Droplet microfluidic screening to engineer angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) catalytic activity by Evelyn F Okal, Philip A. Romero, Pete Heinzelman

“…This study leverages protein engineering to enhance ACE2’s therapeutic potential for treating conditions such as respiratory viral infections, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and diabetes. …”
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One-step introduction of the hexafluoroisobutyl group, synthesis of (S)-5,5,5,5',5',5'-hexafluoroleucine, and its incorporation into peptides and proteins by Delamare, Aline, Naulet, Guillaume, Mummadi, Sandeep, Guichard, Gilles, Compain, Guillaume

“…Overall, this work opens new perspectives in organofluorine chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and protein engineering, which are also discussed herein.…”
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Controllable intein splicing and N-terminal cleavage at mesophilic temperatures by Taylor A. McNeal, Joel Weinberger, Geraldy L. S. Liman, Tia M. Ariagno, David W. Wood, Thomas J. Santangelo, Christopher W. Lennon

“…The ability of inteins to specifically rearrange peptide bonds has proven exceptionally useful in protein engineering, thus, methods to control intein activity are of considerable interest. …”
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Carbonic anhydrase 2-derived drug-responsive domain regulates membrane-bound cytokine expression and function in engineered T cells by Mara C. Inniss, Sean G. Smith, Dan Jun Li, Benjamin Primack, Dexue Sun, Grace Y. Olinger, Kerri-Lynn Sheahan, Theresa Ross, Meghan Langley, Violet Young, Andres Alvarado, Shabnam Davoodi, Jiefei Geng, Michael Schebesta, Michelle L. Ols, Jeremy Tchaicha, Jan ter Meulen, Dhruv K. Sethi

“…We develop conditional degrons using library-based screening of mutants and show characterization of one DRD using crystallography and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Using protein-engineering solutions to increase the valency of DRDs fused to the cargo we have developed “modulation hubs” and show tight regulation of membrane-bound cytokines IL2, IL12, IL15, IL21, IL23, and IFNα in genetically engineered T cells. …”
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In silico methods for immunogenicity risk assessment and human homology screening for therapeutic antibodies by Aimee E. Mattei, Andres H. Gutierrez, Soorya Seshadri, Jacob Tivin, Matt Ardito, Amy S. Rosenberg, William D. Martin, Anne S. De Groot

“…This toolkit has evolved and now contains an array of algorithms that can be used individually and/or consecutively for immunogenicity assessment and protein engineering. Most analyses start with the advanced epitope mapping tool (EpiMatrix), then proceed to identify epitope clusters using ClustiMer, and then use a tool called JanusMatrix to define whether any of the T cell epitope clusters may generate a regulatory T cell response which may diminish or eliminate anti-drug antibody formation. …”
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Isolation of PCSK9-specific nanobodies from synthetic libraries using a combined protein selection strategy by Apisitt Thaiprayoon, Yodpong Chantarasorn, Worrapoj Oonanant, Anongnard Kasorn, Phoomintara Longsompurana, Satita Tapaneeyakorn, Pinpunya Riangrungroj, Fabien Loison, Andrew C. Kruse, Matthew P. DeLisa, Dujduan Waraho-Zhmayev

“…We anticipate that our strategy will be a valuable addition to the protein engineering toolkit, allowing development of Nbs or virtually any other synthetic binding protein for a wide range of applications.…”
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Essential Oils from Thymus capitatus and Thymus algeriensis as Antimicrobial Agents to Control Pathogenic and Spoilage Bacteria in Ground Meat by Asma Jayari, Ahlem Jouini, Hager Boukhris, Safa Hamrouni, Chokri Damergi, Sami Ben Hadj Ahmed, Abderrazek Maaroufi

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Altering the mechanical properties of self-assembled filaments through engineering of EspA bacterial protein by Moran Elias-Mordechai, May Morhaim, Maya Georgia Pelah, Irina Rostovsky, May Nogaoker, Jürgen Jopp, Raz Zarivach, Neta Sal-Man, Ronen Berkovich

“…We investigated the morphological and mechanical properties of EspA filaments and how protein engineering can modify them. Our study include three types of filaments: natural EspA filaments, full-length recombinant EspA filaments, and truncated recombinant EspA filaments lacking a third of the original codon region. …”
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Role of Fcγ receptors in HER2-targeted breast cancer therapy by Hope S Rugo, Antonino Musolino, William J Gradishar, Jeffrey L Nordstrom, Edwin P Rock, Fernanda Arnaldez, Mark D Pegram

“…Trastuzumab has, nonetheless, revolutionized HER2+ breast cancer treatment, and several HER2-directed mAbs have been developed using Fc glyco-engineering or Fc protein-engineering to enhance FcγR-mediated functions. …”
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Engineered GM-CSF polarizes protumorigenic tumor-associated macrophages to an antitumorigenic phenotype and potently synergizes with IL-12 immunotherapy by Yue Wang, Kevin Chang, Aslan Mansurov, Jun Ishihara, Seounghun Kang, Trevin Kurtanich, Hye Rin Chun, Anna J Slezak, Lisa R Volpatti, Thomas Wang, Aaron T Alpar, Kirsten C Refvik, O Isabella Hansen, Gustavo J Borjas, Brendan T K Berg, Ha-Na Shim, Kevin T Hultgren, Suzana Gomes, Ani Solanki, Melody A Swartz, Jeffrey A Hubbell

“…Therefore, the rational design of immune modulators that can control the immune suppressive properties of TAMs and polarize them, as well as dendritic cells (DCs), toward a more proinflammatory phenotype is a principal objective in cancer immunotherapy.Methods Here, using a protein engineering approach to enhance cytokine residence in the tumor microenvironment, we examined combined stimulation of the myeloid compartment via tumor stroma-binding granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to enhance responses in both DCs and T cells via stroma-binding interleukin-12 (IL-12). …”
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