In vivo neutralization of α-cobratoxin with high-affinity llama single-domain antibodies (VHHs) and a VHH-Fc antibody

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 22;8(7):e69495. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069495. Print 2013.

Abstract

Small recombinant antibody fragments (e.g. scFvs and VHHs), which are highly tissue permeable, are being investigated for antivenom production as conventional antivenoms consisting of IgG or F(ab')2 antibody fragments do not effectively neutralize venom toxins located in deep tissues. However, antivenoms composed entirely of small antibody fragments may have poor therapeutic efficacy due to their short serum half-lives. To increase serum persistence and maintain tissue penetration, we prepared low and high molecular mass antivenom antibodies. Four llama VHHs were isolated from an immune VHH-displayed phage library and were shown to have high affinity, in the low nM range, for α-cobratoxin (α-Cbtx), the most lethal component of Naja kaouthia venom. Subsequently, our highest affinity VHH (C2) was fused to a human Fc fragment to create a VHH2-Fc antibody that would offer prolonged serum persistence. After in planta (Nicotiana benthamiana) expression and purification, we show that our VHH2-Fc antibody retained high affinity binding to α-Cbtx. Mouse α-Cbtx challenge studies showed that our highest affinity VHHs (C2 and C20) and the VHH2-Fc antibody effectively neutralized lethality induced by α-Cbtx at an antibody:toxin molar ratio as low as ca. 0.75×:1. Further research towards the development of an antivenom therapeutic involving these anti-α-Cbtx VHHs and VHH2-Fc antibody molecules should involve testing them as a combination, to determine whether they maintain tissue penetration capability and low immunogenicity, and whether they exhibit improved serum persistence and therapeutic efficacy.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / chemistry
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / genetics
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / immunology*
  • Antibody Affinity*
  • Camelids, New World*
  • Cobra Neurotoxin Proteins / immunology*
  • Elapid Venoms / immunology
  • Half-Life
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Humoral
  • Immunization
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments / chemistry
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments / genetics
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments / immunology*
  • Kinetics
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / immunology
  • Single-Domain Antibodies / chemistry
  • Single-Domain Antibodies / genetics
  • Single-Domain Antibodies / immunology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Cobra Neurotoxin Proteins
  • Elapid Venoms
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments
  • Naja kaouthia venom
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Single-Domain Antibodies
  • alpha-cobratoxin

Grants and funding

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.