Sites of vulnerability on ricin B chain revealed through epitope mapping of toxin-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies

PLoS One. 2020 Nov 9;15(11):e0236538. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236538. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Ricin toxin's B subunit (RTB) is a multifunctional galactose (Gal)-/N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNac)-specific lectin that promotes uptake and intracellular trafficking of ricin's ribosome-inactivating subunit (RTA) into mammalian cells. Structurally, RTB consists of two globular domains (RTB-D1, RTB-D2), each divided into three homologous sub-domains (α, β, γ). The two carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs) are situated on opposite sides of RTB (sub-domains 1α and 2γ) and function non-cooperatively. Previous studies have revealed two distinct classes of toxin-neutralizing, anti-RTB monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Type I mAbs, exemplified by SylH3, inhibit (~90%) toxin attachment to cell surfaces, while type II mAbs, epitomized by 24B11, interfere with intracellular toxin transport between the plasma membrane and the trans-Golgi network (TGN). Localizing the epitopes recognized by these two classes of mAbs has proven difficult, in part because of RTB's duplicative structure. To circumvent this problem, RTB-D1 and RTB-D2 were expressed as pIII fusion proteins on the surface of filamentous phage M13 and subsequently used as "bait" in mAb capture assays. We found that SylH3 captured RTB-D1 (but not RTB-D2) in a dose-dependent manner, while 24B11 captured RTB-D2 (but not RTB-D1) in a dose-dependent manner. We confirmed these domain assignments by competition studies with an additional 8 RTB-specific mAbs along with a dozen a single chain antibodies (VHHs). Collectively, these results demonstrate that type I and type II mAbs segregate on the basis of domain specificity and suggest that RTB's two domains may contribute to distinct steps in the intoxication pathway.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology*
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / immunology*
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Epitope Mapping / methods*
  • Epitopes / genetics
  • Epitopes / immunology*
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Subunits
  • Ricin / chemistry*
  • Ricin / genetics
  • Ricin / immunology*
  • Toxins, Biological / immunology*
  • Vero Cells

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Epitopes
  • Protein Subunits
  • Toxins, Biological
  • Ricin