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Lindner C, Friemel A, Schwegler N, Timmermann L, Pham TL, Reusche V, Kovermann M, Thomas F. Thermostable WW-Domain Scaffold to Design Functional β-Sheet Miniproteins. J Am Chem Soc 2024. [PMID: 38853610 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c03498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
There has been a recent surge in the design of miniproteins for medicinal chemistry, biomaterial design, or synthetic biology. In particular, there is an interest in peptide scaffolds that fold reliably, predictably, and with solid stability. In this article, we present the design of a highly thermostable WW domain, a three-stranded β-sheet motif, with a superior melting temperature of about 90 °C to serve as a core scaffold onto which receptor-like properties can be grafted. We have performed specific rounds of sequence iteration on a WW-domain consensus sequence to decipher sequence positions that affect structural and, thus, thermal stability. We identified a sequence-structure relationship that yields a highly thermostable WW-domain scaffold. High-resolution NMR spectroscopy was applied, which enabled the identification of structural features at the atomic scale that contribute to this high thermostability. Finally, we grafted the binding motifs of the three WW-domain groups─Group I, Group II/III, and Group IV─and organophosphate and metal binding onto the highly thermostable WW-domain scaffold and obtained thermostable de novo WW domains that indeed display the different binding modes that were intended. The organophosphate-binding WW domains exhibit melting temperatures that are up to 34 K higher than previously reported top-down designs. These results impressively demonstrate that the highly thermostable WW-domain core scaffold is a solid platform for the design of discrete and reliably folding functional β-sheet peptide miniproteins, providing an essential addition to the toolbox of peptide scaffolds previously used in synthetic biology and material design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Lindner
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anke Friemel
- Physical Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Niklas Schwegler
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lisa Timmermann
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Truc Lam Pham
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Vanessa Reusche
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Kovermann
- Physical Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Franziska Thomas
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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2
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Li D, Sun C, Zhuang P, Mei X. Revolutionizing SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant detection: Towards faster and more reliable methods. Talanta 2024; 266:124937. [PMID: 37481886 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.124937] [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: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has inflicted significant damage during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This new variant's significant sequence changes and mutations in both proteins and RNA have rendered many existing rapid detection methods ineffective in identifying it accurately. As the world races to control the spread of the virus, researchers are urgently exploring new diagnostic strategies to specifically detect Omicron variants with high accuracy and sensitivity. In response to this challenge, we have compiled a comprehensive overview of the latest reported rapid detection techniques. These techniques include strategies for the simultaneous detection of multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and methods for selectively distinguishing Omicron variants. By categorizing these diagnostic techniques based on their targets, which encompass protein antigens and nucleic acids, we aim to offer a comprehensive understanding of the utilization of various recognition elements in identifying these targets. We also highlight the advantages and limitations of each approach. Our work is crucial in providing a more nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities in detecting Omicron variants and emerging variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Li
- College of Pharmacy, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, 121000, China.
| | - Cai Sun
- AECC Shenyang Liming Aero-Engine Co., Ltd., Shenyang, China
| | - Pengfei Zhuang
- College of Pharmacy, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, 121000, China
| | - Xifan Mei
- Key Laboratory of Medical Tissue Engineering of Liaoning Province, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning, China.
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3
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Mendoza C, Hanegan C, Sperry A, Vargas L, Case T, Bikman B, Mizrachi D. Insulin receptor-inspired soluble insulin binder. Eur J Cell Biol 2023; 102:151293. [PMID: 36739671 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2023.151293] [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: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The insulin receptor (IR) is a 320 kDa membrane receptor tyrosine kinase mediating the pleiotropic actions of insulin, leading to phosphorylation of several intracellular substrates including serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT1), and IR autophosphorylation. Structural details of the IR have been recently revealed. A high-binding insulin site, L1 (Kd =2 nM), consists of two distant domains in the primary sequence of the IR. Our design simplified the L1 binding site and transformed it into a soluble insulin binder (sIB). The sIB, a 17 kDa protein, binds insulin with 38 nM affinity. The sIB competes with IR for insulin and reduces by more than 50% phosphorylation of AKT1 in HEK 293 T cells, with similar effects on IR autophosphorylation. The sIB represents a new tool for research of insulin binding and signaling properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Mendoza
- Cell Biology and Physiology, College of Life Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
| | - Cameron Hanegan
- Cell Biology and Physiology, College of Life Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
| | - Alek Sperry
- Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
| | - Logan Vargas
- Cell Biology and Physiology, College of Life Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
| | - Trevor Case
- Cell Biology and Physiology, College of Life Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
| | - Benjamin Bikman
- Cell Biology and Physiology, College of Life Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
| | - Dario Mizrachi
- Cell Biology and Physiology, College of Life Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States.
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4
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Design of an artificial phage-display library based on a new scaffold improved for average stability of the randomized proteins. Sci Rep 2023; 13:1339. [PMID: 36693880 PMCID: PMC9873692 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-27710-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Scaffold-based protein libraries are designed to be both diverse and rich in functional/folded proteins. However, introducing an extended diversity while preserving stability of the initial scaffold remains a challenge. Here we developed an original approach to select the ensemble of folded proteins from an initial library. The thermostable CheY protein from Thermotoga maritima was chosen as scaffold. Four loops of CheY were diversified to create a new binding surface. The subset of the library giving rise to folded proteins was first selected using a natural protein partner of the template scaffold. Then, a gene shuffling approach based on a single restriction enzyme was used to recombine DNA sequences encoding these filtrated variants. Taken together, the filtration strategy and the shuffling of the filtrated sequences were shown to enrich the library in folded and stable sequences while maintaining a large diversity in the final library (Lib-Cheytins 2.1). Binders of the Oplophorus luciferase Kaz domain were then selected by phage display from the final library, showing affinities in the μM range. One of the best variants induced a loss of 92% of luminescent activity, suggesting that this Cheytin preferentially binds to the Kaz active site.
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5
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Ito T, Nguyen TD, Saito Y, Kurumida Y, Nakazawa H, Kawada S, Nishi H, Tsuda K, Kameda T, Umetsu M. Selection of target-binding proteins from the information of weakly enriched phage display libraries by deep sequencing and machine learning. MAbs 2023; 15:2168470. [PMID: 36683172 PMCID: PMC9872955 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2023.2168470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the advances in surface-display systems for directed evolution, variants with high affinity are not always enriched due to undesirable biases that increase target-unrelated variants during biopanning. Here, our goal was to design a library containing improved variants from the information of the "weakly enriched" library where functional variants were weakly enriched. Deep sequencing for the previous biopanning result, where no functional antibody mimetics were experimentally identified, revealed that weak enrichment was partly due to undesirable biases during phage infection and amplification steps. The clustering analysis of the deep sequencing data from appropriate steps revealed no distinct sequence patterns, but a Bayesian machine learning model trained with the selected deep sequencing data supplied nine clusters with distinct sequence patterns. Phage libraries were designed on the basis of the sequence patterns identified, and four improved variants with target-specific affinity (EC50 = 80-277 nM) were identified by biopanning. The selection and use of deep sequencing data without undesirable bias enabled us to extract the information on prospective variants. In summary, the use of appropriate deep sequencing data and machine learning with the sequence data has the possibility of finding sequence space where functional variants are enriched.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomoyuki Ito
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Thuy Duong Nguyen
- Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yutaka Saito
- Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan,AIST-Waseda University Computational Bio Big-Data Open Innovation Laboratory (CBBD-OIL), Tokyo, Japan,Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan,Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yoichi Kurumida
- Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hikaru Nakazawa
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Sakiya Kawada
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Hafumi Nishi
- Department of Applied Information Sciences, Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan,Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan,Faculty of Core Research, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Koji Tsuda
- Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan,Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, Tokyo, Japan,Research and Services Division of Materials Data and Integrated Systems, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Tomoshi Kameda
- Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan,Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, Tokyo, Japan,CONTACT Tomoshi Kameda Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan,Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, Tokyo, Japan,Mitsuo Umetsu Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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6
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Bragina OD, Deyev SM, Chernov VI, Tolmachev VM. The Evolution of Targeted Radionuclide Diagnosis of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer. Acta Naturae 2022; 14:4-15. [PMID: 35923562 PMCID: PMC9307982 DOI: 10.32607/actanaturae.11611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
This review examines the evolution of the radionuclide diagnosis of HER2-positive breast cancer using various compounds as a targeting module in clinical practice: from full-length antibodies to a new group of small synthetic proteins called alternative scaffold proteins. This topic is of especial relevance today in view of the problems attendant to the detection of breast cancer with HER2/neu overexpression, which, in most cases, introduce errors in the treatment of patients. The results of clinical studies of radiopharmaceuticals based on affibody molecules, ADAPTs, and DARPins for SPECT and PET have demonstrated good tolerability of the compounds, their rapid excretion from the body, and the possibility to differentiate tumor sites depending on the HER2/neu status. This indicates that targeted radionuclide diagnosis holds promise and the need to continue research in this direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- O D Bragina
- Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Cancer Research institute, Tomsk, 634009 Russia
- National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia
| | - S M Deyev
- National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997 Russia
| | - V I Chernov
- Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Cancer Research institute, Tomsk, 634009 Russia
- National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia
| | - V M Tolmachev
- National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia
- Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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7
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Achatz S, Jarasch A, Skerra A. Structural plasticity in the loop region of engineered lipocalins with novel ligand specificities, so-called Anticalins. J Struct Biol X 2022; 6:100054. [PMID: 34988429 PMCID: PMC8693463 DOI: 10.1016/j.yjsbx.2021.100054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The lipocalins exhibit four structurally variable loops at one end of a β-barrel. Binding sites for diverse ligands occur in the natural lipocalin family members. Loop reshaping via combinatorial protein design leads to novel ligand specificities. Many crystal structures of Anticalins derived from the Lcn2 scaffold are available. Graphical analysis reveals high structural plasticity of the lipocalin loop region.
Anticalins are generated via combinatorial protein design on the basis of the lipocalin protein scaffold and constitute a novel class of small and robust engineered binding proteins that offer prospects for applications in medical therapy as well as in vivo diagnostics as an alternative to antibodies. The lipocalins are natural binding proteins with diverse ligand specificities which share a simple architecture with a central eight-stranded antiparallel β-barrel and an α-helix attached to its side. At the open end of the β-barrel, four structurally variable loops connect the β-strands in a pair-wise manner and, together, shape the ligand pocket. Using targeted random mutagenesis in combination with molecular selection techniques, this loop region can be reshaped to generate pockets for the tight binding of various ligands ranging from small molecules over peptides to proteins. While such Anticalin proteins can be derived from different natural lipocalins, the human lipocalin 2 (Lcn2) scaffold proved particularly successful for the design of binding proteins with novel specificities and, over the years, more than 20 crystal structures of Lcn2-based Anticalins have been elucidated. In this graphical structural biology review we illustrate the conformational variability that emerged in the loop region of these functionally diverse artificial binding proteins in comparison with the natural scaffold. Our present analysis provides picturesque evidence of the high structural plasticity around the binding site of the lipocalins which explains the proven tolerance toward excessive mutagenesis, thus demonstrating remarkable resemblance to the complementarity-determining region of antibodies (immunoglobulins).
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Affiliation(s)
- S Achatz
- Lehrstuhl für Biologische Chemie, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 5, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - A Jarasch
- Lehrstuhl für Biologische Chemie, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 5, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - A Skerra
- Lehrstuhl für Biologische Chemie, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 5, 85354 Freising, Germany
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8
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Luo R, Liu H, Cheng Z. Protein scaffolds: Antibody alternative for cancer diagnosis and therapy. RSC Chem Biol 2022; 3:830-847. [PMID: 35866165 PMCID: PMC9257619 DOI: 10.1039/d2cb00094f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Although antibodies are well developed and widely used in cancer therapy and diagnostic fields, some defects remain, such as poor tissue penetration, long in vivo metabolic retention, potential cytotoxicity, patent limitation, and high production cost. These issues have led scientists to explore and develop novel antibody alternatives. Protein scaffolds are small monomeric proteins with stable tertiary structures and mutable residues, which emerged in the 1990s. By combining robust gene engineering and phage display techniques, libraries with sufficient diversity could be established for target binding scaffold selection. Given the properties of small size, high affinity, and excellent specificity and stability, protein scaffolds have been applied in basic research, and preclinical and clinical fields over the past two decades. To date, more than 20 types of protein scaffolds have been developed, with the most frequently used being affibody, adnectin, ANTICALIN®, DARPins, and knottin. In this review, we focus on the protein scaffold applications in cancer therapy and diagnosis in the last 5 years, and discuss the pros and cons, and strategies of optimization and design. Although antibodies are well developed and widely used in cancer therapy and diagnostic fields, some defects remain, such as poor tissue penetration, long in vivo metabolic retention, potential cytotoxicity, patent limitation, and high production cost.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Renli Luo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, College of Life and Health Sciences, Northeastern University Shenyang China
| | - Hongguang Liu
- Department of Molecular Medicine, College of Life and Health Sciences, Northeastern University Shenyang China
| | - Zhen Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Molecular Imaging Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 201203 China
- Drug Discovery Shandong Laboratory, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery Yantai Shandong 264117 China
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9
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Ito T, Nishi H, Kameda T, Yoshida M, Fukazawa R, Kawada S, Nakazawa H, Umetsu M. Combination Informatic and Experimental Approach for Selecting Scaffold Proteins for Development as Antibody Mimetics. CHEM LETT 2021. [DOI: 10.1246/cl.210443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tomoyuki Ito
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Hafumi Nishi
- Department of Applied Information Sciences, Graduate School of Information Science, Tohoku University, 6-3-09 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
- Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan
- Faculty of Core Research, Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1 Ohtsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan
| | - Tomoshi Kameda
- Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-4-7 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan
- Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, 1-4-1 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan
| | - Mayu Yoshida
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Reito Fukazawa
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Sakiya Kawada
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Hikaru Nakazawa
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Mitsuo Umetsu
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
- Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, 1-4-1 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan
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10
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Wang X, Li F, Qiu W, Xu B, Li Y, Lian X, Yu H, Zhang Z, Wang J, Li Z, Xue W, Zhu F. SYNBIP: synthetic binding proteins for research, diagnosis and therapy. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 50:D560-D570. [PMID: 34664670 PMCID: PMC8728148 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The success of protein engineering and design has extensively expanded the protein space, which presents a promising strategy for creating next-generation proteins of diverse functions. Among these proteins, the synthetic binding proteins (SBPs) are smaller, more stable, less immunogenic, and better of tissue penetration than others, which make the SBP-related data attracting extensive interest from worldwide scientists. However, no database has been developed to systematically provide the valuable information of SBPs yet. In this study, a database named ‘Synthetic Binding Proteins for Research, Diagnosis, and Therapy (SYNBIP)’ was thus introduced. This database is unique in (a) comprehensively describing thousands of SBPs from the perspectives of scaffolds, biophysical & functional properties, etc.; (b) panoramically illustrating the binding targets & the broad application of each SBP and (c) enabling a similarity search against the sequences of all SBPs and their binding targets. Since SBP is a human-made protein that has not been found in nature, the discovery of novel SBPs relied heavily on experimental protein engineering and could be greatly facilitated by in-silico studies (such as AI and computational modeling). Thus, the data provided in SYNBIP could lay a solid foundation for the future development of novel SBPs. The SYNBIP is accessible without login requirement at both official (https://idrblab.org/synbip/) and mirror (http://synbip.idrblab.net/) sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaona Wang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
| | - Fengcheng Li
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Wenqi Qiu
- Department of Surgery, HKU-SZH & Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Binbin Xu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
| | - Yanlin Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
| | - Xichen Lian
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Hongyan Yu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
| | - Zhao Zhang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
| | - Jianxin Wang
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
| | - Zhaorong Li
- Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, Alibaba-Zhejiang University Joint Research Center of Future Digital Healthcare, Hangzhou 330110, China
| | - Weiwei Xue
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
| | - Feng Zhu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China.,College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.,Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine of Zhejiang University, Alibaba-Zhejiang University Joint Research Center of Future Digital Healthcare, Hangzhou 330110, China
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11
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Kariolis MS, Wells RC, Getz JA, Kwan W, Mahon CS, Tong R, Kim DJ, Srivastava A, Bedard C, Henne KR, Giese T, Assimon VA, Chen X, Zhang Y, Solanoy H, Jenkins K, Sanchez PE, Kane L, Miyamoto T, Chew KS, Pizzo ME, Liang N, Calvert MEK, DeVos SL, Baskaran S, Hall S, Sweeney ZK, Thorne RG, Watts RJ, Dennis MS, Silverman AP, Zuchero YJY. Brain delivery of therapeutic proteins using an Fc fragment blood-brain barrier transport vehicle in mice and monkeys. Sci Transl Med 2021; 12:12/545/eaay1359. [PMID: 32461332 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aay1359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 48.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2019] [Revised: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Effective delivery of protein therapeutics to the central nervous system (CNS) has been greatly restricted by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We describe the development of a BBB transport vehicle (TV) comprising an engineered Fc fragment that exploits receptor-mediated transcytosis for CNS delivery of biotherapeutics by binding a highly expressed brain endothelial cell target. TVs were engineered using directed evolution to bind the apical domain of the human transferrin receptor (hTfR) without the use of amino acid insertions, deletions, or unnatural appendages. A crystal structure of the TV-TfR complex revealed the TV binding site to be away from transferrin and FcRn binding sites, which was further confirmed experimentally in vitro and in vivo. Recombinant expression of TVs fused to anti-β-secretase (BACE1) Fabs yielded antibody transport vehicle (ATV) molecules with native immunoglobulin G (IgG) structure and stability. Peripheral administration of anti-BACE1 ATVs to hTfR-engineered mice and cynomolgus monkeys resulted in substantially improved CNS uptake and sustained pharmacodynamic responses. The TV platform readily accommodates numerous additional configurations, including bispecific antibodies and protein fusions, yielding a highly modular CNS delivery platform.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihalis S Kariolis
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA.
| | - Robert C Wells
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Jennifer A Getz
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Wanda Kwan
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Cathal S Mahon
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Raymond Tong
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Do Jin Kim
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Ankita Srivastava
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Catherine Bedard
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Kirk R Henne
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Tina Giese
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Victoria A Assimon
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Xiaocheng Chen
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Yin Zhang
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Hilda Solanoy
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Katherine Jenkins
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Pascal E Sanchez
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Lesley Kane
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Takashi Miyamoto
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Kylie S Chew
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Michelle E Pizzo
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Nicholas Liang
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Meredith E K Calvert
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Sarah L DeVos
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | | | - Sejal Hall
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Zachary K Sweeney
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Robert G Thorne
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Ryan J Watts
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Mark S Dennis
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Adam P Silverman
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Y Joy Yu Zuchero
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA.
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12
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Ahmadi MKB, Mohammadi SA, Makvandi M, Mamouei M, Rahmati M, Dehghani H, Wood DW. Recent Advances in the Scaffold Engineering of Protein Binders. Curr Pharm Biotechnol 2021; 22:878-891. [PMID: 32838715 DOI: 10.2174/1389201021999200824101035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Revised: 08/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, extensive attention has been given to the generation of new classes of ligand- specific binding proteins to supplement monoclonal antibodies. A combination of protein engineering and display technologies has been used to manipulate non-human antibodies for humanization and stabilization purposes or even the generation of new binding proteins. Engineered protein scaffolds can now be directed against therapeutic targets to treat cancer and immunological disorders. Although very few of these scaffolds have successfully passed clinical trials, their remarkable properties such as robust folding, high solubility, and small size motivate their employment as a tool for biology and applied science studies. Here, we have focused on the generation of new non-Ig binding proteins and single domain antibody manipulation, with a glimpse of their applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad K B Ahmadi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Seyed A Mohammadi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Manoochehr Makvandi
- Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Morteza Mamouei
- Department of Animal Science, Ramin Agricultural and Natural Resources University, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Mohammad Rahmati
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Hesam Dehghani
- Stem Cells Regenerative Research Group, Ressearch Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Square, Mashhad, Iran
| | - David W Wood
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University, 151 W. Woodruff Ave., Columbus, OH 43210, United States
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13
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Characterization of Affitin proteolytic digestion in biorelevant media and improvement of their stabilities via protein engineering. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19703. [PMID: 33184451 PMCID: PMC7661517 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76855-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Affitins are a novel class of small 7 kDa artificial proteins which can be used as antibody substitutes in therapeutic, diagnostic and biotechnological applications. One challenge for this type of protein agent is their behaviour in the context of oral administration. The digestive system is central, and biorelevant media have fast emerged as relevant and reliable tools for evaluating the bioavailability of drugs. This study describes, for the first time, the stability of Affitins under simulated gastric and intestinal digestion conditions. Affitins appear to be degraded into stable fragments in in vitro gastric medium. We identified cleavage sites generated by pepsin that were silenced by site-directed mutagenesis. This protein engineering allowed us to enhance Affitin properties. We showed that a mutant M1 containing a double mutation of amino acid residues 6 and 7 in H4 and C3 Affitins acquired a resistance against proteolytic digestion. In addition, these mutations were beneficial for target affinity, as well as for production yield. Finally, we found that the mutated residues kept or increased the important pH and temperature stabilities of Affitins. These improvements are particularly sought after in the development of engineered binding proteins for research tools, preclinical studies and clinical applications.
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14
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Abstract
The concept of engineering robust protein scaffolds for novel binding functions emerged 20 years ago, one decade after the advent of recombinant antibody technology. Early examples were the Affibody, Monobody (Adnectin), and Anticalin proteins, which were derived from fragments of streptococcal protein A, from the tenth type III domain of human fibronectin, and from natural lipocalin proteins, respectively. Since then, this concept has expanded considerably, including many other protein templates. In fact, engineered protein scaffolds with useful binding specificities, mostly directed against targets of biomedical relevance, constitute an area of active research today, which has yielded versatile reagents as laboratory tools. However, despite strong interest from basic science, only a handful of those protein scaffolds have undergone biopharmaceutical development up to the clinical stage. This includes the abovementioned pioneering examples as well as designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins). Here we review the current state and clinical validation of these next-generation therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arne Skerra
- Lehrstuhl für Biologische Chemie, Technische Universität München, 85354 Freising, Germany;
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15
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Kilic O, Matos de Souza MR, Almotlak AA, Wang Y, Siegfried JM, Distefano MD, Wagner CR. Anti-EGFR Fibronectin Bispecific Chemically Self-Assembling Nanorings (CSANs) Induce Potent T Cell-Mediated Antitumor Responses and Downregulation of EGFR Signaling and PD-1/PD-L1 Expression. J Med Chem 2020; 63:10235-10245. [PMID: 32852209 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Overexpression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on various cancers makes it an important target for cancer immunotherapy. We recently demonstrated that single-chain variable fragment-based bispecific chemically self-assembled nanorings (CSANs) can successfully modify T cell surfaces and function as prosthetic antigen receptors (PARs) allowing selective targeting of tumor antigens while incorporating a dissociation mechanism of the rings. Here, we report the generation of anti-EGFR fibronectin (FN3)-based PARs with high yield, rapid protein production, predicted low immunogenicity, and increased protein stability. We demonstrated the cytotoxicity of FN3-PARs successfully while evaluating FN3 affinities, CSAN valencies, and antigen expression levels. Using an orthotopic breast cancer model, we showed that FN3-PARs can suppress tumor growth with no adverse effects and FN3-PARs reduced immunosuppressive programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression by downregulating EGFR signaling. These results demonstrate the potential of FN3-PARs to direct selective T cell-targeted tumor killing and to enhance antitumor T cell efficacy by modulating the tumor microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marcos R Matos de Souza
- Department of Virology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
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16
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Zajc CU, Salzer B, Taft JM, Reddy ST, Lehner M, Traxlmayr MW. Driving CARs with alternative navigation tools - the potential of engineered binding scaffolds. FEBS J 2020; 288:2103-2118. [PMID: 32794303 PMCID: PMC8048499 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2020] [Revised: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 08/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
T cells that are genetically engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CAR T cells) have shown impressive clinical efficacy against B‐cell malignancies. In contrast to these highly potent CD19‐targeting CAR T cells, many of those directed against other tumor entities and antigens currently suffer from several limitations. For example, it has been demonstrated that many scFvs used as antigen‐binding domains in CARs show some degree of oligomerization, which leads to tonic signaling, T cell exhaustion, and poor performance in vivo. Therefore, in many cases alternatives to scFvs would be beneficial. Fortunately, due to the development of powerful protein engineering technologies, also non‐immunoglobulin‐based scaffolds can be engineered to specifically recognize antigens, thus eliminating the historical dependence on antibody‐based binding domains. Here, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such engineered binding scaffolds, in particular with respect to their application in CARs. We review recent studies, collectively showing that there is no functional or biochemical aspect that necessitates the use of scFvs in CARs. Instead, antigen recognition can also be mediated efficiently by engineered binding scaffolds, as well as natural ligands or receptors fused to the CAR backbone. Finally, we critically discuss the risk of immunogenicity and show that the extent of nonhuman amino acid stretches in engineered scaffolds—even in those based on nonhuman proteins—is more similar to humanized scFvs than might be anticipated. Together, we expect that engineered binding scaffolds and natural ligands and receptors will be increasingly used for the design of CAR T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte U Zajc
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Next Generation CAR T Cells, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biochemistry, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benjamin Salzer
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Next Generation CAR T Cells, Vienna, Austria.,St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, Vienna, Austria
| | - Joseph M Taft
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sai T Reddy
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Manfred Lehner
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Next Generation CAR T Cells, Vienna, Austria.,St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Pediatrics, St. Anna Kinderspital, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael W Traxlmayr
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Next Generation CAR T Cells, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biochemistry, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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17
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Xu Y, Wang L, Pan D, Yan J, Wang X, Yang R, Li M, Liu Y, Yang M. Synthesis of a novel 89Zr-labeled HER2 affibody and its application study in tumor PET imaging. EJNMMI Res 2020; 10:58. [PMID: 32495181 PMCID: PMC7271293 DOI: 10.1186/s13550-020-00649-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is an essential biomarker for tumor treatment. Affibody is an ideal vector for preparing HER2 specific probes because of high affinity and rapid clearance from normal tissues, etc. Zirconium-89 is a PET imaging isotope with a long half-life and suitable for monitoring biological processes for more extended periods. In this study, a novel 89Zr-labeled HER2 affibody, [89Zr]Zr-DFO-MAL-Cys-MZHER2, was synthesized, and its imaging characters were also assessed. RESULTS The precursor, DFO-MAL-Cys-MZHER2, was obtained with a yield of nearly 50%. The radiochemical yield of [89Zr]Zr -DFO-MAL-Cys-MZHER2 was 90.2 ± 1.9%, and the radiochemical purity was higher than 95%. The total synthesis time was only 30 min. The probe was stable in PBS and serum. The tracer accumulated in HER2 overexpressing human ovarian cancer SKOV-3 cells. In vivo studies in mice bearing tumors showed that the probe was highly retained in SKOV-3 xenografts even for 48 h. The tumors were visualized with good contrast to normal tissues. ROI analysis revealed that the average uptake values in the tumor were greater than 5% IA/g during 48 h postinjection. On the contrary, the counterparts of MCF-7 tumors kept low levels ( ~ 1% IA/g). The outcome was consistent with the immunohistochemical analysis and ex vivo autoradiography. The probe quickly cleared from the normal organs except kidneys and mainly excreted through the urinary system. CONCLUSION The novel HER2 affibody for PET imaging was easily prepared with satisfactory labeling yield and radiochemical purity. [89Zr]Zr-DFO-MAL-Cys-MZHER2 is a potential candidate for detecting HER2 expression. It may play specific roles in clinical cancer theranostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuping Xu
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Ministry of Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, 214063, Jiangsu, China.,Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Lizhen Wang
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Ministry of Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, 214063, Jiangsu, China
| | - Donghui Pan
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Ministry of Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, 214063, Jiangsu, China
| | - Junjie Yan
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Ministry of Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, 214063, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xinyu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Ministry of Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, 214063, Jiangsu, China
| | - Runlin Yang
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Ministry of Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, 214063, Jiangsu, China
| | - Mingzhu Li
- Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, 010110, Inner Mongolia, China
| | - Yu Liu
- Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China
| | - Min Yang
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Ministry of Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Jiangsu Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Wuxi, 214063, Jiangsu, China. .,Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China.
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18
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The application of helix fusion methods in structural biology. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2020; 60:110-116. [PMID: 31968282 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Methods generating fusion proteins with rigid and predictable structures have been developed in recent years. Among them, helix fusion methods that link two proteins by connecting their terminal alpha helices into a single and extended alpha helix can be particularly useful because designing fusion helices is conceptually and technically simple. These methods have been shown crucial in obtaining crystals that diffract x-rays to high resolution or attaching large and symmetrical backbone proteins to small target proteins for cryo-EM analysis. The structural rigidity of the fusion helix is crucial for these applications, and the reduction of structural ambiguity and flexibility at the fusion sites will further enhance the usefulness of this method.
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