Selection of single domain antibodies from immune libraries displayed on the surface of E. coli cells with two β-domains of opposite topologies

PLoS One. 2013 Sep 23;8(9):e75126. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075126. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Screening of antibody (Ab) libraries by direct display on the surface of E. coli cells is hampered by the presence of the outer membrane (OM). In this work we demonstrate that the native β-domains of EhaA autotransporter and intimin, two proteins from enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7 (EHEC) with opposite topologies in the OM, are effective systems for the display of immune libraries of single domain Abs (sdAbs) from camelids (nanobodies or VHH) on the surface of E. coli K-12 cells and for the selection of high affinity sdAbs using magnetic cell sorting (MACS). We analyzed the capacity of EhaA and intimin β-domains to display individual sdAbs and sdAb libraries obtained after immunization with the extracellular domain of the translocated intimin receptor from EHEC (TirM(EHEC)). We demonstrated that both systems displayed functional sdAbs on the surface of E. coli cells with little proteolysis and cellular toxicity, although E. coli cells displaying sdAbs with the β-domain of intimin showed higher antigen-binding capacity. Both E. coli display libraries were screened for TirM(EHEC) binding clones by MACS. High affinity binders were selected by both display systems, although more efficiently with the intimin β-domain. The specificity of the selected clones against TirM(EHEC) was demonstrated by flow cytometry of E. coli cells, along with ELISA and surface plasmon resonance with purified sdAbs. Finally, we employed the E. coli cell display systems to provide an estimation of the affinity of the selected sdAb by flow cytometry analysis under equilibrium conditions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adhesins, Bacterial / metabolism
  • Adhesins, Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Antibody Specificity
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / metabolism*
  • Blotting, Western
  • Camelus / immunology*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Escherichia coli O157 / metabolism*
  • Escherichia coli Proteins / metabolism
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Oligonucleotides / genetics
  • Peptide Library*
  • Plasmids / genetics
  • Single-Domain Antibodies / chemistry
  • Single-Domain Antibodies / metabolism*
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance

Substances

  • Adhesins, Bacterial
  • Adhesins, Escherichia coli
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • EhaA, Escherichia coli O157:H7
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • Oligonucleotides
  • Peptide Library
  • Single-Domain Antibodies
  • eaeA protein, E coli

Grants and funding

Work in the laboratory of LAF is supported by Grants from the Spanish Ministry of "Economía y Competitividad" (BIO2011-26689) (http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/) and the "Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid" (S2010-BMD-2312) (http://www.madrimasd.org/informacionidi/convocatorias/). VS is supported by an international PhD fellowship from the "La Caixa" Foundation (http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/ambitos/home/becas_es.html). EM and DR were supported by contracts "Apoyo a la Investigación" from the "Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid" (http://www.madrimasd.org/informacionidi/convocatorias/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.