A Cell Free Assay System Estimating the Neutralizing Capacity of GM-CSF Antibody using Recombinant Soluble GM-CSF Receptor
Summary
We designed a cell-free receptor binding assay in order to estimate the binding of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to the receptors. It enables us to evaluate competitive inhibition of biotinylated GM-CSF binding to soluble GM-CSF receptor alpha by GM-CSF autoantibody with excellent reproducibility.
Abstract
BACKGROUNDS: Previously, we demonstrated that neutralizing capacity but not the concentration of GM-CSF autoantibody was correlated with the disease severity in patients with autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP)1-3. As abrogation of GM-CSF bioactivity in the lung is the likely cause for autoimmune PAP4,5, it is promising to measure the neutralizing capacity of GM-CSF autoantibodies for evaluating the disease severity in each patient with PAP.
Until now, neutralizing capacity of GM-CSF autoantibodies has been assessed by evaluating the growth inhibition of human bone marrow cells or TF-1 cells stimulated with GM-CSF6-8. In the bioassay system, however, it is often problematic to obtain reliable data as well as to compare the data from different laboratories, due to the technical difficulties in maintaining the cells in a constant condition.
OBJECTIVE: To mimic GM-CSF binding to GM-CSF receptor on the cell surface using cell-free receptor-binding-assay.
METHODS: Transgenic silkworm technology was applied for obtaining a large amount for recombinant soluble GM-CSF receptor alpha (sGMRα) with high purity9-13. The recombinant sGMRα was contained in the hydrophilic sericin layers of silk threads without being fused to the silk proteins, and thus, we can easily extract from the cocoons in good purity with neutral aqueous solutions14,15. Fortunately, the oligosaccharide structures, which are critical for binding with GM-CSF, are more similar to the structures of human sGMRα than those produced by other insects or yeasts.
RESULTS: The cell-free assay system using sGMRα yielded the data with high plasticity and reliability. GM-CSF binding to sGMRα was dose-dependently inhibited by polyclonal GM-CSF autoantibody in a similar manner to the bioassay using TF-1 cells, indicating that our new cell-free assay system using sGMRα is more useful for the measurement of neutralizing activity of GM-CSF autoantibodies than the bioassay system using TF-1 cell or human bone marrow cells.
CONCLUSIONS: We established a cell-free assay quantifying the neutralizing capacity of GM-CSF autoantibody.
Protocol
Discussion
The cell-free assay estimated the neutralizing capacity of GM-CSF autoantibodies with excellent reproducibility and rapidity. The binding inhibition by GM-CSF autoantibodies or the patient’s serum IgG fractions was evaluated by this assay. The data showed a correlation between the binding inhibition of the cell-free assay and the growth inhibition of a bioassay using TF-1 cells, respectively. The bioassay has been widely utilized, but harbored difficulties in comparing data between different facilities and different time…
Divulgations
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to K. Nakagaki, Dr. H. Ishii, Dr. K. Suzuki, A. Yamagata, K. Oofusa for their valuable contributions.
Materials
| Name of reagent | Company | Catalog # | Comments |
| human placenta cDNA library | Takara | ||
| Nickel affinity column | GE Healthcare | 17-5247-01 | |
| biotin hydrazide (EZ-Link Biotin Hydrazide) | PIERCE | 21339 | |
| rhGM-CSF (leukine) | Genzyme Corporation | ||
| Nunc Immobilizer Amino | Nalge Nunc International | 436007 | |
| Monoclonal Anti-polyHistidine antibody produced in mouse | Sigma-Aldrich | H1029 | 0.2ml |
| blocking solution (StabilCoat) | Surmodics | SC01-1000 | 1000ml |
| ZyMAX Streptavidin-AP Conjugate | Invitrogen | 43-8322 | |
| CDP-Star Ready-to-Use With Sapphire-II | Applied Biosystems | T2214 | |
| chemiluminescence plate reader | BERTHOLD TECHNOLOGIES | TriStar LB 941 |
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