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Engineering Human Pancreatic RNase 1 as an Immunotherapeutic Agent for Cancer Therapy Through Computational and Experimental Studies

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Abstract

Most plant and bacterial toxins are highly immunogenic with non-specific toxic effects. Human ribonucleases are thought to provide a promising basis for reducing the toxic agent’s immunogenic properties, which are candidates for cancer therapy. In the cell, the ribonuclease inhibitor (RI) protein binds to the ribonuclease enzyme and forms a tight complex. This study aimed to engineer and provide a gene construct encoding an improved version of Human Pancreatic RNase 1 (HP-RNase 1) to reduce connection to RI and modulate the immunogenic effects of immunotoxins. To further characterize the interaction complex of HP-RNase 1 and RI, we established various in silico and in vitro approaches. These methods allowed us to specifically monitor interactions within native and engineered HP-RNase 1/RI complexes. In silico research involved molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of native and mutant HP-RNase 1 in their free form and when bound to RI. For HP-RNase 1 engineering, we designed five mutations (K8A/N72A/N89A/R92D/E112/A) based on literature studies, as this combination proved effective for the intended investigation. Then, the cDNA encoding HP-RNase 1 was generated by RT-PCR from blood and cloned into the pSYN2 expression vector. Consequently, wild-type and the engineered HP-RNase 1 were over-expressed in E. coli TG1 and purified using an IMAC column directed against a poly-his tag. The protein products were detected by SDS–PAGE and Western blot analysis. HP-RNase 1 catalytic activity, in the presence of various concentrations of RI, demonstrated that the mutated version of the protein is able to escape the ribonuclease inhibitor and target the RNA substrate 2.5 folds more than that of the wild type. From these data, we tend to suggest the engineered recombinant HP-RNase 1 potentially as a new immunotherapeutic agent for application in human cancer therapy.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend special thanks to Dr. Matthew Robinson, Roland Dunbrack and Jimson D'Souza for critical discussions and nice suggestions.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant of the agricultural faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Mohammadreza Nassiri & Mojtaba Tahmoorespur

  2. Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Mohammadreza Nassiri, Mojtaba Tahmoorespur, Ahmad Reza Bahrami & Hesam Dehghani

  3. Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Guilan, 41635-1314, Rasht, Guilan, Iran

    Shahrokh Ghovvati

  4. Department of Biochemistry, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Marzieh Gharouni

  5. Department of Molecular Cell Biology, College of Applied Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Ahmad Reza Bahrami

  6. Department of Physiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Hesam Dehghani

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  1. Mohammadreza Nassiri
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Shahrokh Ghovvati and Marzieh Gharouni wrote the main manuscript text and prepared figures.All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Nassiri, M., Ghovvati, S., Gharouni, M. et al. Engineering Human Pancreatic RNase 1 as an Immunotherapeutic Agent for Cancer Therapy Through Computational and Experimental Studies. Protein J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10930-023-10171-z

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