Combining high throughput array synthesis and growth algorithm to discover TNF-α binders with new structures and properties.

Identifying new chemical structures against protein targets of interest represents one of the major challenges in drug discovery. As the major experimental method, high throughput screenings are performed with existing chemical libraries, thus restricting its capability to explore high molecular diversity. Herein, we report the use of high throughput array synthesis technology, in combination with growth algorithm, to discover binders for proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α. After 6 iterations of Library design - Array synthesis - Screening (i-LAS), one identified compound T17 has shown a kd value of 14.8 µM, and can rescue L929 cells from TNF-α mediated cytotoxicity. Further engineering T17 in various forms of oligomers have led to low nM binders. More interestingly, through tuning the multi-valent interaction with TNF-α, the high affinity oligomers can be switched from inhibitors to activators, leading to the hypothesis of an oligomerization-induced receptor activation mechanism. The i-LAS technology has allowed us to discover new binder structures, which can be further engineered into molecules with novel properties.

Controlling Surface Wettability for Automated In Situ Array Synthesis and Direct Bioscreening.

The in situ synthesis of biomolecules on glass surfaces for direct bioscreening can be a powerful tool in the fields of pharmaceutical sciences, biomaterials, and chemical biology. However, it is still challenging to 1) achieve this conventional multistep combinatorial synthesis on glass surfaces with small feature sizes and high yields and 2) develop a surface which is compatible with solid-phase syntheses, as well as the subsequent bioscreening. This work reports an amphiphilic coating of a glass surface on which small droplets of polar aprotic organic solvents can be deposited with an enhanced contact angle and inhibited motion to permit fully automated multiple rounds of the combinatorial synthesis of small-molecule compounds and peptides. This amphiphilic coating can be switched into a hydrophilic network for protein- and cell-based screening. Employing this in situ synthesis method, chemical space can be probed via array technology with unprecedented speed for various applications, such as lead discovery/optimization in medicinal chemistry and biomaterial development.

Efficient and gentle delivery of molecules into cells with different elasticity via Progressive Mechanoporation.

Intracellular delivery of cargo molecules such as membrane-impermeable proteins or drugs is crucial for cell treatment in biological and medical applications. Recently, microfluidic mechanoporation techniques have enabled transfection of previously inaccessible cells. These techniques create transient pores in the cell membrane by shear-induced or constriction contact-based rapid cell deformation. However, cells deform and recover differently from a given extent of shear stress or compression and it is unclear how the underlying mechanical properties affect the delivery efficiency of molecules into cells. In this study, we identify cell elasticity as a key mechanical determinant of delivery efficiency leading to the development of "progressive mechanoporation" (PM), a novel mechanoporation method that improves delivery efficiency into cells of different elasticity. PM is based on a multistage cell deformation, through a combination of hydrodynamic forces that pre-deform cells followed by their contact-based compression inside a PDMS-based device controlled by a pressure-based microfluidic controller. PM allows processing of small sample volumes (about 20 µL) with high-throughput (>10 000 cells per s), while controlling both operating pressure and flow rate for a reliable and reproducible cell treatment. We find that uptake of molecules of different sizes is correlated with cell elasticity whereby delivery efficiency of small and big molecules is favoured in more compliant and stiffer cells, respectively. A possible explanation for this opposite trend is a different size, number and lifetime of opened pores. Our data demonstrates that PM reliably and reproducibly delivers impermeable cargo of the size of small molecule inhibitors such as 4 kDa FITC-dextran with >90% efficiency into cells of different mechanical properties without affecting their viability and proliferation rates. Importantly, also much larger cargos such as a >190 kDa Cas9 protein-sgRNA complex are efficiently delivered high-lighting the biological, biomedical and clinical applicability of our findings.