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Wang W, Bunyatov M, Lopez-Barbosa N, DeLisa MP. Engineering affinity-matured variants of an anti-polysialic acid monoclonal antibody with superior cytotoxicity-mediating potency. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2025:2025.02.12.637914. [PMID: 40027839 PMCID: PMC11870402 DOI: 10.1101/2025.02.12.637914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/05/2025]
Abstract
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that specifically recognize cell surface glycans associated with cancer and infectious disease hold tremendous value for both basic research and clinical applications. However, high-quality anti-glycan mAbs, especially those with sufficiently high affinity and specificity, remain scarce, highlighting the need for protein engineering approaches based on rational design or directed evolution that enable optimization of antigen-binding properties. To this end, we sought to enhance the affinity of a polysialic acid (polySia)-specific antibody called mAb735, which was raised by animal immunization and possesses only modest affinity, using a combination of rational design and directed evolution. The application of these approaches led to the discovery of affinity-matured IgG variants with up to ∼7-fold stronger affinity for polySia relative to the parental antibody. The higher affinity IgG variants were observed to opsonize polySia- positive cancer cells more avidly, which in turn resulted in significantly greater cytotoxicity as determined by both antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) assays. Collectively, these results demonstrate the effective application of both rational and random molecular evolution techniques to an important anti-glycan antibody, providing insights into its carbohydrate recognition while at the same time uncovering variants with greater therapeutic promise due to their enhanced affinity and potency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiyao Wang
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Mehman Bunyatov
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Natalia Lopez-Barbosa
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Matthew P. DeLisa
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
- Cornell Institute of Biotechnology, Cornell University, 130 Biotechnology Building, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
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2
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Lipsh-Sokolik R, Fleishman SJ. htFuncLib: Designing Libraries of Active-site Multipoint Mutants for Protein Optimization. J Mol Biol 2025:169011. [PMID: 40133789 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2025.169011] [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: 12/02/2024] [Revised: 02/10/2025] [Accepted: 02/12/2025] [Indexed: 03/27/2025]
Abstract
Protein function relies on accurate and densely packed constellations of amino acids within the active site. The high density in the active site optimizes activity but reduces tolerance to mutations, thereby frustrating efforts to engineer or design new or dramatically improved activity. Introducing new activities may therefore require simultaneous multipoint mutations. Still, in a phenomenon known as epistasis, the outcome of combinations of mutations can differ significantly-and even reverse-the impact of the individual mutations, limiting predictability. To address these challenges we previously developed FuncLib, a method for the computational design of multipoint mutants in active sites. We recently extended FuncLib to enable the design of large combinatorial mutation libraries for high-throughput screening in a method called htFuncLib that generates compatible sets of mutations likely to yield functional multipoint mutants. htFuncLib enables scalable library design and experimental screening of hundreds and up to millions of active-site variants. This approach has generated thousands of active enzymes and fluorescent proteins with diverse functional properties. We have updated the FuncLib web server (https://FuncLib.weizmann.ac.il/) to support htFuncLib and introduced an electronic notebook (https://github.com/Fleishman-Lab/htFuncLib-web-server) for customizable library design, making those tools easily accessible for protein engineering and design. The new FuncLib web server enables reliable and scalable design of function for low-, medium- and high-throughput experiments through a single computational platform. We envision that this server will accelerate the optimization and discovery of function in enzymes, antibodies, and other proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosalie Lipsh-Sokolik
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
| | - Sarel J Fleishman
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
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3
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Nakisa A, Sempere LF, Chen X, Qu LT, Woldring D, Crawford HC, Huang X. Tumor-Associated Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), a Promising Target for Antibody-Based Detection, Diagnosis, and Immunotherapy of Cancer. ChemMedChem 2024; 19:e202400491. [PMID: 39230966 PMCID: PMC11648843 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202400491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2024] [Revised: 08/30/2024] [Accepted: 09/03/2024] [Indexed: 09/06/2024]
Abstract
Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) also known as sialyl Lewis A is a tetrasaccharide overexpressed on a wide range of cancerous cells. CA 19-9 has been detected at elevated levels in sera of patients with various types of malignancies, most prominently pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. After its identification in 1979, multiple studies have highlighted the significant roles of CA 19-9 in cancer progression, including facilitating extravasation and eventually metastases, proliferation of cancer cells, and suppression of the immune system. Therefore, CA 19-9 has been considered an attractive target for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy. This review discusses the synthesis of CA 19-9 antigen, elicitation of antibodies through vaccination, development of anti-CA 19-9 monoclonal antibodies, and their applications as imaging tracers and therapeutics for a variety of CA 19-9-positive cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athar Nakisa
- Department of ChemistryMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science and EngineeringMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
| | - Lorenzo F. Sempere
- Precision Health Program and Department of RadiologyMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of CaliforniaDavis, California95616USA
| | - Linda T. Qu
- Department of SurgeryMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
| | - Daniel Woldring
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science and EngineeringMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials ScienceMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
| | - Howard C. Crawford
- Department of SurgeryHenry Ford Health SystemDetroit, Michigan48202United States
- Department of Pharmacology and ToxicologyMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
| | - Xuefei Huang
- Department of ChemistryMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science and EngineeringMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824United States
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Kooner AS, Yu H, Leviatan Ben-Arye S, Padler-Karavani V, Chen X. Broad-Spectrum Legionaminic Acid-Specific Antibodies in Pooled Human IgGs Revealed by Glycan Microarrays with Chemoenzymatically Synthesized Nonulosonosides. Molecules 2024; 29:3980. [PMID: 39203058 PMCID: PMC11356810 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29163980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2024] [Revised: 08/10/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/03/2024] Open
Abstract
The presence and the level of antibodies in human sera against bacterial glycans are indications of prior encounters with similar antigens and/or the bacteria that express them by the immune system. An increasing number of pathogenic bacteria that cause human diseases have been shown to express polysaccharides containing a bacterial nonulosonic acid called 5,7-di-N-acetyllegionaminic acid (Leg5,7Ac2). To investigate the immune recognition of Leg5,7Ac2, which is critical for the fight against bacterial infections, a highly effective chemoenzymatic synthon strategy was applied to construct a library of α2-3/6-linked Leg5,7Ac2-glycans via their diazido-derivatives (Leg5,7diN3-glycans) formed by efficient one-pot three-enzyme (OP3E) synthetic systems from a diazido-derivative of a six-carbon monosaccharide precursor. Glycan microarray studies using this synthetic library of a Leg5,7Ac2-capped collection of diverse underlying glycan carriers and their matched sialoside counterparts revealed specific recognition of Leg5,7Ac2 by human IgG antibodies pooled from thousands of healthy donors (IVIG), suggesting prior human encounters with Leg5,7Ac2-expressing pathogenic bacteria at the population level. These biologically relevant Leg5,7Ac2-glycans and their immune recognition assays are important tools to begin elucidating their biological roles, particularly in the context of infection and host-pathogen interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anoopjit Singh Kooner
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (A.S.K.); (H.Y.)
| | - Hai Yu
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (A.S.K.); (H.Y.)
| | - Shani Leviatan Ben-Arye
- Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
| | - Vered Padler-Karavani
- Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (A.S.K.); (H.Y.)
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Ahmadipour M, Bhattacharya A, Sarafbidabad M, Syuhada Sazali E, Krishna Ghoshal S, Satgunam M, Singh R, Rezaei Ardani M, Missaoui N, Kahri H, Pal U, Ling Pang A. CA19-9 and CEA biosensors in pancreatic cancer. Clin Chim Acta 2024; 554:117788. [PMID: 38246211 DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2024.117788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Cancer is a complex pathophysiological condition causing millions of deaths each year. Early diagnosis is essential especially for pancreatic cancer. Existing diagnostic tools rely on circulating biomarkers such as Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA). Unfortunately, these markers are nonspecific and may be increased in a variety of disorders. Accordingly, diagnosis of pancreatic cancer generally involves more invasive approaches such as biopsy as well as imaging studies. Recent advances in biosensor technology have allowed the development of precise diagnostic tools having enhanced analytical sensitivity and specificity. Herein we examine these advances in the detection of cancer in general and in pancreatic cancer specifically. Furthermore, we highlight novel technologies in the measurement of CA19-9 and CEA and explore their future application in the early detection of pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsen Ahmadipour
- Institute of Power Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43650 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
| | - Anish Bhattacharya
- Advanced Optical Materials Research Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia; Ibnu Sina Institute of Laser Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
| | - Mohsen Sarafbidabad
- Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Ezza Syuhada Sazali
- Advanced Optical Materials Research Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia; Ibnu Sina Institute of Laser Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
| | - Sib Krishna Ghoshal
- Advanced Optical Materials Research Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia; Ibnu Sina Institute of Laser Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
| | - Meenaloshini Satgunam
- Institute of Power Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43650 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43650 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Ramesh Singh
- Institute of Power Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43650 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Center of Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Processing (AMMP), Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Mohammad Rezaei Ardani
- School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
| | - Nadhem Missaoui
- Laboratory of Interfaces and Advanced Materials, Faculty of Sciences, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia
| | - Hamza Kahri
- Laboratory of Interfaces and Advanced Materials, Faculty of Sciences, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia
| | - Ujjwal Pal
- Department of Analytical and Structural Chemistry, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India
| | - Ai Ling Pang
- Department of Chemical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 31900 Kampar, Perak, Malaysia
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Tennenhouse A, Khmelnitsky L, Khalaila R, Yeshaya N, Noronha A, Lindzen M, Makowski EK, Zaretsky I, Sirkis YF, Galon-Wolfenson Y, Tessier PM, Abramson J, Yarden Y, Fass D, Fleishman SJ. Computational optimization of antibody humanness and stability by systematic energy-based ranking. Nat Biomed Eng 2024; 8:30-44. [PMID: 37550425 PMCID: PMC10842793 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-023-01079-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Conventional methods for humanizing animal-derived antibodies involve grafting their complementarity-determining regions onto homologous human framework regions. However, this process can substantially lower antibody stability and antigen-binding affinity, and requires iterative mutational fine-tuning to recover the original antibody properties. Here we report a computational method for the systematic grafting of animal complementarity-determining regions onto thousands of human frameworks. The method, which we named CUMAb (for computational human antibody design; available at http://CUMAb.weizmann.ac.il ), starts from an experimental or model antibody structure and uses Rosetta atomistic simulations to select designs by energy and structural integrity. CUMAb-designed humanized versions of five antibodies exhibited similar affinities to those of the parental animal antibodies, with some designs showing marked improvement in stability. We also show that (1) non-homologous frameworks are often preferred to highest-homology frameworks, and (2) several CUMAb designs that differ by dozens of mutations and that use different human frameworks are functionally equivalent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Tennenhouse
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Lev Khmelnitsky
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Razi Khalaila
- Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Noa Yeshaya
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ashish Noronha
- Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Moshit Lindzen
- Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Emily K Makowski
- Biointerfaces Institute and Departments of Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ira Zaretsky
- Antibody Engineering Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | | | - Peter M Tessier
- Biointerfaces Institute and Departments of Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jakub Abramson
- Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yosef Yarden
- Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Deborah Fass
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Sarel J Fleishman
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
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7
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Gillmann KM, Temme JS, Marglous S, Brown CE, Gildersleeve JC. Anti-glycan monoclonal antibodies: Basic research and clinical applications. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2023; 74:102281. [PMID: 36905763 PMCID: PMC10732169 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
Anti-glycan monoclonal antibodies have important applications in human health and basic research. Therapeutic antibodies that recognize cancer- or pathogen-associated glycans have been investigated in numerous clinical trials, resulting in two FDA-approved biopharmaceuticals. Anti-glycan antibodies are also utilized to diagnose, prognosticate, and monitor disease progression, as well as to study the biological roles and expression of glycans. High-quality anti-glycan mAbs are still in limited supply, highlighting the need for new technologies for anti-glycan antibody discovery. This review discusses anti-glycan monoclonal antibodies with applications to basic research, diagnostics, and therapeutics, focusing on recent advances in mAbs targeting cancer- and infectious disease-associated glycans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kara M Gillmann
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - J Sebastian Temme
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Samantha Marglous
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Claire E Brown
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Gildersleeve
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
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Khilji SK, Op 't Hoog C, Warschkau D, Lühle J, Goerdeler F, Freitag A, Seeberger PH, Moscovitz O. Smaller size packs a stronger punch - Recent advances in small antibody fragments targeting tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens. Theranostics 2023; 13:3041-3063. [PMID: 37284439 PMCID: PMC10240822 DOI: 10.7150/thno.80901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Attached to proteins, lipids, or forming long, complex chains, glycans represent the most versatile post-translational modification in nature and surround all human cells. Unique glycan structures are monitored by the immune system and differentiate self from non-self and healthy from malignant cells. Aberrant glycosylations, termed tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs), are a hallmark of cancer and are correlated with all aspects of cancer biology. Therefore, TACAs represent attractive targets for monoclonal antibodies for cancer diagnosis and therapy. However, due to the thick and dense glycocalyx as well as the tumour micro-environment, conventional antibodies often suffer from restricted access and limited effectiveness in vivo. To overcome this issue, many small antibody fragments have come forth, showing similar affinity with better efficiency than their full-length counterparts. Here we review small antibody fragments against specific glycans on tumour cells and highlight their advantages over conventional antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sana Khan Khilji
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Charlotte Op 't Hoog
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Graduate School of Life Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - David Warschkau
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jost Lühle
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Felix Goerdeler
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Anika Freitag
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Peter H. Seeberger
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Oren Moscovitz
- Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
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Khersonsky O, Fleishman SJ. What Have We Learned from Design of Function in Large Proteins? BIODESIGN RESEARCH 2022; 2022:9787581. [PMID: 37850148 PMCID: PMC10521758 DOI: 10.34133/2022/9787581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The overarching goal of computational protein design is to gain complete control over protein structure and function. The majority of sophisticated binders and enzymes, however, are large and exhibit diverse and complex folds that defy atomistic design calculations. Encouragingly, recent strategies that combine evolutionary constraints from natural homologs with atomistic calculations have significantly improved design accuracy. In these approaches, evolutionary constraints mitigate the risk from misfolding and aggregation, focusing atomistic design calculations on a small but highly enriched sequence subspace. Such methods have dramatically optimized diverse proteins, including vaccine immunogens, enzymes for sustainable chemistry, and proteins with therapeutic potential. The new generation of deep learning-based ab initio structure predictors can be combined with these methods to extend the scope of protein design, in principle, to any natural protein of known sequence. We envision that protein engineering will come to rely on completely computational methods to efficiently discover and optimize biomolecular activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Khersonsky
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Sarel J. Fleishman
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
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