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Saunders JW, Damry AM, Vongsouthi V, Spence MA, Frkic RL, Gomez C, Yates PA, Matthews DS, Tokuriki N, McLeod MD, Jackson CJ. Increasing the Soluble Expression and Whole-Cell Activity of the Plastic-Degrading Enzyme MHETase through Consensus Design. Biochemistry 2024; 63:1663-1673. [PMID: 38885634 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.4c00165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
The mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate hydrolase (MHETase) from Ideonella sakaiensis carries out the second step in the enzymatic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastic into the monomers terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). Despite its potential industrial and environmental applications, poor recombinant expression of MHETase has been an obstacle to its industrial application. To overcome this barrier, we developed an assay allowing for the medium-throughput quantification of MHETase activity in cell lysates and whole-cell suspensions, which allowed us to screen a library of engineered variants. Using consensus design, we generated several improved variants that exhibit over 10-fold greater whole-cell activity than wild-type (WT) MHETase. This is revealed to be largely due to increased soluble expression, which biochemical and structural analysis indicates is due to improved protein folding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jake W Saunders
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Adam M Damry
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Vanessa Vongsouthi
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Matthew A Spence
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Rebecca L Frkic
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Chloe Gomez
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Patrick A Yates
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Dana S Matthews
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Nobuhiko Tokuriki
- Michael Smith Laboratories, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Malcolm D McLeod
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Colin J Jackson
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Synthetic Biology, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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Cui Z, Ayva CE, Liew YJ, Guo Z, Mutschler R, Dreier B, Fiorito MM, Walden P, Howard CB, Ely F, Plückthun A, Pretorius C, Ungerer JPJ, Buckle AM, Alexandrov K. mRNA Display Pipeline for Protein Biosensor Construction. ACS Sens 2024; 9:2846-2857. [PMID: 38807313 PMCID: PMC11218749 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.3c02471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Despite the significant potential of protein biosensors, their construction remains a trial-and-error process. The most obvious approach for addressing this is to utilize modular biosensor architectures where specificity-conferring modalities can be readily generated to recognize new targets. Toward this goal, we established a workflow that uses mRNA display-based selection of hyper-stable monobody domains for the target of choice or ribosome display to select equally stable DARPins. These binders were integrated into a two-component allosteric biosensor architecture based on a calmodulin-reporter chimera. This workflow was tested by developing biosensors for liver toxicity markers such as cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase, mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase 1. We demonstrate that our pipeline consistently produced >103 unique binders for each target within a week. Our analysis revealed that the affinity of the binders for their targets was not a direct predictor of the binder's performance in a biosensor context. The interactions between the binding domains and the reporter module affect the biosensor activity and the dynamic range. We conclude that following binding domain selection, the multiplexed biosensor assembly and prototyping appear to be the most promising approach for identifying biosensors with the desired properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenling Cui
- ARC
Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- Centre
for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- School
of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Cagla Ergun Ayva
- Centre
for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- School
of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Yi Jin Liew
- CSIRO
Health & Biosecurity, Westmead, New South Wales 2145,Australia
| | - Zhong Guo
- ARC
Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- Centre
for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- School
of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Roxane Mutschler
- Centre
for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- School
of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Birgit Dreier
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich CH-8057, Switzerland
| | - Maria M Fiorito
- Centre
for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- School
of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Patricia Walden
- Centre
for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- School
of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Christopher B Howard
- Australian
Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | | | - Andreas Plückthun
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich CH-8057, Switzerland
| | - Carel Pretorius
- Department
of Chemical Pathology, Pathology Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4006, Australia
- Faculty
of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jacobus PJ Ungerer
- Department
of Chemical Pathology, Pathology Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4006, Australia
- Faculty
of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | | | - Kirill Alexandrov
- ARC
Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- Centre
for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- School
of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
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Zhu N, Smallwood PM, Rattner A, Chang TH, Williams J, Wang Y, Nathans J. Utility of protein-protein binding surfaces composed of anti-parallel alpha-helices and beta-sheets selected by phage display. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107283. [PMID: 38608728 PMCID: PMC11107207 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Over the past 3 decades, a diverse collection of small protein domains have been used as scaffolds to generate general purpose protein-binding reagents using a variety of protein display and enrichment technologies. To expand the repertoire of scaffolds and protein surfaces that might serve this purpose, we have explored the utility of (i) a pair of anti-parallel alpha-helices in a small highly disulfide-bonded 4-helix bundle, the CC4 domain from reversion-inducing Cysteine-rich Protein with Kazal Motifs and (ii) a concave beta-sheet surface and two adjacent loops in the human FN3 domain, the scaffold for the widely used monobody platform. Using M13 phage display and next generation sequencing, we observe that, in both systems, libraries of ∼30 million variants contain binding proteins with affinities in the low μM range for baits corresponding to the extracellular domains of multiple mammalian proteins. CC4- and FN3-based binding proteins were fused to the N- and/or C-termini of Fc domains and used for immunostaining of transfected cells. Additionally, FN3-based binding proteins were inserted into VP1 of AAV to direct AAV infection to cells expressing a defined surface receptor. Finally, FN3-based binding proteins were inserted into the Pvc13 tail fiber protein of an extracellular contractile injection system particle to direct protein cargo delivery to cells expressing a defined surface receptor. These experiments support the utility of CC4 helices B and C and of FN3 beta-strands C, D, and F together with adjacent loops CD and FG as surfaces for engineering general purpose protein-binding reagents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ningyu Zhu
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Philip M Smallwood
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Amir Rattner
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Tao-Hsin Chang
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - John Williams
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Yanshu Wang
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
| | - Jeremy Nathans
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
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David TI, Pestov NB, Korneenko TV, Barlev NA. Non-Immunoglobulin Synthetic Binding Proteins for Oncology. BIOCHEMISTRY. BIOKHIMIIA 2023; 88:1232-1247. [PMID: 37770391 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297923090043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
Extensive application of technologies like phage display in screening peptide and protein combinatorial libraries has not only facilitated creation of new recombinant antibodies but has also significantly enriched repertoire of the protein binders that have polypeptide scaffolds without homology to immunoglobulins. These innovative synthetic binding protein (SBP) platforms have grown in number and now encompass monobodies/adnectins, DARPins, lipocalins/anticalins, and a variety of miniproteins such as affibodies and knottins, among others. They serve as versatile modules for developing complex affinity tools that hold promise in both diagnostic and therapeutic settings. An optimal scaffold typically has low molecular weight, minimal immunogenicity, and demonstrates resistance against various challenging conditions, including proteolysis - making it potentially suitable for peroral administration. Retaining functionality under reducing intracellular milieu is also advantageous. However, paramount to its functionality is the scaffold's ability to tolerate mutations across numerous positions, allowing for the formation of a sufficiently large target binding region. This is achieved through the library construction, screening, and subsequent expression in an appropriate system. Scaffolds that exhibit high thermodynamic stability are especially coveted by the developers of new SBPs. These are steadily making their way into clinical settings, notably as antagonists of oncoproteins in signaling pathways. This review surveys the diverse landscape of SBPs, placing particular emphasis on the inhibitors targeting the oncoprotein KRAS, and highlights groundbreaking opportunities for SBPs in oncology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Temitope I David
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, 119121, Russia
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Phystech School of Biological and Medical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141701, Russia
| | - Nikolay B Pestov
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, 119121, Russia.
- Laboratory of Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Other Viral Encephalitides, Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 108819, Russia
- Group of Cross-Linking Enzymes, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Tatyana V Korneenko
- Group of Cross-Linking Enzymes, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Nikolai A Barlev
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, 119121, Russia
- Laboratory of Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Other Viral Encephalitides, Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 108819, Russia
- Institute of Cytology Russian Academy of Sciences, St.-Petersburg, 194064, Russia
- School of Medicine, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
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Shan X, Gong X, Li J, Wen J, Li Y, Zhang Z. Current approaches of nanomedicines in the market and various stage of clinical translation. Acta Pharm Sin B 2022; 12:3028-3048. [PMID: 35865096 PMCID: PMC9293719 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2022.02.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 48.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
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Zhang Y, Thangam R, You SH, Sultonova RD, Venu A, Min JJ, Hong Y. Engineering Calreticulin-Targeting Monobodies to Detect Immunogenic Cell Death in Cancer Chemotherapy. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:2801. [PMID: 34199835 PMCID: PMC8200062 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13112801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Surface-exposed calreticulin (ecto-CRT) plays a crucial role in the phagocytic removal of apoptotic cells during immunotherapy. Ecto-CRT is an immunogenic signal induced in response to treatment with chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin (DOX) and mitoxantrone (MTX), and two peptides (KLGFFKR (Integrin-α) and GQPMYGQPMY (CRT binding peptide 1, Hep-I)) are known to specifically bind CRT. To engineer CRT-specific monobodies as agents to detect immunogenic cell death (ICD), we fused these peptide sequences at the binding loops (BC and FG) of human fibronectin domain III (FN3). CRT-specific monobodies were purified from E. coli by affinity chromatography. Using these monobodies, ecto-CRT was evaluated in vitro, in cultured cancer cell lines (CT-26, MC-38, HeLa, and MDA-MB-231), or in mice after anticancer drug treatment. Monobodies with both peptide sequences (CRT3 and CRT4) showed higher binding to ecto-CRT than those with a single peptide sequence. The binding affinity of the Rluc8 fusion protein-engineered monobodies (CRT3-Rluc8 and CRT4-Rluc8) to CRT was about 8 nM, and the half-life in serum and tumor tissue was about 12 h. By flow cytometry and confocal immunofluorescence of cancer cell lines, and by in vivo optical bioluminescence imaging of tumor-bearing mice, CRT3-Rluc8 and CRT4-Rluc8 bound specifically to ecto-CRT and effectively detected pre-apoptotic cells after treatment with ICD-inducing agents (DOX and MTX) but not a non-ICD-inducing agent (gemcitabine). Using CRT-specific monobodies, it is possible to detect ecto-CRT induction in cancer cells in response to drug exposure. This technique may be used to predict the therapeutic efficiency of chemo- and immuno-therapeutics early during anticancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zhang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea; (Y.Z.); (R.T.); (S.-H.Y.); (R.D.S.); (A.V.)
| | - Ramar Thangam
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea; (Y.Z.); (R.T.); (S.-H.Y.); (R.D.S.); (A.V.)
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
| | - Sung-Hwan You
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea; (Y.Z.); (R.T.); (S.-H.Y.); (R.D.S.); (A.V.)
| | - Rukhsora D. Sultonova
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea; (Y.Z.); (R.T.); (S.-H.Y.); (R.D.S.); (A.V.)
| | - Akhil Venu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea; (Y.Z.); (R.T.); (S.-H.Y.); (R.D.S.); (A.V.)
| | - Jung-Joon Min
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea; (Y.Z.); (R.T.); (S.-H.Y.); (R.D.S.); (A.V.)
- Department of Microbiology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea
| | - Yeongjin Hong
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea; (Y.Z.); (R.T.); (S.-H.Y.); (R.D.S.); (A.V.)
- Department of Microbiology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Korea
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