National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
32301219
中国
引用
ジャーナル: Nat Commun / 年: 2024 タイトル: De novo design of mini-protein binders broadly neutralizing Clostridioides difficile toxin B variants. 著者: Xinchen Lv / Yuanyuan Zhang / Ke Sun / Qi Yang / Jianhua Luo / Liang Tao / Peilong Lu / 要旨: Clostridioides difficile toxin B (TcdB) is the key virulence factor accounting for C. difficile infection-associated symptoms. Effectively neutralizing different TcdB variants with a universal ...Clostridioides difficile toxin B (TcdB) is the key virulence factor accounting for C. difficile infection-associated symptoms. Effectively neutralizing different TcdB variants with a universal solution poses a significant challenge. Here we present the de novo design and characterization of pan-specific mini-protein binders against major TcdB subtypes. Our design successfully binds to the first receptor binding interface (RBI-1) of the varied TcdB subtypes, exhibiting affinities ranging from 20 pM to 10 nM. The cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of the mini protein binder in complex with TcdB1 and TcdB4 are consistent with the computational design models. The engineered and evolved variants of the mini-protein binder and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4), another natural receptor that binds to the second RBI (RBI-2) of TcdB, better neutralize major TcdB variants both in cells and in vivo, as demonstrated by the colon-loop assay using female mice. Our findings provide valuable starting points for the development of therapeutics targeting C. difficile infections (CDI).