Objective
The project will establish a novel high-throughput directed evolution platform for evaluating large libraries of therapeutic protein (TP) variants for increased thermostability, slower global or local unfolding rates, and minimised aggregation propensity. This will require several recent advances to be coupled into a single system. Directed evolution can be carried out by encapsulating single plasmids, each encoding a unique protein variant, into droplets of an emulsion, then using cell-free expression to generate the protein in each droplet. This project will extend this approach to incorporate non-natural amino-acid fluorophores into the protein to create a FRET-based signal that would give a direct report on protein expression levels, and then also on the stability (denaturation) of the protein (FRET-loss) upon stimulation by heating. Such heating will initially be applied to droplets in bulk for defined periods of time to allow global unfolding and aggregation, and then recooled prior to FACS sorting for variants that best retain the FRET signal. Aggregation under native (low temperature) conditions is known to be linked to local protein unfolding events that are relatively rare. To extend the screening approach for directly evolving slower local unfolding events, a fast IR-induced temperature-jump perturbation will be used to cause only local unfolding prior to FACS sorting. Such a platform would be used to directly evolve TPs with increased thermostability (slow global unfolding), and then slower local unfolding, which will combine to decrease aggregation propensity. An enzymatic system (bovine enterokinase) will be used initially to establish and validate the set-up, taking advantage of the simple fluorescent assay for enzyme activity. Once established, the set-up will then be applied to therapeutic antibody fragment proteins, using FRET to screen for retention of folded structure upon heating.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2017
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
WC1E 6BT London
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.