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Podracky CJ, An C, DeSousa A, Dorr BM, Walsh DM, Liu DR. Laboratory evolution of a sortase enzyme that modifies amyloid-β protein. Nat Chem Biol 2021; 17:317-325. [PMID: 33432237 PMCID: PMC7904614 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-020-00706-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Epitope-specific enzymes are powerful tools for site-specific protein modification but generally require genetic manipulation of the target protein. Here, we describe the laboratory evolution of the bacterial transpeptidase sortase A to recognize the LMVGG sequence in endogenous amyloid-β (Aβ) protein. Using a yeast display selection for covalent bond formation, we evolved a sortase variant that prefers LMVGG substrates from a starting enzyme that prefers LPESG substrates, resulting in a >1,400-fold change in substrate preference. We used this evolved sortase to label endogenous Aβ in human cerebrospinal fluid, enabling the detection of Aβ with sensitivities rivaling those of commercial assays. The evolved sortase can conjugate a hydrophilic peptide to Aβ42, greatly impeding the ability of the resulting protein to aggregate into higher-order structures. These results demonstrate laboratory evolution of epitope-specific enzymes toward endogenous targets as a strategy for site-specific protein modification without target gene manipulation and enable potential future applications of sortase-mediated labeling of Aβ peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J. Podracky
- Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142,Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 021383
| | - Chihui An
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 021383
| | - Alexandra DeSousa
- Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Research, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115
| | - Brent M. Dorr
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 021383
| | - Dominic M. Walsh
- Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Research, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115
| | - David R. Liu
- Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142,Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 021383,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138
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Dorr BM, Fuerst DE. Enzymatic amidation for industrial applications. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2018; 43:127-133. [PMID: 29414531 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2018.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2017] [Revised: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Nature has developed a robust toolbox for the formation of amide bonds, enabling a variety of disconnections applicable to small molecule synthesis. In spite of this, the exploitation of biocatalytic techniques for industrial synthesis remains limited to a few very important cases. This review discusses previously demonstrated techniques for the biocatalytic synthesis of amide bonds, reviews examples of industrial scale-up of these techniques, and identifies a number of limitations to the scalability within the current state of the art.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brent M Dorr
- Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, GlaxoSmithKline, 709 Swedeland Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406, United States
| | - Douglas E Fuerst
- Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, GlaxoSmithKline, 709 Swedeland Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406, United States.
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Thompson DB, Villaseñor R, Dorr BM, Zerial M, Liu DR. Cellular uptake mechanisms and endosomal trafficking of supercharged proteins. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 19:831-43. [PMID: 22840771 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2012.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2012] [Revised: 05/17/2012] [Accepted: 06/21/2012] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Supercharged proteins (SCPs) can deliver functional macromolecules into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells more potently than unstructured cationic peptides. Thus far, neither the structural features of SCPs that determine their delivery effectiveness nor their intracellular fate postendocytosis, has been studied. Using a large set of supercharged GFP (scGFP) variants, we found that the level of cellular uptake is sigmoidally related to net charge and that scGFPs enter cells through multiple pathways, including clathrin-dependent endocytosis and macropinocytosis. SCPs activate Rho and ERK1/2 and also alter the endocytosis of transferrin and EGF. Finally, we discovered that the intracellular trafficking of endosomes containing scGFPs is altered in a manner that correlates with protein delivery potency. Collectively, our findings establish basic structure-activity relationships of SCPs and implicate the modulation of endosomal trafficking as a determinant of macromolecule delivery efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- David B Thompson
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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Qu Z, Krishnamurthy V, Haller CA, Dorr BM, Marzec UM, Hurst S, Hinds MT, Hanson SR, Liu DR, Chaikof EL. Immobilization of actively thromboresistant assemblies on sterile blood-contacting surfaces. Adv Healthc Mater 2014; 3:30-5. [PMID: 23788402 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201300110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2013] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Rapid one-step modification of thrombomodulin with alkylamine derivatives such as azide, biotin, and PEG is achieved using an evolved sortase (eSrtA) mutant. The feasibility of a point-of-care scheme is demonstrated herein to site-specifically immobilize azido-thrombomodulin on sterilized commercial ePTFE vascular grafts, which exhibit superior thromboresistance compared with commercial heparin-coated grafts in a primate model of acute graft thrombosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Qu
- Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired, Engineering of Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
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Figueroa M, Oliveira N, Lejeune A, Kaufmann KW, Dorr BM, Matagne A, Martial JA, Meiler J, Van de Weerdt C. Octarellin VI: using rosetta to design a putative artificial (β/α)8 protein. PLoS One 2013; 8:e71858. [PMID: 23977165 PMCID: PMC3747059 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2012] [Accepted: 07/10/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The computational protein design protocol Rosetta has been applied successfully to a wide variety of protein engineering problems. Here the aim was to test its ability to design de novo a protein adopting the TIM-barrel fold, whose formation requires about twice as many residues as in the largest proteins successfully designed de novo to date. The designed protein, Octarellin VI, contains 216 residues. Its amino acid composition is similar to that of natural TIM-barrel proteins. When produced and purified, it showed a far-UV circular dichroism spectrum characteristic of folded proteins, with α-helical and β-sheet secondary structure. Its stable tertiary structure was confirmed by both tryptophan fluorescence and circular dichroism in the near UV. It proved heat stable up to 70°C. Dynamic light scattering experiments revealed a unique population of particles averaging 4 nm in diameter, in good agreement with our model. Although these data suggest the successful creation of an artificial α/β protein of more than 200 amino acids, Octarellin VI shows an apparent noncooperative chemical unfolding and low solubility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximiliano Figueroa
- GIGA-Research, Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Nicolas Oliveira
- GIGA-Research, Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Annabelle Lejeune
- GIGA-Research, Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Kristian W. Kaufmann
- Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology, Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Brent M. Dorr
- Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology, Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - André Matagne
- Laboratoire d’Enzymologie et Repliement des Protéines, Centre for Protein Engineering, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Joseph A. Martial
- GIGA-Research, Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Jens Meiler
- Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology, Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Cécile Van de Weerdt
- GIGA-Research, Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- * E-mail:
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