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Weinberg ZY, Soliman SS, Kim MS, Chen IP, Ott M, El-Samad H. De novo-designed minibinders expand the synthetic biology sensing repertoire. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.12.575267. [PMID: 38293112 PMCID: PMC10827046 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.12.575267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Synthetic and chimeric receptors capable of recognizing and responding to user-defined antigens have enabled "smart" therapeutics based on engineered cells. These cell engineering tools depend on antigen sensors which are most often derived from antibodies. Advances in the de novo design of proteins have enabled the design of protein binders with the potential to target epitopes with unique properties and faster production timelines compared to antibodies. Building upon our previous work combining a de novo-designed minibinder of the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 with the synthetic receptor synNotch (SARSNotch), we investigated whether minibinders can be readily adapted to a diversity of cell engineering tools. We show that the Spike minibinder LCB1 easily generalizes to a next-generation proteolytic receptor SNIPR that performs similarly to our previously reported SARSNotch. LCB1-SNIPR successfully enables the detection of live SARS-CoV-2, an improvement over SARSNotch which can only detect cell-expressed Spike. To test the generalizability of minibinders to diverse applications, we tested LCB1 as an antigen sensor for a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). LCB1-CAR enabled CD8+ T cells to cytotoxically target Spike-expressing cells. Our findings suggest that minibinders represent a novel class of antigen sensors that have the potential to dramatically expand the sensing repertoire of cell engineering tools.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Matthew S. Kim
- Tetrad Gradudate Program, UCSF, San Francisco CA
- Cell Design Institute, San Francisco CA
| | - Irene P. Chen
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco CA
- Department of Medicine, UCSF, San Francisco CA
| | - Melanie Ott
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco CA
- Department of Medicine, UCSF, San Francisco CA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub–San Francisco, San Francisco CA
| | - Hana El-Samad
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, UCSF, San Francisco CA
- Cell Design Institute, San Francisco CA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub–San Francisco, San Francisco CA
- Altos Labs, San Francisco CA
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Remesh SG, Merz GE, Brilot AF, Chio US, Rizo AN, Pospiech TH, Lui I, Laurie MT, Glasgow J, Le CQ, Zhang Y, Diwanji D, Hernandez E, Lopez J, Pawar KI, Pourmal S, Smith AM, Zhou F, DeRisi J, Kortemme T, Rosenberg OS, Glasgow A, Leung KK, Wells JA, Verba KA. Computational pipeline provides mechanistic understanding of Omicron variant of concern neutralizing engineered ACE2 receptor traps. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2022:2022.08.09.503400. [PMID: 35982665 PMCID: PMC9387132 DOI: 10.1101/2022.08.09.503400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, with 15 mutations in Spike receptor binding domain (Spike-RBD), renders virtually all clinical monoclonal antibodies against WT SARS-CoV-2 ineffective. We recently engineered the SARS-CoV-2 host entry receptor, ACE2, to tightly bind WT-Spike-RBD and prevent viral entry into host cells ("receptor traps"). Here we determine cryo-EM structures of our receptor traps in complex with full length Spike. We develop a multi-model pipeline combining Rosetta protein modeling software and cryo-EM to allow interface energy calculations even at limited resolution and identify interface side chains that allow for high affinity interactions between our ACE2 receptor traps and Spike-RBD. Our structural analysis provides a mechanistic rationale for the high affinity (0.53 - 4.2nM) binding of our ACE2 receptor traps to Omicron-RBD confirmed with biolayer interferometry measurements. Finally, we show that ACE2 receptor traps potently neutralize Omicron- and Delta-pseudotyped viruses, providing alternative therapeutic routes to combat this evolving virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soumya G. Remesh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Gregory E. Merz
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Axel F. Brilot
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Un Seng Chio
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Alexandrea N. Rizo
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Thomas H. Pospiech
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Irene Lui
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Mathew T. Laurie
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Jeff Glasgow
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Chau Q. Le
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Yun Zhang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Devan Diwanji
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Evelyn Hernandez
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Jocelyne Lopez
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Komal Ishwar Pawar
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Sergei Pourmal
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Amber M. Smith
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Fengbo Zhou
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | | | - Joseph DeRisi
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Tanja Kortemme
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- QBI, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- The University of California, Berkeley–University of California, San Francisco Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Oren S. Rosenberg
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Anum Glasgow
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Kevin K. Leung
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - James A. Wells
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
| | - Kliment A. Verba
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- QBI Coronavirus Research Group Structural Biology Consortium, University of California, San Francisco, CA - 94158, USA
- QBI, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Lead contact
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Manhas J, Edelstein HI, Leonard JN, Morsut L. The evolution of synthetic receptor systems. Nat Chem Biol 2022; 18:244-255. [PMID: 35058646 PMCID: PMC9041813 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-021-00926-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Receptors enable cells to detect, process and respond to information about their environments. Over the past two decades, synthetic biologists have repurposed physical parts and concepts from natural receptors to engineer synthetic receptors. These technologies implement customized sense-and-respond programs that link a cell's interaction with extracellular and intracellular cues to user-defined responses. When combined with tools for information processing, these advances enable programming of sophisticated customized functions. In recent years, the library of synthetic receptors and their capabilities has substantially evolved-a term we employ here to mean systematic improvement and expansion. Here, we survey the existing mammalian synthetic biology toolkit of protein-based receptors and signal-processing components, highlighting efforts to evolve and integrate some of the foundational synthetic receptor systems. We then propose a generalized strategy for engineering and improving receptor systems to meet defined functional objectives called a 'metric-enabled approach for synthetic receptor engineering' (MEASRE).
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Affiliation(s)
- Janvie Manhas
- Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
- The Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hailey I Edelstein
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Joshua N Leonard
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
- Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
- Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
- Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
| | - Leonardo Morsut
- The Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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