Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20891.
Division of Viral Products, Office of Vaccines Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 May 3;119(18):e2201433119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2201433119. Epub 2022 Apr 27.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike is a trimer of S1/S2 heterodimers with three receptor-binding domains (RBDs) at the S1 subunit for human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Due to their small size, nanobodies can recognize protein cavities that are not accessible to conventional antibodies. To isolate high-affinity nanobodies, large libraries with great diversity are highly desirable. Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) are natural reservoirs of coronaviruses like Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV (MERS-CoV) that are transmitted to humans. Here, we built large dromedary camel VHH phage libraries to isolate nanobodies that broadly neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants. We isolated two VHH nanobodies, NCI-CoV-7A3 (7A3) and NCI-CoV-8A2 (8A2), which have a high affinity for the RBD via targeting nonoverlapping epitopes and show broad neutralization activity against SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants of concern. Cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) complex structures revealed that 8A2 binds the RBD in its up mode with a long CDR3 loop directly involved in the ACE2 binding residues and that 7A3 targets a deeply buried region that uniquely extends from the S1 subunit to the apex of the S2 subunit regardless of the conformational state of the RBD. At a dose of ≥5 mg/kg, 7A3 efficiently protected transgenic mice expressing hACE2 from the lethal challenge of variants B.1.351 or B.1.617.2, suggesting its therapeutic use against COVID-19 variants. The dromedary camel VHH phage libraries could be helpful as a unique platform ready for quickly isolating potent nanobodies against future emerging viruses.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2(SARS-CoV-2)的刺突是 S1/S2 异二聚体的三聚体,S1 亚基上有三个受体结合结构域(RBD),用于与人类血管紧张素转换酶 2(hACE2)结合。由于其体积小,纳米抗体可以识别常规抗体无法接触的蛋白质腔。为了分离高亲和力的纳米抗体,非常需要具有高度多样性的大型文库。单峰驼(Camelus dromedarius)是中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒(MERS-CoV)等冠状病毒的天然宿主,这些病毒会传播给人类。在这里,我们构建了大型单峰驼 VHH 噬菌体文库,以分离广泛中和 SARS-CoV-2 变体的纳米抗体。我们分离到两种 VHH 纳米抗体,NCI-CoV-7A3(7A3)和 NCI-CoV-8A2(8A2),它们通过靶向非重叠表位与 RBD 具有高亲和力,并显示出对 SARS-CoV-2 及其新兴关注变体的广泛中和活性。低温电子显微镜(cryo-EM)复合物结构表明,8A2 以其长 CDR3 环直接参与 ACE2 结合残基的上构象与 RBD 结合,而 7A3 靶向一个从 S1 亚基延伸到 S2 亚基顶点的独特深埋区域,无论 RBD 的构象状态如何。在 5mg/kg 及以上剂量下,7A3 可有效保护表达 hACE2 的转基因小鼠免受变体 B.1.351 或 B.1.617.2 的致命挑战,表明其可用于治疗 COVID-19 变体。单峰驼 VHH 噬菌体文库可作为一个独特的平台,有助于快速分离针对未来新兴病毒的有效纳米抗体。
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