Quorum sensing is a cell-cell communication mechanism that is involved in the regulation of biological functions such as luminescence, virulence, and biofilm formation. Quorum-quenching enzymes, which interrupt quorum-sensing signaling through degradation of quorum-sensing molecules, have emerged as a new approach to controlling and preventing bacterial virulence and pathogenesis. In an effort to develop quorum-quenching enzymes with improved catalytic activities, a genetic circuit system based on acylhomoserine-lactone (AHL)-mediated quorum-sensing signaling was constructed. The genetic circuit system was composed of lux-R, lux-I promoter, beta-lactamase, and beta-lactamase inhibitor, and designed to confer antibiotic resistance on host cells expressing an AHL-degrading enzyme, thereby enabling rapid screening of quorum-quenching enzymes. To demonstrate the utility of the genetic circuit system, we attempted the directed evolution of the AHL hydrolase from Bacillus sp. The genetic circuit system was shown to be effective in screening of quorum-quenching enzymes with high catalytic efficiency. From these results it is expected that the genetic circuit system can be widely used for the isolation and directed evolution of quorum-quenching enzymes with greater potential.

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Throughout the rabies virus (RABV) infectious cycle, host-virus interactions define its capacity to replicate, escape the immune response, and spread. As phosphorylation is a key regulatory mechanism involved in most cellular processes, kinases represent a target of choice to identify host factors required for viral replication. A kinase and phosphatase small interfering RNA (siRNA) high-content screening was performed on a fluorescent protein-recombinant field isolate (Tha RABV). We identified 57 high-confidence key host factors important for RABV replication with a readout set at 18 h postinfection and 73 with a readout set at 36 h postinfection, including 24 common factors at all stages of the infection. Amongst them, gene clusters of the most prominent pathways were determined. Up to 15 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and effectors, including MKK7 (associated with Jun N-terminal protein kinase [JNK] signalization) and DUSP5, as well as 17 phosphatidylinositol (PI)-related proteins, including PIP5K1C and MTM1, were found to be involved in the later stage of RABV infection. The importance of these pathways was further validated, as small molecules Ro 31-8820 and PD 198306 inhibited RABV replication in human neurons. IMPORTANCE Rabies virus relies on cellular machinery for its replication while simultaneously evading the host immune response. Despite their importance, little is known about the key host factors required for rabies virus infection. Here, we focused on the human kinome, at the core of many cellular pathways, to unveil a new understanding of the rabies virus infectious cycle and to discover new potential therapeutic targets in a small interfering RNA screening. The mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and phosphatidylinositol metabolism were identified as prominent factors involved in rabies virus infection, and those findings were further confirmed in human neurons. While bringing a new insight into rabies virus biology, we also provide a new list of host factors involved in rabies virus infection.

The therapeutic efficacy and in vivo biological function of a glycoprotein is significantly affected by its glycosylation profile. For the development of glycoproteins with therapeutic applications, selection of cell lines producing a glycoprotein with adequate glycoform is crucial. Here, we demonstrate an array-based analysis of secreted glycoproteins for rapid and efficient selection of a single cell producing a glycoprotein with desirable glycosylation. Our approach relies on microengraving and interrogation of glycoproteins produced by individual cells in a microwell array in terms of glycosylation profile as well as the produced amount. On the basis of statistical analysis of the interrogation, single cells which are predicted to produce a desired glycoprotein are selected, retrieved, and expanded. We applied the approach to human recombinant erythropoietin (rhEPO)-producing CHO cells and verified the selection of a single CHO cell that produces rhEPO with a high sialylation degree. Human erythropoietin (hEPO) bearing highly sialylated oligosaccharide was shown to display a much longer plasma half-life, resulting in high therapeutic efficacy. This method may find widespread use in the clonal selection for the production of other glycoproteins with specific glycosylation as well as analysis of the heterogeneity in cell populations in a high-throughput manner.

Repeat proteins are increasingly attracting much attention as alternative scaffolds to immunoglobulin antibodies due to their unique structural features. Nonetheless, engineering interaction interface and understanding molecular basis for affinity maturation of repeat proteins still remain a challenge. Here, we present a structure-based rational design of a repeat protein with high binding affinity for a target protein. As a model repeat protein, a Toll-like receptor4 (TLR4) decoy receptor composed of leucine-rich repeat (LRR) modules was used, and its interaction interface was rationally engineered to increase the binding affinity for myeloid differentiation protein 2 (MD2). Based on the complex crystal structure of the decoy receptor with MD2, we first designed single amino acid substitutions in the decoy receptor, and obtained three variants showing a binding affinity (KD) one-order of magnitude higher than the wild-type decoy receptor. The interacting modes and contributions of individual residues were elucidated by analyzing the crystal structures of the single variants. To further increase the binding affinity, single positive mutations were combined, and two double mutants were shown to have about 3000- and 565-fold higher binding affinities than the wild-type decoy receptor. Molecular dynamics simulations and energetic analysis indicate that an additive effect by two mutations occurring at nearby modules was the major contributor to the remarkable increase in the binding affinities.