Technology based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has allowed rapid, label-free characterization of protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions, from quantitative measurements of binding kinetics and thermodynamics and concentrations in complex samples to epitope analysis. SPR has become the gold standard in industrial and academic settings, in which typically the interaction between a pair of soluble binding partners is characterized in detail or a library of molecules is screened for binding against a single soluble protein. In spite of these successes, the technology is only beginning to be adapted to the needs of membrane-bound proteins. Including G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), ion channels and other growth, immune and cellular receptors, these proteins are difficult to study in situ but represent promising targets for drug and biomarker development. Existing technologies, such as BIAcore™, have been adapted for membrane protein analysis by building supported lipid layers or vesicle capture on existing chips. Newer technologies, still in development, will allow membrane proteins to be presented in native or near-native formats. These include SPR nanopore arrays, in which lipid bilayers containing membrane proteins stably span small pores that are addressable from both sides of the bilayer. Here, we discuss successes with current SPR instrumentation and the potential for SPR nanopore arrays to enable quantitative, high-throughput screening of GPCR ligands, biomarker discovery involving membrane bound proteins and basic cellular biology.

We demonstrate an affordable low-noise SPR instrument based on extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) in metallic nanohole arrays and quantify a broad range of antibody-ligand binding kinetics with equilibrium dissociation constants ranging from 200 pM to 40 nM. This nanohole-based SPR instrument is straightforward to construct, align, and operate, since it is built around a standard microscope and a portable fiber-optic spectrometer. The measured refractive index resolution of this platform is 3.1 × 10−6 without on-chip cooling, which is among the lowest reported for SPR sensors based on EOT. This is accomplished via rapid full-spectrum acquisition in 10 milliseconds followed by frame averaging of the EOT spectra, which is made possible by the production of template-stripped gold nanohole arrays with homogeneous optical properties over centimeter-sized areas. Sequential SPR measurements are performed using a 12-channel microfluidic flow cell after optimizing surface modification protocols and antibody injection conditions to minimize mass-transport artifacts. The immobilization of a model ligand, the protective antigen of anthrax on the gold surface, is monitored in real-time with a signal-to-noise ratio of ~860. Subsequently, real-time binding kinetic curves were measured quantitatively between the antigen and a panel of small, 25 kDa single-chain antibodies at concentrations down to 1 nM. These results indicate that nanohole-based SPR instruments have potential for quantitative antibody screening and as a general-purpose platform for integrating SPR sensors with other bioanalytical tools.

Despite over five decades of research and vaccination, infection by Bordetella pertussis remains a serious disease with no specific treatments or validated correlates of protective immunity. Of the numerous monoclonal antibodies binding pertussis toxin (PTx) that have been produced and characterized, the murine IgG2a monoclonal antibody 1B7 is uniquely neutralizing in all in vitro assays and in vivo murine models of infection. 1B7 binds an epitope on the enzymatically active S1-subunit of PTx (PTx-S1) with some linear elements but previous work with S1 scanning peptides, phage displayed peptide libraries, and S1 truncation/deletion variants were unable to more precisely define the epitope. Using computational docking algorithms, alanine scanning mutagenesis, and surface plasmon resonance, we characterize the epitope bound by 1B7 on PTx-S1 in molecular detail and define energetically important interactions between residues at the interface. Six residues on PTx-S1 and six residues on 1B7 were identified which, when altered to alanine, resulted in variants with significantly reduced affinity for the native partner. Using this information, a model of the 1B7-S1 interaction was developed, indicating a predominantly conformational epitope located on the base of S1 near S4. The location of this epitope is consistent with previous data and is shown to be conserved across several naturally occurring strain variants including PTx-S1A, B (Tohama-I), D, and E (18-323) in addition to the catalytically inactive 9K/129G variant. This highly neutralizing but poorly immunogenic epitope may represent an important target for next generation vaccine development, identification of immune correlates and passive immunization strategies in pertussis.

Despite more than 50 years of vaccination, disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis persists, with rates increasing in industrialized countries over the past decade. This rise may be attributed to several factors, including increased surveillance, emergence of vaccine escape variants, waning immunity in adults, and the introduction of acellular subunit vaccines, which include chemically detoxified pertussis toxin (PTd). Two potently protective epitopes on pertussis toxin (PTx) are recognized by the monoclonal antibodies 1B7 and 11E6, which inhibit catalytic and cell-binding activities, respectively. In order to determine whether the PTx exposure route affects antibody responses to these epitopes, we analyzed sera from 30 adults with confirmed pertussis exposure and from 30 recently vaccinated adults for specific anti-PTx antibody responses and in vitro CHO cell neutralization titers. While overall titers against PTx and the genetically detoxified variant, PTg, containing the R9K and E129G substitutions, were similar in the two groups, titers against specific epitopes depended on the exposure route. Natural infection resulted in significantly higher titers of anti-PTx-subunit 1, 1B7-like, and 11E6-like antibodies, while acellular vaccination resulted in significantly higher titers of antibodies recognizing PTd. We also observed a correlation between in vitro protection and the presence of 1B7-like and 11E6-like antibodies. Notably, chemical detoxification, as opposed to genetic inactivation, alters the PTx tertiary and quaternary structure, thereby affecting conformational epitopes and recognition of PTx by 1B7 and 11E6. The lower levels of serum antibodies recognizing clinically relevant epitopes after vaccination with PTd support inclusion of PTg in future vaccines.Pertussis vaccines, widely introduced as an inactivated whole-cell vaccine in 1950, have been responsible for a dramatic decline in pertussis-related morbidity and mortality but have been unable to eradicate disease despite 95% coverage in many areas. Disturbingly, rates of confirmed pertussis cases in industrialized countries have increased steadily

The global market for monoclonal antibody therapeutics reached a total of $11.2 billion in 2004, with an impressive 42% growth rate over the previous five years and is expected to reach ~$34 billion by 2010. Coupled with this growth are stream-lined product development, production scale-up and regulatory approval processes for the highly conserved antibody structure. While only one of the 21 current FDA-approved antibodies, and one of the 38 products in advanced clinical trials target infectious diseases, there is increasing academic, government and commercial interest in this area. Synagis, an antibody neutralizing respiratory syncitial virus (RSV), garnered impressive sales of $1.1 billion in 2006 in spite of its high cost and undocumented effects on viral titres in human patients. The success of anti-RSV passive immunization has motivated the continued development of antiinfectives to treat a number of other infectious diseases, including those mediated by viruses, toxins and bacterial/fungal cells. Concurrently, advances in antibody technology suggest that cocktails of several monoclonal antibodies with unique epitope specificity or single monoclonal antibodies with broad serotype specificity may be the most successful format. Recent patents and patent applications in these areas will be discussed as predictors of future anti-infective therapeutics.

Pertussis toxin (PTx) is a major protective antigen produced by Bordetella pertussis that is included in all current acellular vaccines. Of several well-characterized monoclonal antibodies binding this toxin, the humanised hu1B7 and hu11E6 antibodies are highly protective in multiple in vitro and in vivo assays. In this study, we determine the molecular mechanisms of protection mediated by these antibodies. Neither antibody directly binds the B. pertussis bacterium nor supports antibody-dependent complement cytotoxicity. Both antibodies, either individually or as a cocktail, form multivalent complexes with soluble PTx that bind the FcγRIIb receptor more tightly than antibody alone, suggesting that the antibodies may accelerate PTx clearance via immune complex formation. However, a receptor binding assay and cellular imaging indicate that the main mechanism used by hu11E6 is competitive inhibition of PTx binding to its cellular receptor. In contrast, the main hu1B7 neutralising mechanism appears to be inhibition of PTx internalisation and retrograde trafficking. We assessed the effects of hu1B7 on PTx retrograde trafficking in CHO-K1 cells using quantitative immunofluorescence microscopy. In the absence of hu1B7 or after incubation with an isotype control antibody, PTx colocalizes to organelles in a manner consistent with retrograde transport. However, after preincubation with hu1B7, PTx appears restricted to the membrane surface with colocalization to organelles associated with retrograde transport significantly reduced. Together, these data support a model whereby hu11E6 and hu1B7 interfere with PTx receptor binding and PTx retrograde trafficking, respectively.