Autonomous IL-36R signaling in neutrophils activates potent antitumor effector functions.

While the rapid advancement of immunotherapies has revolutionized cancer treatment, only a small fraction of patients derive clinical benefit. Eradication of large, established tumors appears to depend on engaging and activating both innate and adaptive immune system components to mount a rigorous and comprehensive immune response. Identifying such agents is a high unmet medical need, because they are sparse in the therapeutic landscape of cancer treatment.

Protein production from HEK293 cell line-derived stable pools with high protein quality and quantity to support discovery research.

Antibody-based therapeutics and recombinant protein reagents are often produced in mammalian expression systems, which provide human-like post-translational modifications. Among the available mammalian cell lines used for recombinant protein expression, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-derived suspension cells are generally utilized because they are easy to culture and tend to produce proteins in high yield. However, some proteins purified from CHO cell overexpression suffer from clipping and display undesired non-human post translational modifications (PTMs).

VERITAS: Harnessing the power of nomenclature in biologic discovery.

We are entering an era in which therapeutic proteins are assembled using building block-like strategies, with no standardized schema to discuss these formats. Existing nomenclatures, like AbML, sacrifice human readability for precision. Therefore, considering even a dozen such formats, in combination with hundreds of possible targets, can create confusion and increase the complexity of drug discovery.

Toward generalizable prediction of antibody thermostability using machine learning on sequence and structure features.

Over the last three decades, the appeal for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as therapeutics has been steadily increasing as evident with FDA's recent landmark approval of the 100th mAb. Unlike mAbs that bind to single targets, multispecific biologics (msAbs) have garnered particular interest owing to the advantage of engaging distinct targets. One important modular component of msAbs is the single-chain variable fragment (scFv).

Engineered Biosensors from Dimeric Ligand-Binding Domains.

Biosensors are important components of many synthetic biology and metabolic engineering applications. Here, we report a second generation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae digoxigenin and progesterone biosensors based on destabilized dimeric ligand-binding domains that undergo ligand-induced stabilization. The biosensors, comprising one ligand-binding domain monomer fused to a DNA-binding domain and another fused to a transcriptional activation domain, activate reporter gene expression in response to steroid binding and receptor dimerization.

Improved Free-Energy Landscape Quantification Illustrated with a Computationally Designed Protein-Ligand Interaction.

Quantifying the energy landscape underlying protein-ligand interactions leads to an enhanced understanding of molecular recognition. A powerful yet accessible single-molecule technique is atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based force spectroscopy, which generally yields the zero-force dissociation rate constant (k ) and the distance to the transition state (Δx ). Here, we introduce an enhanced AFM assay and apply it to probe the computationally designed protein DIG10.

Single amino acid substitution in LC-CDR1 induces Russell body phenotype that attenuates cellular protein synthesis through eIF2α phosphorylation and thereby downregulates IgG secretion despite operational secretory pathway traffic.

Amino acid sequence differences in the variable region of immunoglobulin (Ig) cause wide variations in secretion outputs. To address how a primary sequence difference comes to modulate Ig secretion, we investigated the biosynthetic process of 2 human IgG2κ monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that differ only by one amino acid in the light chain complementarity-determining region 1 while showing ∼20-fold variance in secretion titer. Although poorly secreted, the lower-secreting mAb of the 2 was by no means defective in terms of its folding stability, antigen binding, and in vitro biologic activity.

Computational Design of Ligand Binding Proteins.

The ability to design novel small-molecule binding sites in proteins is a stringent test of our understanding of the principles of molecular recognition, and would have many practical applications, in synthetic biology and medicine. Here, we describe a computational method in the context of the macromolecular modeling suite Rosetta to designing proteins with sites featuring predetermined interactions to ligands of choice. The required inputs for the method are a model of the small molecule and the desired interactions (e.

Improving Binding Affinity and Selectivity of Computationally Designed Ligand-Binding Proteins Using Experiments.

The ability to de novo design proteins that can bind small molecules has wide implications for synthetic biology and medicine. Combining computational protein design with the high-throughput screening of mutagenic libraries of computationally designed proteins is emerging as a general approach for creating binding proteins with programmable binding modes, affinities, and selectivities. The computational step enables the creation of a binding site in a protein that otherwise does not (measurably) bind the intended ligand, and targeted mutagenic screening allows for validation and refinement of the computational model as well as provides orders-of-magnitude increases in the binding affinity.

A general strategy to construct small molecule biosensors in eukaryotes.

Biosensors for small molecules can be used in applications that range from metabolic engineering to orthogonal control of transcription. Here, we produce biosensors based on a ligand-binding domain (LBD) by using a method that, in principle, can be applied to any target molecule. The LBD is fused to either a fluorescent protein or a transcriptional activator and is destabilized by mutation such that the fusion accumulates only in cells containing the target ligand.

CSAR Benchmark Exercise 2013: Evaluation of Results from a Combined Computational Protein Design, Docking, and Scoring/Ranking Challenge.

Community Structure-Activity Resource (CSAR) conducted a benchmark exercise to evaluate the current computational methods for protein design, ligand docking, and scoring/ranking. The exercise consisted of three phases. The first phase required the participants to identify and rank order which designed sequences were able to bind the small molecule digoxigenin.

Engineering of Kuma030: A Gliadin Peptidase That Rapidly Degrades Immunogenic Gliadin Peptides in Gastric Conditions.

Celiac disease is characterized by intestinal inflammation triggered by gliadin, a component of dietary gluten. Oral administration of proteases that can rapidly degrade gliadin in the gastric compartment has been proposed as a treatment for celiac disease; however, no protease has been shown to specifically reduce the immunogenic gliadin content, in gastric conditions, to below the threshold shown to be toxic for celiac patients. Here, we used the Rosetta Molecular Modeling Suite to redesign the active site of the acid-active gliadin endopeptidase KumaMax.

Improving the Catalytic Performance of an Artificial Metalloenzyme by Computational Design.

Artifical metalloenzymes combine the reactivity of small molecule catalysts with the selectivity of enzymes, and new methods are required to tune the catalytic properties of these systems for an application of interest. Structure-based computational design could help to identify amino acid mutations leading to improved catalytic activity and enantioselectivity. Here we describe the application of Rosetta Design for the genetic optimization of an artificial transfer hydrogenase (ATHase hereafter), [(η(5)-Cp*)Ir(pico)Cl] ⊂ WT hCA II (Cp* = Me5C5(-)), for the asymmetric reduction of a cyclic imine, the precursor of salsolsidine.

Bioluminescent sensor proteins for point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring.

For many drugs, finding the balance between efficacy and toxicity requires monitoring their concentrations in the patient's blood. Quantifying drug levels at the bedside or at home would have advantages in terms of therapeutic outcome and convenience, but current techniques require the setting of a diagnostic laboratory. We have developed semisynthetic bioluminescent sensors that permit precise measurements of drug concentrations in patient samples by spotting minimal volumes on paper and recording the signal using a simple point-and-shoot camera.

Computational design of ligand-binding proteins with high affinity and selectivity.

The ability to design proteins with high affinity and selectivity for any given small molecule is a rigorous test of our understanding of the physiochemical principles that govern molecular recognition. Attempts to rationally design ligand-binding proteins have met with little success, however, and the computational design of protein-small-molecule interfaces remains an unsolved problem. Current approaches for designing ligand-binding proteins for medical and biotechnological uses rely on raising antibodies against a target antigen in immunized animals and/or performing laboratory-directed evolution of proteins with an existing low affinity for the desired ligand, neither of which allows complete control over the interactions involved in binding.

Vesicular zinc promotes presynaptic and inhibits postsynaptic long-term potentiation of mossy fiber-CA3 synapse.

The presence of zinc in glutamatergic synaptic vesicles of excitatory neurons of mammalian cerebral cortex suggests that zinc might regulate plasticity of synapses formed by these neurons. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a form of synaptic plasticity that may underlie learning and memory. We tested the hypothesis that zinc within vesicles of mossy fibers (mf) contributes to mf-LTP, a classical form of presynaptic LTP.

Characterization of a synthetic peroxodiiron(III) protein model complex by nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy.

The vibrational spectrum of an η(1),η(1)-1,2-peroxodiiron(III) complex was measured by nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy and fit using an empirical force field analysis. Isotopic (18)O(2) labelling studies revealed a feature involving motion of the {Fe(2)(O(2))}(4+) core that was not previously observed by resonance Raman spectroscopy.

Dioxygen activation in soluble methane monooxygenase.

The controlled oxidation of methane to methanol is a chemical transformation of great value, particularly in the pursuit of alternative fuels, but the reaction remains underutilized industrially because of inefficient and costly synthetic procedures. In contrast, methane monooxygenase enzymes (MMOs) from methanotrophic bacteria achieve this chemistry efficiently under ambient conditions. In this Account, we discuss the first observable step in the oxidation of methane at the carboxylate-bridged diiron active site of the soluble MMO (sMMO), namely, the reductive activation of atmospheric O(2).

Multiple roles of component proteins in bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases: phenol hydroxylase and toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase from Pseudomonas sp. OX1.

Phenol hydroxylase (PH) and toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase (ToMO) from Pseudomonas sp. OX1 require three or four protein components to activate dioxygen for the oxidation of aromatic substrates at a carboxylate-bridged diiron center. In this study, we investigated the influence of the hydroxylases, regulatory proteins, and electron-transfer components of these systems on substrate (phenol; NADH) consumption and product (catechol; H(2)O(2)) generation.

Characterization of iron dinitrosyl species formed in the reaction of nitric oxide with a biological Rieske center.

Reactions of nitric oxide with cysteine-ligated iron-sulfur cluster proteins typically result in disassembly of the iron-sulfur core and formation of dinitrosyl iron complexes (DNICs). Here we report the first evidence that DNICs also form in the reaction of NO with Rieske-type [2Fe-2S] clusters. Upon treatment of a Rieske protein, component C of toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase from Pseudomonas sp.

Oxidation reactions performed by soluble methane monooxygenase hydroxylase intermediates H(peroxo) and Q proceed by distinct mechanisms.

Soluble methane monooxygenase is a bacterial enzyme that converts methane to methanol at a carboxylate-bridged diiron center with exquisite control. Because the oxidizing power required for this transformation is demanding, it is not surprising that the enzyme is also capable of hydroxylating and epoxidizing a broad range of hydrocarbon substrates in addition to methane. In this work we took advantage of this promiscuity of the enzyme to gain insight into the mechanisms of action of H(peroxo) and Q, two oxidants that are generated sequentially during the reaction of reduced protein with O(2).

Identification of protein-bound dinitrosyl iron complexes by nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy.

We have applied (57)Fe nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS) to identify protein-bound dinitrosyl iron complexes. Intense NRVS peaks due to vibrations of the N-Fe-N unit can be observed between 500 and 700 cm(-1) and are diagnostic indicators of the type of iron dinitrosyl species present. NRVS spectra for four iron dinitrosyl model compounds are presented and used as benchmarks for the identification of species formed in the reaction of Pyrococcus furiosus ferredoxin D14C with nitric oxide.

Revisiting the mechanism of dioxygen activation in soluble methane monooxygenase from M. capsulatus (Bath): evidence for a multi-step, proton-dependent reaction pathway.

Stopped-flow kinetic investigations of soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) from M. capsulatus (Bath) have clarified discrepancies that exist in the literature regarding several aspects of catalysis by this enzyme. The development of thorough kinetic analytical techniques has led to the discovery of two novel oxygenated iron species that accumulate in addition to the well-established intermediates H(peroxo) and Q.

The copper chelator methanobactin from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b binds copper(I).

The oxidation state of copper bound to methanobactin, a small siderophore-like molecule from the methanotroph Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b, was investigated. Purified methanobactin loaded with Cu(II) exhibits a weak EPR signal probably due to adventitious Cu(II). The EPR signal intensity increases significantly upon addition of the strong oxidant nitric acid.