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

IgE and IgG4 Epitopes of Dermatophagoides and Blomia Allergens before and after Sublingual Immunotherapy

Figo, Daniele Danella; Cordeiro Macedo, Priscilla Rios; Gadermaier, Gabriele; Remuzgo, Cesar; Castro, Fábio Fernandes Morato; Kalil, Jorge; Galvão, Clovis Eduardo Santos; Santos, Keity Souza
IJMS.
Feb 2023
Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is used worldwide to treat house dust mites (HDM) allergy. Epitope specific immunotherapy with peptide vaccines is used far less, but it is of great interest in the treatment of allergic reactions, as it precludes the drawbacks of allergen extracts. The ideal peptide candidates would bind to IgG, blocking IgE-binding. To better elucidate IgE and IgG4 epitope profiles during SLIT, sequences of main allergens, Der p 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 23 and Blo t 5, 6, 12, 13, were included in a 15-mer peptide microarray and tested against pooled sera from 10 patients pre- and post-1-year SLIT. All allergens were recognized to some extent by at least one antibody isotype and peptide diversity was higher post-1-year SLIT for both antibodies. IgE recognition diversity varied among allergens and timepoints without a clear tendency. Der p 10, a minor allergen in temperate regions, was the molecule with more IgE-peptides and might be a major allergen in populations highly exposed to helminths and cockroaches, such as Brazil. SLIT-induced IgG4 epitopes were directed against several, but not all, IgE-binding regions. We selected a set of peptides that recognized only IgG4 or were able to induce increased ratios of IgG4:IgE after one year of treatment and might be potential targets for vaccines.

Anti-brolucizumab immune response as one prerequisite for rare retinal vasculitis/retinal vascular occlusion adverse events

Karle, Anette C.; Wrobel, Matthias B.; Koepke, Stephan; Gutknecht, Michael; Gottlieb, Sascha; Christen, Brigitte; Rubic-Schneider, Tina; Pruimboom-Brees, Ingrid; Leber, Xavier Charles; Scharenberg, Meike; Maciejewski, Benjamin; Turner, Oliver; Saravanan, Chandra; Huet, Francois; Littlewood-Evans, Amanda; Clemens, Andreas; Grosskreutz, Cynthia L.; Kearns, Jeffrey D.; Mehan, Pawan; Schmouder, Robert L.; Sasseville, Vito; Brees, Dominique
Sci. Transl. Med..
Feb 2023
In October 2019, Novartis launched brolucizumab, a single-chain variable fragment molecule targeting vascular endothelial growth factor A, for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. In 2020, rare cases of retinal vasculitis and/or retinal vascular occlusion (RV/RO) were reported, often during the first few months after treatment initiation, consistent with a possible immunologic pathobiology. This finding was inconsistent with preclinical studies in cynomolgus monkeys that demonstrated no drug-related intraocular inflammation, or RV/RO, despite the presence of preexisting and treatment-emergent antidrug antibodies (ADAs) in some animals. In this study, the immune response against brolucizumab in humans was assessed using samples from clinical trials and clinical practice. In the brolucizumab-naïve population, anti-brolucizumab ADA responses were detected before any treatment, which was supported by the finding that healthy donors can harbor brolucizumab-specific B cells. This suggested prior exposure of the immune system to proteins with structural similarity. Experiments on samples showed that naïve and brolucizumab-treated ADA-positive patients developed a class-switched, high-affinity immune response, with several linear epitopes being recognized by ADAs. Only patients with RV/RO showed a meaningful T cell response upon recall with brolucizumab. Further studies in cynomolgus monkeys preimmunized against brolucizumab with adjuvant followed by intravitreal brolucizumab challenge demonstrated that high ADA titers were required to generate ocular inflammation and vasculitis/vascular thrombosis, comparable to RV/RO in humans. Immunogenicity therefore seems to be a prerequisite to develop RV/RO. However, because only 2.1% of patients with ADA develop RV/RO, additional factors must play a role in the development of RV/RO.

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.

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