Abstract

Elevated performance of instruments and electronic devices is frequently attained through miniaturization of the involved components, which increases the number of functional units in a given volume. Analogously, to conquer the limitations of materials used for the purification of monoclonal antibodies and for the sensitivity of immunoassays, the support for capturing antibodies requires miniaturization. A suitable scaffold for this purpose are cross- structured protein nanofibrils, as they offer a superior surface area over volume ratio and because manipulation can be implemented genetically. To display the antibody binding Z-domain dimers (ZZ) along the surface of the fibrils and grant maximal accessibility to the functional units, the N-terminal fragments of the fibrillating translation release factor Sup35 or ureidosuccinate transporter Ure2, both from Saccharomyces cerevisae, are simultaneously fibrillated with the chimeric-proteins Sup35-ZZ and ZZ-Ure2, respectively. Optimization of the fibril composition yields a binding capacity of 1.8 mg antibody per mg fibril, which is a binding capacity that is almost 20-fold higher, compared to the commercially available affinity medium gold standard, protein A sepharose. This study lifts the craft of nanofibril functionalization to the next level, and offers a universal framework to improve biomaterials that rely on the display of functional proteins or enzymes.

Keywords

Antibody purification; Functional nanofibrils; Saccharomyces cerevisae; Sup35; Ure2; Z-domain

Published in

Biotechnology Journal
2017, volume: 12, number: 6, article number: 1600672
Publisher: WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Authors' information