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Catalytic antibodies possess unique features capable of both recognizing and enzymatically degrading antigens. Therefore, they are more beneficial than monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Catalytic antibodies exhibit the ability to degrade peptides, antigenic proteins, DNA, and physiologically active molecules. However, they have a significant drawback in terms of their production. The production of a desired catalytic antibody has extensive costs, in terms of time and effort. We herein describe an evolutionary method to produce a desired catalytic antibody via conversion of a general antibody by the deletion of Pro95, which resides in complementarity-determining region-3. As over thousands of mAbs have been produced since 1975, using the novel technology discussed herein, the catalytic feature cleaving the antigen can be conferred to the mAb. In this review article, we discussed in detail not only the role of Pro95 but also the unique features of the converted catalytic antibodies. This technique will accelerate research on therapeutic application of catalytic antibodies.

The cleavage reactions of catalytic antibodies are mediated by a serine protease mechanism involving a catalytic triad composed of His, Ser, and Asp residues, which reside in the variable region. Recently, we discovered a catalytic antibody, H34 wild type (H34wt), that is capable of enzymatically cleaving an immune-check point PD-1 peptide and recombinant PD-1; however, H34wt does not contain His residues in the variable region. To clarify the reason behind the catalytic features of H34wt and the amino acid residues involved in the catalytic reaction, we performed site-directed mutagenesis focusing on the amino acid residues involved in the cleavage reaction, followed by catalytic activity tests, immunological reactivity evaluation, and molecular modeling. The results revealed that the cleavage reaction by H34wt proceeds through the action of a new catalytic site composed of Arg, Thr, and Gln. This new scheme differs from that of the serine protease mechanism of catalytic antibodies.

Catalytic antibodies possess a dual function that enables both antigen recognition and degradation. However, their time-consuming preparation is a significant drawback. This study developed a new method for quickly converting mice monoclonal antibodies into catalytic antibodies using site-directed mutagenesis. Three mice type monoclonal antibodies targeting hemagglutinin molecule of influenza A virus could be transformed into the catalytic antibodies by deleting Pro95 in CDR-3 of the light chain. No catalytic activity was observed for monoclonal antibodies and light chains. In contrast, the Pro95-deleted light chains exhibited a catalytic activity to cleave the antigenic peptide including the portion of conserved region of hemagglutinin molecule. The affinity of the Pro95-deleted light chains to the antigen increased approximately 100-fold compared to the wild-type light chains. In the mutants, three residues (Asp1, Ser92, and His93) come closer to the appropriate position to create the catalytic site and contributing to the enhancement of both catalytic function and immunoreactivity. Notably, the Pro95-deleted catalytic light chains could suppress influenza virus infection in vitro assay, whereas the parent antibody and the light chain did not. This strategy offers a rapid and efficient way to create catalytic antibodies from existing antibodies, accelerating the development for various applications in diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

A catalytic antibody has multiple functions compared with a monoclonal antibody because it possesses unique features to digest antigens enzymatically. Therefore, many catalytic antibodies, including their subunits, have been produced since 1989. The catalytic activities often depend on the preparation methods and conditions. In order to elicit the high catalytic activity of the antibodies, the most preferable methods and conditions, which can be generally applicable, must be explored. Based on this view, systematic experiments using two catalytic antibody light chains, #7TR and H34, were performed by varying the purification methods, pH, and chemical reagents. The experimental results obtained by peptidase activity tests and kinetic analysis, revealed that the light chain’s high catalytic activity was observed when it was prepared under a basic condition. These data imply that a small structural modulation of the catalytic antibody occurs during the purification process to increase the catalytic activity while the antigen recognition ability is kept constant. The presence of NaCl enhanced the catalytic activity. When the catalytic light chain was prepared with these preferable conditions, #7TR and H34 hugely enhanced the degradation ability of Amyloid-beta and PD-1 peptide, respectively.

Filgotinib (FIL), a Janus kinase-1 preferential inhibitor, has been studied for its efficacy and safety in rheumatoid arthritis. The FINCH3 trial compared FIL monotherapy, FIL plus methotrexate (MTX) combination therapy, and MTX monotherapy in MTX-naïve patients. However, comparisons in patients with an inadequate response to MTX remain unclear. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of FIL plus MTX versus FIL monotherapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have an inadequate response to MTX. FAITHFUL (Filgotinib Add-on versus swITcH to Filgotinib in patients with rheUmatoid arthritis who inadequateLy responded to methotrexate) study is a phase IV multicenter, prospective, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Patients with a history of inadequate response to at least 8 weeks of MTX and moderate or high disease activity will be assessed for eligibility at 10 centers in Japan. A history of Janus kinase inhibitor use is an exclusion criterion, but prior use of biologic agents is not considered. Enrolled patients will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either the group adding FIL (Add-on group) or the group switching to FIL monotherapy (Switch group). The target sample size is 120 participants. The primary endpoint is the change in DAS28-CRP from baseline to week 24, aiming to assess if the Switch group is non-inferior to the Add-on group. Safety will be evaluated by assessing the incidence of adverse events. The study has received approval from the Certified Review Board of Keio University Hospital (N20230002) and adheres to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and good clinical practice standards. Prior to enrollment, all participants provide written informed consent. The findings from this study are intended to be submitted for publication in relevant peer-reviewed journals. The trial was registered at Japan Registry of Clinical Trials (jRCTs031230673).

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) are promising building blocks of flexible printable electronic devices. Similar to inorganic FETs, OTFTs are heterostructures consisting of metals, insulators, and semiconductors, in which nanoscale interfaces between different components should be precisely engineered. However, OTFTs use noble metals, such as gold, as electrodes, which has been a bottleneck in terms of cost reduction and low environmental loading. In this study, we demonstrate that graphite-based carbon electrodes can be deposited and patterned directly onto an organic single-crystalline thin film via electrostatic spray coating. The present OTFTs exhibited reasonably high field-effect mobilities of up to 11 cm 2  V −1  s −1 for p-type and 1.4 cm 2  V −1  s −1 for n-type with no significant deterioration during electrostatic spray processes. We also demonstrate two significant milestones from the viewpoint of material science: a complementary circuit, an inverter consisting of p- and n-type OTFTs, and an operatable metal-free OTFT composed of fully carbon-based materials. These results constitute a key step forward in the further development of printed metal-free integrated circuits.

Many studies are currently investigating the development of safe and effective vaccines to prevent various infectious diseases. Multiple antigen-presenting peptide vaccine systems have been developed to avoid the adverse effects associated with conventional vaccines (i.e., live-attenuated, killed or inactivated pathogens), carrier proteins and cytotoxic adjuvants. Recently, two main approaches have been used to develop multiple antigen-presenting peptide vaccine systems: (1) the addition of functional components, e.g., T-cell epitopes, cell-penetrating peptides, and lipophilic moieties; and (2) synthetic approaches using size-defined nanomaterials, e.g., self-assembling peptides, non-peptidic dendrimers, and gold nanoparticles, as antigen-displaying platforms. This review summarizes the recent experimental studies directed to the development of multiple antigen-presenting peptide vaccine systems.

Generally, small peptides by themselves are weak to induce antibody responses. Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands are attractive candidates of vaccine adjuvants to improve their antigenicity. The covalent conjugation of TLR ligands with antigens to produce self-adjuvanting peptide vaccine is a promising approach. Based on the structure of TLR7/8 ligands, a series of synthetic amino acids 6-imidazoquinolyl-norleucines were synthesized, wherein an imidazoquinoline structure as the TLR7/8 agonistic pharmacophores was constructed on the ε-NH₂ group of Lys. Of them, 6-(4-amino-2-butyl-imidazoquinolyl)-norleucine showed the most potent TLR7 and TLR8 agonistic activities with EC₅₀ values of 8.55 and 106 μM, respectively. Subsequently, mice were immunized with the influenza A virus M2e antigen mixed with or covalently conjugated to the TLR7/8 agonist amino acid, which led to induction of M2e specific antibody productions in the absence of other adjuvant. We successfully developed a novel efficient tool for self-adjuvanting peptide vaccines targeting TLR7/8.

We introduce rare sugars including their derivatives and supramolecular rare sugars, that have been actively researched at Kagawa University, Japan. Although the rare sugars are special sugars which hardly exist in nature, we has succeeded in mass synthesis of the rare sugars by utilizing biological enzyme isomerization reaction. In addition, the rare sugars have various functions such as blood sugar level suppressing function, cancer cell growth suppressing function, and antibacterial action. In addition, since rare sugars have a large number of hydroxyl groups, they have a possibility for using as devices for expressing various functions by employing them as ligands of transition metal complexes. In recent years, it is successful that we have synthesized the suplamolecular rare sugars (SRSs) from the different types of rare sugars, that is not as simple mixtures but as single crystals having supralattice structure, that can be freely controlled optical rotation. It has been found that the crystal structures of these SRSs mostly follow the Wallach rule, but do not satisfy the Wallach rule especially in the case of D, L-psicose. Therefore, we have investigated the single crystal X-ray structural analyses of SRSs, obtaining the detailed crystal structure data, and analyzed the intermolecular interaction between their sugar molecules in the crystal by means of the DV-Xα molecular orbital calculation. According to our detailed analysis of the research, calculating the intermolecular interaction revealed that the stability of the intermolecular interaction in the crystal can not be explained only by following the simple Wallach rule. Specifically, for example in the case of D, L-psicose, the total energy in a crystal can be stabilized by aligning the polarization vectors of the molecules, and as a result, we have clarified that the SRSs crystal structure can be stabilized, even if it does not follow the simple Wallach rule.