An in vivo platform to select and evolve aggregation-resistant proteins.

Protein biopharmaceuticals are highly successful, but their utility is compromised by their propensity to aggregate during manufacture and storage. As aggregation can be triggered by non-native states, whose population is not necessarily related to thermodynamic stability, prediction of poorly-behaving biologics is difficult, and searching for sequences with desired properties is labour-intensive and time-consuming. Here we show that an assay in the periplasm of E. coli linking aggregation directly to antibiotic resistance acts as a sensor for the innate (un-accelerated) aggregation of antibody fragments. Using this assay as a directed evolution screen, we demonstrate the generation of aggregation resistant scFv sequences when reformatted as IgGs. This powerful tool can thus screen and evolve 'manufacturable' biopharmaceuticals early in industrial development. By comparing the mutational profiles of three different immunoglobulin scaffolds, we show the applicability of this method to investigate protein aggregation mechanisms important to both industrial manufacture and amyloid disease.

Yeast targets for mRNA methylation.

N(6)-Methyladenosine (m(6)A) is a modified base present in the mRNA of all higher eukaryotes and in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where there is an increase in m(6)A levels during sporulation. The methyltransferase, Ime4, is responsible for this modification and has a role in the initiation of meiosis. However, neither the function, nor the extent of distribution of this nucleotide modification is established. We demonstrate that in S. cerevisiae, substantial levels of internal adenosine methylation are present in the GpA context in mRNA from sporulating cells, which is consistent with the preferred methylation consensus of higher eukaryotes. Based upon our quantification data, every second transcript could contain one m(6)A during meiosis. As methylation is distributed across all mRNA size ranges, it is likely that m(6)A is not limited to a small population of messages. We developed a new antibody based method for identifying m(6)A containing messages, and using this method the transcripts of three key, early regulators of meiosis, IME1, IME2 and IME4 itself, were identified as being methylated. The position of m(6)A in IME2 was narrowed down to a region in the 3'-end. Methylation of these and other targets suggests mechanisms by which IME4 could control developmental choices leading to meiosis.