AU2013263759B2 - Protein surface remodeling - Google Patents

Abstract

H nar\1ntnvovezI\NRPnblDCC\AAR\5318780-1.LDOC-14fI l2013 Aggregation is a major cause of the misbehavior of proteins. A system for modifying a protein to create a more stable variant is provided. The method involves identifying non conserved hydrophobic amino acid residues on the surface of a protein, suitable for mutating a more hydrophilic residues (e.g. charged amino acids). Any number of residues on the surface may be changed to create a variant that is more soluble, resistant to aggregation, has a greater ability to re-fold, and/or is more stable under a variety of conditions. The invention also provides GFP, streptavidin, and GST variants with an increased theoretical net charge created by the inventive technology. Kits are also provided for carrying out such modifications on any protein of interest. 39a

Description

PROTEIN SURFACE REMODELING This application is a divisional of Australian Application No. 2007256780, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Related Applications 0001) The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § I19(e) to U.S. provisional patent application, USSN 60/810,364, filed June 2,2006; the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. Government Support [0002] The work described herein was supported, in part, by grants from the National Institutes of Health (GM065400). The United States government may have certain rights in the invention. Background of the Invention 10003] Proteins are the workhorses of the cell. Proteins catalyze chemical reactions, transduce signals in biological systems, provide structural elements in cells and the extracellular matrix, act as messengers, etc. One of the major causes of misbehavior of proteins is aggregation. This is not only a problem in the laboratory but also a problem in many diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Aggregation is a particularly vexing problem when it comes to computationally designed proteins. For example, TOP7 is a computationally designed protein with a novel fold. A longer version of TOP7, TOP7 extended, is very prone to aggregation. TOP7ex is expressed predominantly as insoluble aggregates, [0004] As more proteins are either designed or modified to be used a tools to study biological systems or as more proteins-wild type or modified-are used as therapeutic agents, there needs to be a system for routinely modifying these proteins to be more stable and/or to prevent aggregation. Summary of the Invention 10005 The present invention provides a system for modifying proteins to make them more stable. The invention stems from the recognition that modifyIng the hydrophobic areas on the surface of a protein can improve the extrathermodynamic properties of the protein. The inventive system is particularly useful in improving the solubility of a protein of interest, 1 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 improving the protein's resistance to aggregation, and/or improving the protein's ability to renature. All of these properties are particularly useful in protein production, protein purification, and the use of proteins as therapeutic agents and research tools. [0006] In one aspect the invention provides a method of altering the primary sequence of a protein in order to increase the protein's resistance to aggregation, solubility, ability to refold, and/or general stability under a wide range of conditions; The activity of the modified protein is preferably approximately or substantially the same as the protein without modification. In certain embodiments, the modified protein retains at least 50%, 75%, 90%, or 95% of the wild type protein's activity. In one embodiments, the method includes the steps of(a) identifying the surface residues of a protein of interest; (b) identifying the particular surface residues that are not highly conserved among other proteins related to the protein of interest (I.e., determining which amino acids are not essential for the activity or function of the protein); (c) determining the hydrophobicity of the identified non-conserved surface residues; and (e) replacing at least one or more of the identified hydrophobic, non conserved residues with an amino acid that is more polar or is charged at physiological pH. Each of the above steps may be carried out using any technique, computer software, algorithm, paradigm, etc, known in the art. After the modified protein is created, it may be tested for its activity and/or the desired property being sought. In certain embodiments, the modified protein is more stable. In certain embodiments, the modified protein is less susceptible to aggregation. The inventive method typically increases the net charge (positive or negative) on the protein at physiological pH. [0007] In another aspect, the invention provides a method of altering the primary sequence of a protein in order to increase the protein's resistance to aggregation, solubility, ability to refold, and/or general stability under a wide range of conditions by superchargingg" the protein. That is, the overall net charge on the modified protein is increased (either positive charge or negative charge) compared to the wild type protein. Preferably, the activity of the modified protein is approximately or substantially the same as the protein without modification. In certain embodiments, the method includes the steps of(a) identifying the surface residues of a protein of interest; (b) identifying the particular surface residues that are not highly conserved among other proteins related to the protein of interest (4e., determining which amino acids are not essential for the activity or function of the protein); (c) determining the hydrophilicity of the identified non-conserved surface residues; 2 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 and (e) replacing at least one or more of the identified charged or polar, solvent-exposed, non-conserved residues with a charged amino acid that is charged at physiological pH. In certain embodiments, to make a negatively charged "supercharged" protein, the residues identified for modification are mutated either to aapartate (Asp) or glutamate (Glu) residues. In certain other embodiments, to make a positively charged "supercharged" protein, the residues identified for modification are mutated either to lysine (Lys) or arginine (Arg) residues. Each of the above steps may be carried out using any technique, computer software, algorithm, paradigm, etc. known in the art, After the modified protein is created, it may be tested for its activity and/or the desired property being sought. In certain embodiments, the modified protein ("supercharged protein") is more stable. In certain embodiments, the modified protein is less susceptible to aggregation. The inventive method typically increases the net charge (positive or negative) on the protein at physiological pH. [00081 The theoretical net charge on over 80% of the proteins catalogued in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) fall within 10. The modified protein created by the present invention typically have a net charge less than -10 or greater than +10. In certain emibodiments, the modified protein has a net charge less than -20 or greater than +20. In certain embodiments, the modified protein has a net charge less than -30 or greater than +30. In certain embodiments, the modified protein has a net charge less than -40 or greater than +40, In certain embodiments, the modified protein has a net charge less than -50 or greater than +50. The modified proteins are able to fold correctly and retain their biological activity. [0009] Any protein may be modified using the inventive system, and protein variants created by the inventive system are considered to be part of the present invention, as well as polynucleotides or vectors encoding the variant protein and cells expressing the variant protein. The inventive system has been used to create several new variants of green fluorescent protein (GFP). These variants retain their fluorescence; however, they are more stable than current versions of GFP under a wide range of environments. The inventive GFPs are immune to aggregation even over long periods of time and in environments that induce aggregation and are capable of refolding into a fluorescent protein even after being denatured by boiling. The inventive system has also been used to create new variants of streptavidin and glutathione-S-transferase (GST). These variants retain their biological activity and remain soluble when heated. The invention also includes polynucleotide sequences encoding the inventive GFP, streptavidin, and GST protein sequences, vectors including any of these 3 Ii\ nien. \ cNRPonbl\DCCW fB967316_1doc,-8042016 nucleotide sequences, and cells that include such a polynucleotide sequence or vector, or express the inventive variants. In certain embodiments, the invention includes bacteria or other cells that overexpress an inventive variant. The inventive variants may be used in a variety of biological assays known in the art. For example, supercharged GFPs may be used in any assay that currently uses GFP as a reporter protein. [0010] In another aspect, the invention provides other proteins that have been modified by the inventive system. These modified proteins preferably retain a significant portion of their original activity. In certain embodiments, the modified protein retains at least 99%, 98%, 95%, or 90% of the activity of the unmodified version. The modified protein may be more soluble, resistant to aggregation, have a increased ability to refold, and/or have greater stability under a variety of conditions. The proteins modified by the inventive system include hydrophobic proteins, recombinant proteins, membrane proteins, structural proteins, enzymes, extracellular proteins, therapeutic proteins (e.g., insulin, cytokines, immunoglobulins, fragments of immunoglobulins, etc.), receptors, cell signaling proteins, cytoplasmic proteins, nuclear proteins, transcription factors, etc. In certain specific embodiments, the proteins are therapeutic proteins for use in human or veterinary medicine. In certain embodiments, the proteins are unnatural proteins, for example, computationally designed proteins. In other embodiments, the proteins are hybrid proteins, fusion proteins, altered proteins, mutated proteins, genetically engineered proteins, or any other protein that has been altered by the hands of man. [00111 Kits are also provided for the practice of the invention. The kits may include the reagents needed to modify a protein of interest to make it more resistant to aggregation, increase its ability to renature, or increase its stability overall. Such kits may include all or some of the following: polynucleotides, computer software, nucleotides, primers, vectors, cell lines, instructions, plates, media, buffers, enzymes, Eppendorf tubes, site-directed mutagenesis kits, etc. Preferably, the kit is conveniently packaged for use in a laboratory setting. The researcher typically provides the DNA coding sequence of the protein to be modified using the inventive technique. [0011a] In one aspect, the invention provides a supercharged protein variant of a wild-type protein, wherein the supercharged protein variant comprises a modified primary amino acid sequence as compared to the wild-type sequence, resulting in a net charge on the supercharged protein variant of less than -10 or greater than +10 at physiological pH, 4 H:\rnnUIenoen\NRPonbICC\FTTw8673 16 1doc6 (4(2016 wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence comprises replacing at least one surface residue with a natural amino acid residue that is: a) positively charged at physiological pH, and wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein variant is increased by at least +3 as compared to the wild-type protein; or b) negatively charged at physiological pH, and wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein variant is decreased by at least -3 as compared to the wild-type protein. [0011b] In another aspect, the invention provides a method of preparing a supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-21, the method comprising steps of: identifying the surface residues of a protein of interest that are not highly conserved among other proteins related to the protein of interest; and replacing a plurality of non-conserved, surface residues with an amino acid residue that is positively charged at physiological pH, or replacing a plurality of non-conserved, surface residues with an amino acid residue that is negatively charged at physiological pH. [0011c] In a further aspect, the invention provides a supercharged protein selected from: a green fluorescent protein (+42 GFP) of the amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGRSKGKRLFRGKVPILVELKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTI SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFEGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK; green fluorescent protein (+48 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGRSKGKRLFRGKVPILVKLKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTI SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFKGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLAKHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK; streptavidin protein (+52 SAV) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGAKAGITGTWYNQLGSTFIVTAGAKGALTGTYESAVGNAKSRYV 4a H-~m~ikhtnotcefNRPortbl\DCC\MT98673 6_I docMU4/10 16 LTGRYDSAPATKGSGTALGWTVAWKNKYRNAHSATTWSGQYVGGAKARINTQ WLLTSGTTKAKAWKSTLVGHDTFTKVKPSAAS; and glutathione-S-transferase protein (+50 GST) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGPPYTITYFPVRGRCEAMRMLLADQKQSWKEEVVTMKTWPPLKP SCLFRQLPKFQDGKLTLYQSNAILRHLGRSFGLYGKKQKEAALVDMVNDGVEDL RCKYATLIYTKYKAGKKKYVKKLPKHLKPFETLLSKNKGGKAFVVGSKISFADYN LLDLLRIHQVLNPSCLKAFPLLSAYVARLSARPKIKAFLASPEHVKRPINGNGKQ. [0011d] In a still further aspect, the invention provides a supercharged protein selected from: a streptavidin protein (-40 SAV) comprising an amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGAEAGITGTWYNQLGSTFIVTAGADGALTGTYESAVGDAESEYVL TGRYDSAPATDGSGTALGWTVAWKNDYENAHSATTWSGQYVGGAEARINTQW LLTSGTTEADAWKSTLVGHDTFTKVEPSAAS (SEQ ID NO: 29); a green fluorescent protein (-30 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFDGVVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATFGELTL KFICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSDYPDHMDQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISF KDDGTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITAD KQENGIKAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDP NEDRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 4); a green fluorescent protein (-29 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFDGEVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTL KFICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPDHMDQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISF KDDGTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITAD KQENGIKAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDP NEDRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 3); a green fluorescent protein (-25 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFTGVVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTL KFICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPDHMKQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISF KDDGTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITAD KQENGIKAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDP NEDRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 2); and a glutathione-S-transferase (-40 GST) of amino acid sequence: 4b HAm11ntecicen\NRPcnbl\DCC\FMT9X673 1_doc\-MWP2016 MGHHHHHHGGPPYTITYFPVRGRCEAMRMLLADQDQSWEEEVVTMETWPPLKP SCLFRQLPKFQDGDLTLYQSNAILRHLGRSFGLYGEDEEEAALVDMVNDGVEDLR CKYATLIYTDYEAGKEEYVEELPEHLKPFETLLSENEGGEAFVVGSEISFADYNLL DLLRIHQVLNPSCLDAFPLLSAYVARLSARPEIEAFLASPEHVDRPINGNGKQ (SEQ ID NO: 34). [0011e] The invention also provides a composition comprising the supercharged protein variant: green fluorescent protein (+36 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGERLFRGKVPILVELKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTI SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFEGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRNHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRDERYK; or green fluorescent protein (+49 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGRSKGKRLFRGKVPILVKLKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTI SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFKGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLAKHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLKEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK; and, optionally, a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Definitions [0012] "Amino acid": The term "amino acid" refers to the basic structural subunits of proteins. An alpha-amino acid consists of an amino group, a carboxyl group, a hydrogen 4c WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 atom, and a side chain (te., R group) all bonded to a central carbon atom. This central carbon atom is referred to as the alpha carbon because it is adjacent to the carboxyl group. There are twenty natural amino acids including glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, trypotphan, cysteine, methionine, serine, threonine, lysine, arginine, histidine, aspartate, glutamate, asparagine, glutamate, and proline. Hydrophobic amino acids include alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine. Aromatic amino acids includes phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, and histine. Polar amino acids include tyrosine, cysteine, serine, threonine, lysine, arginine, histidine, aspartate, glutamate, asparagine, and glutamine. Sulfur-containing amino acids include cysteine and methionine. Basic amino acids include lysine, arginine, and histidine. Acidic amino acids include aspartate and glutamate. Unnatural amino acids have also been inserted into proteins. In certain embodiments, the twenty natural amino acids are referred to when the term "amino acid" is used. 100131 "Antibody": The term "antibody" refers to an immunoglobulin, whether natural or wholly or partially synthetically produced. All derivatives thereof which maintain specific binding ability are also included in the term. The term also covers any protein having a binding domain which is homologous or largely homologous to an immunoglobulin binding domain. These proteins may be derived from natural sources, or partly br wholly synthetically produced. An antibody may be monoclonal or polyclonal. The antibody may be a member of any immunoglobulin class, including any of the'human classes: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, and IgE. 10014] "Conserved": The term "conserved" refers nucleotides or amino acid residues of a polynucleotide sequence or amino acid sequence, respectively, that are those that occur unaltered in the same position of two or more related sequences being compared. Nucleotides or amino acids that are relatively conserved are those that are conserved amongst more related sequences than nucleotides or amino acids appearing elsewhere in the sequences. [0015] "Homologous": The term "homologous", as used herein is an art-understood term that refers to nucleic acids or proteins that are highly related at the level of nucleotide or amino acid sequence. Nucleic acids or proteins that are homologous to each other are termed homologues. Homologous may refer to the degree of sequence similarity between two sequences (i.e., nucleotide sequence or amino acid). The homology percentage figures 5 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 referred to herein reflect the maximal homology possible between two sequences, ke., the percent homology when the two sequences are so aligned as to have the greatest number of matched (homologous) positions. Homology can be readily calculated by known methods such as those described in: Computational Molecular Biology, Lesk, A. M., ed., Oxford University Press, New York, 1988; Biocomputing: Informatics and Genome Projects, Smith, D. W., ed., Academic Press, New York, 1993; Sequence Analysis in Molecular Biology, von Heinje, G., Academic Press, 1987; Computer Analysis of Sequence Data, Part I, Griffin, A. M., and Griffin, H. G., eds., Humana Press, New Jersey, 1994; and Sequence Analysis Primer, Gribskov, M. and Devereux, J., eds., M Stockton Press, New York, 1991; each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Methods commonly employed to detenninehomology between sequences include, but am not limited to those disclosed in Carillo, H., and Lipman, D., SIAM J Applied Math., 48:1073 (1988); incorporated herein by reference. Techniques for determining homology are codified in publicly available computer programs. Exemplary computer software to determine homology between two sequences include, but are not limited to, GCG program package, Devereux, S., et al., Nucleic Acids Research, 12(1), 387 (1984)), BLASTP, BLASTN, and FASTA Atschul, S. F. et al., J Molec. Biol., 215, 403 (1990)). [0016] The term "homologous" necessarily refers to a comparison between at least two sequences (nucleotides sequences or amino acid sequences). In accordance with the invention, two nucleotide sequences are considered to be homologous if the polypeptides they encode are at least about 50-60% identical, preferably about 70% identical, for at least one stretch of at least 20 amino acids. Preferably, homologous nucleotide sequences are also characterized by the ability to encode a stretch of at least 4-5 uniquely specified amino acids. Both the identity and the approximate spacing of these amino acids relative to one another must be considered for nucleotide sequences to be considered homologous. For nucleotide sequences less than 60 nucleotides in length, homology is determined by the ability to encode a stretch of at least 4-5 uniquely specified amino acids. [0017] "Peptide" or "protein": According to the present invention, a "peptide" or "protein" comprises a string of at least three amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. The terms "protein" and "peptide" may be used interchangeably. Inventive peptides preferably contain only natural amino acids, although non-natural amino acids (i.e., compounds that do not occur in nature but that can be incorporated into a polypeptide chain) 6 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 and/or amino acid analogs as are known in the art may alternatively be employed. Also, one or more ofthe amino acids in an inventive peptide may be modified, for example, by the addition of a chemical entity such as a carbohydrate group, a phosphate group, a farnesyl group, an isofamesyl group, a fatty acid group, a linker for conjugation, funotionalization, or other modification (e.g., alpha amindation), etc. In a preferred embodiment, the modifications of the peptide lead to a more stable peptide (e.g., greater half-life in vivo). These modifications may include cyclization of the peptide, the incorporation of D-amino acids, etc. None of the modifications should substantially interfere with the desired biological activity of the peptide. In certain embodiments, the modifications of the peptide lead to a more biologically active peptide. [00181 "Tolynucleotide" or "oligonucleotide": Polynucleotide or oligonucleotide refers to a polymer of nucleotides. Typically, a polynucleotide comprises at least three nucleotides. The polymer may include natural nucleosides (i.e., adenosine, thymidine, guanosine, cytidine, uridine, deoxyadenosine, deoxythymidine, deoxyguanosine, and deoxycytidine), nucleoside analogs (e.g., 2-aminoadenosine, 2-thiothymidine, inosine, pyrrolo-pyrimidine, 3 methyl adenosine, C5-propynyloytidine, C5-propynyluridine, C5-bromouridine, C5 fluorouridine, C5-iodouridine, C5-methylcytidine, 7-deazaadenosine, 7-deazaguanosine, 8 oxoadenosine, 8-oxoguanosine, O(6)-methylguanine, and 2-thiocytidine), chemically modified bases, biologically modified bases (e.g., methylated bases), intercalated bases, modified sugars (e.g., 2'-fluororibose, ribose, 2'-deoxyribose, arabinose, and hexose), and/or modified phosphate groups (e.g., phosphorothioates and 5'-N-phosphoramidite linkages). [00191 "Small molecule": The term "small molecule," as used herein, refers to a non peptidic, non-oligomeric organic compound either prepared in the laboratory or found in nature. Small molecules, as used herein, can refer to compounds that are "natural product like," however, the term "small molecule" is not limited to "natural product-like" compounds. Rather, a small molecule is typically characterized in that it contains several carbon-carbon bonds, and has a molecular weight of less than 1500, although this characterization is not intended to be limiting for the purposes of the present invention, In certain other preferred embodiments, natural-product-like small molecules are utilized. [0020] "Stable": The term "stable" as used herein to refer to a protein refers to any aspect of protein stability. The stable modified protein as compared to the original wild type protein possesses any one or more of the following characteristics: more soluble, more resistant to 7 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 aggregation, more resistant to denaturation, more resistant to unfolding, more resistant to improper or undesired folding, greater ability to renature, increased thermal stability, increased stability in a variety of environments (e.g., pH, salt concentration, presence of detergents, presence of denaturing agents, etc.), and increased stability in non-aqueous environments. In certain embodiments, the stable modified protein exhibits at least two of the above characteristics. In certain embodiments, the stable modified protein exhibits at least three of the above characteristics. Such characteristics may allow the active protein to be produced at higher levels. For example, the modified protein can be overexpressed at a higher level without aggregation than the unmodified version of the protein. Such characteristics may also allow the protein to be used as a therapeutic agent or a research tool. Brief Description of the Drawing 100011 Figure 1. Supercharged green fluorescent proteins (GFPs). (a) Protein sequences of GFP variants, with fluorophore-forming residues highlighted green, negatively charged residues highlighted red, and positively charged residues highlighted blue. (b) Electrostatic surface potentials of sfGFP (left), GFP(+36) (middle), and GFP(-30) (right), colored from -25 kT/e (red) to +25 kT/e (blue). [00021 Figure 2. Intramolecular properties of GFP variants. (a) Staining and UV fluorescence of purified GFP variants. Each lane and tube contains 0.2 g of protein. (b) Circular dichrolsm spectra of GFP variants. (c) Thermodynamic stability of GFP variants, measured by guanidinium-induced unfolding. [00031 Figure 3. Intermolecular properties of supercharged proteins. (a) UV illuminated samples of purified GFP variants ("native"), those samples heated 1 min at 100 *C ("boiled"), and those samples subsequently cooled for 2 h at 25"C ("cooled"). (b) Aggregation of GFP variants was induced with 40% TFE at 25 *C and monitored by right angle light scattering. (o) Supercharged GFPs adhere reversibly to oppositely charged macromolecules. Sample 1: 6 pg of GFP(+36) in 30 pl of 25 mM Tris pH 7.0 and 100 mM NaCl. Sample 2: 6 pg of GFP(-30) added to sample 1. Sample 3: 30 pg of salmon sperm DNA added to sample 1. Sample 4: 20 pg of E. coli tRNA added to sample 1, Sample 5: Addition of NaCl to 1 M to sample 4. Samples 6-8: identical to samples 1, 2, and 4, respectively, except using sfGFP instead of GFP(+36). All samples were spun briefly in a microcentrifuge and visualized under UV light. (d) Enzymatic assays of GST variants. 8 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 Reactions contained 0.5 mg/mL of GST variant, 20 mM chlorodinitrobenzene, 20 mM glutathione, and 100 mM potassium phosphate pH 6.5. Product formation was monitored at 340 nm, resulting in observed reaction rates (kM) of 6 min 1 for wild-type GST, 2.2 min" for GST(-40), and 0.9 min t for GST(-40) after being boiled and cooled. [0004] Figure 4. (a) Excitation and (b) emission spectra of GFP variants. Each sample contained an equal amount of protein as quantitated by chromophore absorbance at 490 nm. [0005] Figure 5. Biotin-binding activity of streptavidin variants, measured as described previously (Kada et al, Rapid estimation of avidin and streptavidin by fluorescence quenching or fluorescence polarization. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1427, 4448 (1999); incorporated herein by reference) by monitoring binding-dependent of biotin-4-fluorescein (Invitrogen). Protein samples were titrated into 0.3 yxM biotin-4-fluorescein (B4O), 100 mM NaCI, 1 mM EDTA, 0.1 mg/mL bovine serum albumin (BSA), 50 mM potassium phosphate pH 7.5. Quenching of fluorescence at 526 nm was measured on a Perkin-Elmer LS5OB luminescence spectrometer with excitation at 470 nu. Measurements were normalized to control titrations that contained a 600-fold excess of non-fluorescent biotin. The three proteins in the bottom of the legend are included as negative controls. Detailed Description of Certain Preferred Embodiments of the Invention [0021] The invention provides a system for modifying proteins to be more stable. The system is thought to work by changing non-conserved amino acids on the surface of a protein to more polar or charged amino acid residues. The amino acids residues to be modified may be hydrophobic, hydrophilic, charged, or a combination thereof. Any protein may be modified using the inventive system to produce a more stable variant. These modifications of surface residues have been found to improve the extrathermodynamic properties of proteins. As proteins are increasingly used as therapeutic agents and as they continue to be used as research tools, a system for altering a protein to make it more stable is important and useful. Proteins modified by the inventive method typically are resistant to aggregation, have an increased ability to refold, resist improper folding, have improved solubility, and are generally more stable under a wide range of conditions including denaturing conditions such as heat or the preence of a detergent. 9 WO 2007/143574 PCTUS2007/070254 [0022] Any protein may be modified to create a more stable variant using the inventive system. Natural as well as unnatural proteins (e.g., engineered proteins) may be modified. Example of proteins that may be modified include receptors, membrane bound proteins, transmembrane proteins, enzymes, transcription factors, extracellular proteins, therapeutic proteins, cytokines, messenger proteins, DNA-binding proteins, RNA-binding proteins, proteins involved in signal transduction, structural proteins, cytoplasmic proteins, nuclear proteins, hydrophobic proteins, hydrophilic proteins, etc. The protein to be modified may be derived from any species of plant, animal, or microorganism. III certain embodiments, the protein is a mammalian protein. In certain embodiments, the protein is a human protein. In certain embodiments, the proteins is derived from an organism typically used in research. For example, the protein to be modified may be from a primate (e.g., ape, monkey), rodent (e.g., rabbit hamster, gerbil), pig, dog, cat, fish (e.g., zebrafish), nematode (e.g., C. elegant), yeast (e.g., Saccharomyces cervisiae), or bacteria (e.g., E. coh). [00231 The inventive system is particularly useful in modifying proteins that are susceptible to aggregation or have stability issues. The system may also be used to modify proteins that are being overexpressed. For example, therapeutic proteins that are being produced recombinantly may benefit from being modified by the inventive system. Such modified therapeutic proteins are not only easier to produce and purify but also may be more stable with respect to storage and use of the protein. [0024] The inventive system involves identifying non-conserved surface residues of a protein of interest and replacing some of those residues with a residue that is hydrophilic, polar, or charged at physiological pH. The inventive system includes not only methods for modifying a protein but also reagents and kits that are useful in modifying a protein to make it more stable, [0025] The surface residues of the protein to be modified are identified using any method(s) known in the art, In certain embodiments, the surface residues are identified by computer modeling of the protein. In certain embodiments, the three-dimensional structure of the protein is known and/or determined, and the surface residues are identified by visualizing the structure of the protein. In other embodiments, the surface residues are predicted using computer software. In certain particular embodiments, Average Neighbor Atoms per Sidechain Atom (AvNAPSA) is used to predict surface exposure. AvNAPSA is an automated measure of surface exposure which has been implemented as a computer 10 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 program. See Appendix A. A low AvNAPSA value indicates a surface exposed residue, whereas a high value indicates a residue in the interior of the protein. In certain embodiments, the software is used to predict the secondary structure and/or tertiary structure of a protein and the surface residues are identified based on this prediction. In other embodiments, the prediction of surface residues is based on hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of the residues and their clustering in the primary sequence of the protein. Besides in silicon methods, the surface residues of the protein may also be identified using various biochemical techniques, for example, protease cleavage, surface modification, etc. [0026] Of the surface residues, it is then determined which are conserved or important to the functioning of the protein. The identification of conserved residues can be determined using any method known in the art. In certain embodiments, the conserved residues are identified by aligning the primary sequence of the protein of interest with related proteins. These related proteins may be from the same family of proteins. For example, if the protein is an immunoglobulin, other immunoglobulin sequences may be used. The related proteins may also be the same protein from a different species. For example, the conserved residues may be identified by aligning the sequences of the same protein from different species. To give but another example, proteins of similar function or biological activity may be aligned. Preferably, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 different sequences are used to determine the conserved amino acids in the protein. In certain embodiments, the residue is considered conserved if over 50%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, or 90% of the sequences have the same amino acid in a particular position. In other embodiments, the residue is considered conserved if over 50%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, or 90% of the sequences have the same or a similar (e.g., valine, leucine, and isoleucine; glycine and alanine; glutamine and asparagine; or aspartate and glutamate) amino acid in a particular position. Many software packages are available for aligning and comparing protein sequences as described herein. As would be appreciated by one of skill In the art, either the conserved residues may be determined first or the surface residues may be determined first. The order does not matter, In certain embodiments, a computer software package may determine surface residues and conserved residues simultaneously. Important residues in the protein may also be identified by mutagenesis of the protein. For example, alanine scanning of the protein can be used to determine the important amino acid residues in the protein. In other embodiments, site-directed mutagenesis may be used. :11 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 [0027] Once non-conserved surface residues of the protein have been identified, each of the residues is identified as hydrophobic or hydrophilic. In certain embodiments, the residues is assigned a hydrophobicity score. For example, each non-conserved surface residue may be assigned an octanol/water logP value. Other hydrophobicity parameters may also be used. Such scales for amino acids have been discussed in; Janin, "Surface and Inside Volumes in Globular Proteins," Nature 277:491-92, 1979; Wolfenden et al., "Affinities of Amino Acid Side Chains for Solvent Water,"Biochemistry 20:849-855, 1981; Kyte et al, "A Simple Method for Displaying the Hydropathic Character of a Protein," J. Mo. Biot, 157:105-132, 1982; Rose et al., "Hydrophobicity of Amino Acid Residues in Globular Proteins," Science 229:834-838, 1985; Comette et al., "Hydrophobicity Scales and Computational Techniques for Detecting Amphipathic Structures in Proteins," J. Mol Biot 195:659-685, 1987; Charton and Charton, "The Structure Dependence of Amino Acid Hydrophobicity Parameters," J Theor. Biot 99:629-644, 1982; each of which is incorporated by reference. Any of these hydrophobicity parameters may be used in the inventive method to determine which non conserved residues to modify. In certain embodiments, hydrophilic or charged residues are identified for modification. [00281 At least one identified non-conserved or non-vital surface residue is then chosen for modification. In certain embodiments, hydrophobic residue(s) are chosen for modification, In other embodiments, hydrophilic and/or charged residue(s) are chosen for modification. In certainembodiments, more than one residue is chosen for modification. In certain embodiments, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 of the identified residues are chosen for modification. In certain embodiments, over 10, over 15, or over 20 residues are chosen for modification. As would be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the larger the protein the more residues that will need to be modified. Also, the more hydrophobic or susceptible to aggregation or precipitation the protein is, the more residues will need to be modified. In certain embodiments, multiple variants of the protein, each with different modifications, are produced and tested to determine the best variant in terms of biological activity and stability, [0029] In certain embodiments, the residues chosen for modification are mutated into more hydrophilic residues (including charged residues). Typically, the residues are mutated into more hydrophilic natural amino acids. In certain embodiments, the residues are mutated into amino acids that are charged at physiological pH. For example, the residue may be changed to an arginine, aspartate, glutamate, histidine, or lysine. In certain embodiments, all 12 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 the residues to be modified are changed into the same different residue. For example, all the chosen residues are changed to a glutamate residue. In other embodiments, the chosen residues are changed into different residues; however, all the final residues may be either positively charged or negatively charged at physiological pH. In certain embodiments, to create a negatively charged protein, all the residues to be mutated are converted to glutamate and/or aspartate residues. In certain embodiments, to create a positively charged protein, all the residues to be mutated are converted to lysine residues. For example, all the chosen residues for modification are asparagine, glutamine, lysine, and/or arginine, and these residues are mutated into aspartate or glutamate residues. To give but another example, all the chosen residues for modification are aspartate, glutamate, asparagine, and/or glutamine, and these residues are mutated into lysine. This approach allows for modifying the net charge on the protein to the greatest extent. [0030] In other embodiments, the protein may be modified to keep the net charge on the modified protein the same as on the unmodified protein. In still other embodiments, the protein may be modified to decrease the overall net charge on the protein while increasing the total number of charged residues on the surface. In certain embodiments, the theoretical net charge is increased by at least +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +10, +15, +20, +25, +30, or +35. In certain embodiments, the theoretical net charge is decreased by at least -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -10, -15, -20, -25, -30, or -35. In certain embodiments, the chosen amino acids are changed into non-ionic, polar residues (e.g., cysteine, serine, threonine, tyrosine, glutamine, asparagine). [0031J These modification or mutations in the protein may be accomplished using any technique known in the art. Recombinant DNA techniques for introducing such changes in a protein sequence are well known in the art. In certain embodiments, the modifications are made by site-directed mutagenesis of the polynuoleotide encoding the protein. Other techniques for introducing mutations are discussed in Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd Ed., ed. by Sambrook, Fritsch, and Maniatis (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: 1989); the treatise, Methods in Enzymology (Academic Press, Inc., N.Y.); Ausubel et al. Current Protocols in Molecular Biology (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1999); each of which is incorporated herein by reference. The modified protein is expressed and tested. In certain embodiments, a series of variants is prepared and each variant is tested to determine its biological activity and its stability. The variant chosen for subsequent use may be the most stable one, the most active one, or the one with the greatest overall combination 13 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 of activity and stability. After a first set of variants is prepared an additional set of variants may be prepared based on what is learned from the first set. The variants are typically created and overexpressed using recombinant techniques known in the art. [0032] The inventive system has been used to created variants of GFP. These variants have been shown to be more stable and to retain their fluorescence. A GFP from Aequorea victoria is described in GenBank Accession Number P42212, Incorporated herein by reference. The amino acid sequence of this wild type GFP is as follows: MSKGEELFTGVVPILVELDGDVNGHKFSVSGEGEGDATYGKLTLKFICTTGKLPVPW PTLVTTFSYGVQCFSRYPDHMKQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTIFFKDDGNYKTRAEYK FEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNYNSHNVYIMADKQKNGIKVNFKIRHNI EDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDNHYLSTQSALSKDPNEKRDHMVLLEFVTAA GITHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 1) Wild type GFP has a theoretical net charge of-7. Using the inventive system, variants with a theoretical net charge of -29, -30, -25,+36,+48, and +49 have been created. Even after heating the +36 GFP to 95 "C, 100% of the variant protein is soluble and the protein retains >70% of its fluorescence. [0033] The amino acid sequences of the variants of GFP that have been created include: GFP-NEG25 MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFTGVVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTLKF ICTToELPVPWPTLVTLTYGVQCFSRYPDHMKQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISFKDD GTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITADKQENGI KAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDPNEDRDHM VLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 2) GFP-NEG29 MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFDGEVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTLKF ICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPDHMDQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISFKDD GTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDWITADKQENGI KAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDPNEDRDHM VLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 3) GFP-NEG30 MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFDGVVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTLKF ICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSDYPDHMDQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISFKDD GTYKTRABVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITADKQENGCI 14 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 KAEFEIHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTP1GDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDPNEDRDHM VLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 4) GFP-POS36) MGHHHHHHGGASKGERLFRGKVPILVELKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLTLK FICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTISFKK DGKYKTRAEVKFEGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKONILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYITADKRK NGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRNHYLSTRSKLSKDPKEKR DHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRDERYK (SEQ ID NO: 5) GFP-POS42 MGHUHHHOGRSKGKRLFRGKVPILVELKGDVNGHKFSVRKGKGDATRGKLTLK FICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTISFKK DGKYKTRAEVKFEGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYITADKRK NGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLSKDPKEKR DHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK (SEQ ID NO: 6) GFP-POS49 MGHHHHHHGORSKGKRLFRGKVPILVKLKGDVNGcHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLTLK FICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTISFKK DGKYKTRABVKFKGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYITADKRK NGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLAKHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLSKDPKEKR DHMVLKEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK (SEQ ID NO: 7) As would be appreciated by one of skill in the art, homologous proteins are also considered to be within the scope of this invention. For example, any protein that includes a stretch of 20, 30, 40, 50, or 100 amino acids which are 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, or 100% homologous to any of the above sequences is considered part of the invention. In addition, addition and deletion variants are also contemplated by the invention. In certain embodiments, any GFP with a mutated residue as shown in any of the above sequences is considered part of the invention. In certain embodiments, the sequence includes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more mutations as shown in any of the sequences above. 100341 Any DNA sequence that encodes the above GFP variants is also include within the scope of the invention. Exemplary DNA sequences which encode each of the variants above are as follows: GFP-NEG25 ATGGGGCATCACCATCATCATCATGGCGGTGCGTCTAAGGGGGAGGAGTTATTTA 15 WO 2007/143574 PCTUS2007/070254 CGGGGTCGTCGTGGTGTGGTTACGCTAT TTCTGTCCGCGGTGAAGGGGAGGQTGATGCCACGGAAGGGAGCTGACACTTAA ATIfTAfTGT(CACCACCGTGAACTCCCaJGTCCCGTGGCCGACCCTGGTGACCACC CTGACCTACOGCGTTCAATGCThTITCACGTTATCCG3GATCACATGAAGCAACACG3 ACTrCTrrAAAACGCGATGCCTGAAGGCTATGTTCAAGAACGTACAA'TAG'TrT TAAAGATGACGGCACCTACAAGACCCGTGCGGAAGTAAAAJrGAAGOGGACAC TIAGTGAACCGCATCGAGCTGAAAGGGATCGATIIAAAGAAGATGGGAATAT CCTGGACACAAACTTGAATACAACJTI'AATAGiTCATGACGTCTATATCACGGCG GACAAACAGGAAAACOGjAAT2AAGGCAQAATrVGAGATTCOGCATAATGTCGAA GATOQGCTCGGTACAOTTGGCTOATCACTATCAGiCAGAATACGCCGATTGGAGAT GGTcCGGTTFPA'FrAcCAGACGATCACTATcTGTCcACcOAATCCOccCTOAGcA AAGATCCGAATGAAGACCGGGACCATATOCUTCTGCTGOAATTTGTrACGGCGOi CTGOTA'TTGACCATGGCATGGATOAGCTGTATAAGTAGi (SEQ II) NO: 8) GFP-NEG29 ATOGGGCATCACCATCATCATCATGGCGOTGCGTCTAA(GGG4JAGGAG1TATTTG ATGGTGAAGTGCCOATCCTGGOGAOCTTGATGGCGATOTTAACGQCCATOAATT TTCTGTCCGCGGTGAAGGGGAGGGTOATGCCACGOAAGGGGAOCTGACAC'ITAA AfTATTTGCACCACCGGTGAACTCCCGGTCCCGTGGCCGACCCTOOTGACCACC CTGACCTACGGCG'JTCAATOCTTTTCACGTIATCCGGATCACATGGACCAACACG ACJTCTTTAAAAGCGCGATGTCCTOAAGGCTATGTTCAAQAACG3TACAATTAGTIT TAAAGATGACGGCACCTACAAOiACCCGTGCOGAAGTAAAAITFGCAAGGGGACAC 3TrAGTGAACCGCATCGAGCTOAAAGOGATCGATJ=AAAGAAGATGGGAATAT CCTGGO0ACACAAACTITOAATACAACTTAATAGTCATOACGTCTATATCACGGCC GACAAACAGGAAAACGGAATTAAGGCAOAA'TVGAGATTCOGCATAATGTCGAA GATGGCTCGGiTACAGTFIGOCTGATCACTATCAGCAOAATACG3CCGATI'GGAGAT GGTCCGVFITTATTACCAGACGAT)CACTATCTGTCCACCGAATCCGCCCTGAGCA AAGATCCGAATGAAGACCGOiGACCATATOGTTCTGCTGGAATTTGTTACGGCGG CTGGTATJ'GACCATG%3CATGGATGAGCTOTATAAGTAG (SEQ ID NO: 9) GFP-NEG30 ATOGGGCATCACCATCATCATCATGGCGGTOCGTCTAAGOGGG0AGGAGTTATTTG ATGGTGTGGTGCCGATCCTGGTGGAGCTfGATGGCGATGfl'AACGGCCATGAATTr TI'CTOTCCGCGGTGAAGGGGAQGGOTGATGCCACGGAAGOOGAGCTGACACTTAA ATTTATrFGCACCAcCGGTQGAACTcCCCGGTCCGTGGCCGACCCTOGTGACCACC CTGACCTACGGCGTFCAATGCTTTTCAGATTATCCGGATCACATGOACCAACACGj ACTTCrTAAAAGCGCATCCTAAGGCTATGTTCAAQAACGTACAATTAOTFTT TAAAGATGACGGCACCTACAAGAcCCGTOCOOiAAOTAAAATTTOAAOGGcIACAC 3TrAGTGAACCGCATCGAGCTOAAAGGGATCGA3TTAAAGAAGATGGGAATAT CCTGGOACACAAACITGAATACAACTrTAATAGTCATOACGTCTATATCACGGCG OACAAACAGGAAAACGGAAfl'AAGGCAGAATITAOA'ITCOGCATAATGTCGAA GATGGCTCOGTACAOITGGCTGATCACTATCAQCAGAATACGCCGATrGGAT GGiTCCGG'ThAITFACCAGACGATCACTFATCTGTCCACCGAATCCGCCCTGAGCA AAG3ATCCOAATGAAGACCOGGOACCATATGOHTCTGCTCGAAITTACGGCGG CTOGTATfGACCATGMcATJGATGAGCTGTATAAGTAG (SEQ ID NO: 10) 16 H fmtkI, Imen nNRPonbkDCCrMltJ673 IC J.oc,-&Ut/ III6 GJPOS36 ATOOACTACACCAGC GCTTAGAACGCTTGTITC( GtX3GCAAAGTCCCGATTCTrGTGGAGCTCAAACQOTOATOTAAATOGTCATKAAfTI TAGTCTGCGCOGGAAAGGGAAAGQAGATGCTACOCCCGOOCAA&CTCACCCTOM. u ATrPATrCCACAACCGCAAACTjCCATGCCGTGGCCTACATAOTCACTACT CTGACGTACGGTCNGTOC'V-fTCTCGCTrATCCICAAACACATGAAACcCCATO ATTTCTFCAAGAG3CGCGATGCCAAAAGO'FyATGFCCAUGAACGCA-CCATCAOCIT TAAAAAAGACG;GCAAATATAAAACCCGTGCAGAAGr[AAAITCGAAOGCCGCAC CCTGGTGAACCG5CATTAAACTGAAAGGTCGTOACTECAAAQAGAAA(3GTAxAT TCYJX3GTCACAAALTGCGCTATAATTTCAACTGTCACAAAGrITATATTACGOCO OATAAAGGTAAAAAQG(3c3AIIAAAGCGAAA71TAA&AYPCOTCATAA'-TGTrAAA GACOGCAGTOTGCAGTTAO)CGGATCAn7ATCAOCAGAATAGCCCAATVO GTCGC GGTCCAOTGCTGTCCGCGTAACCAjkTIATCTGTCGACOCGCAGCA-AAOTGAGCA AAOACCLXLkAAO3AAAAACGTOGACCACATGO0TATTACTOiGAATrTOTOACCGiCAGi CAOGCA1ITAAACATGOCCCCGATOAACGLTACAAATAG (SEQ ID NO: H) GFP-P0S42 ATOOGCCATCATCATCACCACCACGGCGQ3CCOOTCAAAAGUTAAACGCIFG1TCC GTGGTAAAGTACCG.ATCTTAGTGiGAG3CTCAAAGGCG0ATGTOAATOO CCATAAGT TTCCGxTTCOGCAMOQ(TMOGGAGATCACGGCO3GCAAATTAACGCTQiA AMTTCATTOTACTACAOG0TAAACTGCCGOTGCCA.,TOGCCTACTCTCGTCACCAC GTTGAGCTATGGO OTTCAATG CTTCAGCCOGTACCCTAAACACATOAAO CGCCAC GATYFCTFCAAATCOGCGATGCCAAAOGOO(TATQCTCCAGGAACGCACTATCAOCT' TCAAAAAAGACGOTAAGTATAAAACTCGTOCTGAAOTT,-,AATrTCGAAGOACGCA CAGTGG3TAAATCGCATTAAATI'GAAGOGGCGICOAGTTAAGGAAAAAGOTAATA TCtPAGJTCACAAATTGCGCTAAA'ICAACTCTCATAAAGTTTACATTACAGC AGATAAGCGTAAAAATGQ3CATCAAAGCGAAATTCAAAATTCQTCACAATOTGAA AGATGGTAGCGTGCAA'1TAU CCGATCArCAGCCAQCAOjAATAGG3CCOATCCGTC(iy CGGCCcAGiTACTG7TGCCGCGCAAACAUfACTATC7ACCCGGAO TAAACTGTCT AAAGACCAAAAGAGAAGGCCUACCATAkTOTVGTCGTGGAGTITFTCACC~CC OCCOO0AATTAAACACOGCCOCAAAOAGCGCTATA.AATAG (SEQ ID)NO:- 12) GFP-P0549 ATGGCCACCATCATCATCACCACOOGOACOtTGTAAAOOTAAACt3TCFGTTTC G3TGQAAAGGTOCCCATTCTGG('PITAAAOTCA. A~aOOATGTCAACOOCCATAAGTT-I TTCCGTTCTGGCAAAGGTAAAGIGTGATGCGACG-CO3CGGGAAAWITAACACTG;AA ATATTGCACAACCGAAAACTCCTOTCCGTG3CCGACTITOGTGACCACA TrAACCTATGGTGJTCAATGGTTCT'CACOITATCCGAAGCATATGAAACCTCATGr ATITVITC-AAATCCO(CTATGCCGAAAGGTACGTCCAGGAGCGCAC CATCTCATT TAAGAAAOAkCGGTAAGTATAAAACCcOTOCTGAAGTAAAATTCAAAGiGACGCAC-, CCTGGTGAATCGCATTAAACTOAAAGGTCOiTGATTFCAAAGAAAAUGGA-AATAT TIAOCiGCATAAOCTCCOTTATAA4 TITAACAE3TOATAAGGrGTATA'ITACCOCT GiATAAACGcAAAAAcOGAATCAAAOCGAAAmAAGATCCGTCATAATGTA-tAA GAkTOGCTCAQTCCAA UPGGCAAA-ACAT'TACCAOCGAAATACCCCGATCOOCCC cIOTCCTOTGCnrVCTGCCGCOTAAACACTACTh'GTCGAC-CCGQTCA-AAATTQAGTIA 17 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 AAGATCCGAAGGAAAAGCGTGATCACATGGTCTTGAAGGAATTTGTAACTGCAG CAGGTATTAAACACGGCGCAAAGAACGTTACAAATAG (SEQ ID NO: 13) [0035] Polynucleotide sequence homologous to the above sequences are also within the scope of the present invention. In certain embodiments, the polynucleotide sequence include a stretch of 50, 100, or 150 nucleotides that are 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 98%, 99%, or 100% homologous to any one of the above sequence. The present invention also includes sequence where one or more nucleotides is inserted or deleted from one of the above sequences. Any polynucleotide sequence with a mutation as shown in any of the sequences above is considered part of the invention. In certain embodiments, the sequence includes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more mutations as shown in any of the sequences above. [0036) The present invention also provides vector (e.g., plasmids, cosmids, viruses, etc.) that comprise any of the inventive sequences herein or any other sequence (DNA or protein) modified using the inventive system. In certain embodiments, the vector includes elements such as promoter, enhancer, ribosomal binding sites, etc. sequences useful in overexpressing the inventive GFP variant in a cell. The invention also includes cells comprising the inventive sequences or vectors. In certain embodiments, the cells overexpress the variant GFP. The cells may be bacterial cells (e.g., E. coli), fungal cells (e.g., P. pastoris), yeast cells (e.g., S. cerevisiae), mammalian cells (e.g., CHO cells), or human cells. [0037] The inventive system has been used to created variants of streptavidin. These variants have been shown to form soluble tetramers that bind blotin. The amino acid sequence of this wild type streptavidin is as follows: AAEAGITGTWYNQLGSTFIVTAGADGALTGTYESAVGNAESRYVLTGRYDSAPATD GSGTALGWTVAWKNNYRNAHSATTWSGQYVGGAEARINTQWLLTSGTTEANAWK STLVGHDTFTKVKPSAAS (SEQ ID NO: XX) Wild type streptavidin has a theoretical net charge of-4, Using the inventive system, variants with a theoretical net charge of -40 and +52 have been created, Even after beating the variants to 100 "C, the proteins remained soluble, [0038] The amino acid sequences of the variants of streptavidin that have been created include: SAV-NEG40 18 WO 20071143574 PCT/US2007/070254 MGHHHHHHGGAEAGITGTWYNQLGSTFIVTAGADGALTGTYESAVGDAESEYVLT GRYDSAPATDGSGTALGWTVAWKNDYENAHSATTWSGQYVGGAEARINTQWLLT SGTTEADAWKSTLVGHDTFTKVEPSAAS (SEQ ID NO: XX) SAV-POS52 MOHHHHHHGGAKAGITGTWYNQLGSTFIVTAGAKGALTGTYESAVGNAKSRYVLT GRYDSAPATKGSGTALGWTVAWKNKYRNAHSATTWSGQYVGGAKARINTQWLLT SGTTKAKAWKSTLVGHDTFTKVKPSAAS (SEQ ID NO: XX) As would be appreciated by one of skill in the art, homologous proteins are also considered to be within the scope of this invention. For example, any protein that includes a stretch of 20, 30, 40, 50, or 100 amino acids which are 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, or 100% homologous to any of the above sequences is considered part of the invention. In addition, addition and deletion variants are also contemplated by the invention. In certain embodiments, any streptavidin with a mutated residue as shown in any of the above sequences is considered part of the invention. In certain embodiments, the sequence includes 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10, or more mutations as shown in any of the sequences above. [00391 Any DNA sequence that encodes the above streptavidin variants is also included within the scope of the invention. Exemplary DNA sequences which encode each of the variants above are as fIlows: SAV-NEG40 GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTQGCGCCGAAGCAGOTATT ACCGGTACCTGGTATAACCAGTTAGGCTCAACCTTTATTGTGACCGCQGGAGCGG ACGGCGCCTTAACCGGTACCTACGAATCAGCTGTACTGACGCGGAATCAGAGT ACGTATTAACCGGTCGTTATGATAGCGCGCCGGCGACTGACGGTAGCGGTACTGC TTTAGGTTGGACCGTAGCGTGGAAGAATGATTATGAAAACGCACATAGCGCAAC AACGTGGTCAGGGCAGTACGTTGGCGGAGCTGAGGCGCGCATTAACACGCAGTG GTTATTAACTAGCGGCACCACTGAAGCTGATGCCTGGAAGAGCACGTTAGTGGG TCATGATACCTTCACTAAAGTGGAACCTTCAGCTGCGTCATAATAATGACTCGAG ACCTGCA (SEQ ID NO: XX) SAV-POS52 GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTGGCOCCAAAGCAGGTATT ACCGGTACCTGGTATAACCAGTTAGGCTCAACCTTTATTGTGACCGCGGGAGCGA AAGGCGCCTTAACCGGTACCTACGAATCAGCTGTAGGAAACGCAAAATCACGCT ACGTATTAACCGGTCGTTATGATAGCGCGCCGGCGACTAAAGGTAGCGGTACTG CTTTAGGTTGGACCGTAGCGTGQAAGAATAAGTATCOTAATGCGCACAGTGCTAC CACTTGGTCAGGGCAGTACGTAGGGGGAGCCAAAGCACGTATCAACACGCAGTO 19 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 GTTATTAACATCAGGTACCACCAAAGCGAAAGCCTGGAAGAGCACGTTAGTGGG TCATGATACCTTCACTAAAGTGAAACCTTCAGCTGCGTCATAATAATGACTCGAG ACCTGCA (SEQ ID NO: XX) 10040] Polynucleotide sequence homologous to the above sequences are also within the scope of the present invention. In certain embodiments, the polynucleotide sequence include a stretch of 50, 100, or 150 nucleotides that are 60/, 7 0%, 80%, 90%, 950/, 98%, 99%, or 100% homologous to any one of the above sequence. The present invention also includes sequence where one or more nucleotides is inserted or deleted from one of the above sequences. Any polynucleotide sequence with a mutation as shown in any of the sequences above is considered part of the invention, In certain embodiments, the sequence includes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more mutations as shown in any of the sequences above. [0041J The present invention also provides vector (e.g., plasmids, cosmids, viruses, etc,) that comprise any of the inventive sequences herein or any other sequence (DNA or protein) modified using the inventive system. In certain embodiments, the vector includes elements such as promoter, enhancer, ribosomal binding sites, etc. sequences useful in overexpressing the inventive streptavidin variant in a cell. The invention also includes cells comprising the inventive sequences or vectors. In certain embodiments, the cells overexpress the variant streptavidin. The cells may be bacterial cells (e.g., K col), fungal cells (e.g., P. postoris), yeast cells (e.g., S. cerevisiae), mammalian cells (e.g., CHO cells), or human cells, 100421 The inventive system has been used to created variants of glutathione-S transferase (GST). These variants have been shown to retain the catalytic activity of wild type GST. The amino acid sequence of this wild type GST is as follows: MGHHHHHHGOPPYTITYFPVRGRCEAMRMLLADQDQSWKEEVVTMETWPPLKPSC LFRQLPKFQDGDLTLYQSNAILRHLGRSFGLYGKDQKEAALVDMVNDGVEDLRCKY ATLIYTNYEAGKEKYVKELPEHLKPFETLLSQNQGGQAFVVGSQISFADYNLLDLLRI HQVLNPSCLDAFPLLSAYVARLSARPKIKAFLASPEHVNRPINGNGKQ (SEQ ID NO: XX) Wild type GST has a theoretical net charge of +2. Using the inventive system, a variant with a theoretical net charge of -40 has been created. This variant catalyzes the addition of glutathione to chloronitrobenzene with a specific activity only 2.7-fold lower than that of wild type GST. Even after heating the variant to 100 "C, the protein remained soluble, and the protein recovered 40% of its catalytic activity upon cooling. 20 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 [00431 The amino acid sequences of variants of GST include: GST-NEG40 MGHHHHIIGGPPYTITYFPVRGRCEAMRMLLADQDQSWEEEVVTMETWPPLKPSC LFRQLPKFQDGDLTLYQSNAILRHLGRSFGLYGEDEEEAALVDMVNDGVEDLRCKY ATLIYTDYEAGKEEYVEELPEHLKPFETLLSENEGGEAFVVGSESFADYNLLDLLRIH QVLNPSCLDAFPLLSAYVARLSARPEIEAFLASPEHVDRPINGNGKQ (SEQ ID NO: XX) GST-POS50 MGIHHHHGGPPYTITYFPVRGRCEAMRMLLADQKQSWKEEVVTMKTWPPLKPSC. LFRQLPKFQDGKLTLYQSNAILRHLGRSFGLYGKKQKEAALVDMVNDGVEDLRCKY ATLIYTKYKAGKKKYVKKLPKHLKPFETLLSKNKGGKAFVVGSKISFADYNLLDLLR IHQVLNPSCLKAPPLLSAYVARLSARPKIKAFLASPEHVKRPINGNGKQ (SEQ ID NO: XX) As would be appreciated by one of skill in the art, homologous proteins are also considered to be within the scope ofthis invention. For example, any protein that includes a stretch of 20, 30, 40, 50, or 100 amino acids which are 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, or 100% homologous to any of the above sequences is considered part of the invention. In addition, addition and deletion variants are also contemplated by the invention. In certain embodiments, any streptavidin with a mutated residue as shown in any of the above sequences is considered part of the invention. In certain embodiments, the sequence includes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more mutations as shown in any of the sequences above. [00441 Any DNA sequence that encodes the above GST variants is also included within the scope of the invention. Exemplary DNA sequences which encode each ofthe variants above are as follows: GST-NEG40 GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTGOCCCGCCGTACACCATTA CATACTT'CCGGTACGTGGTCGTTGTGAAGCGATGCGTATGTTATTAGCGGACCA GGACCAATCATGGOAAGAAGAAGTAGTGACAATGGAAACCTGGCCGCCGTTAAA GCCTAOCTOTTTATTCCGTCAATTACCGAAGTITCAGGATGGTGATTTAACCTTAT ACCAOTCTAACGCGATCTTACGTCATTTAGGTCGCTCATTTGGTTTATACGGTGA AGATGAAGAAGAAGCAGCCTTAGTGGATATGGTGAATGATGGCOTGGAAGACTT ACGTTGTAAATACGCGACGTTAATTTACACTGATTATGAAGCCGGTAAAGAGGA GTACGTGOAAGAATTACCTGAACACCTGAAGCCGTTTGAAACATTACTGAGCGA AAATGAAGGAGGTGAGGCGTTCGTAGTTGGTAGCGAAATTAGCTTCGCTGATTAT 21 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 AACTTATTAGACTTATTACGCATTCACCAGTiTTAAATCCTAGCTGTTAGACGC TTTCCCGTTACTGAGCGCATATOTAGCGCGCCTGAGCGCCCGTCCGGAAATTGAA GCTTTCTTAGCGTCACCTGAACACTAGACCGCCCGATTAACGGAAACGGCAAG CAGTAATAATGAGGTACCACCTGCA (SEQ ID NO: XX) GST-POS50 GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTGGCCCGCCGTACACCATTA CATACTTCCGGTACGTGGTCGTrGTGAAGCGATGCGTATGTTATTAGCOGACCA GAAACAATCATGGAAAGAAGAAGTAGTGACAATGAAGACCTGGCCOCCGTTAAA GCCTAGCTGTTTATTCCOTCAATTACCGAAGTTTCAGGATGGTAAATTAACCTTAT ACCAGTCTAACOCGATCTTACGTCATTTAGOTCGCTCATITGGTTTATACGGTAA GAAGCAGAAAGAAGCAGCCTTAGTGOATATGGTGAATGATGGCGTGGAAGACTT ACGTTGTAAATACGCGACOTTAATTTACACTAAATATAAAGCCGGTAAAAAGAA GTACGTGAAAAAATTACCTAAACACCTGAAGCCGTTTGAAACATTACTGAGCAA AAATAAAGGAGGTAAGGCOTTCGTAGTTGGTAGCAAGATTAGCTTCGCTGATTAT AACTTATTAGACTTATTACGCATTCACCAGGTTTAAATCCTAGCTGTTTAAAGGC TTTCCCGTTACTGAGCGCATATGTAGCGCGCCTGAGCGCCCGTCCGAAGATCAAA GCTTTCTTAGCGTCACCTGAACACGTGAAGCCCCGATTAACOGAAACGGCAAG CAGTAATAATGAGGTACCACCTGCA (SEQ IDNO: XX) [0045] The present invention also provides vector (e.g., plasmids, cosmids, viruses, etc.) that comprise any of the inventive sequences herein or any other sequence (DNA or protein) modified using the inventive system. In certain embodiments, the vector includes elements such as promoter, enhancer, ribosomal binding sites, elc. sequences useful in overexpressing the inventive GST variant in a cell. The invention also includes cells comprising the inventive sequences or vectors. In certain embodiments, the cells overexpress the variant OST. The cells may be bacterial cells (e.g., E. coh), fungal cells (e.g., P. pastoris), yeast cells (e.g., S. cerevisiae), mammalian cells (e.g., CHO cells), or human cells. [0046] The present invention also includes kits for modifying proteins of interest to produce more stable variants of the protein. These kits typically include all or most of the reagents needed create a more stable variant of a protein. In certain embodiments, the kit includes computer software to aid a researcher in designing the more stable variant protein based on the inventive method. The kit may also include all of some of the following; reagents, primers, oligonucleotides, nucleotides, enzymes, buffers, cells, media, plates, tubes, instructions, vectors, etc. The research using the kit typically provides the DNA sequence for mutating to create the more stable variant. The contents are typically packaged for convenience use in a laboratory. 22 WO 2007/143574 PCT/USZO07/070254 10047] These and other aspects of the present invention will be farther appreciated upon consideration of the following Examples, which are intended to illustrate certain particular embodiments of the invention but are not intended to limit its scope, as defined by the claims. Examples Example 1 - Supercharging Proteins Can Impart Extraordinary Resilience [00481 Protein aggregation, a well known culprit in human disease (Cohen, F. E.; Kelly, J W., Nature 2003, 426, (6968), 905-9; Chiti, F.; Dobson, C. M., Annu Rev Biochem 2006, 75, 333-66; each of which is incorporated herein by reference), is also a major problem facing the use of proteins as therapeutic or diagnostic agents (Frokjaer, S.; Otzen, D. E., Nat Rev Drug Discov 2005, 4, (4), 298-306; Fowler, S. B.; Poon, S.; Muff, R.; Chiti, F.; Dobson, C. M.; Zurdo, 1, Proc Natl Acad Sc! USA 2005, 102, (29), 10105-10; each of which is incorporated herein by reference). Insights into the protein aggregation problem have been garnered from the study of natural proteins. It has been known for some time that proteins are least soluble at their isoelectric point, where they bear a net charge of zero (Loeb, J., J Gen Physiol 1921, 4, 547-555; incorporated herein by reference), More recently, small differences in net charge (±3 charge units) have been shown to predict aggregation tendencies among variants of a globular protein (Chiti, F.; Stefani, M.; Taddei, N.; Ramponi, G,; Dobson, C M., Nature 2003, 424, (6950), 805-8; incorporated herein by reference), and also among intrinsically disordered peptides (Pawar, A. P.; Dubay, K. F.; Zurdo, J,; Chiti, F.; Vendruscolo, M.; Dobson, C. M., JMol Blot 2005, 350, (2), 379-92; incorporated herein by reference). Together with recent evidence that some proteins can tolerate significant changes in net charge (for example, the finding that carbonic anhydrase retains catalytic activity after exhaustive chemical acetylation of its surface lysines (Gudiksen et al, JAm Chem Soc 2005, 127, (13), 4707-14; incorporated herein by reference)), these observations led us to conclude that the solubility and aggregation resistance of some proteins might be significantly enhanced, without abolishing their folding or function, by extensively mutating their surfaces to dramatically increase their net charge, a process we refer to herein as "supercharging". [0049] We began with a recently reported state-of-the-art variant of green fluorescent protein (GFP) called "superfolder GFP" (sfGFP), which has been highly optimized for folding efficiency and resistance to denaturants (Pedelacq et at., Nat Biotechnol 2006, 24, (1), 23 WO 2007/143574 PCTIUS2007/070254 79-88; incorporated herein by reference). Superfolder GFP has a not charge of-7, similar to that of wild-type GFP. Guided by a simple algorithm to calculate solvent exposure of amino acids (see Materials andMethods), we designed a supercharged variant of GFP having a theoretical net charge of +36 by mutating 29 of its most solvent-exposed residues to positively charged amino acids (Figure 1). The expression of genes encoding either sfGFP or GFP(+36) yielded intensely green-fluorescent bacteria. Following protein purification, the fluorescence properties of GFP(+36) were measured and found to be very similar to those of sfGFP. Encouraged by this finding, we designed and purified additional supercharged GFPs having net charges of +48, -25, and -30, all of which were also found to exhibit sfGFP-like fluorescence (Figure 2a). All supercharged GFP variants showed circular dichroism spectra similar to that of sfGFP, indicating that the proteins have similar secondary structure content (Figure 2b), The thermodynamic stabilities of the supercharged GFP variants were only modestly lower than that of sfGFP (1.0-4.1 kcal/mol, Figure 2c and Table 1) despite the presence of as many as 36 mutations. 100501 Although sfGFP is the product of a long history of GFP optimization (Giepmans et al., Science 2006, 312, (5771), 217-24; incorporated herein by reference), it remains susceptible to aggregation induced by thermal or chemical unfolding. Heating sfGFP to 100*C induced its quantitative precipitation and the irreversible loss of fluorescence (Figure 3a). In contrast, supercharged GFP(+36) and GFP(-30) remained solublewhen heated to 1004C, and recovered significant fluorescence upon cooling (Figure 3a). Importantly, while 40% 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) induced the complete aggregation of sfGFP at 25 *C within minutes, the +36 and -30 supercharged GFP variants suffered no significant aggregation or loss of fluorescence under the same conditions for hours (Figure 3b). [0051] In addition to this remarkable aggregation resistance, supercharged GFP variants show a strong, reversible avidity for highly charged macromolecules of the opposite charge (Figure 3 c). When mixed together in 1:1 stoichiometry, GFP(+36) and GFP(-30) immediately formed a green fluorescent co-precipitate, indicating the association of folded proteins. GFP(+36) similarly co-precipitated with high concentrations of RNA or DNA. The addition of NaCl was sufficient to dissolve these complexes, consistent with the electrostatic basis of their formation. In contrast, sfGFP was unaffected by the addition of GFP(-30), RNA, or DNA (Figure 3c). 24 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 10052] We next sought to determine whether the supercharging principle could apply to proteins other than GFP, which is monomeric and has a well-shielded fluorophore. To this end, we applied the supercharging process to two proteins unrelated to GFP. Streptavidin is a tetramer with a total net charge of -4, Using the solvent-exposure algorithm, we designed two supercharged streptavidin variants with net charges of-40 or +52. Both supercharged streptavidin variants were capable of forming soluble tetramers that bind biotin, albeit with reduced affinity. [0053] Glutathione-S-transferase (GST), a dimer with a total net charge of +2, was supercharged to yield a dimer with net charge of -40 that catalyzed the addition of glutathione to chlJorodinitrobenzene with a specific activity only 2.7-fold lower than that of wild-type GST (Figure 3d). Moreover, the supercharged streptavidins and supercharged GST remained soluble when heated to 1 00*C, in contrast to their wild-type counterparts, which, like sftFP, precipitated quantitatively and irreversibly (Table 1). In addition, GST(-40) recovered 40% of its catalytic activity upon cooling (Figure 3d). 10054] In summary, we have demonstrated that monomeric and multimeric proteins of varying structures and functions can be "supercharged" by simply replacing their most solvent-exposed residues with like-charged amino acids. Supercharging profoundly alters the intermolecular properties of proteins, imparting remarkable aggregation resistance and the ability to associate in folded form with oppositely charged macromolecules like "molecular Velcro." We note that these unusual intermolecular properties arise from high net charge, rather than from the total number of charged amino acids, which was not significantly changed by the supercharging process (Table 1). [0055] In contrast to these dramatic intermolecular effects, the intramolecular properties of the seven supercharged proteins studied here, including folding, fluorescence, ligand binding, and enzymatic catalysis, remained largely intact. Supercharging therefore may represent a useful approach for reducing the aggregation tendency and improving the solubility of proteins without abolishing their function. These principles may be particularly useful in de novo protein design efforts, where unpredictable protein handling properties including aggregation remain a significant challenge. In light of the above results of supercharging natural proteins, it is tempting to speculate that the aggregation resistance of designed proteins could also be improved by biasing the design process to increase the 25 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 frequency of like-charged amino acids at positions predicted to lie on the outside of the folded protein. [0056] Protein supercharging illustrates the remarkable plasticity of protein surfaces and highlights the opportunities that arise from the mutational tolerance of solvent-exposed residues. For example, it was recently shown that the thermodynamic stability of some proteins can be enhanced by rationally engineering charge-charge interactions (Strickler et at, Biochemistry 2006, 45, (9), 2761-6; incorporated herein by reference). Protein supercharging demonstrates how this plasticity can be exploited in a different way to impart extraordinary resistance to protein aggregation. Our findings are consistent with the results of a complementary study in which removal of all charges from ubiquitin left its folding intact but significantly impaired its solubility (Loladze et al, Protein Sci 2002, 11, (1), 174-7; incorporated herein by reference). [0057] These observations may also illuminate the modest net-charge distribution of natural proteins (Knight et al., Proc Natl Acad Sc! USA 2004, 101, (22), 8390-5; Gitlin at al, Angew Chem Int EdEngl 2006, 45, (19), 3022-60; each of which is incorporated herein by reference): the net charge of 84% of Protein Data Bank (PDB) polypeptides, for example, falls within :10. Our results argue against the hypothesis that high net charge creates sufficient electrostatic repulsion to force unfolding. Indeed, GFP(+48) has a higher positive net charge than any polypeptide currently in the PDB, yet retains the ability to fold and fluoresce. Instead, our findings suggest that nonspecific intermolecular adhesions may have disfavored the evolution of too many highly charged natural proteins. Almost all natural proteins with very high net charge, such as ribosomal proteins L3 (+36) and Ll 5 (+44), which bind RNA, or calsequestrin (-80), which binds calcium cations, associate with oppositely charged species as part of their essential cellular functions. Materials and Methods Design procedure and supercharged protein sequences. Solvent-exposed residues (shown in grey below) were identified from published structural data (Weber, P.C., Ohlendorf, D.H., Wendoloski, J.J. & Salemme, F.R. Structural origins of high-affinity biotin binding to streptavidin. Science 243, 85-88 (1989); Dirr, H., Reinemer, P. & Huber, R. Refined crystal structure of porcine class Pi glutathione S-transferase (pGST Pt-I) at 2.1 A resolution. JMol SNot 243, 72-92 (1994); Pedelacq, J.D., Cabantous, S., Tran, T., Terwilliger, T.C. & Waldo, 26 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 G.S. Engineering and characterization of a superfolder green fluorescent protein. Nat Biotechnol 24, 79-88 (2006); each of which is incorporated herein by reference) as those having AvNAPSA < 150, where AvNAPSA is average neighbor atoms (within 10 A) per sidechain atom. Charged or highly polar solvent-exposed residues (DERKNQ) were mutated either to Asp or Glu, for negative-supercharging (red); or to Lys or Arg, for positive supercharging (blue). Additional surface-exposed positions to mutate in geen fluorescent protein (GFP) variants were chosen on the basis of sequence variability at these positions among GFP homologues. The supercharging design process for streptavidin (SAV) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) was fully automated: residues were first sorted by solvent exposure, and then the most solvent-exposed charged or highly polar residues were mutated either to Lys for positive supercharging, or to Glu (unless the starting residue was Asn, in which case to Asp) for negative supercharging. 1 SV-0 Alsd v'A t h T TGRYDO22- T wtSAV V YL.- Ys.TGRD J4GTA SAV(+52) 'i A S5 ~iAT 71 SAV (-40) LGWTVAWX AITL wtSAV LGWTVAW ATW NTQWLLTT SAV(+52) LGWTV , SATTWG INTQWLLTS ,STL 1 GST(-40) I RHLRpLMVNGVEL 0ALI3FEA wtGsT ILHGALDVDVD A -IPF GtST+O PIRV WTYAGRCEAKMLLAP Np , ~LFQ PCI ~YQSNA wGSTR L AALY DMV NDGVEDL AlLI3_PF L 151 GST (40) ISFAaYLL LLRI wtGST VVNIFADlYNLLDLLRIH C LF 1 GST (-+50) ISFADYNLLDLLRI= M}I MIF Protein expression and purification. Synthetic genes optimized for E colt codon usage were purchased from DNA 2.0, cloned into a pET expression vector (Novagen), and overexpressed in S. colt BL2 I (DE3)pLysS for 5-10 hours at 15*C. Cells were harvested by centrifugation and lysed by sonication. Proteins were purified by Ni-NTA agarose 27 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 chromotography (Qiagen), buffer-exchanged into 100 mM NaO], 50 mM potassium phosphate pH 7.5, and concentrated by ultrafiltration (Millipore), All GFP variants were purified under native conditions, Wild-type streptavidin was purchased from Promega. Supercharged streptavidin variants were purified under denaturing conditions and refolded as reported previously for wild-type streptavidin (Thompson et al. Construction and expression of a synthetic streptavidin-encoding gene in Escherichia coli. Gene 136, 243-246 (1993); incorporated herein by reference), as was supercharged GST. Wild-type GST was purified under either native or denaturing conditions, yielding protein of comparable activity. Electrostatic surface potential calculations (Figure 1b). Models of-30 and +48 supercharged GFP variants were based on the crystal structure of superfolder GFP (Pedelacq et al., Engineering and characterization of a superfolder green fluorescent protein. Nat Biotechnol 24, 79-88 (2006); incorporated herein by reference). Electrostatic potentials were calculated using APBS (Baker el al., Electrostatics of nanosystems; application to microtubules and the ribosome. Proc Nail Acad Sci USA 98, 10037-10041 (2001); incorporated herein by reference) and rendered with PyMol (Delano, W.L., The PyMOL Molecular Graphics System, www.pymol.org (2002); incorporated herein by reference) using a scale of-25 kT/e (red) to +25kT/e (blue), Protein staining and UV-induced fluorescence (Figure Za). 0.2 pg of each GFP variant was analyzed by electrophoresis in a 10% denaturing polyacrylamide gel and stained with Coomassie brilliant blue dye. 0.2 pg of the same protein samples in 25 mM Tris pH 8.0 with 100 mM NaCl was placed in a 0.2 mL Eppendorf tube and photographed under UV light (360 nm). Thermal denaturation and aggregation (Figure 3a). Purified GFP variants were diluted to 2 mg/mL in 25 mM Tris pH 8.0, 100 mM NaCl, and 10 mM beta-mercaptoethanol (BMB), then photographed under UV illumination ("native"). The samples were heated to 100 "C for I minute, then photographed again under UV illumination ("boiled"). Finally, the samples were cooled 2 h at room temperature and photographed again under UV illumination ("cooled"). 28 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 Chemically induced aggregation (Figure 3b). 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) was added to produce solutions with 1.5 mg/mL protein, 25 mM Tris pH 7.0, 10 mM BME, and 40% TFE. Aggregation at 25 "C was monitored by right-angle light scattering. Size-exclusion chromatography (Table 1). The multimeric state of SAV and GST variants was determined by analyzing 20-50 pg of protein on a Superdex 75 gel-filtration column. Buffer was 100 mM NaCI, 50 mM potassium phosphate pH 7,5, Molecular weights were determined by comparison with a set of monomeric protein standards of known molecular weights analyzed separately under identical conditions. Table 1. Calculated and experimentally determined protein properties. name MW (kD)length (aa) npasllngfnrhargeQrnt p1 AG (kcaimol)' native MW (kD)b % soluble after boiling' GFP (-30) 27.8 248 19 49 68 -30 4,8 10,2 n.d. 98 GFP (-25) 27.8 248 21 46 67 -25 5.0 n.d. n.d. n.d. afGFP 27.8 248 27 34 61 -7 6.6 11.2 n.d. 4 GFP (+36) 28.5 248 66 20 76 +3610.4 8.8 n.d. 97 GFP (+48) 28.6 248 63 15 78 +4810.8 7.1 nd. n.d. SAV (-40) 14.3 137 5 15 20 -10 5.1 nd. 55*5 (tetramer) 99 wtSAV 13.3 128 8 9 17 -1 6.5 n.d. 50 ±5 (tetramer) 7 SAV (+52) 14.5 137 16 3 19 +13 10.3 n.d. 565 ± 5 (tetramer) 97 GST (-40) 24.7 217 17 37 54 -20 4.8 n.d 50 5 dimerr) 96 wtGST 24,6 217 24 23 47 +1 7.9 n.d. 50 k 5 (dimer) 3 GST (+ 5 0 )d 24.7 217 39 14 53 +2510.0 n.d, n.d. n.d. npos, number of positively charged amino acids (per monomer) nneg, number of negatively charged amino acids nehrge, total number of charged amino acids Qd, theroretical net charge at neutral pH pl, calculated isoelectric point n.d., not determined 'measured by guanidinium denaturation (Figure 2o), measured by size-exclusion chromatography, 'percent protein remaining in supernatant after 5 min at 100 *C, cooling to 25 *C, and brief centrifugation. protein failed to express in E. coli. 29 H:\fmMntenvovenRPotbDCCTfli5221115).doc.24/nOl2013 Other Embodiments [0058] Those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the foregoing represents merely certain preferred embodiments of the invention. Various changes and modifications to the procedures and compositions described above can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention, as set forth in the following claims. [0059J Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. [0060J The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates. 30 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 Appendix A 31 S WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 #! /usr/local/bin/perl ##4 #####################################4######################### # avnapsa # prints list of AVNAPSA values for the specified PDB # Mike Lawrence/Kevin Phillips 3/17/2006 #4################################################################# sub show-usage print "\l", "Usage: avnapsa <start_pdb> [params)\n", " -3 use 3-letter aa abbreviations (default)\n", " -1 use 1-letter aa abbreviations\n", -onecol print one column only (i.e. only the AvNAPSA results)\n\n"; ################# global variables ############*################## @atoms; # fields loaded from PDB: # type # atomNum # atomName # resName # chain - # resNum # x, y, z # computed fields # neighborCount @distances; @residues; # fields copied from PDB 4 resNum (PDB numbering) # resName # computed fields # avNapsa #####################################V##### ########################### ## parse command line $use3orl 3; $onecol-flag = 0; $startPdb = $ARGVEO]; for (my $a - 1; $a < @ARGV, ++$a) if ($ARGVt$a] eq "-1") { $use3orl = 1 32 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 elsif ($ARGVt$a] eq "- 3 ") { $use3orl - 3; elsif ($ARGV[$a) eq 1-onecol") ( $onecolflag 1; else ( showusage(; die !'Invalid argument $ARGV[$aJ\n"} } unless (lc $startspdb =- /\.pdb/) { show usage(); die "No starting pdb specified.\n"; ) ## read PDB and compute molecular parameters read PDS($start-pdb); tabulate-residues (; $nres = @residues; compute distances 0 compute neighbor counts (); computeresidue avNapsa (; print residues (); exit; # print-residues # sub print-residues { for (my $r = 0; $r c Oresidues; $r++) { my $name = $residues[$r]{resName}; $name = toggle3l($name) if ($use3orl == 1); printf "d %s AVNAPSA ", $residues[$r){resNum}, $name unless $onecol-flag; print "%.Df\n", $residues[$r]{avNapsa}; } print "\nNum residues ", $#residues+1h, "\n\n" unless $onecol flag; } # tabulateresidues # # goes through list of atoms and makes a list of amino acid residues # and stores it in global variable residues sub tabulateresidues { for ($a = 0; $a < @atoms; $a++) $resNum = $atomsl$aJ (resNum); if I resNumeexists($resNum) push @residues, resNum => $resNum, 33 WO 2007/143574 . Atty. DocketNo. 0342941-0223(HU2772) PCT/US2007/070254 resName =>y $atoms E$a] (resName} } } } 1$ resume exists # returns 1 if reeNum is contained in Oresidues sub resNumexists ($) { my ($resNum) = for ($r = 0; $r < *residues; $r++) return 1 if ($residues {$rl{ resNum) == $resNum); return 0; } # resNumto-resindex # converts PDB numbering to index in @residues sub resNumto resindex($) { my ($resNum) = _ for ($r = 0; $r < @residues; $r++) { return $r if ($residues t$r].{resNum} $resNum); return "none"; # readPDB(filename) # reads the atoms from a PDB and returns them as an array of hashes sub readPDB($) { my ($filename) _ open (PDB, $filename) or die("Could not open $filename\n"); $#atoms = -1; # clear atoms storage 34 WO 2007/143574 PCTIUS2007/070254 # read the file foreach (<PDB>) { my $type - trim(substr($_, 0,6)); # RTyp field is columns 1-6 next unless ($type eq "ATOM" II $type eq "HETATM"); my $resName - trim(substr($_, 17, 3)); # Res field is colurans 18 20 my $atomName = trim(substr($_, 12, 4)); # Atm field is columns 13-16 next if uc $resName eq "HOH"; # omit waters next if uc $atomame =~ /^[0-9]*H/; # omit protons # add a hash to the array, containing data from this record of the PDB push @atoms, { type => $type, reeName => $resName, atomName => $atomfame, atomNum -> trim(substr($_, 6,5)), # Num field is columns 7-11 chain => trim(substr ($_, 21,1)), # Chain field is column 22 resNum => trim(substr($-, 22,4)), # ResNo field is columns 23-26 x => trim(substr($_, 30,8)), # X field is columns 31-38 y => trim(substr($_, 38,8)), # Y field is columns 39-46 z => trim(substr($_, 46,8)) # Z field is columns 37-54 close (PDIB); # # trim # removes whitespace from start and end of string sub trim($) { my ($string) ; # retrieve the passed argument $string ~ s/^\s+//; # remove leading whitespace $string s/\s+$//; # remove trailing whitespace return $string; # is number # returns 1 if passed argument is a number (allows whitespace, negative, and decimal point) # returns 0 if passed argument is blank or not a number 35 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 A sub is-number () 4 $_ shift; return I if /-? [0-93+$/ |I /-? [0-9*\. [0-9] +$/ || /^[0-91+\. [0-9]*$/, return 0; # interresidue distance # returns the minimum distance between any atoms of the specified residues # (residues are specified according to index in residues) sub inter residue distance($, $) { my ($rl, $r2) @; ## convert to PDB numbering my $resNuml $residues[$rlJ(res~um}; my $resNum2 = $residues[$r2]{resNum}; my $min dist = 1000000; for ($al = 0; $al < @atoms; ++$al) { next unless ( $atoms [al) {resNum) $resNuml ) for ($a2 = 0; $a2 < @atoms; ++$a2) { next unless ( $atoms [$a2]{resNum} == $resNum2 ); my $dist $distances[$alJ[$a2); $min-dist $dist if ($dist c $mindist); } return $min dist; } # compute-distances # computes the distances between all atoms sub compute_distances for(my $atoml=0; $atoml < @atoms; $atoml++) for(my $atom2=$atoml; $atom2 < @atoms; $atom2++) 36 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 my ($xl,$yl,$Zl) = ($atoms [$atoml] -:{x}, $atoms [$atoml] ->(y}, $atoms t$atoml] ->{ z}); my ($x2,$y2$Z2) = ($atomst$atom2] ->(x), $atomsi$atom2] ->{y}, $atoms [$atom2] ->{ z}) ; my $distance . sqrt(($x1-$x2)**2 + ($Yi-$y2)**2 + ($z1-$z2)**2); $distances [$atoml] [$atom2] = $distance; $distances ($atom2] [$atoinl] = $distance; } } # compute neighbor_counts # computes the number of neighbors that each atom has. # paramter is the cutoff, in Angstroms, for atomic neighborhood sub compute-neighbor-counts $DISTANCECUTOFF = 10; # criterion for neighborhood, in Angstroms for ($atom1=0; $atom < atomst $atoml++) { my $count = 0; for ($atom2=0; $atom2 < atoms; $atom2++) { $count++ if ($distances [$atoml] t$atom2] <= $DISTANCECUTOFF && $atom1 I= $atom2); } $atoms[$atoml] {neighborCount} $count; } } # compute residue-avNapsa # for each residue, compute # Average Neighbor Atoms Per Sidechain Atom (AvNAPSA) # (sidechain atoms are all those except N, C, 0, CA) # for glycines, just use CA # sub compute-residue-avNapsa for (my $r = 0; $r < @residues; $r++) { my $numSideChainAtoms m 0; my $totalNeighbors 0; my $resName = $residues[$r]{resName}; my $resNum = $residues[$r]{resNum); 37 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 for (my $a - 0; $a < *atoms; $a++) { if ($atoms t$a] {resum) == $resNun) { my $atomName w $atoms [$a] {atomName}; if $atomName ne "C" && $atomName ne1 "0" && $atomName ne "N" && $atomName ne "CA" | ( $atomname eq "CA" && $resName eq "GLY") { $numSideChainAtoms++; $totalNeigbbors += $atoms [$a) (neigbborCount); } .} my $avNapsa = $totalNeighbors / $numSideChainAtoms; $residues[$r) {avNapsa} = $avNapsa; } } # toggle3l # converts 3-letter abbrev to 1-letter # or 1-letter abbrev to 3-letter sub toggle31($) { kconv3tol (ALA > "A", "CYS" => "C", "SER" Us "S", "LEU" => "L",11 "ILE" => "I" "PHE1 => "F", "ARG" = "R= , "ASN" => "N" , "GLN" => "Q", 1TYR"I => "Y" , " LYS" =- "K", "ASP" I=> "Dl, "OLU" > " E" ), "VAL => irV, "TRP" => "W" "IMZET" => "M"l, "HIS" => "H", "GLY" => "0", "PRO" > 11P11 "TH1R => "T"' ) %convlto3 = reverse %conv3tol; my ($abbrev) = @_; $abbrev uc $abbrevF return $convlto3{$abbrev} if length ($abbrev) 1; return $conv3tol{$abbrev} if length ($abbrev) 3; die "in toggle3l) invalid amino acid abbreviation $abbrev\n"; } # isaa 38 WO 2007/143574 PCT/US2007/070254 # returns 1 if passed argument is a 1-letter amino acid sub is-aa($) { my ($string) return I if (length toggle3l($string) 3); return 0; } 39

Claims (34)

1. A supercharged protein variant of a wild-type protein, wherein the supercharged protein variant comprises a modified primary amino acid sequence as compared to the wild-type sequence, resulting in a net charge on the supercharged protein variant of less than -10 or greater than +10 at physiological pH, wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence comprises replacing at least one surface residue with a natural amino acid residue that is: a) positively charged at physiological pH, and wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein variant is increased by at least +3 as compared to the wild-type protein; or b) negatively charged at physiological pH, and wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein variant is decreased by at least -3 as compared to the wild-type protein.

2. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 1, wherein the net charge ranges from -40 to -10 at physiological pH.

3. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 1, wherein the net charge ranges from +10 to +52 at physiological pH.

4. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 1, wherein the variant is positively charged.

5. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 1, wherein the variant is negatively charged.

6. The supercharged protein of any one of Claims 1-5, wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein variant is increased by at least +4, at least +5, at least +10, at least +15, at least +20, at least +25, at least +30, or at least +35 as compared to the wild-type sequence.

7. The supercharged protein of any one of Claims 1-5, wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein variant is decreased by at least -3, at least -4, 40 HI:\fmntIemoven\NNRPortbl\DCC\FMT\98673 6 I.daex-M/P410-16 at least -5, at least -10, at least -15, at least -20, at least -25, at least -30, or at least -35 as compared to the wild-type sequence.

8. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 1, wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein is within the range of -40 to -20 or -40 to -30.

9. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 1, wherein the net charge at physiological pH of the supercharged protein is within the range of +52 to +20, +52 to +30, or +52 to +40.

10. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-9, wherein the supercharged protein variant retains at least 50%, at least 75%, at least 90%, or at least 95% of the activity of the wild-type protein.

11. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-10, wherein the wild-type protein is a human protein.

12. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-11, wherein the wild-type protein is an immunoglobulin or a fragment thereof.

13. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 12, wherein the immunoglobulin or fragment thereof is human or humanized.

14. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-13, wherein the variant is a fusion protein.

15. The supercharged protein variant of Claim 14, wherein the fusion protein comprises a linker.

16. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-15, wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence of the supercharged protein variant comprises a replacement of at least one surface residue of the wild-type protein with a different residue.

17. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-16, wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence of the supercharged protein variant comprises a replacement of at least one charged surface residue of the wild-type protein with a different residue. 41 H~rirneroven\NRPonbIDCC\MmlX67M6_I.134 /02016

18. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-17, wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence of the supercharged protein variant comprises a replacement of at least one surface residue of the wild-type protein with a residue of a different charge.

19. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-18, wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence of the supercharged protein variant comprises a replacement of at least one surface residue of the wild-type protein with a lysine, histidine, or arginine residue.

20. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-19, wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence of the supercharged protein variant comprises a replacement of at least one surface residue of the wild-type protein with an aspartate or glutamate residue.

21. The supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-20, wherein the modified primary amino acid sequence of the supercharged protein variant comprises a replacement of at least two, at least five, at least ten, at least twenty, or at least thirty surface residues of the wild-type protein with a different residue.

22. A composition comprising the supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1 21 and, optionally, a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

23. The composition of Claim 22, wherein the composition is a pharmaceutical composition.

24. A method of preparing a supercharged protein variant of any one of Claims 1-21, the method comprising steps of: identifying the surface residues of a protein of interest that are not highly conserved among other proteins related to the protein of interest; and replacing a plurality of non-conserved, surface residues with an amino acid residue that is positively charged at physiological pH, or replacing a plurality of non-conserved, surface residues with an amino acid residue that is negatively charged at physiological pH.

25. A supercharged protein selected from: 42 H~fimAIntemnovcNRPrbIDCC\M9867M6 1I.docx-8AN/2016 a green fluorescent protein (+42 GFP) of the amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGRSKGKRLFRGKVPILVELKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTI SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFEGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK; green fluorescent protein (+48 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGRSKGKRLFRGKVPILVKLKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTI SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFKGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLAKHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK; streptavidin protein (+52 SAV) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGAKAGITGTWYNQLGSTFIVTAGAKGALTGTYESAVGNAKSRYV LTGRYDSAPATKGSGTALGWTVAWKNKYRNAHSATTWSGQYVGGAKARINTQ WLLTSGTTKAKAWKSTLVGHDTFTKVKPSAAS; and glutathione-S-transferase protein (+50 GST) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGPPYTITYFPVRGRCEAMRMLLADQKQSWKEEVVTMKTWPPLKP SCLF RQLPKFQDGKLTLYQSNAILRHLGRSFGLYGKKQKEAALVDMVNDGVEDLRCKY ATLI YTKYKAGKKKYVKKLPKHLKPFETLLSKNKGGKAFVVGSKISFADYNLLDLLRIH QVL NPSCLKAFPLLSAYVARLSARPKIKAFLASPEHVKRPINGNGKQ.

26. A polynucleotide encoding any one of the supercharged proteins of Claim 25.

27. The polynucleotide of claim 26, selected from the group consisting of: a polynucleotide sequence encoding the green fluorescent protein (+42 GFP): ATGGGCCATCATCATCACCACCACGGCGGCCGCTCAAAAGGTAAACGCTTGTT CCGTGGTAAAGTACCGATCTTAGTGGAGCTCAAAGGGGATGTGAATGGCCATA AGTTCTCGGTTCGTGGCAAAGGTAAGGGAGATGCGACGCGCGGCAAATTAAC 43 HarmnnLicnLovenNRPnbl\DCCFMr9867316 ,do.&8/42016 GCTGAAATTCATTTGTACTACAGGTAAACTGCCGGTGCCATGGCCTACTCTCGT CACCACGTTGACCTATGGGGTTCAATGCTTCAGCCGGTACCCTAAACACATGA AGCGCCACGATTTCTTCAAATCGGCGATGCCAAAGGGGTATGTCCAGGAACGC ACTATCAGCTTCAAAAAAGACGGTAAGTATAAAACTCGTGCTGAAGTTAAATT CGAAGGACGCACACTGGTAAATCGCATTAAATTGAAGGGGCGCGACTTTAAG GAAAAAGGTAATATCTTAGGTCACAAATTGCGCTACAACTTCAACTCTCATAA AGTTTACATTACAGCAGATAAGCGTAAAAATGGCATCAAAGCGAAATTCAAA ATTCGTCACAATGTGAAAGATGGTAGCGTGCAATTAGCCGATCATTACCAGCA GAATACGCCGATCGGTCGCGGCCCAGTACTGTTGCCGCGCAAACATTACTTAT CTACCCGGAGTAAACTGTCTAAAGACCCAAAAGAGAAGCGCGACCATATGGTT CTCCTGGAGTTTGTCACCGCCGCCGGAATTAAACACGGCCGCAAAGAGCGCTA TAAATAG; a polynucleotide sequence encoding the streptavidin (+52 SAV): GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTGGCGCCAAAGCAGGTAT TACCGGTACCTGGTATAACCAGTTAGGCTCAACCTTTATTGTGACCGCGGGAG CGAAAGGCGCCTTAACCGGTACCTACGAATCAGCTGTAGGAAACGCAAAATC ACGCTACGTATTAACCGGTCGTTATGATAGCGCGCCGGCGACTAAAGGTAGCG GTACTGCTTTAGGTTGGACCGTAGCGTGGAAGAATAAGTATCGTAATGCGCAC AGTGCTACCACTTGGTCAGGGCAGTACGTAGGGGGAGCCAAAGCACGTATCA ACACGCAGTGGTTATTAACATCAGGTACCACCAAAGCGAAAGCCTGGAAGAG CACGTTAGTGGGTCATGATACCTTCACTAAAGTGAAACCTTCAGCTGCGTCAT AATAATGACTCGAGACCTGCA; and a polynucleotide sequence encoding the glutathione-S-transferase (+50 GST): GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTGGCCCGCCGTACACCAT TACATACTTTCCGGTACGTGGTCGTTGTGAAGCGATGCGTATGTTATTAGCGGA CCAGAAACAATCATGGAAAGAAGAAGTAGTGACAATGAAGACCTGGCCGCCG TTAAAGCCTAGCTGTTTATTCCGTCAATTACCGAAGTTTCAGGATGGTAAATTA ACCTTATACCAGTCTAACGCGATCTTACGTCATTTAGGTCGCTCATTTGGTTTA TACGGTAAGAAGCAGAAAGAAGCAGCCTTAGTGGATATGGTGAATGATGGCG TGGAAGACTTACGTTGTAAATACGCGACGTTAATTTACACTAAATATAAAGCC GGTAAAAAGAAGTACGTGAAAAAATTACCTAAACACCTGAAGCCGTTTGAAA CATTACTGAGCAAAAATAAAGGAGGTAAGGCGTTCGTAGTTGGTAGCAAGATT 44 H:arntn-e n\NRPonbI\DCiFMf9867316_dox.-MY4/2016 AGCTTCGCTGATTATAACTTATTAGACTTATTACGCATTCACCAGGTTTTAAAT CCTAGCTGTTTAAAGGCTTTCCCGTTACTGAGCGCATATGTAGCGCGCCTGAGC GCCCGTCCGAAGATCAAAGCTTTCTTAGCGTCACCTGAACACGTGAAGCGCCC GATTAACGGAAACGGCAAGCAGTAATAATGAGGTACCACCTGCA.

28. A vector comprising the polynucleotide of Claim 26 or 27.

29. A composition comprising the supercharged protein variant of claim 25, and, optionally, a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

30. A supercharged protein selected from: a streptavidin protein (-40 SAV) comprising an amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGAEAGITGTWYNQLGSTFIVTAGADGALTGTYESAVGDAESEYVL TGRYDSAPATDGSGTALGWTVAWKNDYENAHSATTWSGQYVGGAEARINTQW LLTSGTTEADAWKSTLVGHDTFTKVEPSAAS (SEQ ID NO: 29); a green fluorescent protein (-30 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFDGVVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTL KFICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSDYPDHMDQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISF KDDGTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITAD KQENGIKAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDP NEDRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 4); a green fluorescent protein (-29 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFDGEVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTL KFICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPDHMDQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISF KDDGTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITAD KQENGIKAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTFSALSKDP NEDRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 3); a green fluorescent protein (-25 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGEELFTGVVPILVELDGDVNGHEFSVRGEGEGDATEGELTL KFICTTGELPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPDHMKQHDFFKSAMPEGYVQERTISF KDDGTYKTRAEVKFEGDTLVNRIELKGIDFKEDGNILGHKLEYNFNSHDVYITAD KQENGIKAEFEIRHNVEDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGDGPVLLPDDHYLSTESALSKDP 45 H.\ftiittmiicnocnA\NRPonbl\DCC\FMT\986736_ Ldocx.Mi412V16 NEDRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIDHGMDELYK (SEQ ID NO: 2); and a glutathione-S-transferase (-40 GST) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGPPYTITYFPVRGRCEAMRMLLADQDQSWEEEVVTMETWPPLKP SCLFRQLPKFQDGDLTLYQSNAILRHLGRSFGLYGEDEEEAALVDMVNDGVEDLR CKYATLIYTDYEAGKEEYVEELPEHLKPFETLLSENEGGEAFVVGSEISFADYNLL DLLRIHQVLNPSCLDAFPLLSAYVARLSARPEIEAFLASPEHVDRPINGNGKQ (SEQ ID NO: 34).

31. A polynucleotide encoding any one of the supercharged proteins of claim 30.

32. The polynucleotide of claim 31, selected from the group consisting of: a polynucleotide sequence encoding the streptavidin protein (-40 SAV): GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTGGCGCCGAAGCAGGTAT TACCGGTACCTGGTATAACCAGTTAGGCTCAACCTTTATTGTGACCGCGGGAG CGGACGGCGCCTTAACCGGTACCTACGAATCAGCTGTAGGTGACGCGGAATCA GAGTACGTATTAACCGGTCGTTATGATAGCGCGCCGGCGACTGACGGTAGCGG TACTGCTTTAGGTTGGACCGTAGCGTGGAAGAATGATTATGAAAACGCACATA GCGCAACAACGTGGTCAGGGCAGTACGTTGGCGGAGCTGAGGCGCGCATTAA CACGCAGTGGTTATTAACTAGCGGCACCACTGAAGCTGATGCCTGGAAGAGCA CGTTAGTGGGTCATGATACCTTCACTAAAGTGGAACCTTCAGCTGCGTCATAAT AATGACTCGAGACCTGCA (SEQ ID NO: 31); a polynucleotide sequence encoding the green fluorescent protein (-30 GFP): ATGGGGCATCACCATCATCATCATGGCGGTGCGTCTAAGGGGGAGGAGTTATT TGATGGTGTGGTGCCGATCCTGGTGGAGCTTGATGGCGATGTTAACGGCCATG AATTTTCTGTCCGCGGTGAAGGGGAGGGTGATGCCACGGAAGGGGAGCTGAC ACTTAAATTTATTTGCACCACCGGTGAACTCCCGGTCCCGTGGCCGACCCTGGT GACCACCCTGACCTACGGCGTTCAATGCTTTTCAGATTATCCGGATCACATGGA CCAACACGACTTCTTTAAAAGCGCGATGCCTGAAGGCTATGTTCAAGAACGTA CAATTAGTTTTAAAGATGACGGCACCTACAAGACCCGTGCGGAAGTAAAATTT GAAGGGGACACTTTAGTGAACCGCATCGAGCTGAAAGGGATCGATTTTAAAG AAGATGGGAATATCCTGGGACACAAACTTGAATACAACTTTAATAGTCATGAC GTCTATATCACGGCGGACAAACAGGAAAACGGAATTAAGGCAGAATTTGAGA 46 H.\nIieno en\NRPob CCileM9X67316 oc-XW2Oi6 TTCGGCATAATGTCGAAGATGGCTCGGTACAGTTGGCTGATCACTATCAGCAG AATACGCCGATTGGAGATGGTCCGGTTTTATTACCAGACGATCACTATCTGTCC ACCGAATCCGCCCTGAGCAAAGATCCGAATGAAGACCGGGACCATATGGTTCT GCTGGAATTTGTTACGGCGGCTGGTATTGACCATGGCATGGATGAGCTGTATA AGTAG (SEQ ID NO: 10); a polynucleotide sequence encoding the green fluorescent protein (-29 GFP): ATGGGGCATCACCATCATCATCATGGCGGTGCGTCTAAGGGGGAGGAGTTATT TGATGGTGAAGTGCCGATCCTGGTGGAGCTTGATGGCGATGTTAACGGCCATG AATTTTCTGTCCGCGGTGAAGGGGAGGGTGATGCCACGGAAGGGGAGCTGAC ACTTAAATTTATTTGCACCACCGGTGAACTCCCGGTCCCGTGGCCGACCCTGGT GACCACCCTGACCTACGGCGTTCAATGCTTTTCACGTTATCCGGATCACATGGA CCAACACGACTTCTTTAAAAGCGCGATGCCTGAAGGCTATGTTCAAGAACGTA CAATTAGTTTTAAAGATGACGGCACCTACAAGACCCGTGCGGAAGTAAAATTT GAAGGGGACACTTTAGTGAACCGCATCGAGCTGAAAGGGATCGATTTTAAAG AAGATGGGAATATCCTGGGACACAAACTTGAATACAACTTTAATAGTCATGAC GTCTATATCACGGCGGACAAACAGGAAAACGGAATTAAGGCAGAATTTGAGA TTCGGCATAATGTCGAAGATGGCTCGGTACAGTTGGCTGATCACTATCAGCAG AATACGCCGATTGGAGATGGTCCGGTTTTATTACCAGACGATCACTATCTGTCC ACCGAATCCGCCCTGAGCAAAGATCCGAATGAAGACCGGGACCATATGGTTCT GCTGGAATTTGTTACGGCGGCTGGTATTGACCATGGCATGGATGAGCTGTATA AGTAG (SEQ ID NO: 9); a polynucleotide sequence encoding the green fluorescent protein (-25 GFP): ATGGGGCATCACCATCATCATCATGGCGGTGCGTCTAAGGGGGAGGAGTTATT TACGGGTGTGGTGCCGATCCTGGTGGAGCTTGATGGCGATGTTAACGGCCATG AATTTTCTGTCCGCGGTGAAGGGGAGGGTGATGCCACGGAAGGGGAGCTGAC ACTTAAATTTATTTGCACCACCGGTGAACTCCCGGTCCCGTGGCCGACCCTGGT GACCACCCTGACCTACGGCGTTCAATGCTTTTCACGTTATCCGGATCACATGAA GCAACACGACTTCTTTAAAAGCGCGATGCCTGAAGGCTATGTTCAAGAACGTA CAATTAGTTTTAAAGATGACGGCACCTACAAGACCCGTGCGGAAGTAAAATTT GAAGGGGACACTTTAGTGAACCGCATCGAGCTGAAAGGGATCGATTTTAAAG AAGATGGGAATATCCTGGGACACAAACTTGAATACAACTTTAATAGTCATGAC GTCTATATCACGGCGGACAAACAGGAAAACGGAATTAAGGCAGAATTTGAGA 47 H. mlieInmen\NPenbl\DCC\F M98671_lI docx-R/04/20l6 TTCGGCATAATGTCGAAGATGGCTCGGTACAGTTGGCTGATCACTATCAGCAG AATACGCCGATTGGAGATGGTCCGGTTTTATTACCAGACGATCACTATCTGTCC ACCGAATCCGCCCTGAGCAAAGATCCGAATGAAGACCGGGACCATATGGTTCT GCTGGAATTTGTTACGGCGGCTGGTATTGACCATGGCATGGATGAGCTGTATA AGTAG (SEQ ID NO: 8); and a polynucleotide sequence encoding the glutathione-S-transferase (-40 GST): GGTTCAGCCATGGGTCATCACCACCACCATCACGGTGGCCCGCCGTACACCAT TACATACTTTCCGGTACGTGGTCGTTGTGAAGCGATGCGTATGTTATTAGCGGA CCAGGACCAATCATGGGAAGAAGAAGTAGTGACAATGGAAACCTGGCCGCCG TTAAAGCCTAGCTGTTTATTCCGTCAATTACCGAAGTTTCAGGATGGTGATTTA ACCTTATACCAGTCTAACGCGATCTTACGTCATTTAGGTCGCTCATTTGGTTTA TACGGTGAAGATGAAGAAGAAGCAGCCTTAGTGGATATGGTGAATGATGGCG TGGAAGACTTACGTTGTAAATACGCGACGTTAATTTACACTGATTATGAAGCC GGTAAAGAGGAGTACGTGGAAGAATTACCTGAACACCTGAAGCCGTTTGAAA CATTACTGAGCGAAAATGAAGGAGGTGAGGCGTTCGTAGTTGGTAGCGAAATT AGCTTCGCTGATTATAACTTATTAGACTTATTACGCATTCACCAGGTTTTAAAT CCTAGCTGTTTAGACGCTTTCCCGTTACTGAGCGCATATGTAGCGCGCCTGAGC GCCCGTCCGGAAATTGAAGCTTTCTTAGCGTCACCTGAACACGTAGACCGCCC GATTAACGGAAACGGCAAGCAGTAATAATGAGGTACCACCTGCA (SEQ ID NO: 36).

33. A vector comprising the polynucleotide of claim 31 or 32.

34. A composition comprising the supercharged protein variant: green fluorescent protein (+36 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGASKGERLFRGKVPILVELKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERT SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFEGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLADHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRNHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLLEFVTAAGIKHGRDERYK; or green fluorescent protein (+49 GFP) of amino acid sequence: MGHHHHHHGGRSKGKRLFRGKVPILVKLKGDVNGHKFSVRGKGKGDATRGKLT LKFICTTGKLPVPWPTLVTTLTYGVQCFSRYPKHMKRHDFFKSAMPKGYVQERTI 48 H b e R \ 9 16_I1doe-MW2016 SFKKDGKYKTRAEVKFKGRTLVNRIKLKGRDFKEKGNILGHKLRYNFNSHKVYIT ADKRKNGIKAKFKIRHNVKDGSVQLAKHYQQNTPIGRGPVLLPRKHYLSTRSKLS KDPKEKRDHMVLKEFVTAAGIKHGRKERYK; and, optionally, a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. 49