The strategy used by naïve anti-PEG antibodies to capture flexible and featureless PEG chains

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used as a standard stealth polymer, although the induction of anti-PEG antibodies and consequent effects have drawn attention in recent years. To date, several anti-PEG antibodies induced by PEG-modified proteins via the T cell-dependent (TD) pathway, in which affinity maturation occurs, have been reported. In contrast, structures of the naïve anti-PEG antibodies before affinity maturation have not been described in the literature. Here, to understand the details of the naïve anti-PEG antibodies capturing PEG, we studied a naïve anti-PEG antibody induced by a PEG-modified liposome in the absence of affinity maturation via the T cell-independent (TI) pathway. The mutation levels, structures as well as in vitro and in silico binding properties of TI and TD anti-PEG antibodies were compared. The TI anti-PEG antibody showed no mutation and a low binding affinity toward PEG, meanwhile, it allowed PEG chain sliding and weak interaction with the terminal group. Furthermore, the naïve anti-PEG antibodies may obtain high affinities by forming tunnel structures via minimal mutations. This research provides new insights into polymer-antibody interactions, which can facilitate the development of novel stealth polymers that can avoid antibody induction.