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Title | Integrating artificial intelligence-based epitope prediction in a SARS-CoV-2 antibody discovery pipeline: caution is warranted. |
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Journal, issue, pages | EBioMedicine, Vol. 100, Page 104960, Year 2024 |
Publish date | Jan 16, 2024 |
![]() | Delphine Diana Acar / Wojciech Witkowski / Magdalena Wejda / Ruifang Wei / Tim Desmet / Bert Schepens / Sieglinde De Cae / Koen Sedeyn / Hannah Eeckhaut / Daria Fijalkowska / Kenny Roose / Sandrine Vanmarcke / Anne Poupon / Dirk Jochmans / Xin Zhang / Rana Abdelnabi / Caroline S Foo / Birgit Weynand / Dirk Reiter / Nico Callewaert / Han Remaut / Johan Neyts / Xavier Saelens / Sarah Gerlo / Linos Vandekerckhove / ![]() ![]() |
PubMed Abstract | BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies (nABs) showed great promise in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergence of resistant strains, however, quickly rendered the majority of ...BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies (nABs) showed great promise in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergence of resistant strains, however, quickly rendered the majority of clinically approved nABs ineffective. This underscored the imperative to develop nAB cocktails targeting non-overlapping epitopes. METHODS: Undertaking a nAB discovery program, we employed a classical workflow, while integrating artificial intelligence (AI)-based prediction to select non-competing nABs very early in the pipeline. We identified and in vivo validated (in female Syrian hamsters) two highly potent nABs. FINDINGS: Despite the promising results, in depth cryo-EM structural analysis demonstrated that the AI-based prediction employed with the intention to ensure non-overlapping epitopes was inaccurate. The two nABs in fact bound to the same receptor-binding epitope in a remarkably similar manner. INTERPRETATION: Our findings indicate that, even in the Alphafold era, AI-based predictions of paratope-epitope interactions are rough and experimental validation of epitopes remains an essential cornerstone of a successful nAB lead selection. FUNDING: Full list of funders is provided at the end of the manuscript. |
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Methods | EM (single particle) |
Resolution | 3.5 - 3.8 Å |
Structure data | EMDB-18560, PDB-8qpr: EMDB-18571, PDB-8qq0: |
Chemicals | ![]() ChemComp-NAG: |
Source |
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![]() | VIRAL PROTEIN / neutralizing antibody / Spike protein |