Abstract
Infection with Helicobacter pylori may result in the emergence of gastric adenocarcinoma. Among various toxins assisting pathogenesis of H. pylori, the vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) is one of the most potent toxins known as the major cause of the peptic ulcer and gastric adenocarcinoma. To isolate single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) against two conserved regions of VacA, we capitalized on the phage display technology and a solution-phase biopanning (SPB). Characterization of scFvs was carried out by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunoblotting, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Bioinformatics analyses were also performed in order to characterize the structural and functional properties of the isolated scFvs and the interaction(s) between the isolated antibodies (Ab)-antigen (Ag). After four rounds of biopanning, the positive colonies detected by scFv ELISA were harvested to extract the plasmids and perform sequencing. Of several colonies, three colonies showed high affinity to the VacA1 and two colonies for the VacA2. Further complementary examinations (e.g., sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), western blot, SPR, and flow cytometry) displayed the high affinity and specificity of the isolated scFvs to the VacA. Docking results revealed the interaction of the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) with the VacA peptide. In conclusion, for the first time, we report on the isolation of several scFvs against conserved residues of VacA toxin with high affinity and specificity, which may be used as novel diagnostic/therapeutic tool in the H. pylori infection.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank all the members of the cell culture facility at the Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences for their help. The authors also thanks Dr. Morteza Eskandani, Mr. Abolfazl Barzegari, Ms. Farzaneh Fathi, Dr. Morteza Milani, Dr. Mohammadreza Sadeghi and Dr. Ailar Nakhlband for their assistance during this research.
Funding
The study was funded by postgraduate grant of the Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology (RCPN) at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (RCPN-93005; recipient Dr. M.R. Tohidkia). This work was a joint project for a postgraduate thesis between the RCPN and the School of Advanced Biomedical Sciences at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.
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Fahimi, F., Sarhaddi, S., Fouladi, M. et al. Phage display-derived antibody fragments against conserved regions of VacA toxin of Helicobacter pylori. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 102, 6899–6913 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9068-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9068-4