Using a printed glycan microarray strategy, a conventional 96-well plate assay was miniaturized for analysis of influenza A virus hemagglutinin avidity and specificity for sialic acid containing receptors.
Influenza A virus (IAV) hemagglutinins recognize sialic acids on the cell surface as functional receptors to gain entry into cells. Wild waterfowl are the natural reservoir for IAV, but IAV can cross the species barrier to poultry, swine, horses and humans. Avian viruses recognize sialic acid attached to a penultimate galactose by a α2-3 linkage (avian-type receptors) whereas human viruses preferentially recognize sialic acid with a α2-6 linkage (human-type receptors). To monitor if avian viruses are adapting to human type receptors, several methods can be used. Glycan microarrays with diverse libraries of synthetic sialosides are increasingly used to evaluate receptor specificity. However, this technique is not used for measuring avidities. Measurement of avidity is typically achieved by evaluating the binding of serially diluted hemagglutinin or virus to glycans adsorbed to conventional polypropylene 96-well plates. In this assay, glycans with α2-3 or α2-6 sialic acids are coupled to biotin and adsorbed to streptavidin plates, or are coupled to polyacrylamide (PAA) which directly adsorb to the plastic. We have significantly miniaturized this assay by directly printing PAA-linked sialosides and their non PAA-linked counterparts on micro-well glass slides. This set-up, with 48 arrays on a single slide, enables simultaneous assays of 6 glycan binding proteins at 8 dilutions, interrogating 6 different glycans, including two non-sialylated controls. This is equivalent to 18x 96-well plates in the traditional plate assay. The glycan array format decreases consumption of compounds and biologicals and thus greatly enhances efficiency.
Wild waterfowl are the natural reservoir for IAV, but IAV is able to cross the species barrier to poultry and mammals, including, humans. Avian IAVs recognize α2-3 linked sialic acids (avian-type receptors), whereas human viruses bind α2-6 linked sialic acids (human-type receptors). To be able to efficiently replicate and transmit between humans an avian IAV needs to bind to human-type receptors 1.
IAVs are divided based on serology that characterizes the antigenicity of their hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) envelope glycoproteins. HA binds to sialic acids, whereas NA is the receptor-destroying enzyme at the other end of the viral lifecycle and cleaves sialic acid 2. All human infecting viruses, including H1N1, H2N2 and H3N2, have an avian origin 3. Over the last two of decades several avian to human crossovers have occurred, with H5N1, H7N7, and H7N9 being the most well-known; however, other subtypes have infected humans more sporadically (H6N1, H7N1, H7N2, H9N2, H10N7, H10N8) 4. Fortunately, it seems that none of these viruses have been able to fully adapt to human-type α2-6-linked sialic acid receptors 5-8. Adaptation of avian or other zoonotic viruses to accommodate replication and transmission in human hosts could have a devastating effect on human health. Therefore, prior knowledge of how these viruses are evolving to bind human-type receptors will help world-wide surveillance of emerging influenza viruses.
Determination of receptor preference was first elucidated using erythrocytes of different species and remains a favored assay among flu researchers 9-12. The demonstration that avian viruses recognize α2-3 sialic acid and human viruses α2-6 linked sialic acid was originally based on an assay using hemagglutination of erythrocytes enzymatically engineered to contain each of the linkages 13,14. Although the readout is hemagglutination, a standard assay for virologists, the underlying glycan structures are not defined, only the terminal linkage. Additionally, the limited availability of the sialyltransferases, used to re-sialylate the cells, have limited the use of this assay 15-18. Subsequently, other methods of determining receptor-binding preferences were introduced using sialylated glycan structures linked to poly-acrylamide (PAA) or poly-glutamate (PGA) structures in plate-based assays 19,20. Several variations are possible in coating either the glycans or viruses to microtiter plates, each of which results in a robust, reliable and very sensitive ELISA-type assay 21-23. Alternatively, biotin-linked glycans can replace PAA/PGA and can be conjugated to streptavidin-coated plates 2,24. Although some specific sera may be required, ELISAs are standard and several glycans linked to PAA are readily commercially and non-commercially available (Consortium for Functional Glycomics (http://www.functionalglycomics.org)).
Glycan microarray technologies have emerged as an invaluable tool to determine receptor specificity, as multiple different glycans are spotted, and binding to a wide array of different structures can be assessed within a single assay 25-29. The binding of IAV to these structures provides a better understanding of the glycan structures that IAV preferentially recognizes 30-33. Glycan microarrays require small amounts of sample volume to perform a binding assay and only uses minute amounts of glycan per spot (2 nl). However, these arrays are typically used only to evaluate specificity of glycans receptors. Analysis of multiple viruses, or hemagglutinin proteins, at multiple concentration ranges can be prohibitive due to the number of slides required. Furthermore, to date, no relative avidity assay has been developed using glycan array techniques.
To combine the low sample requirement afforded by glycan microarray techniques and the sensitivity of PAA-linked glycans in ELISA-based assays, we sought to develop a multi-well glycan array that would allow for high-throughput analysis with similar or better resolution as compared to the traditional ELISA-based assay. Simultaneously, we wanted to minimize the amount of biologicals and reporter chemicals consumed. The ultimate result is a miniaturized avidity assay, specifically developed for monitoring IAV specificity and is equally applicable to assess other glycan binding proteins. Using a glass slide separated into 48 micro-wells by a Teflon mask, 6 different glycans are spotted in 6 replicates per well. The microarray platform affords the same trends in receptor binding seen in the macro ELISA format with several advantages. These include (I) printing of compound in 6 replicates, using minimal sample, versus the coating of several rows in a plate, using 100 µl per well; (II) multiple different compounds analyzed simultaneously in a single well, including controls; (III) a massive decrease in incubation volume and; (IV) a larger dynamic range using a fluorescent readout. A single slide can be calculated to be equivalent to 18x 96-well plates.
With the following protocol, any lab capable of fabricating and analyzing spotted microarrays should be able to manufacture this miniaturized ELISA format.
NOTE: All steps are carried out at room temperature unless otherwise indicated.
1. Array Construction
2. Analyzing Glycan Binding Proteins
3. Scanning and Data Analyses
NOTE: The glycan microarrays can be scanned at different settings, depending on the microarray scanner’s manufacturer. By varying the laser power and resolution, the instrument can produce an image with as many signals as possible within its dynamic range (Figure 1C).
Printing, Scanning & Data analyses
To ensure proper printing, it is vital to have the correct alignment of the spotted grid within the teflon mask, which delineates each array on the slide. During printing, due to the nature of the teflon coating, spots cannot be seen by the naked eye on the MPX slides. Attention is paid then to the appearance of the pre-spots on the poly-L-Lysine coated slides. Directly after printing, each slide should be checked by eye for the presence of each spotted compound that is visible due to the buffer's salts dried in the spot. Arrays are inspected for correct alignment of spots within the Teflon borders and correct number of spotted features.
Slides are scanned in an iterative process of lower to higher scan power to avoid photo bleaching and allowing the comparison of higher avidity to lower avidity binding proteins, which have higher and lower output signals, respectively. Following scanning, the fluorescent intensity of each spot in the output images are measured using an imaging program. Each array is overlayed with a grid file that matches the number of features printed on the array surface (Figure 1D–G). Using printed fluorescent dyes, the borders of the printed glycans are defined and a mask that is integrated with the identity of the printed sample lassoes each spot. The imaging mask lasso will record all aspects of the imaged spot (size, signal intensity, coordinates in the grid, etc.) and output this information to a tab-delimited text file. Using tabulation software (spreadsheet), the samples are sorted by identity and the mean signal intensity minus background is averaged over 4 of the 6 spots for each sample, leaving out the highest and lowest signal as outliers. A line graph of average mean signal minus background is plotted against the eight protein concentrations applied to the array and contains one line for each sample. The final output graph is smoothed using a non-linear regression calculation (Figure 1I).
Glycan binding proteins
The PAA-Array is used to assess receptor-binding specificity of influenza A virus hemagglutinins. An additional feature of our array, not present in the analogous plate assay, is the inclusion of non-sialylated controls in the same micro-well. To assess that printed compounds are present after printing, commonly used plant lectins with known specificity were used. ECA binds to terminal galactose linked β1-4 to N-acetyl-glucosamine (Galβ1-4GlcNAc or LacNAc) and will not bind if the terminal galactose is capped with sialic acid. ECA only detects the non-sialylated glycans on our miniaturized glycan array (Figure 2A). The lack of binding to any of the sialylated glycan samples is also indicative that these are fully capped with terminal sialic acid. For α2-6 linked sialic acid, SNA was used as a lectin control (Figure 2B). As expected, SNA only binds to α2-6 linked sialic acids, but with notable differences in affinity for PAA-linked non-PAA-linked di-LacNAc repeats. This difference reflects the sensitivity of PAA-linked glycans and allows the discrimination of proteins that may bind with low avidity. For α2-3 linked sialic acid, an H5 hemagglutinin derived from A/Vietnam/1203/04 virus that is known to recognize α2-3 linked sialic acids only was used 6. The binding profile of the H5 HA indeed shows specificity for α2-3 linked sialic acids, with a higher avidity for the PAA-linked structures (Figure 2C). Finally, the H1 hemagglutinin from a human seasonal H1N1 strain was used that, as expected, only bound to α2-6 linked sialic acid containing structures (Figure 2D).
Figure 1: Printing, scanning and image analyzes. (A) PAA-conjugated 6SLNLN is shown as a representative glycan structure that is printed on the glass slides. (B) Incubating a glycan binding protein on the multi-well glycan array is shown with an 8 µl volume that creates a droplet on the array surface. (C) Following incubation of the glycan binding proteins on the array and scanning in a confocal fluorescent slide scanner, a representative image is obtained. (D) The image is overlayed with a grid and, using grid markers for proper alignment, the single spots can be analyzed. (E) A close up of a complete set of 8 arrays, in which a single glycan binding protein was analyzed using eight 1:1 dilutions. (F) A single array, in a single well is represented; the array is demarked by the grid markers in the top right (3 spots) and bottom left (2 spots), this glycan binding protein binds a single compound on the array as a replicate of six is clearly visible. (G) The grid is shown with lassos encircling specific individual spots. (H) Imaging software calculates signal values from the image file and outputs a tab-delimited data file. (I) The data can be tabulated in spreadsheet or stastical software to create a representative output graph. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Output of plant lectins (ECA, SNA) and IAV hemagglutinins with different specificities (H5 from A/Vietnam/1203/04, H1 from A/Kentucky/07). (A) ECA binds terminal LacNAc or Galb1-4GlcNAc specifically and detects the presence of the non-sialylated compounds, used as controls for IAV hemagglutinins. (B) SNA recognizes only glycans bearing a terminal α2-6 sialic acid. (C) The recombinant hemagglutinin of the H5N1 (A/Vietnam/1203/04) strain binds to α2-3 sialic acids and provides an avian type receptor binding profile. (D) The recombinant hemagglutinin of a human seasonal H1N1 (A/Kentucky/07) binds to human-type receptors only. Fluorescent signal intensity was measured for each spot, and mean intensity minus mean background was calculated using spreadsheet program. For each glycan, the mean signal intensity is calculated from 6 replicates spots. The highest and lowest signals of the 6 replicates are removed and the remaining 4 replicates are used to calculate the mean signal, standard deviation (SD), and standard error measurement (SEM). The graphs represent the averaged mean signal minus background for each sample and error bars are the SEM value. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Assessing IAV receptor specificity is an important step in analyzing pandemic potential of avian viruses. Sialic acid recognition by the virus is linked to several biological properties such as binding to and release from the cell. Knowledge of which amino-acid mutations are necessary for avian viruses to achieve α2-6 binding and cross the species barrier enables pandemic preparedness. Several assays are used to determine receptor specificity; however, all have their drawbacks, including only measuring avidity and not specificity and vice versa.
Here we describe a novel miniaturized tool based on the widely used and accepted ELISA, which uses PAA-linked terminal fragments of more complex glycans. Using 4 well-defined lectins, 2 of plant and 2 of influenza A virus origin, we show that we maintain specificity and relative avidity.
When we calculate the amount of reduction of chemicals and biological used by miniaturizing the ELISA onto a glycan array chip, we reach strikingly large differences. First, the biologicals; we use 10x less assay volume and use 6 test compounds in 6 replicates; this can be calculated to be the equivalent of 36x rows in 96-well plates. The result is that we use 360x less biologicals. Critical steps include proper printing and the risk of high backgrounds using unpurified glycan binding agents or poor detecting antibodies.
The compounds used in this assay, although still available, are not easily made by chemo-enzymatic synthesis. Using microarray-printing technology, each spot is only 2 nl, compared to 100 µl per well of a microtiter plate. Printing a single slide containing 48 wells and 6 compounds, in 6 replicates, we consume approximately 1,152 nl. The same coating procedure in 96-well plates results in coating a total of 1,842 wells with 100 µl of compound in the same concentration. Therefore, printing the compound compared to the plate assay, we attain a striking reduction of 1,500x. Therefore, in total, biologicals are reduced 360-fold and glycan consumption by 1,500-fold. Using robotic liquid handlers, we envision that most steps could be automated, allowing the entire assay be used as a high-throughput screen.
Although printing microarrays and subsequent image analyses do require special machinery and tools, these instruments are not rare and are present at many universities and institutes. Printing is direct and does not require chemical alterations. Therefore, we believe that, with this minimal amount of compounds and simple printing technique, this assay could be more generally applicable. As it reduces the incubation volume, the costs of antibodies and precious biologicals, this technique will make it feasible for labs with limited resources to assess specificity of IAV or other glycan binding proteins with high fidelity while maintaining lower costs.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This work was supported in part by the Scripps Microarray Core Facility, and a contract from the Centers for Disease Control (J.C.P.). RPdV is a recipient of a Rubicon and VENI grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The Consortium for Functional Glycomics (http://www.functionalglycomics.org/) funded by NIGMS grant GM62116 (J.C.P.) provided several glycans used in this study. This is publication 29113 from The Scripps Research Institute.
NEXTERION® Slide H MPX-48 | Schott | 1091525 | Microwell slides |
ProScanArray Plus | PerkinElmer | discontinued | confocal microarray scanner |
Innoscan 1100AL Scanner/Mapix Software | Innopsys | – | confocal microarray scanner |
MicroGrid II | Digilab | – | microaray printer |
SNA | Vector Labs | B-1305 | Plant Lectin |
ECA | Vector Labs | B-1145 | Plant Lectin |
Anti-Strep Antibody | IBA | 2-1509-001 | Anitbody for HA binding |
Anti-Mouse Alexa-647 | Life | A-21235 | Anitbody for HA binding |
Tween-20 | Sigma | P2287 | detergent |
di-basic Sodium Phosphate | Sigma | 255793 | printing buffer component |
mono-basic Sodium phosphate | Sigma | 229903 | printing buffer component |
poly-l-lysine solution | Sigma | P8920 | pre-spotting slide component |
sodium hydroxide | Sigma | 221465 | pre-spotting slide component |
ethanol | Sigma | 493546 | pre-spotting slide component |
phosphate buffered saline | Corning | 46-013-CM | incubation/washing buffer |
SMP4B pins | Telechem | SMP4B | printing pin |
Compressed Nitrogen (Grade5) | Praxair | UN1066 | general dusting/drying tool |
Boric Acid | Sigma | B6768-500G | Slide blocking reagent |
ethanolamine | Sigma | E9508-500ML | Slide blocking reagent |
Atto 488 | AttoTec | AD 488-91 | Gridmarker on array |
PAA-LNLN | Consortium for Functional Glycomics | PA368 | Spotted glycans |
PAA-3SLNLN | Consortium for Functional Glycomics | PA362 | Spotted glycans |
PAA-6SLNLN | Consortium for Functional Glycomics | PA343 | Spotted glycans |
LNLN | Consortium for Functional Glycomics | Te98 | Spotted glycans |
3SLNLN | Consortium for Functional Glycomics | Te175 | Spotted glycans |
6SLNLN | Consortium for Functional Glycomics | Te176 | Spotted glycans |
384-well microtiter plate | Matrix TechCorp | 4361 | Printing plate |
VWR lab marker | VWR | 52877-150 | Slide Numbering |
Wheaton slide staining dish | Sigma | Z103969-1EA | Blocking and Drying |