Quantitative characterization of all single amino acid variants of a viral capsid-based drug delivery vehicle

Emily C. Hartman, Christopher M. Jakobson, Andrew H. Favor, Marco J. Lobba, Ester Álvarez-Benedicto, Matthew B. Francis*, Danielle Tullman-Ercek

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Self-assembling proteins are critical to biological systems and industrial technologies, but predicting how mutations affect self-assembly remains a significant challenge. Here, we report a technique, termed SyMAPS (Systematic Mutation and Assembled Particle Selection), that can be used to characterize the assembly competency of all single amino acid variants of a self-assembling viral structural protein. SyMAPS studies on the MS2 bacteriophage coat protein revealed a high-resolution fitness landscape that challenges some conventional assumptions of protein engineering. An additional round of selection identified a previously unknown variant (CP[T71H]) that is stable at neutral pH but less tolerant to acidic conditions than the wild-type coat protein. The capsids formed by this variant could be more amenable to disassembly in late endosomes or early lysosomes - a feature that is advantageous for delivery applications. In addition to providing a mutability blueprint for virus-like particles, SyMAPS can be readily applied to other self-assembling proteins.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1385
JournalNature communications
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)
  • Chemistry(all)
  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)

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