SBIR Phase I: Directed protein evolution: Creating high affinity protein ligands for controlling economically detrimental plant pathogens and pests

SBIR 第一阶段：定向蛋白质进化：创建高亲和力蛋白质配体以控制对经济有害的植物病原体和害虫

• 批准号: 2014621
• 负责人: Jiarui Li
• 金额: $ 22.46万
• 依托单位: INNATRIX, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-06-01 至 2021-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2014621&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Directed; protein; evolution

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to create next generation crop products. Crop loss due to pathogens has been estimated to be approximately 20-40% of total possible yield. The proposed technology is an environmentally-friendly way to combat pests, even if they evolve to be resistant to conventional methods. This technology can be used for other life sciences applications, including special cancer treatments. The proposed project is to generate new and durable resistant crops by producing ligands that can bind to virulence factors of plant pathogens to make them malfunction. The novel protein evolution technology is a rapid and automated platform for developing high-affinity protein ligands. It comprises a self-sustaining, iterative bacterial culture system that drives the emergence of new protein and peptide sequences expressed by the M13 bacteriophage. Once pathogens or pest develop resistance for the ligands we generate, new and stronger binding ligands could be quickly evolved to control them. The technology is broadly applicable to developing optimized protein sequences for virtually any affinity interaction. Other applications include protein purification, antibody optimization as well as engineering novel receptors for cancer immunotherapy.  This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I阶段项目的更广泛影响是创建下一代作物产品。据估计，由于病原体造成的作物损失约为总产量的20-40％。提出的技术是对抗害虫的一种环保方式，即使它们进化为抗传统方法。该技术可用于其他生命科学应用，包括特殊的癌症治疗。拟议的项目是通过产生可以与植物病原体的病毒因子结合的配体来产生新的耐用作物，从而使其故障。新型蛋白质进化技术是一个快速自动化的平台，用于开发高亲和力蛋白质配体。它包括一个自我维持的迭代细菌培养系统，该系统驱动了M13细菌表达的新蛋白质和肽序列的出现。一旦我们生成的配体的病原体或有害生物发育耐药性，就可以迅速进化出新的，更强的结合配体以控制它们。该技术广泛适用于为几乎任何亲和力相互作用开发优化的蛋白质序列。其他应用包括蛋白质纯化，抗体优化以及用于癌症免疫疗法的新型受体。  该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来评估被认为是宝贵的支持。