|
|
||||||||
Enzymes and Protein Markers |
1
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 9921, Faculté de Pharmacie, Ave. Charles Flahault, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France.
2
ERIA, Rue d'Italie, 69780 Mions, France.
3
Sanofi Recherche, Ave. du Professeur Blayac, 34000
Montpellier, France.
4
Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur, Ave. Raymond Poincaré,
92230 Marnes-la-Coquette, France.
a Author for correspondence. Fax 33 4 67 54 86 10; e-mail granier{at}pharma.univ-montp1.fr.
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Because mAbs to globular proteins very often recognize assembled topographic epitopes (12) and much less frequently peptides, the analysis of antigenic epitopes recognized by anti-troponin I antibodies could also provide the necessary information to determine whether hcTnI is globular. In fact, the hydrodynamic behavior of bovine cardiac troponin I has been shown to be different from that expected for a typical globular protein (13); however, it was also postulated that bovine cardiac troponin I could be a compact globular protein with a well-defined hydrophobic core (14). The actual overall conformational type of cardiac troponin I is, therefore, not known. On the basis of our observations on the peptide reactivity of anti-hcTnI mAbs, we have attempted to clarify this issue. We also report here the detailed secondary structure of hcTnI, as predicted by a powerful algorithm (15), and analyze the relationship between epitope localization and secondary structure elements.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
antibody assay
The set of membrane-bound peptides was probed by incubation with
mAb (1 mg/L), rabbit polyclonal IgG (1 mg/L), or mouse polyclonal serum
(diluted 1:250). The binding was revealed by alkaline
phosphatase-conjugated anti-mouse or anti-rabbit antibody (Sigma
Chemical Co.; diluted 1:1000), as described (11). The
membrane was further treated so as to remove precipitated dye and bound
antibodies and reused when necessary.
synthesis of biotinylated soluble peptides
Peptides i1 (biotinyl-GSMMQALLGARAKE) and
i2 (biotinyl-GSNYRAYATEPHAK) corresponding,
respectively, to residues 154165 and 2536 of the hcTnI sequence
extended by a biotinylated two-residue spacer (Gly-Ser) were prepared
by Fmoc solid-phase synthesis on a AMS 422 robot (Abimed GmbH)
(17). After cleavage from the resin, the peptides were
analyzed by analytical reversed-phase HPLC (18)
(C18 column; 15-min gradient from 5% to 60% acetonitrile
in 1 mL/L aqueous trifluoroacetic acid; 1 mL/min) and found to be
>90% pure.
monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies
The mAbs were derived from mice immunized with purified hcTnI.
mAbs 10B11, 10F4, 8E10, 2A3, 5F1, and 7F4 were obtained from HyTest;
the others correspond to those described previously (6).
The specificity of these antibodies for hcTnI has been studied
previously (3)(6)(19). Rabbit
polyclonal IgG 212, 232, and 245 were prepared from the sera of three
rabbits immunized with purified hcTnI. Mouse polyclonal antibodies E
and G are pools of sera from three BALB/c and six Biozzi mice,
respectively.
real-time analysis of the interaction between mAbs and peptides or
hcTnI
Studies were performed at 25 °C by using a BIAcore apparatus
(Biacore AB). Purified hcTnI protein (20 mg/L) in 10 mmol/L sodium
acetate, pH 4.43, was immobilized on the flow cell of a CM5 sensor chip
surface (20), activated with 100 mmol/L
N-ethyl-N'-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide
hydrochloride and 400 mmol/L N-hydroxysuccinimide. The
amount of immobilized hcTnI for kinetic experiments was ~150200
pg/mm. Soluble biotinylated peptides i1 and
i2 (10 mg/L) in HEPES-buffered saline (HBS; Biacore AB), pH
7.4, were immobilized on flow cells of a streptavidin-coated sensor
chip. Next, sensor chips coupled with peptides were saturated with
biotin (50 mg/L) in HBS buffer. The amount of immobilized peptides was
~20 pg/mm. The binding kinetics of analytes (mAbs 11E12
and 8E1) to their immobilized reactants (peptides i1,
i2, or hcTnI) were determined by injecting 30 mL of
analytes (550 mg/L) in HBS buffer, pH 7.4, at a flow rate of 10
mL/min. Dissociation was observed in HBS without dissociating agent at
10 µL/min. The results are expressed as variation of resonance units
as a function of time. The kinetic variables were measured by using
BIAevaluation Software (21). The dissociation rate
(off-rate) constants, kd, were determined from a
plot of ln(Ro/R) vs time
(t), where R is the surface plasmon resonance
signal at time t. The association rate (on-rate) constants,
ka, were determined from a plot of
ln[abs(dR/dt)] vs time, and the dissociation
constants, KD, were determined from the ratio
kd/ka.
prediction of secondary structure
The Rost and Sander (22) procedure, which combines
sequence homology information and neural networks, was used to predict
the secondary structure of hcTnI on the basis of the amino acid
sequence of hcTnI (9) sent to the Predict Protein EMBL
mail server (23). The method achieves >70% accuracy in
identifying
-helices and ß-sheets. For the sake of clarity, the
detailed analysis is not provided (available on request), and only the
final prediction is given herein.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
|
Table 1
lists the epitopes that were thus identified by using the
complete panel of anti-hcTnI mAbs. These epitopes were distributed all
along the sequence of the protein. At the N terminus, residues 1622
were recognized by a single mAb (10B11), whereas amino acids
NYRAYATEPHAKK (residues 25 to 37) were recognized by six different mAbs
(3B9, 8D5, 3B8, 3C6, 11E12, and 10F4) with identical or similar
specificities. In the central part of the protein, the sequence LGFAELQ
(residues 8894) was recognized by mAbs 8E10, 2A3, and 5F1, and the
sequence ADAMMQALLG (residues 151160) was recognized by mAbs 2E6,
8G2, 7D1, and 8E1. In the C-terminal part of hcTnI, residues 190196
were mapped by antibodies 10F2 and 7F4, which exhibited identical
specificity. Most of the epitopes recognized by anti-hcTnI included one
or several charged residues (e.g., three Arg for 10B11 and one His and
two Lys for 10F4); the only exception was mAb 8E1, which recognized the
neutral and quite apolar sequence ALLG.
Peptides identified as epitopes by the Spot method might in fact
represent only a part of the epitope that the mAb actually recognizes
at the surface of the protein. To verify this possibility, the binding
characteristics of two model anti-hcTnI mAbs (8E1 and 11E12) to hcTnI
and to synthetic peptide epitopes were assessed by using BIAcore
methodology (20). Each mAb bound specifically to its
cognate synthetic peptide epitope with characteristic
associationdissociation curves (Fig. 2
, A and B). The equilibrium affinity constants derived from the
binding of these mAbs to the peptides compared very well with those
obtained from their interaction with the hcTnI molecule (Fig. 2C
).
Therefore, at least in these two cases, the peptide identified by the
Spot technique as an epitope is a good mimic of the antigenic epitope
recognized by the mAb on the protein.
|
antigenic regions defined by reactivity with polyclonal anti-hcTnI
antibodies
It was important to verify whether the epitope localization
obtained with the individual mAbs reflects the overall antigenic
structure of the protein. Two mouse and three rabbit polyclonal
anti-hcTnI were used to identify those parts of the protein that are
antigenic. The results are shown in Fig. 3
. Peptides from the N-terminal sequence (peptides 110) and
from the C-terminal sequence of hcTnI (peptides 6266) were most
frequently recognized by polyclonal antibodies (e.g., peptides 2, 3, 9,
63, and 64). This indicates that the extremities of the protein
correspond to the strongest antigenic regions. The central region of
the sequence (represented by peptides 2851) was recognized less
frequently. Some peptides of the hcTnI sequence were never bound by
polyclonal antibodies, possibly indicating that the corresponding
protein regions were weakly or not antigenic. The epitopes identified
by the anti-hcTnI mAbs (Fig. 3
) always corresponded to peptides that
are part of the antigenic regions identified on the basis of peptide
reactivity with polyclonal antibodies; this shows that the mAbs can be
considered as representative elements of the polyclonal response
against this molecule.
|
relationship between predicted secondary structure of hcTnI and
epitope positions
The method of Rost and Sander (22) was used to
predict the secondary structural features of hcTnI from its amino acid
sequence. The results are shown in Fig. 4
. The distinctive features are: (a) the existence of
a large unordered N-terminal region (residues 141) enclosing the 32
N-terminal residues of the protein, which are specific for the cardiac
isoform; (b) the existence of five regions predicted to be
in
-helical conformation. Although there remain some uncertainties
as to the exact residue at which helices start and stop, the helices
were tentatively assigned as: helix A, residues 4277; helix B,
residues 90135; helix C, residues 145159; helix D, residues
168176; and helix E, residues 182197; and (c) the
helical regions are separated from each other by short unordered
sequences. Altogether, 63.3% of the residues were predicted to be in
an
-helical conformation, and no ß-strand regions were predicted.
On the basis of this information, hcTnI can be said to be an all-alpha
type protein (23). The position of antigenic epitopes
recognized by mAbs on the molecule is also given in Fig. 4
. The
unordered structure of the first 42 residues is recognized by several
mAbs, which is consistent with the general observation that the
extremities of proteins are particularly antigenic. Furthermore, the
fact that several differences between the human sequence and the rabbit
and mouse cTnI sequences are clustered in the N-terminal part probably
contributes to the immunogenicity of this region. Other unordered
regions connecting helices A and B, B and C, C and D, and D and E were
not recognized by the mAbs; this is different from what is known for
globular proteins, for which antigenicity is often associated with loop
regions connecting elements of regular secondary structure. Helices B,
C, and E enclosed one or several antigenic epitopes, indicating that
they are exposed to the solvent; no epitopes were associated with the
large helix A and the short helix D.
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The two main antigenic regions were found to be at the N and C termini of the hcTnI sequence. This observation is of interest for the improvement of immunoassays for hcTnI; the antigenicity of the N-terminal, cardiac-specific part of hcTnI could advantageously be used by immunizing mice with N-terminal peptides or by selecting hydridomas on the basis of their reactivity with such peptides. mAbs recognizing the 32 N-terminal residues region should be specific for the cardiac isoform, which only exhibits this sequence. We identified mAbs 10B11, 3B9, 8D5, 3B8, and 3C6 as possessing this kind of epitope specificity. Therefore, these mAbs could possibly constitute useful tools in the immunodetection of the cardiac isoform of TnI for the clinical diagnosis of AMI, as is mAb 11E12 (3).
Our results not only corroborate those published previously concerning the epitope localization of the mAb 11E12 (6) but provide detailed information on the epitopes of many other mAbs. Remarkably, the precise analysis of the kinetics of interaction of mAbs 8E1 and 11E12 with synthetic replicas of the peptides identified by the Spot method indicated that they bound these short peptides with an affinity comparable with that for the entire hcTnI molecule. Thus, the epitope recognized by 8E1 and 11E12 at the surface of the protein (the "structural" epitope) probably does not enclose other hcTnI residues and is almost perfectly mimicked by the "functional" epitope (24) defined by peptide analysis. Consistent with the highly polar nature of the protein, all but one of the antibodies recognized hydrophilic, electrically charged sequences of hcTnI. The exquisite specificity of anti-hcTnI mAbs can be appreciated by the observation that, for example, mAb 10F4, which recognized the peptide TEPHAKKKSK, does not cross-react with peptide MEGRKKKFES, which encloses a similar stretch of three lysines (underlined residues). Furthermore, mAbs 8E10 and 2A3 bound peptide AELQDLCRQL but not peptide QIAKQELERE, which shares a highly similar motif (underlined residues). Only in the case of mAb 11E12 could a faint cross-reactivity be observed, which we attributed to partial sequence homology.
The secondary structure prediction that was performed by using one of the most accurate prediction methods (15) shows that hcTnI is an all-alpha type molecule. Several implications of the epitope analysis we have performed argue against hcTnI being globular, at least in the uncomplexed form that was used for immunization: (a) all 16 anti-hcTnI mAbs recognized a continuous epitope markedly; this contrasts with the observation that most mAbs to globular proteins show a conformation-dependent recognition (12) and, therefore, do not react with short peptides; (b) several helices of hcTnI are antigenic, which means that they are probably exposed to the solvent and not packed together as in globular proteins; and (c) we observed that regions connecting the predicted helices of hcTnI are not antigenic; this is in sharp contrast with the fact that turn regions in globular proteins are generally antigenic. Taken together, our results lead to the view that hcTnI is probably in an extended conformation, allowing most of the amino acid sequence of this protein to be recognized by the immune system. Biophysical measurements have shown that when complexed to human cardiac troponin C, a form that is likely released during AMI (19), hcTnI also appears to be in an extremely extended conformation (25).
In conclusion, the data presented here suggest that the improved knowledge of the antigenic and structural properties of hcTnI resulting from this study might yield methods for developing new antibodies and immunoassays for use in the clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:
![]() |
L. Babuin and A. S. Jaffe Troponin: the biomarker of choice for the detection of cardiac injury Can. Med. Assoc. J., November 8, 2005; 173(10): 1191 - 1202. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Eriksson, H. Halenius, K. Pulkki, J. Hellman, and K. Pettersson Negative Interference in Cardiac Troponin I Immunoassays by Circulating Troponin Autoantibodies Clin. Chem., May 1, 2005; 51(5): 839 - 847. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Hammerer-Lercher, P. Erlacher, R. Bittner, R. Korinthenberg, D. Skladal, S. Sorichter, W. Sperl, B. Puschendorf, and J. Mair Clinical and Experimental Results on Cardiac Troponin Expression in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Clin. Chem., March 1, 2001; 47(3): 451 - 458. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Q. Wang, H. T. Keutmann, A. L. Schneyer, and P. M. Sluss Analysis of Human Follistatin Structure: Identification of Two Discontinuous N-Terminal Sequences Coding for Activin A Binding and Structural Consequences of Activin Binding to Native Proteins Endocrinology, September 1, 2000; 141(9): 3183 - 3193. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. G. Katrukha, A. V. Bereznikova, V. L. Filatov, T. V. Esakova, O. V. Kolosova, K. Pettersson, T. Lovgren, T. V. Bulargina, I. R. Trifonov, N. A. Gratsiansky, et al. Degradation of cardiac troponin I: implication for reliable immunodetection Clin. Chem., December 1, 1998; 44(12): 2433 - 2440. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |