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Scherlo, Marvin ; Höveler, Adrian ; Mann, Marvin ; Gerwert, Grischa ; Güldenhaupt, Jörn ; Gerwert, Klaus ; Rudack, Till ; Kötting, Carsten

Replacement of a single residue in an antibody completely abolishes cognate antigen binding, as predicted by theoretical methods

Scherlo, Marvin, Höveler, Adrian, Mann, Marvin, Gerwert, Grischa, Güldenhaupt, Jörn, Gerwert, Klaus, Rudack, Till and Kötting, Carsten (2025) Replacement of a single residue in an antibody completely abolishes cognate antigen binding, as predicted by theoretical methods. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 27, pp. 4363-4372.

Date of publication of this fulltext: 14 Apr 2026 07:02
Article
DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.79133

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Abstract

Structural insights into the interaction between antibodies and antigens at the atomic level are pivotal for understanding the molecular mechanisms of antigen binding. Despite the availability of structural models generated by recent artificial intelligence advancements, computational predictions require experimental validation to confirm their accuracy. Here, we demonstrate a novel approach that ...

Structural insights into the interaction between antibodies and antigens at the atomic level are pivotal for understanding the molecular mechanisms of antigen binding. Despite the availability of structural models generated by recent artificial intelligence advancements, computational predictions require experimental validation to confirm their accuracy. Here, we demonstrate a novel approach that combines computational protein modeling with spectroscopic experiments to validate antibody-antigen interactions. As a case example we use solanezumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets amyloid-beta (Aβ), whose misfolding is the main factor responsible for Alzheimer’s disease. For this antibody we predicted a single mutation, G95AHC, within the paratope of the heavy chain to disrupt antigen binding. This mutation, referred to as a “dead mutant”, was experimentally validated using an immuno-infrared biosensor (iRS). Our results confirmed that the mutation abolished antigen binding without affecting the native structure of the antibody. The use of dead mutants enables precise differentiation between specific and nonspecific binding, which is particularly important in medical diagnostics. We applied this approach to analyze the binding of solanezumab to synthetically produced Aβ variants and Aβ catched by the iRS functionalized surface from cerebrospinal fluid, showcasing its utility in Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics. These findings highlight the value of computational modeling and experimental validation in understanding antigen-antibody interactions, with significant implications for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.



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Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitleComputational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
Publisher:Elsevier
Open Access Type:CC-License
Volume:27
Page Range:pp. 4363-4372
Date14 October 2025
InstitutionsBiology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Biophysik und physikalische Biochemie > Prof. Dr. Till Rudack
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1016/j.csbj.2025.10.018DOI
KeywordsAntibody-Antigen-Interaction, Mutagenesis, Protein Modeling, ATR-FTIRSpectroscopy, Immuno Infrared Sensor, Molecular dynamics simulations, Solanezumab, Amyloid-Beta, Alzheimer
Dewey Decimal Classification500 Science > 570 Life sciences
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgPartially
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-791337
Item ID79133

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