The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic highlights the necessity for a more fundamental understanding of the coronavirus life cycle. The causative agent of the disease, SARS-CoV-2, is being studied extensively from a structural standpoint in order to gain insight into key molecular mechanisms required for its survival. Contained within the untranslated regions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome are various conserved stem-loop elements that are believed to function in RNA replication, viral protein translation, and discontinuous transcription. While the majority of these regions are variable in sequence, a 41-nucleotide s2m element within the genome 3′ untranslated region is highly conserved among coronaviruses and three other viral families. In this study, we demonstrate that the SARS-CoV-2 s2m element dimerizes by forming an intermediate homodimeric kissing complex structure that is subsequently converted to a thermodynamically stable duplex conformation. This process is aided by the viral nucleocapsid protein, potentially indicating a role in mediating genome dimerization. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the s2m element interacts with multiple copies of host cellular microRNA (miRNA) 1307-3p. Taken together, our results highlight the potential significance of the dimer structures formed by the s2m element in key biological processes and implicate the motif as a possible therapeutic drug target for COVID-19 and other coronavirus-related diseases.
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) represent an important and rapidly growing class of biotherapeutics. Correct folding of a mAb is critical for drug efficacy, while misfolding can impact safety by eliciting unwanted immune or other off-target responses. Robust methods are therefore needed for the precise measurement of mAb structure for drug quality assessment and comparability. To date, the perception in the field has been that NMR could not be applied practically to mAbs due to the size (∼150 kDa) and complexity of these molecules, as well as the insensitivity of the method. The feasibility of applying NMR methods to stable isotope-labeled, protease-cleaved, mAb domains (Fab and Fc) has been demonstrated from both E. coli and Chinese hamster ovaries (CHO) cell expression platforms; however, isotopic labeling is not typically available when analyzing drug products. Here, we address the issue of feasibility of NMR-based mapping of mAb structure by demonstrating for the first time the application of a 2D (13)C NMR methyl fingerprint method for structural mapping of an intact mAb at natural isotopic abundance. Further, we show that 2D (13)C NMR spectra of protease-cleaved Fc and Fab fragments can provide accurate reporters on the domain structures that can be mapped directly to the intact mAb. Through combined use of rapid acquisition and nonuniform sampling techniques, we show that these Fab and Fc fingerprint spectra can be rapidly acquired in as short as approximately 30 min.
With the advent of biosimilar version of brand biologics, regulatory authorities in all major jurisdictions throughout the world have developed guidance documents to facilitate their approval [1][2][3][4] . The common theme in the new guidance documents is the stipulation that sponsors must demonstrate biosimilarity between their proposed product and an approved reference product by using state-of-the-art analytical technologies to reduce the size of clinical studies. In the US guidance documents a "totality of evidence" approach is described that can be used to establish the degree of similarity and guide regulatory decision making 3, 4 .Higher order structure is an important quality attribute of biosimilars that must be assessed in a thorough comparability exercise. To date, the higher order structure has been evaluated with low-resolution techniques, such as circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopies, and indirectly with several biological and stability assays 5 . In 2008, a two dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D-NMR) spectroscopy approach was first applied to the high-resolution assessment of the higher order structure of a native Correspondence should be addressed to
The increased interest in using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as a platform for biopharmaceuticals has led to the need for new analytical techniques that can precisely assess physicochemical properties of these large and very complex drugs for the purpose of correctly identifying quality attributes (QA). One QA, higher order structure (HOS), is unique to biopharmaceuticals and essential for establishing consistency in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, detecting process-related variations from manufacturing changes and establishing comparability between biologic products. To address this measurement challenge, two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (2D-NMR) methods were introduced that allow for the precise atomic-level comparison of the HOS between two proteins, including mAbs. Here, an inter-laboratory comparison involving 26 industrial, government and academic laboratories worldwide was performed as a benchmark using the NISTmAb, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to facilitate the translation of the 2D-NMR method into routine use for biopharmaceutical product development. Two-dimensional 1H,15N and 1H,13C NMR spectra were acquired with harmonized experimental protocols on the unlabeled Fab domain and a uniformly enriched-15N, 20%-13C-enriched system suitability sample derived from the NISTmAb. Chemometric analyses from over 400 spectral maps acquired on 39 different NMR spectrometers ranging from 500 MHz to 900 MHz demonstrate spectral fingerprints that are fit-for-purpose for the assessment of HOS. The 2D-NMR method is shown to provide the measurement reliability needed to move the technique from an emerging technology to a harmonized, routine measurement that can be generally applied with great confidence to high precision assessments of the HOS of mAb-based biotherapeutics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.