse uurimine, eriti aga autoantikehade spektri iseloomustamine, on tulevikus geneetilise info analüüsimise kõrval üks täppismeditsiini olulisemaid tööriistu.

Combination of two epitope identification techniques enables the rational design of soy allergen Gly m 4 mutants

Havenith, Heide; Kern, Karolin; Rautenberger, Paul; Spiegel, Holger; Szardenings, Michael; Ueberham, Elke; Lehmann, Jörg; Buntru, Matthias; Vogel, Simon; Treudler, Regina; Fischer, Rainer; Schillberg, Stefan
Biotechnol. J..
Feb 2017
Detailed IgE-binding epitope analysis is a key requirement for the understanding and development of diagnostic and therapeutic agents to address food allergies. An IgE-specific linear peptide microarray with random phage peptide display for the high-resolution mapping of IgE-binding epitopes of the major soybean allergen Gly m 4, which is a homologue to the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 is combined. Three epitopes are identified and mapped to a resolution of four key amino acids, allowing the rational design and the production of three Gly m 4 mutants with the aim to abolish or reduce the binding of epitope-specific IgE. In ELISA, the binding of the mutant allergens to polyclonal rabbit-anti Gly m 4 serum as well as IgE purified from Gly m 4-reactive soybean allergy patient sera is reduced by up to 63% compared to the wild-type allergen. Basophil stimulation experiments using RBL-SX38 cells loaded with patient IgE are showed a decreased stimulation from 25% for the wild-type Gly m 4 to 13% for one mutant. The presented approach demonstrates the feasibility of precise mapping of allergy-related IgE-binding epitopes, allowing the rational design of less allergenic mutants as potential therapeutic agents.

Antibody repertoire profiling with mimotope arrays

Pashova, Shina; Schneider, Christoph; von Gunten, Stephan; Pashov, Anastas
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics.
Jan 2017
Large-scale profiling and monitoring of antibody repertoires is possible through next generation sequencing (NGS), phage display libraries and microarrays. These methods can be combined in a pipeline, which ultimately maps the antibody reactivities onto defined arrays of structures – peptides or carbohydrates. The arrays can help analyze the individual specificities or can be used as complex patterns. In any case, the targets recognized should formally be considered mimotopes unless they are proven to be epitopes driving the antibody synthesis. Here, the advantages and disadvantages of the major profiling techniques as well as their current and future application in disease prediction and vaccination are discussed.

Identification of three immunodominant motifs with atypical isotype profile scattered over the Onchocerca volvulus proteome

Lagatie, Ole; Van Dorst, Bieke; Stuyver, Lieven J.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis.
Jan 2017
Understanding the immune response upon infection with the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus and the mechanisms that evolved in this parasite to evade immune mediated elimination is essential to expand the toolbox available for diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines development. Using high-density peptide microarrays we scanned the proteome-wide linear epitope repertoire in Cameroonian onchocerciasis patients and healthy controls from Southern Africa which led to the identification of 249 immunodominant antigenic peptides. Motif analysis learned that 3 immunodominant motifs, encompassing 3 linear epitopes, are present in 70, 43, and 31 of these peptides, respectively and appear to be scattered over the entire proteome in seemingly non-related proteins. These linear epitopes are shown to have an atypical isotype profile dominated by IgG1, IgG3, IgE and IgM, in contrast to the commonly observed IgG4 response in chronic active helminth infections. The identification of these linear epitope motifs may lead to novel diagnostic development but further evaluation of cross-reactivity against common co-infecting human nematode infections will be needed.

Properties of Two Enterovirus Antibodies that are Utilized in Diabetes Research

Maccari, Giuseppe; Genoni, Angelo; Sansonno, Silvia; Toniolo, Antonio
Sci Rep.
Apr 2016
Human enteroviruses (EVs) comprise >100 different types. Research suggests a non-chance association between EV infections and type 1 diabetes. Immunohistochemical studies with the anti-EV antibody 5D-8.1 have shown that the EV capsid antigen is present in pancreatic islet cells of diabetic subjects. When it was noticed that 5D-8.1 may cross-react with human proteins, doubt was casted on the significance of the above histopathologic findings. To address this issue, properties of EV antibodies 5D-8.1 and 9D5 have been investigated using peptide microarrays, peptide substitution scanning, immunofluorescence of EV-infected cells, EV neutralization assays, bioinformatics analysis. Evidence indicates that the two antibodies bind to distinct non-neutralizing linear epitopes in VP1 and are specific for a vast spectrum of EV types (not for other human viruses). However, their epitopes may align with a few human proteins at low expected values. When tested by immunofluorescence, high concentrations of 5D-8.1 yelded faint cytoplasmic staining in uninfected cells. At reduced concentrations, both antibodies produced dotted staining only in the cytoplasm of infected cells and recognized both acute and persistent EV infection. Thus, the two monoclonals represent distinct and independent probes for hunting EVs in tissues of patients with diabetes or other endocrine conditions.

Serum peptide reactivities may distinguish neuromyelitis optica subgroups and multiple sclerosis

Metz, Imke; Beißbarth, Tim; Ellenberger, David; Pache, Florence; Stork, Lidia; Ringelstein, Marius; Aktas, Orhan; Jarius, Sven; Wildemann, Brigitte; Dihazi, Hassan; Friede, Tim; Brück, Wolfgang; Ruprecht, Klemens; Paul, Friedemann
Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm.
Apr 2016
Objective: To assess in an observational study whether serum peptide antibody reactivities may distinguish aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody (Ab)–positive and -negative neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Methods: We screened 8,700 peptides that included human and viral antigens of potential relevance for inflammatory demyelinating diseases and random peptides with pooled sera from different patient groups and healthy controls to set up a customized microarray with 700 peptides. With this microarray, we tested sera from 66 patients with AQP4-Ab-positive (n = 16) and AQP4-Ab-negative (n = 19) NMOSD, RRMS (n = 11), and healthy controls (n = 20). Results: Differential peptide reactivities distinguished NMOSD subgroups from RRMS in 80% of patients. However, the 2 NMOSD subgroups were not well-discriminated, although those patients are clearly separated by their antibody reactivities against AQP4 in cell-based assays. Elevated reactivities to myelin and Epstein-Barr virus peptides were present in RRMS and to AQP4 and AQP1 peptides in AQP4-Ab-positive NMOSD. Conclusions: While AQP4-Ab-positive and -negative NMOSD subgroups are not well-discriminated by peptide antibody reactivities, our findings suggest that peptide antibody reactivities may have the potential to distinguish between both NMOSD subgroups and MS. Future studies should thus concentrate on evaluating peptide antibody reactivities for the differentiation of AQP4-Ab-negative NMOSD and MS.

Identification of Equine arteritis virus immunodominant B cell epitopes using a peptide microarray

Mayers, J.; Westcott, D.; Steinbach, F.
Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.
Apr 2016

Non-invasive glioblastoma immunoprofiling by printed peptide arrays

Mock, Andreas; Herold-Mende, Christel
OncoImmunology.
Feb 2016
Immune monitoring assays for patient stratification and treatment efficacy in clinical trials are in demand. We have recently described a cost-effective non-invasive assay to determine the immune status of glioblastoma patients. Profiling antitumor serum antibodies by customized printed peptide arrays identified response against a tenascin-C (TNC) peptide as a robust prognostic biomarker.

Autoantibodies specific to estrogen receptor alpha act as estrogen agonists and their levels correlate with breast cancer cell proliferation

Maselli, Angela; Capoccia, Sara; Pugliese, Patrizia; Raggi, Carla; Cirulli, Francesca; Fabi, Alessandra; Malorni, Walter; Pierdominici, Marina; Ortona, Elena
OncoImmunology.
Feb 2016
Estrogen receptors have recently been demonstrated at the cell surface. Unlike nuclear receptors, they are able to trigger rapid responses inside the cells. In this study, we evaluated the presence and the possible role of autoantibodies specific to estrogen receptor (anti-ER Abs) in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients. Anti-ERα Abs were detectable in 22/48 (46%) patients’ sera and their levels positively correlated with the percentage of Ki-67-positive breast cancer cells. Anti-ERα Abs purified from breast cancer patients’ sera were able: (i) to recognize ERα epitopes expressed at the cell surface of ER-positive breast cancer cells, (ii) to trigger rapid extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, and (iii) to induce cell proliferation. Our results suggest that anti-ERα Abs can act as estrogen agonists playing a pathogenetic role as breast cancer-promoting factors. These autoantibodies could also be considered as possible peripheral blood biomarkers indicative of the breast cancer growth potential.

Potent Adjuvanticity of a Pure TLR7-Agonistic Imidazoquinoline Dendrimer

Shukla, Nikunj M.; Salunke, Deepak B.; Balakrishna, Rajalakshmi; Mutz, Cole A.; Malladi, Subbalakshmi S.; David, Sunil A.
PLoS ONE.
Aug 2012
Engagement of toll-like receptors (TLRs) serve to link innate immune responses with adaptive immunity and can be exploited as powerful vaccine adjuvants for eliciting both primary and anamnestic immune responses. TLR7 agonists are highly immunostimulatory without inducing dominant proinflammatory cytokine responses. We synthesized a dendrimeric molecule bearing six units of a potent TLR7/TLR8 dual-agonistic imidazoquinoline to explore if multimerization of TLR7/8 would result in altered activity profiles. A complete loss of TLR8-stimulatory activity with selective retention of the TLR7-agonistic activity was observed in the dendrimer. This was reflected by a complete absence of TLR8-driven proinflammatory cytokine and interferon (IFN)-γ induction in human PBMCs, with preservation of TLR7-driven IFN-α induction. The dendrimer was found to be superior to the imidazoquinoline monomer in inducing high titers of high-affinity antibodies to bovine α-lactalbumin. Additionally, epitope mapping experiments showed that the dendrimer induced immunoreacti

Sensing Immune Responses with Customized Peptide Microarrays

Schirwitz, Christopher; Loeffler, Felix F.; Felgenhauer, Thomas; Stadler, Volker; Breitling, Frank; Bischoff, F. Ralf
Biointerphases.
Aug 2012
The intent to solve biological and biomedical questions in high-throughput led to an immense interest in microarray technologies. Nowadays, DNA microarrays are routinely used to screen for oligonucleotide interactions within a large variety of potential interaction partners. To study interactions on the protein level with the same efficiency, protein and peptide microarrays offer similar advantages, but their production is more demanding. A new technology to produce peptide microarrays with a laser printer provides access to affordable and highly complex peptide microarrays. Such a peptide microarray can contain up to 775 peptide spots per cm², whereby the position of each peptide spot and, thus, the amino acid sequence of the corresponding peptide, is exactly known. Compared to other techniques, such as the SPOT synthesis, more features per cm² at lower costs can be synthesized which paves the way for laser printed peptide microarrays to take on roles as efficient and affordable biomedical sensors. Here, we describe the laser printer-based synthesis of peptide microarrays and focus on an application involving the blood sera of tetanus immunized individuals, indicating the potential of peptide arrays to sense immune responses.

Physical Characterization of the “Immunosignaturing Effect”

Stafford, Phillip; Halperin, Rebecca; Legutki, Joseph Bart; Magee, Dewey Mitchell; Galgiani, John; Johnston, Stephen Albert
Mol Cell Proteomics.
Apr 2012
Identifying new, effective biomarkers for diseases is proving to be a challenging problem. We have proposed that antibodies may offer a solution to this problem. The physical features and abundance of antibodies make them ideal biomarkers. Additionally, antibodies are often elicited early in the ontogeny of different chronic and infectious diseases. We previously reported that antibodies from patients with infectious disease and separately those with Alzheimer’s disease display a characteristic and reproducible immunosignature on a microarray of 10,000 random sequence peptides. Here we investigate the physical and chemical parameters underlying how immunosignaturing works. We first show that a variety of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies raised against different classes of antigens produce distinct profiles on this microarray and the relative affinities are determined. A proposal for how antibodies bind the random sequences is tested. Sera from vaccinated mice and people suffering from a fugal infection are individually assayed to determine the complexity of signals that can be distinguished. Based on these results, we propose that this simple, general and inexpensive system could be optimized to generate a new class of antibody biomarkers for a wide variety of diseases.

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