Each B-cell receptor consists of a pair of heavy and light chains. High-throughput sequencing can identify large numbers of heavy- and light-chain variable regions (VH and VL) in a given B-cell repertoire, but information about endogenous pairing of heavy and light chains is lost after bulk lysis of B-cell populations. Here we describe a way to retain this pairing information. In our approach, single B cells (>5 × 104 capacity per experiment) are deposited in a high-density microwell plate (125 pl/well) and lysed in situ. mRNA is then captured on magnetic beads, reverse transcribed and amplified by emulsion VH:VL linkage PCR. The linked transcripts are analyzed by Illumina high-throughput sequencing. We validated the fidelity of VH:VL pairs identified by this approach and used the method to sequence the repertoire of three human cell subsets—peripheral blood IgG+ B cells, peripheral plasmablasts isolated after tetanus toxoid immunization and memory B cells isolated after seasonal influenza vaccination.

CD8 + T cells are a key component of the adaptive immune response to viral infection. An inadequate CD8 +T cell response is thought to be partly responsible for the persistent chronic infection that arises following infection with HIV. It is therefore critical to identify ways to define what constitutes an adequate or inadequate response. IFN-γ production has been used as a measure of T cell function, but the relationship between cytokine production and the ability of a cell to lyse virus-infected cells is not clear. Moreover, the ability to assess multiple CD8 + T cell functions with single-cell resolution using freshly isolated blood samples, and subsequently to recover these cells for further functional analyses, has not been achieved. As described here, to address this need, we have developed a high-throughput, automated assay in 125-pl microwells to simultaneously evaluate the ability of thousands of individual CD8 + T cells from HIV-infected patients to mediate lysis and to produce cytokines. This concurrent, direct analysis enabled us to investigate the correlation between immediate cytotoxic activity and short-term cytokine secretion. The majority of in vivo primed, circulating HIV-specific CD8 + T cells were discordant for cytolysis and cytokine secretion, notably IFN-γ, when encountering cognate antigen presented on defined numbers of cells. Our approach should facilitate determination of signatures of functional variance among individual effector CD8 + T cells, including those from mucosal samples and those induced by vaccines.

The challenge of predicting which patients with breast cancer will develop metastases leads to the overtreatment of patients with benign disease and to the inadequate treatment of the aggressive cancers. Here, we report the development and testing of a microfluidic assay that quantifies the abundance and proliferative index of migratory cells in breast-cancer specimens, for the assessment of their metastatic propensity and for the rapid screening of potential antimetastatic therapeutics. On the basis of the key roles of cell motility and proliferation in cancer metastasis, the device accurately predicts the metastatic potential of breast-cancer cell lines and of patient-derived xenografts. Compared to unsorted cancer cells, highly motile cells isolated by the device exhibited similar tumourigenic potential but markedly increased metastatic propensity in vivo. RNA sequencing of the highly motile cells revealed an enrichment of motility-related and survival-related genes. The approach might be developed into a companion assay for the prediction of metastasis in patients and for the selection of effective therapeutic regimens.

Engineered crystallizable fragment (Fc) regions of antibody domains, which assume a unique and unprecedented asymmetric structure within the homodimeric Fc polypeptide, enable completely selective binding to the complement component C1q and activation of complement via the classical pathway without any concomitant engagement of the Fcγ receptor (FcγR). We used the engineered Fc domains to demonstrate in vitro and in mouse models that for therapeutic antibodies, complement-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (CDCC) and complement-dependent cell-mediated phagocytosis (CDCP) by immunological effector molecules mediated the clearance of target cells with kinetics and efficacy comparable to those of the FcγR-dependent effector functions that are much better studied, while they circumvented certain adverse reactions associated with FcγR engagement. Collectively, our data highlight the importance of CDCC and CDCP in monoclonal-antibody function and provide an experimental approach for delineating the effect of complement-dependent effector-cell engagement in various therapeutic settings.

T cells genetically modified to express a CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) for the investigational treatment of B-cell malignancies comprise a heterogeneous population, and their ability to persist and participate in serial killing of tumor cells is a predictor of therapeutic success. We implemented Timelapse Imaging Microscopy In Nanowell Grids (TIMING) to provide direct evidence that CD4+CAR+ T cells (CAR4 cells) can engage in multi-killing via simultaneous conjugation to multiple tumor cells. Comparisons of the CAR4 cells and CD8+CAR+ T cells (CAR8 cells) demonstrate that while CAR4 cells can participate in killing and multi-killing, they do so at slower rates, likely due to the lower Granzyme B content. Significantly, in both sets of T cells, a minor sub-population of individual T cells identified by their high motility, demonstrated efficient killing of single tumor cells. By comparing both the multi-killer and single killer CAR+ T cells it appears that the propensity and kinetics of T-cell apoptosis was modulated by the number of functional conjugations. T cells underwent rapid apoptosis, and at higher frequencies, when conjugated to single tumor cells in isolation and this effect was more pronounced on CAR8 cells. Our results suggest that the ability of CAR+ T cells to participate in multi-killing should be evaluated in the context of their ability to resist activation induced cell death (AICD). We anticipate that TIMING may be utilized to rapidly determine the potency of T-cell populations and may facilitate the design and manufacture of next-generation CAR+ T cells with improved efficacy.

Immune checkpoint therapy has resulted in remarkable improvements in the outcome for certain cancers. To broaden the clinical impact of checkpoint targeting, we devised a strategy that couples targeting of the cytokine-inducible SH2-containing (CIS) protein, a key negative regulator of interleukin (IL)-15 signaling, with fourth generation 'armored' chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-IL-15) engineering of cord blood (CB) derived natural killer (NK) cells. This combined strategy boosted NK cell effector function through enhancing the Akt/mTORC1 axis and c-MYC signaling, resulting in increased aerobic glycolysis. When tested in a lymphoma mouse model, this combined approach improved NK cell anti-tumor activity more than either alteration alone, eradicating lymphoma xenografts without signs of any measurable toxicity. We conclude that targeting a cytokine checkpoint further enhances the antitumor activity of IL-15 secreting armored CAR-NK cells by promoting their metabolic fitness and anti-tumor activity. This combined approach represents a promising milestone in the development of the next generation of NK cells for cancer immunotherapy.

The exquisite selectivity and catalytic activity of enzymes have been shaped by the effects of positive and negative selection pressure during the course of evolution. In contrast, enzyme variants engineered by using in vitro screening techniques to accept novel substrates typically display a higher degree of catalytic promiscuity and lower total turnover in comparison with their natural counterparts. Using bacterial display and multiparameter flow cytometry, we have developed a novel methodology for emulating positive and negative selective pressure in vitro for the isolation of enzyme variants with reactivity for desired novel substrates, while simultaneously excluding those with reactivity toward undesired substrates. Screening of a large library of random mutants of the Escherichia coli endopeptidase OmpT led to the isolation of an enzyme variant, 1.3.19, that cleaved an Ala-Arg peptide bond instead of the Arg-Arg bond preferred by the WT enzyme. Variant 1.3.19 exhibited greater than three million-fold selectivity (-Ala-Arg-͞-Arg-Arg-) and a catalytic efficiency for AlaArg cleavage that is the same as that displayed by the parent for the preferred substrate, Arg-Arg. A single amino acid Ser223Arg substitution was shown to recapitulate completely the unique catalytic properties of the 1.3.19 variant. These results can be explained by proposing that this mutation acts to ''swap'' the P 1 Arg side chain normally found in WT substrate peptides with the 223Arg side chain in the S 1 subsite of OmpT.engineering ͉ flow cytometry T he reprogramming of enzyme catalytic activity and selectivity is a central issue in protein biochemistry and biotechnology. Numerous structure-guided and directed evolution strategies have been used in search of enzyme variants that exhibit high catalytic rates with poor or inactive substrates of the parental enzyme (1-19). As impressive as these successes have been, the engineering of enzymes that exhibit turnover rates and selectivities with new substrates comparable to their natural counterparts has proven quite a challenge, especially when considering those enzymes for which a genetic selection strategy is not possible.In particular, enzymes engineered through laboratory evolution involving in vitro catalytic assays have often been found lacking, either with respect to turnover rates or selectivity, relative to catalyst-substrate pairs isolated from natural sources. As a typical example, an extensive directed evolution program led to the isolation of Escherichia coli ␤-glucuronidase variants with significant ␤-galactosidase (10) or xylanosidase (11) activities, but nonetheless even the best clones exhibited k cat ͞K m values Ͼ1,000 times lower than those of naturally occurring enzymes such as the E. coli ␤-galactosidase or the Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum ␤-xylosidase.This trend appears to be general. In a recent comprehensive study, Aaron et al. (12) demonstrated that the evolution of higher activity toward poor substrates did not impair the parental catalytic activity, and,...

A family of engineered endopeptidases has been created that is capable of cleaving a diverse array of peptide sequences with high selectivity and catalytic efficiency (k cat /K M > 10 4 M −1 s −1 ). By screening libraries with a selection-counterselection substrate method, protease variants were programmed to recognize amino acids having altered charge, size and hydrophobicity properties adjacent to the scissile bond of the substrate, including Glu↓Arg, a specificity that to our knowledge has not been observed among natural proteases. Members of this artificial protease family resulted from a relatively small number of amino acid substitutions that (at least in one case) proved to be epistatic.Around 2% of the mammalian genome encodes for enzymes involved in protein degradation, underscoring the fundamental role of proteolysis in living organisms 1 . Unregulated proteolysis in vivo is lethal, and hence there is a critical requirement for precise sequence specificity as well as temporal and spatial control over protease activity 2,3 . The generalizable ability to engineer a protease to cleave any desired peptide sequence in an exquisitely selective manner and with high catalytic efficiency is of substantial interest for analytical, biotechnological and even therapeutic applications [4][5][6][7] . Although the utility of structure-guided mutagenesis to swap substrate preferences between homologous proteases has been previously demonstrated8 , 9, the systematic engineering of protease specificity to accommodate a diverse set of substrate sequences while maintaining high catalytic activity has remained elusive. Furthermore, typical directed evolution efforts to modify substrate preferences have given rise to enzymes exhibiting either relaxed selectivity or lower turnover for the new substrate10 ,11 . Herein we report the surprisingly general ability to program a family of highly selective and active proteases with new substrate specificities at both the P1 and P1′ positions, including sequences not recognized by the wild-type (WT) enzyme. Using a dual-substrate selection-counterselection flow cytometric assay to screen libraries derived from various diversification methods, protease variants were engineered to be specific for scissile bonds comprised of amino acids having altered charge, size, and NIH Public Access RESULTS Selection and counterselection strategiesThe Escherichia coli surface endopeptidase OmpT likely plays multiple roles in virulence 12 and exhibits a strong preference for cleavage between pairs of the basic amino acids lysine and arginine (especially the latter), cleaving these pairs with high catalytic efficiency 13 . Importantly, OmpT is not active until incorporated into the E. coli outer membrane, minimizing host lethality 14 . A quantitative, single cell-based assay optimized for dynamic range and sensitivity was developed to isolate only those OmpT variants capable of cleaving a desired selection peptide substrate (SelSub), but not a counterselection substrate (CtsSub) (Fig. 1a, ref...