Antibody Clustering Using a Machine Learning Pipeline that Fuses Genetic, Structural, and Physicochemical Properties.

Journal: Advances in experimental medicine and biology
Published Date:

Abstract

Antibody V domain clustering is of paramount importance to a repertoire of immunology-related areas. Although several approaches have been proposed for antibody clustering, still no consensus has been reached. Numerous attempts use information from genes, protein sequences, 3D structures, and 3D surfaces in an effort to elucidate unknown action mechanisms directly related to their function and to either link them directly to diseases or drive the discovery of new medicines, such as antibody drug conjugates (ADC). Herein, we describe a new V domain antibody clustering method based on the comparison of the interaction sites between each antibody and its antigen. A more specific clustering analysis of the antibody's V domain was provided using deep learning and data mining techniques. The multidimensional information was extracted from the structural resolved antibodies when they were captured to interact with other proteins. The available 3D structures of protein antigen-antibody (Ag-Ab) interfaces contain information about how antibody V domains recognize antigens as well as about which amino acids are involved in the recognition. As such, the antibody surface holds information about antigens' folding that reside with the Ab-Ag interface residues and how they interact. In order to gain insight into the nature of such interactions, we propose a new simple philosophy to transform the conserved framework (fragment regions, complementarity-determining regions) of antibody V domain in a binary form using structural features of antibody-antigen interactions, toward identifying new antibody signatures in V domain binding activity. Finally, an advanced three-level hybrid classification scheme has been set for clustering antibodies in subgroups, which can combine the information from the protein sequences, the three-dimensional structures, and specific "key patterns" of recognized interactions. The clusters provide multilevel information about antibodies and antibody-antigen complexes.

Authors

  • Louis Papageorgiou
    Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
  • Dimitris Maroulis
    Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
  • George P Chrousos
    Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, First Department of Pediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, "Aghia Sophia" Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece.
  • Elias Eliopoulos
    Genetics and Computational Biology Group, Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
  • Dimitrios Vlachakis
    Genetics and Computational Biology Group, Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece. dimvl@aua.gr.