Discovery of antibodies against PTH1R, a class B GPCR: characterisation of their binding and impact on PTH1R function
File(s)
Author(s)
Sarkar, Kaushik
Type
Thesis
Abstract
Parathyroid hormone receptor 1 (PTH1R) belongs to the Secretin or Class B family of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily and natively binds parathyroid hormone (PTH) and parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP). Ligand binding to PTH1R is a two-step process, which first involves binding to a large extracellular domain (ECD) and then to the extracellular loops (ECL). This in turn causes activation of the receptor by inducing conformational changes in the transmembrane domains. PTH1R plays a crucial role in bone metabolism and calcium homeostasis, signalling mainly through Gs and Gq/11 G-proteins. Here, we used phage display technology and immunisation followed by B-cell screening and isolation, to discover PTH1R-specific antibodies (mAbs) against the ECD and the ECL respectively. Antibody binding to the receptor was confirmed using ELISA, flow-cytometry and confocal microscopy. Intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) assay revealed that antibody binding had no effect on G-protein mediated signalling by the PTH1R. However, β-arrestin recruitment was down-regulated by the ECD specific antibody indicating that this antibody acts as a biased antagonist. These studies also highlighted that the ECL specific antibody acted as a neutral allosteric ligand (NAL). Affinity measurements by surface plasmon resonance using full-length receptor, solubilised in styrene-maleic acid copolymer (SMA), revealed binding affinities (KD) of ~ 4 nM and ~0.9 nM for ECD and ECL specific antibodies respectively. Epitope mapping using hydrogen-deuterium exchange-mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) indicated that the ECD antibody binding site had some overlap with the known PTH binding region of the ECD. HDX-MS also indicated that the ECL specific mAb bound to ECL-1. To the best of our knowledge, the ECD binding antibody is the first PTH1R antibody showing antagonism of β-arrestin recruitment. The ECL specific antibody, although not exhibiting function in the range assays tested, is anticipated to be a useful tool for PTH1R structural studies using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and/or X-ray crystallography.
Version
Open Access
Date Issued
2018-07
Date Awarded
2018-12
Copyright Statement
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives Licence
Advisor
Byrne, Bernadette
Basse, Nicholas
Sponsor
UCB
Publisher Department
Life Sciences
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)