Toxins produced by various living organisms (bacteria, yeast, scorpions, snakes, spiders and other living organisms) are the main pathogenic factors causing severe diseases and poisoning of humans and animals. To date, recombinant forms of these toxins are widely used as antimicrobial agents, anticancer drugs, vaccines, etc. Various modifications, which in this case can be introduced into such recombinant proteins, can lead to a weakening of the toxic potency of the resulting toxins or, conversely, increase their toxicity. Thus, it is important to publicly discuss the situations and monitor the emergence of such developments.
1. Introduction
To date, recombinant toxins from various biological sources (bacteria, yeast, scorpions, snakes, spiders and other living organisms) are widely used as: (i) antimicrobial agents for medical purposes, as well as antimicrobial additives for the food and biotechnological industries, (ii) groundwork for the creation of drugs with anticancer activity and the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and (iii) the basis to develop vaccines, etc. Multiple works have been performed to study the mechanisms of action of genetically modified toxins and their applications
[1][2][3][4][5][6] (
Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Various applications of recombinant toxins.
The protein/polypeptide nature of most of these natural toxins allows them to obtain their recombinant forms. The potential for developing these biomolecules in high enough quantities is the basis for further advancements in developing vaccines and drugs with reduced cost and their widespread use, on the one hand. On the other hand, the production of recombinant toxins avoids the need to work directly with the natural sources of these biomolecules (animals and microbial pathogens). Obtaining genetic constructs encoding the synthesis of recombinant toxins expands the possibilities of their synthesis in special modified forms. Like many recombinant proteins, recombinant toxins can be obtained in high yields using different expression systems, including extracellular secretion, and further isolated and finely purified using affine carriers
[7][8].
2. Spectrum of Recombinant Toxins and Their Origins
Most of proteinaceous toxins well-studied to date are produced by various bacteria. However, toxins that are found in yeast, snake, scorpion and spider venoms and other living organisms are also actively studied by various scientific groups today. Recombinant toxins obtained from various origins and purposes of their obtaining are presented in
Table 1 [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64].
3. Diversity of Modern Purposes for Obtaining Recombinant Toxins
F2.1. Bacterial Recombinant Toxins
Bacterial cells are capable of synthesizing endo- and exotoxins. Ending ways of obtaining effectotoxins, as a rule, are cell-bound lipopolysaccharides that are released after cell destruction, while exotoxins are protein toxins that are synthesized inside cells and released into the environment. Thus, the recombinant forms of these exotoxins are discussed next (Table 1).
Botulivnum ne antibourotoxin (BoNT) and tetanus toxin (TeNT) produced by cells of the Clostridium botulinum and C. tetani, respectives and the development of vaccines againstly, are among the most dangerous and therefore the most well-studied bacterial toxins. Botulism and tetanus diseases caused by these toxins are among the most severe neurological diseases that cause flaccid paralysis and spastic paralysis, respectively. In addition, BoNT is widely used to treat a number of diseases. Consequently, recombinant tforms of these toxins is one of the main gohave been actively created and researched for many years with the aim of both developing effective antidotes and obtaining drugs based on them.
A double-blind, pla
cebo-control
s todayled study evaluated the safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics (PD) [65][66].of the recombinant botulinum toxin Fsero
r maximal qutype E (rBoNT-E) compared with commercial botulinum toxin type A (ABO, Dysport ®) [9]. All doses of the recombina
nt toxin were well
ity and effici tolerated, and rBoNT-E had a faster onset of action, a greater peak effect and a shorter duration of effect at the highest tested doses compared with ABO.
To solve
an
cy of immunologic medications, initial toxins sh opposite task and neutralize BoNT and other toxins, various antibodies are usually used. Special interest is afforded to single-domain camel antibodies (sdAb, VHH or nanobody) possessing unique structure and characteristics and their chimeras with usual human immunoglobulins. As a result, such immunotherapeutic agents could have up to 1000 times increased protective activity against C. botulinum and prolo
nged circul
ation in blood
[45].
Different sub
type
highly purifs of BoNT have a varying toxicity, and BoNT/A is more potent toward the human neuroblastoma cell line as compared to BoNT/B [51]. At the same ti
me
d, be in sufficien, genetic modification of the latter to BoNT/BY resulted in improved affinity for human synaptotagmin and BoNT/B receptor, as well as increased toxicity toward this cell line.
C3 prot
ein toxin from C. botulinum (C3bot) qucells is a mono-ADP-ribosyltran
tities and stimulsferase that selectively intoxicates macrophages, osteoclasts and dendritic cells by cytosolic modification of Rho GTPases (Rho-A, Rho-B and Rho-C). Thus, C3bot and, even better, its nontoxic variant C3botE174Q have been proven as perspective tra
nsporte
rs for selective
immune resdelivery of small molecules, peptides and proteins to the cytosol of macrophages and other cells [23][24].
Proteolytically activated sep
arate binding/transpo
nrt subunit C2IIa of C2 toxin from C. botulinum has
bee
.n found [25] to be a Rspec
ombinant toxins’ productioific inhibitor of chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), allowing selective suppression of excessive and harmful PMN recruitment to organs as a result of trauma. The enzymatically inactive N-terminal part of the C. botulinum C2 toxin
(C2IN) when fus
oed to Rho-inhibiting C3 toxin from C. limosum (C3l
im) significantly improves the
ftoxic action of the latter [52]. In a cli
rnically s
t two issues, thoughignificant mouse model, the in vivo introduction of C2IN-C3lim into the lungs after a blunt chest injury prevented injury-induced recruitment of monocytes into the lungs. Thus, such combinatorial fusion chimeras can be of practical interest due to great variability of available toxin modules.
Until now, vaccin
ation has bee
s can stiln the best way to combat diseases associated with many bacterial strains, including C. perfringens cell
s and α-, β- and ε-toxins of th
e ba
ve cross-specificitycteria. However, commercially available vaccines are based on inactivated toxins and have many manufacturing disadvantages that can be overcome using recombinant antigens. Recombinant α-, β- and ε-toxins were synthesized in E. coli cells to create a trivalent vaccine and evaluated on rabbits, cattle, sheep and goats.
4. Prediction of Toxicity of Synthetic Recombinant Proteins
The
levels of produced antibodies in all anima
joritls exceeded the minimum values recommended by international protocols [46][47], thus proving the viability of the
ap
ublications of recent years emproach. Even more, nonvirulent species of the same bacteria can be modified to bear a specific toxin or its part and safely modulate strong immune response, e.g., Vibrio cholerae cells exp
ressing th
asize te β-subunit of cholera toxin (CTB) [48].
Anothe
r importance of usmajor group of proteinaceous toxins is produced by the members of the genus Bacillus. Bacillus cereus cells causing
foodb
ioinformatics methods to ideorne diseases secrete various pore-forming pathogenicity factors, including Hemolysin II (HlyII). As above mentioned, it can be specifically neutralized by antibodies [27], thus preventi
fng mortality
nin vivo [28].
B. anthracis ce
wlls cause one of the most variants of toxins and clarify the mechanisms of their toxic effectsdangerous infectious diseases, Anthrax. The use of the Anthrax protective antigen (PA) is considered the most promising approach to the development of an Anthrax vaccine. However, the instability of the recombinant PA complicates the production of stable recombinant vaccines. Thus, a number of modification methods have been applied in recent years to design a stable recombinant Anthrax PA. For example, proteolytic-sensitive sites simultaneously with deamidation-prone amino acids can be genetically modified [56][57].
MAlternatively, additio
lecular modenal stabilizers, e.g., spherical particles (SPs) of tobacco mosaic virus, can be added [58]. Joint appli
cation
g facilitates the under of both methods gives even better results in terms of stability, immunogenicity and protectiveness of the final product, including in vivo tests with a fully virulent B. anthracis st
ra
nin.
B. thuringiensis cells prod
uce δ-endotoxin
g os (Cry), which are toxic to a wide variety of insect pests and currently used widely in agriculture. Insertion of the
interaction gene encoding Cry1Ia toxin into a bacterial strain inhibiting fungal growth results in combined fungistatic and insecticidal activity as well as ability to induce plant resistance [29].
A lo
t of
tbacterial toxins
within their
receptors and/or tstructures contain metal ions performing various purposes. First of all, metal ions can be located in the active sites of metalloproteases such as BFT toxin from B. fragilis lea
ding to damage and necr
getsosis of the intestinal epithelium [30]. In addition,
such me
specially when these comtals can contribute to toxin structural stabilization and even promote recognition of the target receptor like in the case of staphylococcal enterotoxin-like protein P (SElP) from Staphylococcus aureus binding to major histocomp
atibility co
mplex class II (MHCII) [59]. It shou
ld be n
ds are boundoted that some virulence factors secreted by bacteria may be toxic to the
membrane, and biochemicmicroorganisms themselves. To prevent collateral damage and to additionally protect active components, they can be secreted in nanovesicles, which are able to be modeled in silico [30].
The diphtheria
toxin (DT) from Corynebacterium diphtheriae kil
ls approaches to the study of these processes are complexmammalian cells by inactivating the elongation factor EF-2. The translocation domain in DT plays a critical role in allowing the catalytic domain to pass to the cytosol from endosomal compartments and can be used as a functional vector for active transport of protein drugs [6731].
Some mammalian species are resistant to D
ue to advances in synthetic biology, the cost and time requiT. The DT receptor, proHB-EGF, in resistant and sensitive species differs by amino acid sequence and therefore by secondary structure; however, there is no consensual opinion on how the difference in the structure of primary receptors changes the process of internalization of DT by resistant cells compared to sensitive ones. According to some publications [32], there
can be even very little d
for the developmeifference of binding constants of DT subunit B (which includes receptor-binding and translocation domains) to resistant and s
ynthesis of individual recombinantensitive cells, while there was huge difference of intracellular concentrations of toxin within model cells. It means that multiple mechanisms of resistance to DT may exist in mammalian cells.
Several ap
roducts are steadily decreaproved drugs, e.g., denileukin diftitox, which is fusion of DT with interleukin-2, are commercially available and actively used to date. However, research to improve their efficiency, producibility and safety as well as to obtain new therapeutics with DT are constantly continued [54][55].
Listeria monocytogenes cells
apply in
g. Many research laboratories regulaternalins InlA and InlB to attach and penetrate into mammalian cells. Curiously, hepatocyte growth factor receptors (HGFR) together with other multiple variants are also affected by InlB [33]. This is impor
tant since HGF/HGFR pl
y create genetically modified proteiay crucial role in liver restoration after its acute toxic damage. Thus, truncated bacterial InlB was implemented as a functional analogue of HGF to obtain novel drugs with hepatoprotective activity.
Bacterial toxins
ca
s a part of their rn interact not only with receptors themselves but with complexes of receptor and signal molecules. One of such examples is LcrV from Yersinia pestis [34]. It is a strong virule
snce
arch activities. However, manipulations of factor having multiple functionalities, one of which is specific activation of human receptor-bound interferon-γ (hIFN-γ), which resulted in immune cell death via apoptosis. It became possible only after hIFN-γ binding to receptor and presentation of its 138GRRA141 site, which specifica
mlly in
o aciteracts with 32LEEL35 and
/or 203DEEI206 s
ite
quences in pros of LcrV. Thus, inactivation of these sites by specific antibodies completely prevents any harmful effects of LcrV.
Protein
bios
can lead to the unintendedynthesis can be targeted by bacterial toxins, as well. For example, bacteria can utilize multiple enzymes from Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) superfamily to acetylate and thus inactivate specific aminoacyl tRNAs, including transporters of Met, Ile, Gly, etc. [35].
2.2. Yeast Recombinant Toxins
Killer yeasts are able to produc
e prot
ion of protein toxinseins named “killer toxins” that are often glycosylated and bind to specific receptors on the surface of the sensitive microorganism, which is then destroyed by a target-specific mechanism of action (Table 1). The
y are
fore, the abi widespread among yeasts and attract a lot of attention of researchers. To date, more than 100 types of killer yeasts have been described [65]. The most wel
l-characteri
ty to zed killer toxins in terms of their genetic determin
e the toxiants, biochemical characteristics, molecular targets on sensitive cells and mechanisms of their destruction are toxins K1, K2 and K28 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae; zymoci
n from Kluyveromyces lactis; PMKT and PMKT2 from Pichia membranifaciens; PaKT from Wickerhamomyces anomalus; HM-1 from Cyberlindnera mrakii and Kpkt
y from Tetrapisispora phaffii. Due to their properties and spectrum of a
ction, protein before its synthesis reduces the riwhich is aimed at pathogenic microorganisms, recombinant killer toxins are being actively investigated in order to develop therapeutic agents based on them. However, the lack of research on their effects on humans and animals limits their use in the food and feed industry. Another drawback is that additional information about the mechanisms underlying the formation of killer toxins in yeast is required. Without solving these issues, it is not possible to successfully implement killer toxins in practice [65][66].
A s
tudy of S. paradoxus revealed a new K1-lik
e of the ptoxin (K1L) being active against sensitive competing yeast cells [10]. It is enco
ded by double-st
ential dangranded RNA (dsRNA) and satellite dsRNA, which may also be of virus origin. Its homologues have been identified in other six yeast species not belonging to Saccharomyces and are
likely to be acquir
of synthetic proded by horizontal gene transfer via dsRNA and/or DNA with subsequent diversification of their structure and toxicity profile.
Genetic fusion of toxins with flu
oresc
tion of pent proteins allowed researchers to study the binding of the toxin to the cell envelope of affected yeast [11]. However
, intracellular translo
teincation of labeled recombinant toxin
s. For this purpose, various methods based on machine learning a K28 was not observed then, in spite of the presence of toxicity. It means there are gaps in our understanding of the true mechanism of killer toxin action and transport even among best-investigated ones. Further research is required to visualize intracellular transfer of toxins using high-resolution imaging techniques of individual molecules.
Killer
toxin K1 is se
bcreted by S. cerevisiae strains in a he
terodi
ng developmeric form. After binding to the primary receptor (β-1,6 glucans) in the cell wall, K1 is transported to
predict the toxicity of proteins in sithe plasma membrane and is initially supposed to interact with its secondary receptor Kre1p, which ultimately leads to an ionophoric disruption of the membrane function. However, expression of recombinant K1α in resistant yeasts lacking Kre1p resulted in profound toxic effect [12], thus excl
udi
co based on a number of initial datang role of the receptor. At the same time, co-expression of toxin precursor(s) in sensitive cells eliminated any negative effects. Thus, resistance to killer toxins is a part of adaptive (
Figure 2acquired)
immune system.
Figure 2. Machine-learning methods based tools for protein toxicity prediction.
5. Potential Enzymatic Antidotes for Recombinant Toxins
Du
Some kille
r to
txins, e.g., Kpkt from T. phaffii (formerly Kluyveromyces phaffii), h
ave
wide variantimicrobial activity not only on yeast but also on bacteria [13]. Inte
rest
y of toxiingly, activity of Kpkt was not detected toward all tested mycelial fungi. Meanwhile, Kpkt has a β-1,3-glucanase activity [14][36] an
d thus
known to date and differences in the meccan be combined, for example, with chitinases to synergistically improve their antifungal effects. At concentrations effective again yeasts, recombinant Kpkt has no effect on immortalized human epidermal keratinocyte cell line HaCaT [36]. Tha
t makes it promisin
isg for further investigations.
2.3. Recombinant Toxins of Various Animals
Venoms of
snakes, scorpions and spiders are used by animals as their
action, there is an urgent need to create antidotes that both have a specific effect and are active against a wide range of toxinsown defensive and offensive means by immobilizing victim and blocking the functional activity of their cardiovascular, respiratory and/or nervous systems. Proteinaceous toxins are the main components of these systems and modulate important ion channels and receptors after introduction into the body. Today, powerful databases of poisons and protein toxins with improved properties have been assembled already for more selective action, resistance to the effects of proteases, less immunogenicity and improved characteristics, in terms of pharmacokinetic properties. These characteristics can be improved by genetic modification of amino acid sequences, addition of disulfide and ion bridges, etc. After all, animal venom toxins are of great interest for applications in medicine as a basis for drug development [5] (Table 1).
The
mβ/δ aga
in dtoxin-1 of the spider Agelena orientalis was obtained i
n rec
tionsombinant form in the entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium muscarium with a special secreto
f anry signal peptide [16]. Further t
oxi
dote development n was fused with eGFP to simplify the screening procedure. Unfortunately, toxic activity of the fusion protein was not investigated in the work.
Anot
her fusio
dayn protein of GFP with agitoxin-2 from scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus wa
re s more useful [62]. That allowed rese
archers to vi
ther the creationsualize the binding of toxins to their receptor as well as to determine dissociation constants of various
inhtoxins competing for the same Kv1.3 channel.
Purotoxi
n-1 (PT1) from the venom of the Central Asian spider Geolycosa sp. selectively inhibit
s the purinergic receptor
s capable of blocking the P2X3 and is a potent analgetic. It can be produced in pilot scale as self-cleavable fusion protein with mini-intein DnaB [17]. However, its
purifi
tes of bindcation is multistage and labor-intensive with modest yield at the end.
Interesting
ly, ofTbo-IT2 toxin
s t was identified in the spider Tibellus oblongus by cDNA analysis o
f t
arghe transcriptome of its venom glands [40]. Its amino acid sequence has a 41% ide
nt
s or the production of proteins (usually antibodies) city match with the closest protein toxin, while its spatial structure folds into a well-known inhibitory cysteine knot (ICK). The first main difference is the formation of five disulfide bonds instead of the typical three that should result in extreme stability of the toxin. The second and the most puzzling difference is that Tbo-IT2 did not have inhibitory activity on the tested panel of available ion channels and neuroreceptors, while it is still toxic to the housefly, Musca domestica. Further resea
prch ma
ble of y elucidate the target(s) of the Tbo-IT2.
Another a
cttempt to apply mini-int
ing as bioscein DnaB was a little bit more successful [21], a
lthough the target toxin, APHC3 from the anemone H. crispa, which has analgesic activ
ity, was produce
ngers vd in inclusion bodies and multistage purification was still required.
Fusion with His-tag and Smt3-leader pepti
de wa
binds shown to be a much more efficient method [22]. The resulting
inhibitor of the TRPV1 ion channel (HCRG21 peptid
e from the sea anemone H. magnifica) was easi
er
ectly to to purify and after cleavage was obtained at comparable yield to APHC3.
As stat
ed previously with
e bacterial toxins
thems, antibodies are used almost exclusively in antivenoms [20]. Combining se
veral
recombinant toxins in simple mixture [15][49] or eve
n in fus
,ion protein [63] oft
hereby limiting their interactions with targeten leads to improved efficiency of antivenoms, including comparing to commercial ones. Furthermore, it was found that rationally selected toxin-specific single-stranded DNA aptamers can exhibit broad cross-reactivity in vitro and ex vivo against isoforms of toxins found in various snake venoms
[6850].
Computer Hmodeling provides powe
ver, the searcrful tools to thoroughly solve even complicated issues. For example, interaction of proteinaceous toxins KTx from scorpion M. eupeus with
pota
nd development ofssium channels (KV) was simulated and explained, followed by modulation of their activity using genetic modification [38][39]. In
othe
wr work [43], a
uthors have in
tidotes basevestigated binding of TFTs with novel receptors. Secondary structures of multiple actinoporins Hct from the sea anemone Heteractis crispa were generated
[67], fo
llowed by an
othealysis and successful structure–activity hypothesis testing.
Venoms contain a lar
ge number of biologically principactive compounds with diverse activities. Shorter peptides, e.g., azemiopsin acting on neuroreceptors [18] a
nd bradykinin-potentiating peptides (i.e., affecting bl
sood pressure) [19],
ncould be prepa
melyred by a solid phase synthesis using
molecules cap a general Fmoc-method, while larger polypeptides are the most rational to produce using common expression systems [42][43].
A modula
bltory effe
of detoxifyingct of some proteinaceous toxins on neuroreceptors is worth mentioning. Well-known three-finger toxin
s (TFTs) and their analogues [42][43] as
well as azemiopsin b
y their enzyind mostly nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), but γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABARs) can also be affected [43].
Pore-form
aing t
ic tranoxins, e.g., Hct from the sea anemone H. crispa [44], have a wide nons
pecif
ormation into less toxic or nic action and are almost equally cytotoxic to normal and malignant cells. However, fusing them with targeting partners, such as site-specific ligands, toxins or antibodies, could result in new drug platform development.
Reco
mbin
toxic molecules, may become a promant toxins can be easily genetically modified and truncated to help researchers investigate their toxic action in a more detailed way. For example, peptide Ms 9a-1 from sea anemone Metridium senile causes signifi
cant analgesi
ng alternative to existing solutionsc and anti-inflammatory effects by desensitization of TRPA1-expressing sensory neurons, and it was thought to be a positive modulator of TRPA1 channel. However, truncation of its unordered domains on the N- or C-terminus resulted in complete loss of analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in vivo [64]. T
hus, ano
date, severther target receptor(s) is likely present in neurons.
2.4. Recombinant Prions
Prions (Pr) a
lre enzymes are infectious agents that cause devastating and incurable disorders known
that can act as antitoxins against various bacterial toxic substances, as well as enzymes that exhibit hyas transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). With the advent of innovative technologies, such as protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC), in vitro amplification of prions has become possible. There is evidence suggesting that prion complexes can acquire high-order assemblies in vivo, which may look structurally ordered. However, the biophysical nature of these structures and their role in amyloid biology are still unclear. Despite the fact that the amyloid collected in vitro has some biochemical similarities with the ex vivo amyloid of the same protein, it often does not reproduce the biological activity of the latter. For example, preparations of prion protein (PrP), which are resistant to proteinase K and obtained exclusively from one recombinant PrP (rPrP), may not have any detectable infectious activity both in cell cultures and in animal bioassays. However, the proteinase K-resistant PrP obtained from rPrP is infectious if it is placed in the homogenate of a diseased brain ex vivo using the PMCA assay [68].
To stud
y the rPr
olytic activity against PrPP, mechanisms of the development of toxicity and pathogenicity of prion diseases as well as their role in the development of pathologies of the nervous system is an important task of the world scientific community (
Table 2,
[69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]).
Recent studies have shown that the infectivity of prions and their neurotoxicity may not be related to each other. Therefore, it is important to distinguish directly infective prions and those with a toxic effect, since the current hypothesis suggests that it is not the prions themselves that are toxic but another type of protein responsible for the toxicity of the disease. This species may be a by-product of prion formation, in a non-pathway amyloid PrP structure or even a non-protein whose formation is catalyzed by a prion [76]. Thus, using highly purified infectious prions, it was demonstrated that prions are not directly neurotoxic and that the toxicity presented in infected brain tissue may be different from infectious prions [74].
rPrP was obtained using the insect baculovirus cell expression system (Bac-rPrP) [69] to determine whether pathogenic Bac-pathogenic PrP (PrPSc) is produced spontaneously in intermittent ultrasound reactions. No spontaneous formation of Bac-rPrPSc was observed at 37 °C, but when the reaction temperature increased to 45 °C, Bac-rPrPSc was formed in all samples studied. Some variants of Bac-rPrPSc were transmitted to mice, but when the reaction was repeated for 40 cycles, transmissibility was lost. It is noteworthy that various variants of Bac-rPrPSc, including nontransmissive ones, were characterized by resistance to proteinase K and were dependent on the presence of cofactors during amplification. However, their characteristics also disappeared after 40 reaction cycles, and the variety converged on one variant. These results show that different variants of Bac-rPrPSc are generated with different transmissivity to mice and structural properties; variants of Bac-rPrPSc compete with each other and gradually converge to a variant with a slightly higher amplification rate.
To understand the role of the hydrophobic region in the formation of an infectious prion at the molecular level, X-rays of crystal structures of mouse PrP (MoPrP, residues 89–230) in complex with a nanobody (Nb484) were obtained [70]. Using a rPrP reproduction system, it has been shown that binding of Nb484 to the hydrophobic region of MoPrP effectively inhibits the reproduction of proteinase-resistant PrPSc and the infectivity of prions. In addition, when added to cultured mouse brain slices in high concentrations, Nb484 did not exhibit neurotoxicity, which is sharply different from other neurotoxic antibodies against PrP. Thus, Nb484 may be a potential therapeutic agent against prion disease.
Five groups of transgenic mice expressing elk PrP (TgElk) were vaccinated with either one CpG adjuvant or one of four rPrP immunogens: deer dimer (Ddi); deer monomer (Dmo); mouse dimer (Mdi) and mouse monomer (Mmo) [71]. Then mice were intraperitoneally infected with prions of chronic wasting disease (CWD). All vaccinated mice developed anti-PrP antibody titers detected by ELISA. It is important to note that all four vaccinated groups survived longer than the control group, while in the group immunized with Mmo, the average survival time increased by 60% compared to the control group (183 vs. 114 days after inoculation).
Thus, the use of recombinant forms of prions allows researchers to study their immunogenicity and to develop novel vaccines.
In order to establish how various cofactors modulate the formation and selection of prion strains, PMCA was used to generate a variety of infectious rPrP strains by multiplication in the presence of brain homogenate [75]. It is known that brain homogenate contains certain cofactors whose identity is only partially known and which facilitate the transformation of normal PrP (PrPC) into PrPSc. A mixture of various infectious prion strains was obtained and introduced into the brain homogenate, where various polyanionic cofactors were present. These cofactors could control the evolution of mixed prion populations toward the development of specific strains (types of conformations). As a result, it has been shown that various infectious rPrP can be obtained in vitro. Their specific conformation (strain) depends on the cofactors available during reproduction.
These observations are very important for understanding the pathogenesis of prion diseases and their ability to reproduce in various tissues and hosts.
The RT-QuIC method can be used to detect pathogenic PrP in various biological tissues of humans and animals. However, this method requires a continuous supply of freshly purified PrP and thus is not available in a diagnostic laboratory. To solve the issue, a method for obtaining a rPrP has been developed [72]. Lyophilized rPrP from bank vole (BV rPrP) can be stored for a long time before use, as well as be transported at certain temperatures to appropriate diagnostic laboratories, which can facilitate implementation of the RT-QuIC method as a diagnostic tool [72].
Nucleic acids have been shown in recent studies to act as potential cofactors of protein aggregation and prionogenesis. For example, RNAs, regardless of their sequence, source and size, modulate rPrP aggregation in a bimodal manner, affecting both the degree and the rate of rPrP aggregation depending on the concentration [73].