Engineering High Affinity Protein-Protein Interactions Using a High-Throughput Microcapillary Array Platform

ACS Chem Biol. 2017 Feb 17;12(2):336-341. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.6b00794. Epub 2016 Dec 20.

Abstract

Affinity maturation of protein-protein interactions requires iterative rounds of protein library generation and high-throughput screening to identify variants that bind with increased affinity to a target of interest. We recently developed a multipurpose protein engineering platform, termed μSCALE (Microcapillary Single Cell Analysis and Laser Extraction). This technology enables high-throughput screening of libraries of millions of cell-expressing protein variants based on their binding properties or functional activity. Here, we demonstrate the first use of the μSCALE platform for affinity maturation of a protein-protein binding interaction. In this proof-of-concept study, we engineered an extracellular domain of the Axl receptor tyrosine kinase to bind tighter to its ligand Gas6. Within 2 weeks, two iterative rounds of library generation and screening resulted in engineered Axl variants with a 50-fold decrease in kinetic dissociation rate, highlighting the use of μSCALE as a new tool for directed evolution.

MeSH terms

  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Engineering*
  • Proteins / metabolism*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism
  • Single-Cell Analysis

Substances

  • Proteins