Signal Peptides

Example 6

TbpB and NMB0313 genes were amplified from the genome of Neisseria meningitidis serotype B strain B16B6. The LbpB gene was amplified from Neisseria meningitidis serotype B strain MC58. Full length TbpB was inserted into Multiple Cloning Site 2 of pETDuet using restriction free cloning ((F van den Ent, J. Löwe, Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods (Jan. 1, 2006)).). NMB0313 was inserted into pET26, where the native signal peptide was replaced by that of pelB. Mutations and truncations were performed on these vectors using site directed mutagenesis and restriction free cloning, respectively. Pairs of vectors were transformed into E. coli C43 and were grown overnight in LB agar plates supplemented with kanamycin (50 μg/mL) and ampicillin (100 μg/mL).

tbpB genes were amplified from the genomes of M. catarrhalis strain 035E and H. influenzae strain 86-028NP and cloned into the pET52b plasmid by restriction free cloning as above. The corresponding SLAMs (M. catarrhalis SLAM 1, H. influenzae SLAM1) were inserted into pET26b also using restriction free cloning. A 6His-tag was inserted between the pelB and the mature SLAM sequences as above. Vectors were transformed into E. coli C43 as above.

Cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4000 g and were twice washed with 1 mL PBS to remove any remaining growth media. Cells were then incubated with either 0.05-0.1 mg/mL biotinylated human transferrin (Sigma-aldrich T3915-5 MG), α-TbpB (1:200 dilution from rabbit serum for M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae; 1:10000 dilution from rabbit serum for N. meningitidis), or α-LbpB (1:10000 dilution from rabbit serum-obtained a gift from J. Lemieux) or α-fHbp (1:5000 dilution from mouse, a gift from D. Granoff) for 1.5 hours at 4° C., followed by two washes with 1 mL of PBS. The cells were then incubated with R-Phycoerythrin-conjugated Streptavidin (0.5 mg/ml Cedarlane) or R-phycoerythrin conjugated Anti-rabbit IgG (Stock 0.5 mg/ml Rockland) at 25 ug/mL for 1.5 hours at 4° C. The cells were then washed with 1 mL PBS and resuspended in 200 uL fixing solution (PBS+2% formaldehyde) and left for 20 minutes. Finally, cells were washed with 2×1 mL PBS and transferred to 5 mL polystyrene FACS tubes. The PE fluorescence of each sample was measured for PE fluorescence using a Becton Dickinson FACSCalibur. The results were analyzed using FLOWJO software and were presented as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) for each sample. For N. meningtidis experiments, all samples were compared to wildtype strains by normalizing wildtype fluorescent signals to 100%. Errors bars represent the standard error of the mean (SEM) across three experiments. Results were plotted statistically analysed using GraphPad Prism 5 software. The results shown in FIG. 6 for the SLPs, TbpB (FIG. 6A), LbpB. (FIG. 6B) and fHbp (FIG. 6C) demonstrate that SLAM effects translocation of all three SLP polypeptides in E. coli. The results shown in FIG. 10 demonstrate that translocation of TbpB from M. catarrhalis (FIG. 10C) and in H. influenzae (FIG. 10D) in E. coli require the co-expression of the required SLAM protein (Slam is an outer membrane protein that is required for the surface display of lipidated virulence factors in Neisseria. Hooda Y, Lai C C, Judd A, Buckwalter C M, Shin H E, Gray-Owen S D, Moraes T F. Nat Microbiol. 2016 Feb. 29; 1:16009).

Example 1

The authors of the invention have identified 3 micropeptides corresponding to sequences SEQ ID NO: 1, 2 and 3.

The micropeptide of SEQ ID NO 1 is a highly conserved 87 aa micropeptide whose sequence is:

In silico analysis of the amino acid sequence predicts a 3D structure resembling the protein UBIQUITIN (FIG. 1B). SEQ ID NO 1 micropeptide is coded by the lncRNA TINCR (LINC00036 in humans and Gm20219 in mice).

The micropeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is a 64-amino acid micropeptide whose sequence is:

It is encoded by ZEB2 antisense 1 (ZEB2AS1) long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). ZEB2AS1 is a natural antisense transcript corresponding to the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2). The ORF encoding the micropeptide spams part of the second and third exons of the lncRNA. I-Tasser, a 3D protein structure predictor, has been used in order to build a model of SEQ ID NO: 2 micropeptide 3D structure (FIG. 2B). Further in-silico analysis has revealed high amino acidic sequence conservation across the species and a potential cytoplasmatic localization of the micropeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2.

The micropeptide of SEQ ID NO: 3 is a 78-amino acid micropeptide encoded by the first exon of LINC0086 lncRNA. Its sequence, highly conserved across evolution is:

In silico analysis of this sequence predicted a tertiary structure (FIG. 3B) with a transmembrane domain at C-terminal of the protein and a signal peptide in the first 25 amino acids.

Example 3

Cells transduced with Lenti-GFP as explained above were analysed on a Sony SH800Z flow cytometer with 488 laser. Signal from GFP transduced cells was compared with untransduced cells. The results are shown in FIG. 5. This demonstrates that transduction works.

Constructs expressing irrelevant V_H with a HIS tag were shown by flow cytometry to have surface expression on Jurkat cells using anti-His detection agents. This shows that the leader sequence directs the CART to the surface of the cell as expected.