1
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Zhang YN, Wan XC, Tang Y, Chen Y, Zheng FH, Cui ZH, Zhang H, Zhou Z, Fang GM. Employing unnatural promiscuity of sortase to construct peptide macrocycle libraries for ligand discovery. Chem Sci 2024; 15:9649-9656. [PMID: 38939140 PMCID: PMC11206207 DOI: 10.1039/d4sc01992j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
With the increasing attention paid to macrocyclic scaffolds in peptide drug development, genetically encoded peptide macrocycle libraries have become invaluable sources for the discovery of high-affinity peptide ligands targeting disease-associated proteins. The traditional phage display technique of constructing disulfide-tethered macrocycles by cysteine oxidation has the inherent drawback of reduction instability of the disulfide bond. Chemical macrocyclization solves the problem of disulfide bond instability, but the involved highly electrophilic reagents are usually toxic to phages and may bring undesirable side reactions. Here, we report a unique Sortase-mediated Peptide Ligation and One-pot Cyclization strategy (SPLOC) to generate peptide macrocycle libraries, avoiding the undesired reactions of electrophiles with phages. The key to this platform is to mine the unnatural promiscuity of sortase on the X residue of the pentapeptide recognition sequence (LPXTG). Low reactive electrophiles are incorporated into the X-residue side chain, enabling intramolecular cyclization with the cysteine residue of the phage-displayed peptide library. Utilizing the genetically encoded peptide macrocycle library constructed by the SPLOC platform, we found a high-affinity bicyclic peptide binding TEAD4 with a nanomolar KD value (63.9 nM). Importantly, the binding affinity of the bicyclic peptide ligand is 102-fold lower than that of the acyclic analogue. To our knowledge, this is the first time to mine the unnatural promiscuity of ligases to generate peptide macrocycles, providing a new avenue for the construction of genetically encoded cyclic peptide libraries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan-Ni Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University Hefei 230601 P. R. China
| | - Xiao-Cui Wan
- School of Life Sciences, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University Hefei 230601 P. R. China
| | - Yang Tang
- Department of Medical Ultrasound, Department of Stomatology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University Cancer Center, Tongji University School of Medicine Shanghai 200072 P. R. China
| | - Ying Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University Hefei 230601 P. R. China
| | - Feng-Hao Zheng
- School of Life Sciences, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University Hefei 230601 P. R. China
| | - Zhi-Hui Cui
- School of Life Sciences, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University Hefei 230601 P. R. China
| | - Hua Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University Hefei 230601 P. R. China
| | - Zhaocai Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Shanghai 200438 P. R. China
| | - Ge-Min Fang
- School of Life Sciences, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University Hefei 230601 P. R. China
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2
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Sigal M, Matsumoto S, Beattie A, Katoh T, Suga H. Engineering tRNAs for the Ribosomal Translation of Non-proteinogenic Monomers. Chem Rev 2024; 124:6444-6500. [PMID: 38688034 PMCID: PMC11122139 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Ribosome-dependent protein biosynthesis is an essential cellular process mediated by transfer RNAs (tRNAs). Generally, ribosomally synthesized proteins are limited to the 22 proteinogenic amino acids (pAAs: 20 l-α-amino acids present in the standard genetic code, selenocysteine, and pyrrolysine). However, engineering tRNAs for the ribosomal incorporation of non-proteinogenic monomers (npMs) as building blocks has led to the creation of unique polypeptides with broad applications in cellular biology, material science, spectroscopy, and pharmaceuticals. Ribosomal polymerization of these engineered polypeptides presents a variety of challenges for biochemists, as translation efficiency and fidelity is often insufficient when employing npMs. In this Review, we will focus on the methodologies for engineering tRNAs to overcome these issues and explore recent advances both in vitro and in vivo. These efforts include increasing orthogonality, recruiting essential translation factors, and creation of expanded genetic codes. After our review on the biochemical optimizations of tRNAs, we provide examples of their use in genetic code manipulation, with a focus on the in vitro discovery of bioactive macrocyclic peptides containing npMs. Finally, an analysis of the current state of tRNA engineering is presented, along with existing challenges and future perspectives for the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell Sigal
- Department of Chemistry,
Graduate School of Science, The University
of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Satomi Matsumoto
- Department of Chemistry,
Graduate School of Science, The University
of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Adam Beattie
- Department of Chemistry,
Graduate School of Science, The University
of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Takayuki Katoh
- Department of Chemistry,
Graduate School of Science, The University
of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Suga
- Department of Chemistry,
Graduate School of Science, The University
of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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3
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Hampton JT, Liu WR. Diversification of Phage-Displayed Peptide Libraries with Noncanonical Amino Acid Mutagenesis and Chemical Modification. Chem Rev 2024; 124:6051-6077. [PMID: 38686960 PMCID: PMC11082904 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.4c00004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Sitting on the interface between biologics and small molecules, peptides represent an emerging class of therapeutics. Numerous techniques have been developed in the past 30 years to take advantage of biological methods to generate and screen peptide libraries for the identification of therapeutic compounds, with phage display being one of the most accessible techniques. Although traditional phage display can generate billions of peptides simultaneously, it is limited to expression of canonical amino acids. Recently, several groups have successfully undergone efforts to apply genetic code expansion to introduce noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) with novel reactivities and chemistries into phage-displayed peptide libraries. In addition to biological methods, several different chemical approaches have also been used to install noncanonical motifs into phage libraries. This review focuses on these recent advances that have taken advantage of both biological and chemical means for diversification of phage libraries with ncAAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Trae Hampton
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, College
of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Wenshe Ray Liu
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, College
of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
- Institute
of Biosciences and Technology and Department of Translational Medical
Sciences, College of Medicine, Texas A&M
University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
- Department
of Cell Biology and Genetics, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College
Station, Texas 77843, United States
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
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4
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Chen PH, Guo XS, Zhang HE, Dubey GK, Geng ZZ, Fierke CA, Xu S, Hampton JT, Liu WR. Leveraging a Phage-Encoded Noncanonical Amino Acid: A Novel Pathway to Potent and Selective Epigenetic Reader Protein Inhibitors. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2024; 10:782-792. [PMID: 38680566 PMCID: PMC11046469 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.3c01419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Epigenetic reader proteins interpret histone epigenetic marks to regulate gene expression. Given their vital roles and the link between their dysfunction and various diseases, these proteins present compelling targets for therapeutic interventions. Nevertheless, designing selective inhibitors for these proteins poses significant challenges, primarily due to their unique properties such as shallow binding sites and similarities with homologous proteins. To overcome these challenges, we propose an innovative strategy that uses phage display with a genetically encoded noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) containing an epigenetic mark. This ncAA guides binding to the reader protein's active site, allowing the identification of peptide inhibitors with enhanced affinity and selectivity. In this study, we demonstrate this novel approach's effectiveness by identifying potent inhibitors for the ENL YEATS domain that plays a critical role in leukemogenesis. Our strategy involved genetically incorporating Nε-butyryl-l-lysine (BuK), known for its binding to ENL YEATS, into a phage display library for enriching the pool of potent inhibitors. One resultant hit was further optimized by substituting BuK with other pharmacophores to exploit a unique π-π-π stacking interaction with ENL YEATS. This led to the creation of selective ENL YEATS inhibitors with a KD value of 2.0 nM and a selectivity 28 times higher for ENL YEATS than its close homologue AF9 YEATS. One such inhibitor, tENL-S1f, demonstrated robust cellular target engagement and on-target effects to inhibit leukemia cell growth and suppress the expression of ENL target genes. As a pioneering study, this work opens up extensive avenues for the development of potent and selective peptidyl inhibitors for a broad spectrum of epigenetic reader proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng-Hsun
Chase Chen
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Xuejiao Shirley Guo
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Hanyuan Eric Zhang
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Gopal K. Dubey
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Zhi Zachary Geng
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Carol A. Fierke
- Department
of Biochemistry, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02453, United States
| | - Shiqing Xu
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Texas A&M
University, College
Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - J. Trae Hampton
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
| | - Wenshe Ray Liu
- Texas
A&M Drug Discovery Center and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Texas A&M
University, College
Station, Texas 77843, United States
- Institute
of Biosciences and Technology and Department of Translational Medical
Sciences, College of Medicine, Texas A&M
University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department
of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M
University, College
Station, Texas 77843, United States
- Department
of Cell Biology and Genetics, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States
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5
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Wan XC, Zhang YN, Zhang H, Chen Y, Cui ZH, Zhu WJ, Fang GM. Asparaginyl Endopeptidase-Mediated Peptide Cyclization for Phage Display. Org Lett 2024; 26:2601-2605. [PMID: 38529932 DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.4c00602] [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: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
We report here an enzymatic strategy for asparaginyl endopeptidase-mediated peptide cyclization. Incorporation of chloroacetyl groups into the recognition sequence of OaAEP1 enabled intramolecular cyclization with Cys residues. Combining this strategy and phage display, we identified nanomolar macrocyclic peptide ligands targeting TEAD4. One of the bicyclic peptides binds to TEAD4 with a KD value of 139 nM, 16 times lower than its linear analogue, demonstrating the utility of this platform in discovering high-affinity macrocyclic peptide ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Cui Wan
- School of Life Science, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Institute of Health Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, P.R. China
| | - Yan-Ni Zhang
- School of Life Science, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Institute of Health Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, P.R. China
| | - Hua Zhang
- School of Life Science, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Institute of Health Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, P.R. China
| | - Ying Chen
- School of Life Science, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Institute of Health Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, P.R. China
| | - Zhi-Hui Cui
- School of Life Science, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Institute of Health Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, P.R. China
| | - Wen-Jing Zhu
- School of Life Science, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Institute of Health Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, P.R. China
| | - Ge-Min Fang
- School of Life Science, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Institute of Health Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, P.R. China
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6
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Zheng M, Gao J. Phage Display of Two Distinct Warheads to Inhibit Challenging Proteins. ACS Chem Biol 2023; 18:2259-2266. [PMID: 37682047 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00297] [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: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
Falling in between traditional small molecules and antibodies in size, peptides are emerging as a privileged therapeutic modality, one that can harness the benefits of both small molecule and antibody drugs. To discover potential peptide therapeutics, it is highly desirable to have high throughput screening platforms that can assess peptides with diverse and non-natural functional motifs. With this contribution, we present a novel phage library that incorporates two distinct designer groups. As an example, a pair of reversible covalent warheads was installed onto phage-displayed peptides to target a cysteine and a lysine. The double modification is realized by sequential modification of an N-terminal cysteine and then an internal cysteine using chemoselective chemistry. Screening of this double-warhead-presenting library against TEV protease readily revealed peptide inhibitors with single-digit micromolar potency. Importantly, our structure-activity studies demonstrate that both covalent warheads make important contributions to TEV protease inhibition. We envision that our strategy of double phage modification can be readily extended to build phage libraries with diverse structural motifs, allowing facile expansion of the chemical space coverable by phage display.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengmeng Zheng
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Jianmin Gao
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
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7
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Hampton JT, Cho CCD, Coleman DD, Geng ZZ, Chen PH, Dubey G, Sylvain L, Xu S, Liu W. An amber-encoding helper phage for more efficient phage display of noncanonical amino acids. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:6566-6577. [PMID: 37293959 PMCID: PMC10359598 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Using an amber suppression-based noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) mutagenesis approach, the chemical space in phage display can be significantly expanded for drug discovery. In this work, we demonstrate the development of a novel helper phage, CMa13ile40, for continuous enrichment of amber obligate phage clones and efficient production of ncAA-containing phages. CMa13ile40 was constructed by insertion of a Candidatus Methanomethylophilus alvus pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase/PylT gene cassette into a helper phage genome. The novel helper phage allowed for a continuous amber codon enrichment strategy for two different libraries and demonstrated a 100-fold increase in packaging selectivity. CMa13ile40 was then used to create two peptide libraries containing separate ncAAs, Nϵ-tert-butoxycarbonyl-lysine and Nϵ-allyloxycarbonyl-lysine, respectively. These libraries were used to identify peptide ligands that bind to the extracellular domain of ZNRF3. Each selection showed differential enrichment of unique sequences dependent upon the ncAA used. Peptides from both selections were confirmed to have low micromolar affinity for ZNRF3 that was dependent upon the presence of the ncAA used for selection. Our results demonstrate that ncAAs in phages provide unique interactions for identification of unique peptides. As an effective tool for phage display, we believe that CMa13ile40 can be broadly applied to a wide variety of applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Trae Hampton
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Chia-Chuan Dean Cho
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Demonta D Coleman
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Zhi Zachary Geng
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Peng-Hsun Chase Chen
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Gopal K Dubey
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Lauralee D Sylvain
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Shiqing Xu
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Wenshe Ray Liu
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Institute of Biosciences and Technology and Department of Translational Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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8
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Lee ML, Farag S, Del Cid JS, Bashore C, Hallenbeck KK, Gobbi A, Cunningham CN. Identification of Macrocyclic Peptide Families from Combinatorial Libraries Containing Noncanonical Amino Acids Using Cheminformatics and Bioinformatics Inspired Clustering. ACS Chem Biol 2023; 18:1425-1434. [PMID: 37220419 PMCID: PMC10278063 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
In the past decade, macrocyclic peptides gained increasing interest as a new therapeutic modality to tackle intracellular and extracellular therapeutic targets that had been previously classified as "undruggable". Several technological advances have made discovering macrocyclic peptides against these targets possible: 1) the inclusion of noncanonical amino acids (NCAAs) into mRNA display, 2) increased availability of next generation sequencing (NGS), and 3) improvements in rapid peptide synthesis platforms. This type of directed-evolution based screening can produce large numbers of potential hit sequences given that DNA sequencing is the functional output of this platform. The current standard for selecting hit peptides from these selections for downstream follow-up relies on the frequency counting and sorting of unique peptide sequences which can result in the generation of false negatives due to technical reasons including low translation efficiency or other experimental factors. To overcome our inability to detect weakly enriched peptide sequences among our large data sets, we wanted to develop a clustering method that would enable the identification of peptide families. Unfortunately, utilizing traditional clustering algorithms, such as ClustalW, is not possible for this technology due to the incorporation of NCAAs in these libraries. Therefore, we developed a new atomistic clustering method with a Pairwise Aligned Peptide (PAP) chemical similarity metric to perform sequence alignments and identify macrocyclic peptide families. With this method, low enriched peptides, including isolated sequences (singletons), can now be clustered into families providing a comprehensive analysis of NGS data resulting from macrocycle discovery selections. Additionally, upon identification of a hit peptide with the desired activity, this clustering algorithm can be used to identify derivatives from the initial data set for structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis without requiring additional selection experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man-Ling Lee
- Discovery
Chemistry, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Sherif Farag
- Discovery
Chemistry, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Joselyn S. Del Cid
- Peptide
Therapeutics, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Charlene Bashore
- Biological
Chemistry, Genentech Inc. 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Kenneth K. Hallenbeck
- Peptide
Therapeutics, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Alberto Gobbi
- Discovery
Chemistry, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
| | - Christian N. Cunningham
- Peptide
Therapeutics, Genentech Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
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9
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Kang D, Kim DW, Kim JC, Park HS. A Versatile Strategy for Screening Custom-Designed Warhead-Armed Cyclic Peptide Inhibitors. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202214815. [PMID: 36535892 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202214815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Revised: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Demand for peptide-based pharmaceuticals has been steadily increasing, but only limited success has been achieved to date. To expedite peptide-based drug discovery, we developed a general scheme for cell-based screening of cyclic peptide inhibitors armed with a user-designed warhead. We combined unnatural amino acid incorporation and split intein-mediated peptide cyclization techniques and integrated a yeast-based colorimetric screening assay to generate a new scheme that we call the custom-designed warhead-armed cyclic peptide screening platform (CWCPS). This strategy successfully discovered a potent inhibitor, CY5-6Q, that targets human histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8) with a KD value of 15 nM. This approach can be a versatile and general platform for discovering cyclic peptide inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deokhee Kang
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
| | - Do-Wook Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
| | - Joo-Chan Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
| | - Hee-Sung Park
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
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10
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Spiliotopoulos A, Maurer SK, Tsoumpeli MT, Bonfante JAF, Owen JP, Gough KC, Dreveny I. Next-Generation Phage Display to Identify Peptide Ligands of Deubiquitinases. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2591:189-218. [PMID: 36350550 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2803-4_12] [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] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Phage display (PD) is a powerful method and has been extensively used to generate monoclonal antibodies and identify epitopes, mimotopes, and protein interactions. More recently, the combination of next-generation sequencing (NGS) with PD (NGPD) has revolutionized the capabilities of the method by creating large data sets of sequences from affinity selection-based approaches (biopanning) otherwise challenging to obtain. NGPD can monitor motif enrichment, allow tracking of the selection process over consecutive rounds, and highlight unspecific binders. To tackle the wealth of data obtained, bioinformatics tools have been developed that allow for identifying specific binding sequences (binders) that can then be validated. Here, we provide a detailed account of the use of NGPD experiments to identify ubiquitin-specific protease peptide ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasios Spiliotopoulos
- Biodiscovery Institute, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, UK
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Sigrun K Maurer
- Biodiscovery Institute, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Maria T Tsoumpeli
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, UK
| | - Juan A F Bonfante
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, UK
| | - Jonathan P Owen
- ADAS UK, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, The University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
| | - Kevin C Gough
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, UK.
| | - Ingrid Dreveny
- Biodiscovery Institute, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
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11
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Díaz-Perlas C, Escobar-Rosales M, Morgan CW, Oller-Salvia B. Encoding Noncanonical Amino Acids into Phage Displayed Proteins. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2676:117-129. [PMID: 37277628 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3251-2_8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Phage display facilitates the evolution of peptides and proteins for affinity selection against targets, but it is mostly limited to the chemical diversity provided by the naturally encoded amino acids. The combination of phage display with genetic code expansion allows the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins expressed on the phage. In this method, we describe incorporation of one or two ncAAs in a single-chain fragment variable (scFv) antibody in response to amber or quadruplet codon. We take advantage of the pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair to incorporate a lysine derivative and an orthogonal tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair to incorporate a phenylalanine derivative. The encoding of novel chemical functionalities and building blocks in proteins displayed on phage provides the foundation for further phage display applications in fields such as imaging, protein targeting, and the production of new materials.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Charles W Morgan
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
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12
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Morse JS, Sheng YJ, Hampton JT, Sylvain LD, Das S, Alugubelli YR, Chen PC, Yang KS, Xu S, Fierke CA, Liu WR. Phage-assisted, active site-directed ligand evolution of a potent and selective histone deacetylase 8 inhibitor. Protein Sci 2022; 31:e4512. [PMID: 36382882 PMCID: PMC9703592 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Phage-assisted, active site-directed ligand evolution (PADLE) is a recently developed technique that uses an amber codon-encoded noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) as an anchor to direct phage-displayed peptides to a target for an enhanced ligand identification process. 2-Amino-8-oxodecanoic acid (Aoda) is a ketone-containing ncAA residue in the macrocyclic peptide natural product apicidin that is a pan-inhibitor of Zn2+ -dependent histone deacetylases (HDACs). Its ketone serves as an anchoring point to coordinate the catalytic zinc ion in HDACs. Using a previously evolved N𝜀 -acetyl-lysyl-tRNA synthetase in combination with tRNAPyl , we showed that Aoda was efficiently incorporated into proteins in Escherichia coli by amber suppression. By propagating an amber codon-obligate phagemid library in E. coli encoding Aoda, we generated an Aoda-containing phage-displayed peptide library. Using this library to conduct PADLE against HDAC8 revealed a 7-mer peptide GH8P01F1 with Aoda-flanking amino acid residues that matched existing peptide sequences in identified HDAC8 substrates. Switching Aoda in GH8P01F1 to a more Zn2+ -chelating ncAA S-2-amino-8-hydroxyamino-8-oxooctanoic acid (Asuha) led to an extremely potent compound GH8HA01, which has an HDAC8-inhibition Ki value of 0.67 nM. GH8HA01 and its 5-mer truncation analogue Ac-GH8HA01Δ1Δ7 that has an HDAC8-inhibition Ki value of 0.31 nM are two of the most potent HDAC8 inhibitors that have been developed. Furthermore, both are highly selective against HDAC8 compared with other HDACs tested, demonstrating the great potential of using PADLE to identify highly potent and selective ligands for targets with conserved active sites among homologues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared S. Morse
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Yan J. Sheng
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Joshua Trae Hampton
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Lauralee D. Sylvain
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Sukant Das
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Yugendar R. Alugubelli
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Peng‐Hsun Chase Chen
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Kai S. Yang
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Shiqing Xu
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
| | - Carol A. Fierke
- Department of BiochemistryBrandeis UniversityWalthamMassachusettsUSA
| | - Wenshe Ray Liu
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of ChemistryTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
- Institute of Biosciences and Technology and Department of Translational Medical Sciences, College of MedicineTexas A&M UniversityHoustonTexasUSA
- Department of Biochemistry and BiophysicsTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, College of MedicineTexas A&M UniversityTexasUSA
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13
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Hampton JT, Lalonde TJ, Tharp JM, Kurra Y, Alugubelli YR, Roundy CM, Hamer GL, Xu S, Liu WR. Novel Regioselective Approach to Cyclize Phage-Displayed Peptides in Combination with Epitope-Directed Selection to Identify a Potent Neutralizing Macrocyclic Peptide for SARS-CoV-2. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:2911-2922. [PMID: 36174018 PMCID: PMC9528030 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Using the regioselective cyanobenzothiazole condensation reaction with an N-terminal cysteine and the chloroacetamide reaction with an internal cysteine, a phage-displayed macrocyclic 12-mer peptide library was constructed and subsequently validated. Using this library in combination with iterative selections against two epitopes from the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Spike protein, macrocyclic peptides that strongly inhibit the interaction between the Spike RBD and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the human host receptor of SARS-CoV-2, were identified. The two epitopes were used instead of the Spike RBD to avoid selection of nonproductive macrocyclic peptides that bind RBD but do not directly inhibit its interactions with ACE2. Antiviral tests against SARS-CoV-2 showed that one macrocyclic peptide is highly potent against viral reproduction in Vero E6 cells with an EC50 value of 3.1 μM. The AlphaLISA-detected IC50 value for this macrocyclic peptide was 0.3 μM. The current study demonstrates that two kinetically controlled reactions toward N-terminal and internal cysteines, respectively, are highly effective in the construction of phage-displayed macrocyclic peptides, and the selection based on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike epitopes is a promising methodology in the identification of peptidyl antivirals.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Trae Hampton
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Tyler J. Lalonde
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Jeffery M. Tharp
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Yadagiri Kurra
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Yugendar R. Alugubelli
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | | | - Gabriel L. Hamer
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Shiqing Xu
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Wenshe Ray Liu
- Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Institute of Biosciences and Technology and Department of Translational Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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14
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Zheng M, Chen FJ, Li K, Reja RM, Haeffner F, Gao J. Lysine-Targeted Reversible Covalent Ligand Discovery for Proteins via Phage Display. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:15885-15893. [PMID: 35976695 PMCID: PMC9440474 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c07375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Binding via reversible covalent bond formation presents a novel and powerful mechanism to enhance the potency of synthetic inhibitors for therapeutically important proteins. Work on this front has yielded the anticancer drug bortezomib as well as the antisickling drug voxelotor. However, the rational design of reversible covalent inhibitors remains difficult even when noncovalent inhibitors are available as a scaffold. Herein, we report chemically modified phage libraries, both linear and cyclic, that incorporate 2-acetylphenylboronic acid (APBA) as a warhead to bind lysines via reversible iminoboronate formation. To demonstrate their utility, these APBA-presenting phage libraries were screened against sortase A of Staphylococcus aureus, as well as the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. For both protein targets, peptide ligands were readily identified with single-digit micromolar potency and excellent specificity, enabling live-cell sortase inhibition and highly sensitive spike protein detection, respectively. Furthermore, our structure-activity studies unambiguously demonstrate the benefit of the APBA warhead for protein binding. Overall, this contribution shows for the first time that reversible covalent inhibitors can be developed via phage display for a protein of interest. The phage display platform should be widely applicable to proteins including those involved in protein-protein interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengmeng Zheng
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Fa-Jie Chen
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Kaicheng Li
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Rahi M. Reja
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Fredrik Haeffner
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Jianmin Gao
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
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15
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Allen GL, Grahn AK, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Waldrop S, Guo J, Kay BK. Expanding the chemical diversity of M13 bacteriophage. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:961093. [PMID: 36003937 PMCID: PMC9393631 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.961093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteriophage M13 virions are very stable nanoparticles that can be modified by chemical and genetic methods. The capsid proteins can be functionalized in a variety of chemical reactions without loss of particle integrity. In addition, Genetic Code Expansion (GCE) permits the introduction of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into displayed peptides and proteins. The incorporation of ncAAs into phage libraries has led to the discovery of high-affinity binders with low nanomolar dissociation constant (K D) values that can potentially serve as inhibitors. This article reviews how bioconjugation and the incorporation of ncAAs during translation have expanded the chemistry of peptides and proteins displayed by M13 virions for a variety of purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Katerina Kourentzi
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Richard C. Willson
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Sean Waldrop
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Jiantao Guo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Brian K. Kay
- Tango Biosciences, Inc., Chicago, IL, United States
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16
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Zheng M, Haeffner F, Gao J. N-Terminal cysteine mediated backbone-side chain cyclization for chemically enhanced phage display. Chem Sci 2022; 13:8349-8354. [PMID: 35919713 PMCID: PMC9297441 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc03241d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Phage display, an ingenious invention for evaluating peptide libraries, has been limited to natural peptides that are ribosomally assembled with proteinogenic amino acids. Recently, there has been growing interest in chemically modifying phage libraries to create nonnatural cyclic and multicyclic peptides, which are appealing for use as inhibitors of protein-protein interactions. While earlier reports largely focused on side-chain side-chain cyclization, we report herein a novel strategy for creating backbone-side chain cyclized peptide libraries on phage. Our strategy capitalizes on the unique reactivity of an N-terminal cysteine (NCys) with 2-cyanobenzothiazole (CBT) which, in conjugation with another thiol-reactive group, can elicit rapid cyclization between an NCys and an internal cysteine. The resulting library was screened against two model proteins, namely Keap1 and Sortase A. The screening readily revealed potent inhibitors for both proteins with certain Keap1 ligands reaching low nanomolar potency. The backbone-side chain cyclization strategy described herein presents a significant addition to the toolkit of creating nonnatural macrocyclic peptide libraries for phage display.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengmeng Zheng
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College Chestnut Hill MA 02467 USA
| | - Fredrik Haeffner
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College Chestnut Hill MA 02467 USA
| | - Jianmin Gao
- Department of Chemistry, Merkert Chemistry Center, Boston College Chestnut Hill MA 02467 USA
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17
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Chen FJ, Zheng M, Nobile V, Gao J. Fast and Cysteine-Specific Modification of Peptides, Proteins and Bacteriophage Using Chlorooximes. Chemistry 2022; 28:e202200058. [PMID: 35167137 PMCID: PMC8986619 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202200058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
This work reports a novel chlorooxime mediated modification of native peptides and proteins under physiologic conditions. This method features fast reaction kinetics (apparent k2 =306±4 M-1 s-1 for GSH) and exquisite selectivity for cysteine residues. This cysteine conjugation reaction can be carried out with just single-digit micromolar concentrations of the labeling reagent. The conjugates show high stability towards acid, base, and external thiol nucleophiles. A nitrile oxide species generated in situ is likely involved as the key intermediate. Furthermore, a bis-chlorooxime reagent is synthesized to enable facile Cys-Cys stapling in native peptides and proteins. This highly efficient cysteine conjugation and stapling was further implemented on bacteriophage to construct chemically modified phage libraries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fa-Jie Chen
- Department of Chemistry Boston College, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Mengmeng Zheng
- Department of Chemistry Boston College, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Vincent Nobile
- Department of Chemistry Boston College, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Jianmin Gao
- Department of Chemistry Boston College, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
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18
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Chen Y, Loredo A, Chung A, Zhang M, Liu R, Xiao H. Biosynthesis and Genetic Incorporation of 3,4-Dihydroxy-L-Phenylalanine into Proteins in Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol 2021; 434:167412. [PMID: 34942167 PMCID: PMC9018569 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
While 20 canonical amino acids are used by most organisms for protein synthesis, the creation of cells that can use noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) as additional protein building blocks holds great promise for preparing novel medicines and for studying complex questions in biological systems. However, only a small number of biosynthetic pathways for ncAAs have been reported to date, greatly restricting our ability to generate cells with ncAA building blocks. In this study, we report the creation of a completely autonomous bacterium that utilizes 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (DOPA) as its 21st amino acid building block. Like canonical amino acids, DOPA can be biosynthesized without exogenous addition and can be genetically incorporated into proteins in a site-specific manner. Equally important, the protein production yield of DOPA-containing proteins from these autonomous cells is greater than that of cells exogenously fed with 9 mM DOPA. The unique catechol moiety of DOPA can be used as a versatile handle for site-specific protein functionalizations via either oxidative coupling or strain-promoted oxidation-controlled cyclooctyne-1,2-quinone (SPOCQ) cycloaddition reactions. We further demonstrate the use of these autonomous cells in preparing fluorophore-labeled anti-human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) antibodies for the detection of HER2 expression on cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuda Chen
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005
| | - Axel Loredo
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005
| | - Anna Chung
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005
| | - Mengxi Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005
| | - Rui Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005
| | - Han Xiao
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005; Department of Biosciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005; Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas, 77005.
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19
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Islam M, Kehoe HP, Lissoos JB, Huang M, Ghadban CE, Sánchez GB, Lane HZ, Van Deventer JA. Chemical Diversification of Simple Synthetic Antibodies. ACS Chem Biol 2021; 16:344-359. [PMID: 33482061 PMCID: PMC8096149 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Antibodies possess properties that make them valuable as therapeutics, diagnostics, and basic research tools. However, antibody chemical reactivity and covalent antigen binding are constrained, or even prevented, by the narrow range of chemistries encoded in canonical amino acids. In this work, we investigate strategies for leveraging an expanded range of chemical functionality using yeast displayed antibodies containing noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) in or near antibody complementarity determining regions (CDRs). To enable systematic characterization of the effects of ncAA incorporation on antibody function, we first investigated whether diversification of a single antibody loop would support the isolation of binding clones against immunoglobulins from three species. We constructed and screened a billion-member library containing canonical amino acid diversity and loop length diversity only within the third complementarity determining region of the heavy chain (CDR-H3). Isolated clones exhibited moderate affinities (double- to triple-digit nanomolar affinities) and, in several cases, single-species specificity, confirming that antibody specificity can be mediated by a single CDR. This constrained diversity enabled the utilization of additional CDRs for the installation of chemically reactive and photo-cross-linkable ncAAs. Binding studies of ncAA-substituted antibodies revealed that ncAA incorporation is reasonably well tolerated, with observed changes in affinity occurring as a function of ncAA side chain identity, substitution site, and the ncAA incorporation machinery used. Multiple azide-containing ncAAs supported copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) and strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) without the abrogation of binding function. Similarly, several alkyne substitutions facilitated CuAAC without the apparent disruption of binding. Finally, antibodies substituted with a photo-cross-linkable ncAA were evaluated for ultraviolet-mediated cross-linking on the yeast surface. Competition-based assays revealed position-dependent covalent linkages, strongly suggesting successful cross-linking. Key findings regarding CuAAC reactions and photo-cross-linking on the yeast surface were confirmed using soluble forms of ncAA-substituted clones. The consistency of findings on the yeast surface and in solution suggest that chemical diversification can be incorporated into yeast display screening approaches. Taken together, our results highlight the power of integrating the use of yeast display and ncAAs in search of proteins with "chemically augmented" binding functions. This includes strategies for systematically introducing small molecule functionality within binding protein structures and evaluating protein-based covalent target binding. The efficient preparation and chemical diversification of antibodies on the yeast surface open up new possibilities for discovering "drug-like" protein leads in high throughput.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariha Islam
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Haixing P. Kehoe
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Jacob B. Lissoos
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Manjie Huang
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Christopher E. Ghadban
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Greg B. Sánchez
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Hanan Z. Lane
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - James A. Van Deventer
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
- Biomedical Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
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20
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Dotter H, Boll M, Eder M, Eder AC. Library and post-translational modifications of peptide-based display systems. Biotechnol Adv 2021; 47:107699. [PMID: 33513435 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2021.107699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Innovative biotechnological methods empower the successful identification of new drug candidates. Phage, ribosome and mRNA display represent high throughput screenings, allowing fast and efficient progress in the field of targeted drug discovery. The identification range comprises low molecular weight peptides up to whole antibodies. However, a major challenge poses the stability and affinity in particular of peptides. Chemical modifications e.g. the introduction of unnatural amino acids or cyclization, have been proven to be essential tools to overcome these limitations. This review article particularly focuses on available methods for the targeted chemical modification of peptides and peptide libraries in selected display approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Dotter
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany; Division of Radiopharmaceutical Development, German Cancer Consortium, partner site Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany, and German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Melanie Boll
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany; Division of Radiopharmaceutical Development, German Cancer Consortium, partner site Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany, and German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Matthias Eder
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany; Division of Radiopharmaceutical Development, German Cancer Consortium, partner site Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany, and German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Ann-Christin Eder
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany; Division of Radiopharmaceutical Development, German Cancer Consortium, partner site Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany, and German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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21
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Nielsen AL, Rajabi N, Kudo N, Lundø K, Moreno-Yruela C, Bæk M, Fontenas M, Lucidi A, Madsen AS, Yoshida M, Olsen CA. Mechanism-based inhibitors of SIRT2: structure-activity relationship, X-ray structures, target engagement, regulation of α-tubulin acetylation and inhibition of breast cancer cell migration. RSC Chem Biol 2021; 2:612-626. [PMID: 34458803 PMCID: PMC8341974 DOI: 10.1039/d0cb00036a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) is a protein deacylase enzyme that removes acetyl groups and longer chain acyl groups from post-translationally modified lysine residues. It affects diverse biological functions in the cell and has been considered a drug target in relation to both neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Therefore, access to well-characterized and robust tool compounds is essential for the continued investigation of the complex functions of this enzyme. Here, we report a collection of chemical probes that are potent, selective, stable in serum, water-soluble, and inhibit SIRT2-mediated deacetylation and demyristoylation in cells. Compared to the current landscape of SIRT2 inhibitors, this is a unique ensemble of features built into a single compound. We expect the developed chemotypes to find broad application in the interrogation of SIRT2 functions in both healthy and diseased cells, and to provide a foundation for the development of future therapeutics. Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) is a protein deacylase enzyme that removes acetyl groups and longer chain acyl groups from post-translationally modified lysine residues. Here, we developed small peptide-based inhibitors of its activity in living cells in culture.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander L Nielsen
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Nima Rajabi
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Norio Kudo
- RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (S13) Hirosawa 2-1 Wako Saitama 351-0198 Japan
| | - Kathrine Lundø
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Blegdamsvej 3B DK-2200 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Carlos Moreno-Yruela
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Michael Bæk
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Martin Fontenas
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Alessia Lucidi
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Andreas S Madsen
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Minoru Yoshida
- RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (S13) Hirosawa 2-1 Wako Saitama 351-0198 Japan
| | - Christian A Olsen
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals & Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 2 DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
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22
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Iskandar SE, Haberman VA, Bowers AA. Expanding the Chemical Diversity of Genetically Encoded Libraries. ACS COMBINATORIAL SCIENCE 2020; 22:712-733. [PMID: 33167616 PMCID: PMC8284915 DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.0c00179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The power of ribosomes has increasingly been harnessed for the synthesis and selection of molecular libraries. Technologies, such as phage display, yeast display, and mRNA display, effectively couple genotype to phenotype for the molecular evolution of high affinity epitopes for many therapeutic targets. Genetic code expansion is central to the success of these technologies, allowing researchers to surpass the intrinsic capabilities of the ribosome and access new, genetically encoded materials for these selections. Here, we review techniques for the chemical expansion of genetically encoded libraries, their abilities and limits, and opportunities for further development. Importantly, we also discuss methods and metrics used to assess the efficiency of modification and library diversity with these new techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina E Iskandar
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Victoria A Haberman
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Albert A Bowers
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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Kelly M, Cambray S, McCarthy KA, Wang W, Geisinger E, Ortiz-Marquez J, van Opijnen T, Gao J. Peptide Probes of Colistin Resistance Discovered via Chemically Enhanced Phage Display. ACS Infect Dis 2020; 6:2410-2418. [PMID: 32786283 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Colistin is an antibiotic of last resort used to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. The recent surge in reported cases of colistin-resistant infections urgently calls for fast and reliable diagnostic methods, which can be used for the facile detection and proper treatment of these challenging infections. A major mechanism of colistin resistance involves phosphoethanolamine (PE) modification of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the molecular target of colistin. This LPS modification mechanism has been recently reported to be transferrable via a plasmid-carried mcr-1 gene, which is particularly concerning as it may readily confer colistin resistance to a wide array of bacterial pathogens. To develop molecular tools to allow facile detection of colistin resistance, we have herein enlisted a novel phage library that incorporates dynamic covalent warheads to recognize PE modifications on bacterial cells. Screening of this chemically modified phage library against colistin-resistant pathogens revealed a number of peptide probes that readily differentiate colistin-resistant bacterial strains from their colistin-susceptible counterparts. With a fluorophore label, these peptide probes selectively stain colistin-resistant bacteria at sub-to-low micromolar concentrations. The bacterial staining is minimally inhibited by the presence of serum proteins or even blood serum. Mechanistic studies indicate that our peptide probes bind colistin-resistant bacteria primarily by targeting PE-modified lipids. However, some species-specific features of the cell surface can also contribute to the peptides' association to bacterial cells. Further elucidation of such cell surface features may give molecular probes with improved species and strain specificity, which will enable bacterial infection diagnosis with high precision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kelly
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Samantha Cambray
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Kelly A. McCarthy
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Wenjian Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Edward Geisinger
- Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Juan Ortiz-Marquez
- Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Tim van Opijnen
- Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Jianmin Gao
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
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