US20150322474A1 - In vitro production of cyclic peptides - Google Patents

In vitro production of cyclic peptides Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20150322474A1
US20150322474A1 US14/410,939 US201314410939A US2015322474A1 US 20150322474 A1 US20150322474 A1 US 20150322474A1 US 201314410939 A US201314410939 A US 201314410939A US 2015322474 A1 US2015322474 A1 US 2015322474A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
peptide
pro
cyanobacterial
protease
residues
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US14/410,939
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Wael Houssen Ibrahim
Marcel Jaspars
Margaret Smith
James Naismith
Jesko Koehnke
Andrew Bent
Nicholas Westwood
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
University of St Andrews
University of Aberdeen
Original Assignee
University of St Andrews
University of Aberdeen
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by University of St Andrews, University of Aberdeen filed Critical University of St Andrews
Publication of US20150322474A1 publication Critical patent/US20150322474A1/en
Assigned to THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS reassignment THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BENT, Andrew, WESTWOOD, NICHOLAS, NAISMITH, JAMES, KOEHNKE, JESKO
Assigned to THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN reassignment THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SMITH, Margaret, HOUSSEN, WAEL, JASPARS, MARCEL
Priority to US15/683,266 priority Critical patent/US10494657B2/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
    • C12P21/00—Preparation of peptides or proteins
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K7/00—Peptides having 5 to 20 amino acids in a fully defined sequence; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K7/64—Cyclic peptides containing only normal peptide links
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12Q—MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEIC ACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL OR ENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES
    • C12Q1/00—Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions
    • C12Q1/527—Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions involving lyase
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/68—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving proteins, peptides or amino acids
    • G01N33/6803—General methods of protein analysis not limited to specific proteins or families of proteins
    • G01N33/6818—Sequencing of polypeptides

Definitions

  • This invention relates to methods for the production of cyclic peptides in vitro.
  • Cyclic peptides have long been of interest to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries for use as novel medicines. They are considerably more stable compounds than linear peptides and can cross cell membranes more efficiently, which makes them ideal drug molecules (Driggers, E. M. et al. Nat Rev Drug Discov 7, 608-624 (2008))). Cyclic peptides are particularly challenging to produce synthetically. Marine cyanobacteria have been shown to produce cyclic peptide natural products, the cyanobactins (Sivonen et al., 2010, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 86, 1213-25; See FIGS. 1( a ) and ( b ) for a range of example cyclic peptide structures).
  • Patellamides members of the cyanobactin superfamily, are produced by Prochloron spp., an obligate, uncultured symbiont of the sea squirt Lissoclinum patella (Schmidt et al., 2005, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 102, 7315-20; Long et al. 2005, Chembiochem, 6, 1760-5). These compounds show cytotoxicity (Kohda et al., 1989, Biochem Pharmacol, 38, 4497-500) and the ability to reverse multiple drug resistance in human leukemia cells (Williams and Jacobs, 1993, Cancer Lett, 71, 97-102).
  • Patellamides are cyclic octapeptides containing heterocyclized residues (Ser/Thr, Cys) giving oxazolines and thiazolines, which can be further oxidized to thiazoles (Schmidt et al., 2005, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 102, 7315-20).
  • PatE the pre-pro-peptide, consists of 37-residue leader sequence (containing a single helix from residues 13-28 ⁇ Houssen, W. E. et al.
  • PatD contains substrate specificity for the 37 amino acid leader sequence of PatE and heterocyclises cysteine and threonine/serine residues to form thiazolines and oxazolines respectively. This process results in the loss of one water molecule per heterocycle. TruD, a PatD homolog from the trunkamide pathway has been shown to heterocyclize cysteine residues only (McIntosh, J. A. et al (2010). Chembiochem 11(10): 1413-1421).
  • the N-terminal cleavage of the cassette is catalyzed by PatA, a two-domain protein consisting of an N-terminal subtilisin-like protease domain and a C-terminal domain of unknown function (DUF).
  • the protease domain (PatApr) acts on the cleavage recognition sequence ‘G(L/V)E(A/P)S’, with the first residue of the cassette in the P1′ position. ⁇ Lee et al., 2009, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131, 2122-2124 ⁇
  • the final step of patellamide production is C-terminal cleavage and macrocyclisation.
  • This step is catalysed by PatG, a three-domain protein consisting of an N-terminal oxidase domain, a subtilisin-like protease/macrocyclase domain and a C-terminal DUF.
  • the protease/macrocyclase domain (PatGmac) is responsible for both cleavage of the C-terminus of the cassette and for macrocyclizing the cleaved cassette into a patellamide.
  • PatGmac recognises the sequence XAYDG, where X is the final residue in the cassette, located in the P1 position.
  • X is the final residue in the cassette, located in the P1 position.
  • This invention relates to the development and optimisation of in vitro methods for the production of cyclic peptides using cyanobacterial enzymes, such as patellamide biosynthesis enzymes. This may be useful, for example, for the production of peptidyl molecules, the biosynthesis and screening of candidate therapeutics, and nanotechnology applications.
  • An aspect of the invention provides an in vitro method of producing a cyclic peptide comprising;
  • Cyclic peptides are circularised peptidyl compounds which include cyclotides and cyanobactins, for example patellamides and telomestatins.
  • Patellamides are cyclic octapeptides produced by Prochloron spp which include patellamide A, B, C and D.
  • a cyanobacterial macrocyclase is a cyanobacterial enzyme which catalyses the cyclisation of peptide substrates which contain a cyclisation signal.
  • Suitable cyanobacterial macrocyclases include PatG macrocyclase (AAY21156.1 GI:62910843; residues 492-851 of SEQ ID NO: 1) and TruG (gi
  • a cyanobacterial macrocyclase may comprise the amino acid sequence of any one of the above reference cyanobacterial macrocyclase sequences or may be a variant thereof.
  • a cyanobacterial macrocyclase may be a PatG macrocyclase which comprises the amino acid sequence of residues 492-851 of SEQ ID NO: 1 or other macrocyclase shown in Table 4 or which comprises an amino acid sequence which is a fragment or variant thereof.
  • a PatG macrocyclase may comprise the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more residues inserted, deleted or substituted. For example, up to 15, up to 20, up to 30, up to 40, up to 50, or up to 60 residues may be inserted, deleted or substituted. Suitable residues for substitution include R589, K594, K598 and H746.
  • the position in a cyanobacterial macrocyclase which corresponds to position R589, K594, K598, H746 or other position of the PatG sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 may be readily determined using routine sequence analysis techniques.
  • the amino acid at this position may be replaced by a different amino acid residue using routine site-directed mutagenesis techniques (see for example, Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual: 3rd edition, Russell et al. (2001) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press).
  • a cyanobacterial macrocyclase which comprises a sequence which is a variant of one of the above reference sequences may comprise Asp, His and Ser residues at positions equivalent to Asp548, His618 and Ser783 in SEQ ID NO: 1.
  • a cyanobacterial macrocyclase which comprises a sequence which is a variant of one of the above reference sequences may comprise the residues shown in black in a macrocyclase sequence shown in the alignment of Table 4 in an equivalent position in the variant sequence.
  • the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may comprise a modified recognition sequence which recognises a modified cyclisation signal.
  • the recognition sequence in the macrocyclase and the cyclisation signal in the peptide substrate may be modified such that they are complementary and binding between macrocyclase and substrate occurs.
  • one of the macrocyclase and the cyclisation signal may be a positive sequence, such as RRR or KKK, and the other may be a negative sequence, such as DDD or EEE.
  • the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may comprise the recognition sequence RKK which recognises the cyclisation sequence AYDG.
  • the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may comprise a substitution at the residue equivalent to H746 and/or F747 of SEQ ID NO: 1. These residues interact with the Y of the cyclisation signal AYD. For example, substituting F747 to a charged residue in the macrocyclase may allow substitution of Y for residue with opposite charge in the cyclisation signal.
  • the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may comprise a substitution at the residue equivalent to K598 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
  • the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may comprise a K598D substitution and may recognise the cyclisation signal AYR.
  • Modification of the cyanobacterial macrocyclase sequence may have improved activity and/or kinetics over the native enzyme sequence. This may be helpful in making the biosynthetic process viable in a reasonable time.
  • Modification of the cyanobacterial macrocyclase sequence to recognise a modified cyclisation sequence may be required if the target peptide sequence for cyclisation contains an unmodified cyclisation sequence (e.g. XAYD, where X is a heterocycle or Pro).
  • an unmodified cyclisation sequence e.g. XAYD, where X is a heterocycle or Pro.
  • the peptide substrate may comprise a target peptide and a C terminal cyclisation signal.
  • the target peptide is the sequence which undergoes cyclisation by the macrocyclase to form the cyclic peptide.
  • a suitable target peptide may have at least 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 residues.
  • a suitable target peptide may have up to 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 or 30 or more residues.
  • a suitable target peptide may have from 4 to 30 residues, preferably 4 to 23 residues, more preferably 6 to 23, 6 to 20 or 6 to 11 residues.
  • the target peptide sequence may be natural e.g. a natural cyanobactin sequence or a precursor thereof; or a natural cyclotide sequence or a precursor thereof; or the target peptide sequence may be synthetic.
  • the target peptide sequence may be a heterologous sequence which is not normally associated with a cyanobactin cyclisation signal.
  • the target peptide may include modified amino acids, unmodified amino acids, heterocyclic amino acids, non-heterocyclic amino acids, naturally occurring amino acids and/or non-naturally occurring amino acids.
  • Methods of the invention also provide the introduction of heterocyclic amino acids into the target peptide sequence using isolated cyanobacterial enzymes, as described below, and optionally the oxidation of the introduced heterocyclic amino acids.
  • a target peptide sequence may comprise 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or more heterocyclic amino acids (Shin-ya, K. et al J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 1262-1263).
  • the residue directly N terminal to the cyclisation signal in the target peptide sequence is a heterocyclic amino acid.
  • the residue directly N terminal to the cyclisation signal in the target peptide sequence may be an N-methylated amino acid or a moiety with an NH2 and COOH group which allows the target peptide sequence to bend sufficiently for macrocyclisation.
  • Suitable target peptide sequences include ITACITFC; ITACISFC; ICACITFC; IAACITFC; ITACITYC; ITACITAC; ITA(SeCys)ITF(SeCys); IMACIMAC; IDACIDFC; ITVCITVC; ITAAITFC; VPAPIPFP; VTVCVTVC; VGAGIGFP; ACIMAC; IACIMAC; IITACIMAC; ATACITFC and GVAGIGFP.
  • Other suitable target peptide sequences for example cyanobactins or other cyclic and macrocyclic peptides, are well-known in the art (see for example Houssen, W. E. & Jaspars, M. Chembiochem 11, 1803-1815 (2010); Sivonen, K., et al (2010) Applied Microbiology, (86) 1213-1225) and/or described elsewhere herein.
  • target peptide sequences include cyclotide sequences, such as GLPVCGETCVGGTCNTPGCTCSWPVCTRN (Kalata B1).
  • one or more residues in the target peptide sequence may comprise a reactive functionality which may allow further chemical modification.
  • Suitable residues may contain side chains with side chain linking groups such as NH2, COOH, OH and SH.
  • the cyclisation signal is located at the C terminal of the peptide substrate, preferably adjacent the target peptide.
  • the cyclisation signal is the recognition site for the cyanobacterial macrocyclase.
  • the sequence of the cyclisation signal in a peptide substrate may depend on the cyanobacterial macrocyclase being used.
  • a cyclisation signal will comprise the sequence; small residue—bulky residue—acidic residue.
  • Suitable cyclisation signals include AYD, AYE, SYD, AFD and FAG.
  • the cyanobacterial macrocyclase is a PatG macrocyclase and the cyclisation signal is AYD.
  • the cyclisation signal may be heterologous i.e. not naturally associated with the target peptide sequence.
  • the cyclisation signal may be a natural cyclisation signal or a synthetic or modified cyclisation signal.
  • a modified cyclisation signal may be recognised by a modified cyanobacterial macrocyclase, as described above.
  • the linear peptide substrate may be treated with the cyanobacterial macrocyclase under suitable conditions for the cyclisation of peptide.
  • conditions may include 500 mM NaCl and/or pH 9.
  • the linear peptide substrate may be treated with the cyanobacterial macrocyclase in 500 mM NaCl and 5% DMSO at pH 8.
  • the highest temperature tolerated by the macrocylase is generally preferred as this leads to increased reaction rates.
  • the optimal temperature for reaction under a defined set of conditions may be determined experimentally.
  • the linear peptide substrate may be immobilised, for example on a solid support, and the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may be free in solution. This may be useful, for example in facilitating purification of the cyclic peptide.
  • the linear peptide substrate may be free in solution and the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may be immobilised for example on a solid support, such as a bead. This may be useful, for example in facilitating re-cycling of the macrocyclase.
  • a linear peptide substrate may be produced, for example by chemical synthesis or recombinant means as described below, and treated directly with the cyanobacterial macrocyclase. This may be useful in producing cyclic peptides which do not contain heterocycles.
  • the linear peptide substrate may be produced from a pro-peptide.
  • the linear peptide substrate may be provided by a method comprising;
  • the linear pro-peptide may comprise the linear peptide substrate linked to a pro-sequence, for example an N terminal leader sequence, by a protease recognition site.
  • the protease recognition site may be G(L/V)E(A/P)S and the protease may be a cyanobacterial protease, such as a PatA protease.
  • Other suitable protease recognition sites include GLEAS, GVEPS, GVEPP, GVDAS, GVGAS, GAGAS, GAEAS, QVQAQ, QVEAQ, QVQAL, QVTAQ, QVTAH, QVTPH, GPGPS and RVTVQ.
  • a cyanobacterial protease is an enzyme from a cyanobacterium which cleaves a peptide chain at a protease recognition site.
  • Suitable cyanobacterial proteases include PatA protease (AAY21150.1 GI:62910837), TruA protease (ACA04487.1 GI:167859094) from Prochloron spp and proteases from Lyngbya sp, such as ZP — 01623699.1 GI:119492363; Microcystis spp, such as CA086912.1 GI:159027542; and CA082081.1 GI:158934368; Nostoc spongiaeforme spp, such as TenA (ACA04480.1 GI:167859086); Anabaena spp, such as AcyA (ACK37888.2 GI:280987221), Oscillatoria sp such as ZP — 07111214.1 GI:300866524; Trichodesmium spp, such as YP — 722055.1 GI:113475994 ; Nodularia spp, such as ZP
  • a cyanobacterial protease may comprise the amino sequence of any one of the above reference cyanobacterial protease sequences or may be a variant thereof.
  • a cyanobacterial protease may be a PatA protease which comprises the amino sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or is a variant thereof. Variants of a reference sequence are described elsewhere herein.
  • the cyanobacterial protease may comprise a modified sequence which recognises a modified and/or heterologous protease recognition site.
  • the protease sequence and the protease recognition site in the peptide substrate may be modified such that they are complementary and binding occurs.
  • the pro-peptide may further comprise a heterologous protease recognition site and the protease may be a heterologous protease.
  • the heterologous protease recognition site may be a K or R residue and the protease may be trypsin; the heterologous protease site may be Y and the protease may be chymotrypsin; the heterologous protease site may be LVPRGS and the protease may be thrombin; the heterologous protease site may be I(E/D)GR and the protease may be factor Xa; or the heterologous protease site may be ENLYFQ(G/S) or ENLYFQ and the protease may be Tobacco Etch Virus (TEV) protease.
  • TSV Tobacco Etch Virus
  • Suitable site specific proteases are well-known in the art and any site specific endoprotease with a residue preference may be used. For example, GluC cuts after E, so replacing K or R in the heterologous protease recognition site with E would allow cleavage by GluC.
  • Heterologous site-specific proteases such as TEV protease, trypsin and chymotrypsin are well known in the art and are available from commercial sources.
  • the cyanobacterial protease recognition site may also be a recognition site for the cyanobacterial heterocyclase.
  • a heterologous protease recognition site is present, the cyanobacterial protease recognition site may be retained in order to allow the introduction of heterocycles into the target peptide sequence, as described below.
  • a linear pro-peptide may comprise the sequence GLEASK[peptide sequence] or GLEASENLYFQ[peptide sequence].
  • the pro-peptide may lack a cyanobacterial protease recognition site.
  • the linear pro-peptide comprises one, two, three or more peptide substrates linked by protease recognition sites. Treatment of the linear pro-peptide with the protease releases the one, two, three or more linear peptide substrates from the pro-peptide. The releases of two, three or more peptide substrates in the linear pro-peptide may be the same or different.
  • the pro-peptide may be immobilised and the protease may be free in solution. This may be useful, for example, in facilitating purification of the peptide substrate, for example before cyclisation.
  • the pro-peptide may be free in solution and the protease may be immobilised. This may be useful, for example, in facilitating re-cycling of the protease.
  • the linear peptide substrate or pro-peptide may be treated to heterocyclise amino acid residues in the target peptide sequence.
  • the linear peptide substrate or the linear pro-peptide may be provided by a method comprising;
  • Heterocyclisable amino acids include cysteine, selenocysteine, tellurocysteine, threonine, serine, 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid and synthetic derivatives thereof with additional R groups at the alpha and beta position.
  • the cyanobacterial heterocyclase may convert the cysteine residues in the linear pre-pro-peptide into thiazolines; threonine/serine residues into oxazolines; selenocysteines into selenazolines; tellurocysteines into tellurazolines and/or aminoalanines into imidazolines.
  • Heterocyclic amino acids include proline.
  • a cyanobacterial heterocyclase is an enzyme from a cyanobacterium which converts heterocyclisable residues into heterocycles.
  • a cyanobacterial heterocyclase may recognise an N terminal leader sequence and/or a cyanobacterial protease recognition site, as described herein.
  • Suitable cyanobacterial heterocyclases include PatD heterocyclase (SEQ ID NO:3; AAY21153.1 GI:6291084) or TruD protease (SEQ ID NO: 4; ACA04490.1 GI:167859097) from Prochloron spp and heterocyclases from Nostoc spongiaeforme spp, such as TenD (ACA04483.1 GI:16785908).
  • Other suitable heterocyclases are shown in Table 6.
  • cyanobacterial heterocyclase may be selected depending on the residues in the linear pre-pro-peptide that are to be heterocyclised.
  • PatD may be used to heterocyclise Cys, Thr and Ser residues in the linear pre-pro-peptide and TruD may be used to heterocyclise Cys residues in the linear pre-pro-peptide but not Thr or Ser residues.
  • a cyanobacterial heterocyclase may comprise the amino sequence of any one of the above reference cyanobacterial heterocyclase sequences or may be a variant thereof.
  • a cyanobacterial heterocyclase may be a PatD or TruD heterocyclase which comprises the amino sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or 4 or a variant thereof. Variants of a reference amino acid sequence are described elsewhere herein.
  • the pre-pro-peptide may comprise a leader sequence.
  • the leader sequence may at the N or C terminal and is recognised by the heterocyclase. N terminal leader sequences may be removed by the protease after heterocyclisation, as described above.
  • leader sequence is dependent on the heterocyclase being employed. Suitable N terminal leader sequences include PatE 1-34 , or PatE 26-34 , which are recognised by PatD and TruD heterocylases.
  • the leader sequence may be heterologous.
  • the leader sequence may be absent.
  • the cyanobacterial heterocyclase may be modified by replacing the recognition domain with a first member of a binding pair.
  • the leader sequence on the pre-pro-peptide may be replaced by the other member of the binding pair.
  • Suitable binding pairs are well known in the art and include glutathione/glutathione binding protein and biotin/streptavidin.
  • the pre-pro-peptide may comprise an N terminal glutathione and the cyanobacterial heterocyclase may comprise a glutathione binding protein domain.
  • the pre-pro-peptide for heterocyclisation may further comprise a cyanobacterial protease recognition site as described herein which is recognised by the heterocyclase.
  • the pre-pro-peptide may be treated with the cyanobacterial heterocyclase under suitable conditions to heterocyclise one or more heterocyclisable residues therein.
  • the pre-pro-peptide may be treated with the PatD or TruD heterocyclase in aqueous solution at ambient temperature in the presence of Mg2+ and ATP.
  • the highest temperature tolerated by the heterocyclase is generally preferred as this leads to increased reaction rates.
  • the optimal temperature for reaction under a defined set of conditions may be determined experimentally.
  • the pre-pro-peptide may be immobilised on a solid support and the cyanobacterial heterocyclase may be free in solution.
  • the linear pre-pro-peptide may be free in solution and the cyanobacterial heterocyclase may be immobilised on a solid support.
  • Heterocyclic residues such as thiazolines, oxazolines, selenazolines, tellurazolines and imidazolines, in the the pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide, linear peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be subjected to oxidation to oxidise one or more heterocyclic residues in the target peptide sequence.
  • Thiazoline (Thn) residues in the linear pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide, linear peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be oxidized into thiazoles (Thz); oxazoline residues (Oxn) in the linear pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide, linear peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be oxidized into oxazoles (Oxz); selenazolines (Sen) in the linear pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide, linear peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be oxidized into selenazoles (Sez); tellurazolines (Ten) in the linear pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide, linear peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be oxidized into tellurazoles (Tez) and imidazolines (Imn) in the linear pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide, linear peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be oxidized into imidazoles (I
  • Bacterial, cyanobacterial or other enzymatic oxidases or chemical oxidizing agents may be employed.
  • the pre-pro-peptide may be treated with a cyanobacterial or other enzymatic oxidase or chemical oxidizing agent following heterocyclisation. Treatment may occur directly after heterocyclisation to oxidise one or more heterocyclic residues in the target peptide sequence or oxidization may occur at a different stage, for example, the cyclic peptide may be treated with the oxidase or chemical oxidizing agent after macrocyclisation.
  • a cyanobacterial oxidase is an enzyme from a cyanobacterium which oxidises one or more heterocyclic amino acid residues.
  • Cyanobacterial oxidases may oxidise all the heterocyclic residues described herein or combinations thereof, for example oxazolines and thiazolines; or only thiazolines.
  • Suitable cyanobacterial oxidases include PatG oxidase (residues 1 to 491 of SEQ ID NO: 1) from Prochloron spp.
  • a cyanobacterial oxidase may comprise the amino sequence of any one of the above reference cyanobacterial oxidase sequences or may be a variant thereof.
  • a cyanobacterial oxidase may be a PatG oxidase which comprises the amino sequence of residues 1 to 491 of SEQ ID NO: 1 or a fragment, allele or variant thereof.
  • bacterial oxidases may be employed to oxidise one or more heterocyclic amino acid residues.
  • Suitable bacterial oxidases are well known in the art and include BcerB oxidase from the thiazole/oxazole modified microcin cluster (Melby et al J. Am. Chem. Soc, 2012, 134, 5309).
  • the pre-pro-peptide may be treated with the cyanobacterial oxidase in the presence of flavin mononucleotide (FMN).
  • FMN flavin mononucleotide
  • the linear pre-pro-peptide may be immobilised on a solid support and the cyanobacterial oxidase may be free in solution; or the linear pre-pro-peptide may be free in solution and the cyanobacterial oxidase may be immobilised on a solid support.
  • the pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide, peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be treated with a chemical oxidizing agent, such as MnO 2 .
  • a chemical oxidizing agent such as MnO 2
  • Treatment with the agent may occur directly after heterocyclisation or at a different stage, for example after macrocyclisation.
  • Suitable oxidation conditions may be determined by routine experimentation.
  • a cyclic peptide may be oxidised using MnO 2 in dichloromethane for three days at 28° C. to oxidise heterocycles.
  • methods of the invention may further comprise treating a pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide or peptide substrate with an epimerase, such that one or more amino acids in the target peptide sequence which are adjacent to a thiazoline are converted into D-epimers.
  • epimerisation of amino acids in the target peptide sequence which are adjacent to a thiazoline residue may be spontaneous and may not require treatment with an epimerase (Milne, B. F. et al Org Biomol Chem 4, 631-638 (2006)).
  • linear pre-propeptide, pro-peptide, peptide substrate and/or cyclic peptide may be linked directly or indirectly to a tag.
  • Tags may be useful in detection and purification and suitable tags are described below.
  • a linear peptide or cyclic peptide for example a macrocyclic peptide, may be produced by a method comprising one, two, three, four or more of the enzymatic steps described above.
  • a method of producing a cyclic peptide as described herein may comprise;
  • the pro-peptide, peptide substrate or cyclic peptide may be treated with a cyanobacterial oxidase or chemical oxidising agent to oxidise heterocycles in the target peptide sequence.
  • the methods described above may allow the production of more than 1 mg/L of cyclic peptide.
  • the titre of the cyclic peptide in the reaction solution following cyclisation with the cyanobacterial macrocyclase may be more than 500 mg/L or more than 1 g/L.
  • the above methods may be used to produce any one of the cyclic peptides described herein.
  • the cyclic peptide may be further treated.
  • the cyclic peptide may be produced in dimeric form and may be reduced to convert the dimeric peptides into monomers.
  • Suitable reducing agents and conditions are well-known in the art and include TCEP, DTT and ⁇ -mercaptoethanol.
  • the cyclic peptide may be prenylated and/or geranylated.
  • the cyclic peptide may be treated with a cyanobacterial prenylase.
  • Cyanobacterial prenylases transfer farnesyl or geranyl-geranyl isoprenoids to a cyclic peptide or a pre-pro-peptide, pro-peptide or peptide precursor as described herein.
  • Suitable cyanobacterial prenylases include PatF prenylase (GI: 62910842 AAY21155.1, SEQ ID NO: 5), GI: 167859100 ACA04493.1 (TruF2), and GI: 167859099 ACA04492.1 (TruF1) from Prochloron spp; GI: 159027547 CA086917.1, GI: 158934373 CA082086.1, GI: 389788445 CCI15906.1, GI: 389678155 CCH92965.1 (TenF), GI: 166362791 YP 001655064.1, GI:389831610 CCI25499.1, GI:389826377 CCI23120.1, GI: 389826383 CCI23131.1, GI: 389832530 CCI23767.1, GI:389716343 CCH99420.1, GI:389882386 CCI37135.1, GI:389720299 CCH95988.1, GI:38
  • a cyanobacterial prenylase may comprise the amino acid sequence of any one of the above reference cyanobacterial prenylase sequences or may be a variant thereof.
  • a cyanobacterial prenylase may be a PatF prenylase which comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5 or a fragment, allele or variant thereof.
  • the cyclic peptide may be subjected to further chemical modification.
  • Suitable modifications include derivatisation with a heterologous moiety, for example, a moiety containing a natural side group such as OH, NH2, COOH, SH, or an unnatural side group suitable for coupling reactions and click chemistry.
  • a heterologous moiety for example, a moiety containing a natural side group such as OH, NH2, COOH, SH, or an unnatural side group suitable for coupling reactions and click chemistry.
  • Click-chemistry involves the Cu(I)-catalysed coupling between two components, one containing an azido group and the other a terminal acetylene group, to form a triazole ring. Since azido and alkyne groups are inert to the conditions of other coupling procedures and other functional groups found in peptides are inert to click chemistry conditions, click-chemistry allows the controlled attachment of almost any linker to the cyclic peptide under mild conditions. For example, non-cyclised cysteine residues of the cyclic peptide may be reacted with a bifunctional reagent containing a thiol-specific reactive group at one end (e.g.
  • Label groups may be attached to the terminal azide or acetylene using click-chemistry.
  • a second linker with either an acetylene or azide group on one end of a linker and a chelate (for metal isotopes) or leaving group (for halogen labelling) on the other end (Baskin, J. (2007) PNAS 104(43)16793-97) may be employed.
  • the cyclic peptide may be labelled with a detectable label.
  • the detectable label may be any molecule, atom, ion or group which is detectable in vivo by a molecular imaging modality.
  • Suitable detectable labels may include metals, radioactive isotopes and radio-opaque agents (e.g. gallium, technetium, indium, strontium, iodine, barium, bromine and phosphorus-containing compounds), radiolucent agents, contrast agents and fluorescent dyes.
  • detectable label depends on the molecular imaging modality which is to be employed.
  • Molecular imaging modalities which may be employed include radiography, fluoroscopy, fluorescence imaging, high resolution ultrasound imaging, bioluminescence imaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and nuclear imaging, for example scintigraphic techniques such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computerised Tomography (SPECT).
  • PET Positron Emission Tomography
  • SPECT Single Photon Emission Computerised Tomography
  • Fluorescence imaging techniques involve the creation of an image using emission and absorbance spectra that are appropriate for the particular fluorescent detectable label used.
  • the image can be visualized by conventional techniques, including Fluorescence imaging techniques may include Fluorescence Reflectance Imaging (FRI), fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT), Hyperspectral 3D fluorescence imaging (Guido Zavattini et al. Phys. Med. Biol. 51:2029, 2006) and diffuse optical spectroscopy (Luker & Luker. J Nucl Med. 49(1):1, 2008).
  • FPI Fluorescence Reflectance Imaging
  • FMT fluorescence molecular tomography
  • Hyperspectral 3D fluorescence imaging Guido Zavattini et al. Phys. Med. Biol. 51:2029, 2006
  • diffuse optical spectroscopy Luker & Luker. J Nucl Med. 49(1):1, 2008.
  • Suitable fluorescence detectable labels include fluorescein, phycoerythrin, Europium, TruRed, Allophycocyanin (APC), PerCP, Lissamine, Rhodamine, B X-Rhodamine, TRITC, BODIPY-FL, FluorX, Red 613, R-Phycoerythrin (PE), NBD, Lucifer yellow, Cascade Blue, Methoxycoumarin, Aminocoumarin, Texas Red, Hydroxycoumarin, Alexa FluorTM dyes (Molecular Probes) such as Alexa FluorTM 350, Alexa FluorTM 488, Alexa FluorTM 546, Alexa FluorTM 568, Alexa FluorTM 633, Alexa FluorTM 647, Alexa FluorTM 660 and Alexa FluorTM 700, sulfonate cyanine dyes (AP Biotech), such as Cy2, Cy3, Cy3.5, Cy5, Cy5.5 and Cy7, IRD41 IRD700 (Li-Cor, Inc.), NIR-1 (De
  • Suitable fluorescent detectable labels include lanthanide ions, such as terbium and europium. Lanthanide ions may be attached to the synaptotagmin polypeptide by means of chelates, as described elsewhere herein.
  • fluorescent detectable labels include quantum dots (e.g. QdotTM, Invitrogen). Techniques for labelling proteins with quantum dots are well-known in the art (Michalet, X. et al. Science 307:538, 2005; Alivisatos, P. Nat Biotechnol 22:47-52, 2004).
  • Magnetic resonance image-based techniques create images based on the relative relaxation rates of water protons in unique chemical environments. Suitable MRI techniques are described in more detail in Gadian, D. ‘NMR and its applications to living systems’. Oxford Univ. Press, 1995, 2 nd edition). Magnetic resonance imaging may include conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and functional MR imaging (fMRI) (Rovaris et al.
  • MRI magnetic resonance imaging
  • MMI magnetic resonance spectroscopy
  • DWI diffusion-weighted imaging
  • fMRI functional MR imaging
  • Labels suitable for use as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) labels may include paramagnetic or superparamagnetic ions, iron oxide particles, and water-soluble contrast agents.
  • Superparamagnetic and paramagnetic ions may include transition, lanthanide and actinide elements such as iron, copper, manganese, chromium, erbium, europium, dysprosium, holmium and gadolinium.
  • Preferred paramagnetic detectable labels include gadolinium.
  • a cyclic peptide may be attached to an antibody molecule, such as an antibody or antibody fragment or derivative, for example for use in antibody-directed drug therapies. Suitable techniques for the conjugation of cyclic peptides and antibodies are well known in the art.
  • Cyclic peptides produced as described herein may be useful in therapeutics, nanotechnology applications and in optical/electronic or contractile materials.
  • an isolated enzyme or other protein exists in a physical milieu distinct from that in which it occurs in nature, or in which it was produced recombinantly.
  • the isolated peptide may be substantially isolated with respect to the complex cellular milieu in which it naturally occurs.
  • the absolute level of purity is not critical, and those skilled in the art can readily determine appropriate levels of purity according to the use to which the protein is to be put.
  • a heterologous element is an element which is not associated or linked to the subject feature in its natural environment i.e. association with a heterologous element is artificial and the element is only associated or linked to the subject feature through human intervention.
  • One or more heterologous amino acids may be joined or fused to a linear peptide substrate, pro-peptide, pre-pro-peptide, macrocyclase, oxidase, heterocyclase, protease or other protein set out herein.
  • a pre-pro-peptide may comprise a pre-pro-peptide as described above linked or fused to one or more heterologous amino acids.
  • the one or more heterologous amino acids may include sequences from a source other than cyanobacteria.
  • a linear peptide substrate, pro-peptide, pre-pro-peptide, macrocyclase, oxidase, heterocyclase, protease or other protein set out herein may be expressed as a fusion protein with a purification tag.
  • the fusion protein comprises a protease recognition site between the enzyme sequence and purification tag.
  • the fusion protein may be isolated by affinity chromatography using an immobilised agent which binds to the purification tag.
  • the purification tag is a heterologous amino acid sequence which forms one member of a specific binding pair.
  • Polypeptides containing the purification tag may be detected, isolated and/or purified through the binding of the other member of the specific binding pair to the polypeptide.
  • the tag sequence may form an epitope which is bound by an antibody molecule.
  • Suitable purification tags are known in the art, including, for example, MRGS(H) 6 , DYKDDDDK (FLAGTM), T7-, S- (KETAAAKFERQHMDS), poly-Arg (R 5-6 ), poly-His (H 2-10 ), poly-Cys (C 4 ) poly-Phe (F 11 ) poly-Asp (D 5-16 ), Strept-tag II (WSHPQFEK), c-myc (EQKLISEEDL), Influenza-HA tag (Murray, P. J. et al (1995) Anal Biochem 229, 170-9), Glu-Glu-Phe tag (Stammers, D. K.
  • TAG sequence may be linked to the target protein through a protease recognition site, for example a TEV protease site, to facilitate removal following purification.
  • the purification tag is glutathione-S-transferase.
  • a fusion protein comprising the linear peptide substrate, pro-peptide, pre-pro-peptide, macrocyclase, oxidase, heterocyclase, protease or other protein set out herein and glutathione-S-transferase may be isolated by affinity chromatography using immobilised glutathione (or vice versa). The purification of glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins is well known in the art.
  • the purification tag is a Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO) tag or a His 6 -SUMO tag.
  • SUMO Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier
  • a fusion protein comprising the linear peptide substrate, pro-peptide, pre-pro-peptide, macrocyclase, oxidase, heterocyclase, protease or other protein set out herein and the SUMO or His 6 -SUMO tag may be isolated by affinity chromatography using immobilised glutathione (or vice versa).
  • the purification of SUMO-tagged fusion proteins is well known in the art.
  • the fusion protein may then be proteolytically cleaved to produce the linear peptide substrate, pro-peptide, pre-pro-peptide, macrocyclase, oxidase, heterocyclase, protease or other protein set out herein.
  • Linear peptide substrates, pro-peptides and pre-pro-peptides as described herein may be generated wholly or partly by chemical synthesis.
  • peptides and polypeptides may be synthesised using liquid or solid-phase synthesis methods; in solution; or by any combination of solid-phase, liquid phase and solution chemistry, e.g. by first completing the respective peptide portion and then, if desired and appropriate, after removal of any protecting groups being present, by introduction of the residue X by reaction of the respective carbonic or sulfonic acid or a reactive derivative thereof.
  • Linear peptide substrates, pro-peptides and pre-pro-peptides as described herein may be generated wholly or partly by recombinant techniques.
  • a nucleic acid encoding a linear peptide substrate, pro-peptide and pre-pro-peptide as described herein may be expressed in a host cell and the expressed polypeptide isolated and/or purified from the cell culture.
  • Macrocyclases, oxidases, heterocyclases, proteases and other enzymes out above may be generated wholly or partly by recombinant techniques.
  • a nucleic acid encoding the enzyme may be expressed in a host cell and the expressed polypeptide isolated and/or purified from the cell culture.
  • enzymes are expressed from nucleic acid which has been codon optimised for expression in E. coli.
  • Nucleic acid sequences and constructs as described above may be comprised within an expression vector.
  • Suitable vectors can be chosen or constructed, containing appropriate regulatory sequences, including promoter sequences, terminator fragments, polyadenylation sequences, enhancer sequences, marker genes and other sequences as appropriate.
  • the vector contains appropriate regulatory sequences to drive the expression of the nucleic acid in a host cell.
  • Suitable regulatory sequences to drive the expression of heterologous nucleic acid coding sequences in expression systems are well-known in the art and include constitutive promoters, for example viral promoters such as CMV or SV40, and inducible promoters, such as Tet-on controlled promoters.
  • a vector may also comprise sequences, such as origins of replication and selectable markers, which allow for its selection and replication and expression in bacterial hosts such as E. coli and/or in eukaryotic cells.
  • Vectors may be plasmids, viral e.g. ‘phage, or phagemid, as appropriate.
  • phage e.g. phage
  • phagemid a DNA sequence that specifies the sequence of proteins in the cell culture.
  • Many known techniques and protocols for expression of recombinant polypeptides in cell culture and their subsequent isolation and purification are known in the art (see for example Protocols in Molecular Biology , Second Edition, Ausubel et al. eds. John Wiley & Sons, 1992 ; Recombinant Gene Expression Protocols Ed RS Tuan (March 1997) Humana Press Inc).
  • macrocyclases, oxidases, heterocyclases, proteases and other enzymes set out above may be expressed as fusion proteins with a purification tag, as described above.
  • Macrocyclases, oxidases, heterocyclases, proteases and other enzymes set out above and linear peptide substrates, pro-peptides and pre-pro-peptides may be immobilised on a solid support.
  • a solid support is an insoluble, non-gelatinous body which presents a surface on which the peptides or proteins can be immobilised.
  • suitable supports include glass slides, microwells, membranes, or beads.
  • the support may be in particulate or solid form, including for example a plate, a test tube, bead, a ball, filter, fabric, polymer or a membrane.
  • a peptide or protein may, for example, be fixed to an inert polymer, a 96-well plate, other device, apparatus or material.
  • the immobilisation of peptides and proteins to the surface of solid supports is well-known in the art.
  • cyanobacterial macrocyclases, oxidases, heterocyclases and proteases may comprise an amino acid sequence which is a variant or fragment of a reference amino acid sequence.
  • a variant of a reference amino acid sequence may have an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95% or at least 98% sequence identity to the reference amino acid sequence.
  • Suitable reference amino acid sequences for cyanbacterial cyanobacterial macrocyclases, oxidases, heterocyclases and proteases are provided above.
  • GAP GCG Wisconsin PackageTM, Accelrys, San Diego Calif.
  • GAP uses the Needleman & Wunsch algorithm (J. Mol. Biol. (48): 444-453 (1970)) to align two complete sequences that maximizes the number of matches and minimizes the number of gaps.
  • Use of GAP may be preferred but other algorithms may be used, e.g. BLAST or TBLASTN (which use the method of Altschul et al. (1990) J. Mol. Biol.
  • FASTA which uses the method of Pearson and Lipman (1988) PNAS USA 85: 2444-2448
  • Smith-Waterman algorithm Smith and Waterman (1981) J. Mol Biol. 147: 195-197
  • Particular amino acid sequence variants may differ from that in a given sequence by insertion, addition, substitution or deletion of 1 amino acid, 2, 3, 4, 5-10, 10-20 or 20-30 amino acids.
  • a variant sequence may comprise the reference sequence with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more residues inserted, deleted or substituted. For example, up to 15, up to 20, up to 30, up to 40, up to 50 or up to 60 residues may be inserted, deleted or substituted.
  • a fragment is a truncated protein which contains less than the full-length amino acid sequence but which retains the activity of the full-length protein sequence.
  • a fragment may comprise at least 100 amino acids, at least 200 amino acids or at least 300 contiguous amino acids from the full-length sequence.
  • the methods described herein may be useful in screening cyclic peptides for biological or other activity.
  • linear peptide substrate, linear pre-pro-peptide, and/or linear pro-peptide may be immobilised on a bead.
  • a reference linear peptide substrate, linear pre-pro-peptide, and/or linear pro-peptide which does not include a cyclisation signal may also be immobilised to the same bead.
  • the bead may be treated with a cyanobacterial macrocyclase as described herein, such that the linear peptide is cyclised and the cyclic peptide may be released from the bead, while the reference peptide substrate lacking the cyclisation signal remains attached.
  • the released cyclic peptide may then be isolated and screened for a biological activity.
  • the bead from which the cyclic peptide was released may be identified and the reference peptide substrate sequenced or otherwise analysed, to allow characterisation of the bioactive cyclic peptide.
  • a method of screening a cyclic peptide library may comprise;
  • the diverse population of target peptides may be spatially arrayed, for example, in one or more multi-well plates, such that the bead from which the cyclic peptide was released can be identified.
  • each individual well in a multi-well plate may contain a homogenous population of target peptides.
  • cyclic peptides which are screened may contain one, two, three or more heterocyclic amino acid residues.
  • step (i) of a screening method described above may further comprise;
  • peptide substrate as described herein for use in the production of a cyclic peptide and a population of diverse peptide substrates for use in the production of a cyclic peptide library.
  • a peptide substrate may comprise a target peptide sequence having an N terminal protease recognition site and a C terminal cyclisation signal.
  • the protease recognition site and/or the cyclisation signal may be heterologous to the target sequence.
  • the protease recognition site is a trypsin or chymotrypsin recognition site.
  • the peptide substrate may further comprise an N terminal leader sequence or an N terminal binding moiety.
  • the peptide substrate may be directly or indirectly linked to an N and/or C terminal tag.
  • the peptide substrate may be immobilized on a solid support, such as a bead.
  • a reference copy of the target peptide sequence may also be immobilized on a solid support without a cyclisation signal.
  • a population may comprise peptide substrates as described above, wherein the target peptide sequence is diverse within the population. For example, one, two, three, four or more, or all positions in the target peptide sequence may display diversity i.e. different members of the population may display a different residue at the position.
  • the residue adjacent the cyclisation signal in the peptides in the population is Pro, heterocycle, a N-Me residue or other artificial residue with the correct conformational properties, as described above.
  • Suitable linear peptide substrates are described in more detail above.
  • aspects of the invention provide materials, reagents and kits and reagents for use in the production of cyclic peptides and populations thereof and the use of such cyclic peptides, for example in screening methods.
  • Materials may include individual or combinations of isolated pre-pro-peptides, pro-peptides, peptide substrates and recombinant macrocyclases, proteases, oxidases, and heterocyclases as described above. Reagents may be immobilized on solid supports.
  • kits may comprise a peptide substrate or library of substrates as described above.
  • a kit may comprise a multi-well plate;
  • a kit may further comprise isolated enzyme preparations for use in the methods described above.
  • FIG. 1 shows the relative reaction rates of PatGmac and VGAGIGFPAYDG in different buffers and temperatures as determined by LC-MS
  • FIG. 2 shows ion counts of VGAGIGFPAYRG processed by PatGmac wild-type and PatGmac K598D for linear and macrocyclized products as determined by LC-MS;
  • FIG. 3 shows LC-MS of the macrocyclization of the peptide substrate VGAGIGFPAYRG.
  • FIG. 4 shows patellamide macrocylization.
  • FIG. 4 ( a ) shows a PatE pre-pro-peptide consisting of an N-terminal leader sequence followed by two eight-residue cassettes with the C-terminal macrocyclase recognition signal AYDG.
  • the macrocyclization domain of PatG catalyzes the formation of two cyclic peptides per pre-pro-peptide (dashed lines).
  • FIG. 4( b ) shows that PatGmac requires a heterocycle or proline (denoted Z) at the P1 position and the AYDG motif at the P1′ to P4′ sites respectively. An additional E is often found at P5′ but is not required.
  • FIG. 4 ( c ) shows that the test substrate used in this study can either give a linear peptide of mass 716.375 Da (curved line) or macrocycle, which has a mass 18 Da lighter (octagon).
  • FIG. 5 shows an LC-MS of macrocyclization reactions with PatGmac wild-typeMacrocyclized and linear products are indicated with octagons and curved lines, respectively. The error between observed and calculated mass is shown below the [M+H] + and [M+Na] + species.
  • FIG. 6 shows an LC-MS of macrocyclization reactions with PatGmac ⁇ 2m as per FIG. 5 .
  • FIG. 7 shows an LC-MS of macrocyclization reactions with PatGmac K594D, as per FIG. 5 .
  • FIG. 8 shows LC-MS of a macrocyclization reaction with PatGmac that shows the existence of a stable acyl-enzyme intermediate (AEI) between PatGmac and substrate.
  • AEI acyl-enzyme intermediate
  • FIG. 9 shows the fragmentation pattern of cyclo [VGAGIGFP] determined during an MS analysis of macrocyclization reactions.
  • FIG. 10 shows LC-MS of macrocyclization reactions with PatGmac ⁇ 1 (i), PatGmac K598D (ii) and PatGmac triple mutant R589D K594D K598D (iii). Only linear product is observed (curved lines). The error between observed and calculated mass is shown below the [M+H] + species.
  • FIG. 11 shows an engineered PatE pre-pro-peptide (PatE2).
  • FIG. 12 shows data relating to the in vitro heterocyclization of PatE2. Note that for PatD reaction, species with only three heterocycles might have unique properties and can be separated from the species with four heterocycles by HPLC.
  • FIG. 13 shows water loss following incubation of PatE2 with TruD.
  • FIG. 13A shows PatE with engineered lysine residue before heterocyclisation and
  • FIG. 13 b shows PatE2 after heterocyclisation.
  • FIG. 14 shows a S200 gel filtration trace produced after completion of the heterocyclisation reaction.
  • FIG. 15 shows LC-MS of PatE2 following N-terminal cleavage with Trypsin and heterocyclisation with TruD.
  • FIG. 16 shows LCT-ESI MS data of Patellamide (cyclo(I(MxOxn)A(Thn)I(MeOxn)F(Thn)) produced from peptide substrate ITACITFC.
  • the data confirms the final product has 4 heterocycles and is macrocyclised (expected mass 781 Da).
  • the 776 Da species is the oxidized product.
  • FIG. 17 shows the proposed mechanism for macrocyclization.
  • FIG. 18 shows two in vitro systems incorporating PatG macrocyclisation (1) Tag all enzymes and thus simply remove them at the end of each step. (2) Load the PatA cleaved peptide onto a bead by using C-terminally tagged PatE, and add PatGmac as a soluble enzyme.
  • Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. The first approach allows valuable enzymes to be recovered and used in excess, but requires purification of the product. The second approach simplifies purification as only the macrocycle and PatG are in solution at the end and further, chemical modification of substrate on a bead will be much easier. The disadvantages are recovery of the macrocyclase enzyme may be impossible in a cost efficient manner and the introduction of a bind step mid process (which would need monitoring).
  • FIG. 19 shows possible MS fragmentation pathways for the cassette ITFCITAC in the PatE peptide treated with the heterocyclase TruD and macrocyclase PatG to produce cyclo-(ITF(Thn)ITA(Thn)).
  • the accurate masses of the molecular ion and fragments are consistent with the proposed structure and the MS data shown in Table 3.
  • FIG. 20 shows 1 H NMR of the purified product (cyclo-I(MxOxn)V(Thn)I(MeOxn)V(Thn)) produced when the cassette ITVCITVC in the PatE peptide is treated with the heterocyclase PatD and macrocyclase PatG. Structure was confirmed by comparison of the 1 H NMR to that of the naturally obtained material and by analysis of 2D NMR spectra (Table 8)
  • FIG. 21 also shows 1 H NMR of the purified product (cyclo-(ITA(Thn)ITF(Thn))) produced when the cassette ITACITFC in the PatE peptide is treated with the heterocyclase TruD and macrocyclase PatG. The structure was verified by analysis of 2D NMR data (Table 7).
  • FIG. 22 shows the biosynthetic pathway of patellamides A (1) and C (2).
  • the 71 amino acid structural gene product (PatE pre-propeptide) is ribosomally synthesised.
  • the tailoring enzymes recognise the N-terminal leader sequence of the PatE pre-propeptide (PatE 1-34 , italic) as well as start/stop cyclisation signals.
  • Four cysteine, three threonine and one serine residues (bold) in the downstream sequence (PatE 42-11 ) are post-translationally modified to thiazole and oxazoline heterocycles. Cleavage and macrocyclisation lead to the formation of patellamides A (1) and C (2).
  • FIG. 23 shows LC-MS of macrocyclized product (cyclo-(ITV(Thn)ITV(Thn)) produced when the cassette ITVCITVC in the PatE peptide is treated with the heterocyclase TruD, trypsin and macrocyclase PatGmac.
  • FIG. 24 shows_LC-MS of macrocyclized product (cyclo-(ITA(Thn)ITF(Thn))produced when the cassette ITACITFC in the PatE peptide is treated with the heterocyclase TruD, trypsin and macrocyclase PatGmac.
  • FIG. 25 shows oxidation of cyclo-I(MxOxn)V(Thn)I(MeOxn)V(Thn).
  • FIG. 26 shows far UV CD spectra of cyclo-I(MxOxn)V(Thn)I(MeOxn)V(Thn)(reduced) and cyclo-I(MxOxz)V(Thz)I(MeOxz)V(Thz)(oxidised) produced from the peptide substrate ITVCITVC, and ascidiacyclamide isolated from Lissoclinum patella and 100% MeOH.
  • the spectrum of cyclo-I(MxOxz)V(Thz)I(MeOxz)V(Thz) is shown to correspond to the spectrum of ascidiacyclamide.
  • FIG. 27 shows the reduction of cyclic peptide dimer (21) to its monomeric form (6).
  • FIG. 28 shows MALDI MS data for the heterocylisation of 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid in the peptide ITASITFXAYDG (where X is 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid) using TruD or PatD.
  • Table 1 shows data collection and refinement statistics (molecular replacement) for PatGmac.
  • Table 2 shows the relative ion counts of linear cleaved and macrocyclized peptide substrate.
  • Table 3 shows MS data from the cassette ITFCITAC in the PatE peptide treated with the heterocyclase TruD and macrocyclase PatG.
  • the accurate masses of the molecular ion and fragments shown in this table are consistent with the proposed structure (see FIGS. 19 and 20 ) and can be explained as outlined on fragmentation pathwayshown in FIG. 18 .
  • Table 4 shows a sequence alignment of PatGmac with its homologs. Secondary structure elements are shown in red. Active site residues are indicated by yellow stars, cysteines involved in disulfide bonding as green triangles (matching directions represent disulfide pairs), residues blocking the S3 and S4 sites as blue diamonds, lysines forming salt-bridges with the substrate as purple circles and His and Phe residues involved in substrate binding are marked by a magenta box.
  • Table 5 shows cyanobacterial proteases on public databases.
  • Table 6 shows cyanobacterial heterocyclases on public databases.
  • Table 7 shows 1 H/ 13 C NMR data in CDCl 3 at 600/150 MHz for cyclo-I(MxOxn) V(Thn)I(MeOxn)V(Thn) obtained from in vitro biosynthesis.
  • Table 8 shows 1 H/ 13 C NMR data in CDCl 3 at 600/150 MHz for cyclo-ITA(Thn)ITF(Thn) from Lissoclinum patella and obtained from in vitro biosynthesis using the peptide substrate ITACITFC.
  • Codon-optimized full length PatD and TruD were cloned into the pJexpress 411 plasmid (DNA2.0 Inc., USA) with an N-terminal His 6 -tag, with TruD containing an additional Tobacco Etch Virus (TEV) protease cleavage site.
  • Both enzymes are expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells grown on auto-induction medium (Terrific broth base containing trace elements) for 48 h at 20° C. Cells are harvested by centrifugation at 4,000 ⁇ g, 4° C. for 15 min.
  • Pellets are re-suspended in 500 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 20 mM imidazole and 3 mM BME and supplemented with 0.4 mg DNAse g ⁇ 1 wet cells (Sigma) and complete protease inhibitor tablets (EDTA-free, Roche). Cells are lyzed by passage through a cell disruptor at 30 kPSI or by sonication and the lysates are cleared by centrifugation at 40,000 ⁇ g, 4° C. for 45 min followed by filtration through 0.4 ⁇ m membrane filter.
  • PatGmac (PatG residues 492-851) was cloned from genomic DNA ( Prochloron sp.) into the pHISTEV vector (Liu, H. & Naismith, J. H 2009) and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) grown on autoinduction medium (Terrific broth base containing trace elements; Studier, F. W., 2005) for 48 h at 20° C.
  • Cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4,000 ⁇ g, 20° C. for 15 min and resuspended in lysis buffer (500 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 20 mM Imidazole and 3 mM ⁇ -mercaptoethanol (BME)) with the addition of complete EDTA-free protease inhibitor tablets (Roche) and 0.4 mg DNase g ⁇ 1 wet cells (Sigma). Cells were lysed by passage through a cell disruptor at 30 kPSI (Constant Systems Ltd), or by sonication, and the lysate was cleared by centrifugation at 40,000 ⁇ g, 4° C. for 45 min followed by filtration through 0.4 ⁇ m membrane filter.
  • lysis buffer 500 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 20 mM Imidazole and 3 mM ⁇ -mercaptoethanol (BME)
  • BME ⁇ -mercaptoethanol
  • the protein was then passed over a desalting column (Desalt 16/10, GE Healthcare) in 100 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 20 mM imidazole, 3 mM ⁇ ME.
  • Tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease was added to the protein at a mass-to-mass ratio of 1:10 and the protein digested for 1 h at 20° C. to remove the His-tag.
  • Digested protein was passed over a second Ni-column and the flow-through loaded onto a monoQ column (GE Healthcare) equilibrated in 100 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 3 mM BME.
  • Protein was eluted from the monoQ column through a linear NaCl gradient, eluting at 350 mM NaCl. Finally, the protein was subjected to size-exclusion chromatography (SuperdexTM 75, GE Healthcare) in 150 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 3 mM ⁇ ME, and concentrated to 60 mg mL ⁇ 1 .
  • the protein was then passed over Superdex 75, GE Healthcare in 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES pH 7.4, 1 mM TCEP and concentrated to 1 mM.
  • PatGmac point mutants were produced using the Phusion® site-directed mutagenesis kit (Finnzymes) following the manufacturer's protocol, while the lid deletion mutants were made with fusion PCR. All mutant proteins were expressed and purified as above.
  • Cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4,000 ⁇ g, 20° C., for 15 min and re-suspended in 8 M urea, 500 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 20 mM imidazole and 3 mM BME. Cells were lysed by sonication, and the lysate waas cleared by centrifugation at 40,000 ⁇ g, 20° C. for 45 min followed by filtration through 5, 0.8 and 0.4 ⁇ m membrane filters respectively. Cleared lysate was applied to a Ni-sepharose FF column (GE Healthcare) column prewashed with lysis buffer, and protein was eluted with 250 mM imidazole.
  • Ni-sepharose FF column GE Healthcare
  • PatE is further purified and separated from protein aggregates by size-exclusion chromatography (Superdex 75, GE Healthcare) in 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES pH 7.4, 1 mM TCEP and concentrated to 1 mM.
  • Hetrocyclization reactions contained 100 ⁇ M PatE, 5 ⁇ M TruD/PatD, 5 mM ATP pH 7, 5 mM mgcl 2 , 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.4, 1 mM TCEP. Reactions were incubated at 37° C. with shaking at 200 rpm for 24 h when using TruD and 48 h for PatD. In some cases, the PatE showed a degree of precipitation. In these instances the peptide was recovered from the precipitate by denaturation in 8M urea as above followed by Ni affinity chromatography and size-exclusion. Reactions were monitored by MALDI.
  • Processed PatE was purified on Superdex 75, GE Healthcare in 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES pH 7.4, 1 mM TCEP and concentrated.
  • VGAGIGFPAYDG 100 ⁇ M peptide was incubated with 50 ⁇ M enzyme in 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES pH 8, 1 mM TCEP for 120 h at 37° C. Samples were analyzed by ESI or MALDI MS (LCT, Micromass or 4800 MALDI TOF/TOF Analyser, ABSciex).
  • VGAGIGFPAYDG e.g. VGAGIGFPAYDG, VGAGIGFPAYRG, or GVAGIGFPAYRG
  • 20 ⁇ M enzyme was incubated with 20 ⁇ M enzyme in a range of buffers for 24 h at 37° C. (see FIGS. 1 to 3 ).
  • LC-MS was performed using a Phenomenex Sunfire C18 column (4.6 mm ⁇ 150 mm). Solvent A was H 2 O containing 0.1% formic acid and solvent B was MeOH containing 0.1% formic acid. Gradient: 0-2 min 10% B; 2-22 min 10% B to 100% B; 22-27 min 100% B; 27-30 min 100% B to 10% B. High resolution mass spectral data were obtained from a Thermo Instruments MS system (LTQ XL/LTQ Orbitrap Discovery) coupled to a Thermo Instruments HPLC system (Accela PDA detector, Accela PDA autosampler and Accela Pump).
  • capillary voltage 45 V capillary temperature 320° C.
  • auxiliary gas flow rate 10-20 arbitrary units sheath gas flow rate 40-50 arbitrary units
  • spray voltage 4.5 kV mass range 100-2000 amu (maximum resolution 30000).
  • PatGmac was solved by molecular replacement with PHASER (Storoni, L. C., McCoy, A. J. & Read, R. J., 2004; McCoy, A. J., Grosse-Kunstleve, R. W., Storoni, L. C. & Read, R. J., 2005) using the structure of AkP (PDB entry 1DBI) as the search model, followed by automatic rebuilding with Phenix (Adams, P. D. et al., 2004).
  • PHASER Syntoroni, L. C., McCoy, A. J. & Read, R. J., 2004
  • McCoy, A. J. Grosse-Kunstleve, R. W., Storoni, L. C. & Read, R. J., 2005
  • Phenix Adams, P. D. et al., 2004.
  • the structure of PatGmac with peptide was solved by molecular replacement using the PatGmac structure as the search model
  • Fmoc amino acid derivatives 2-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HBTU) and Fmoc-Gly-NovaSyn® TGT resin were purchased from Novabiochem®, Merck Biosciences, UK.
  • Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), N,N-diisopropylethylamine (DIEA), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and piperidine were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich, UK and used without further purification.
  • the peptides including VGAGIGFPAYDG, VPAPIPFPAYDG, and GVAGIGFPAYRG, were synthesized manually using the standard Fmoc-based strategy (Cammish, L. E. & Kates, S. A., 2000). Amino acids were sequentially coupled after removal of the Fmoc blocking group at each cycle. Fmoc deprotection steps were carried out with 20% piperidine in DMF (v/v) for 12 min while coupling reactions were performed in DMF using a molar ratio of amino acid:HBTU: DIEA:resin of 5:5:10:1. Reactions were monitored using the Kaiser test.
  • the peptides were cleaved from the support and deprotected by treatment with a mixture consisting of 95% TFA, 2.5% triisopropylsilane (TIPS), and 2.5% H 2 O (20 mL of mixture g ⁇ 1 of peptide resin, 3 h at room temperature). The resin was then filtered and washed with TFA. The combined filtrates were concentrated under reduced pressure. The peptide was precipitated with cold diethyl ether and recovered by centrifugation. The peptide sequence was verified by MSMS analysis.
  • TFA triisopropylsilane
  • the peptide VGAGIGFPAYRG was purchased from Peptide Protein Research Ltd.
  • proteases were used, including trypsin and TEV protease, depending on the PatE sequence created.
  • trypsin we use 4 ⁇ g of trypsin per 1 mg of purified processed PatE.
  • the corresponding figure for TEV protease is 1 mg for each 10 mg of PatE.
  • Reactions were incubated at 37° C. with shaking at 200 rpm for up to 4 hours.
  • Reaction products are purified using Superdex 30, GE Healthcare in 150 mM NaCl, 20 mM Bicine pH 8.0. The purified product was concentrated using on Phenomenex® Strata C18-E, 55 ⁇ m, 70 ⁇ , 2 g/12 mL Giga SPE tube cartridges.
  • PatG The macrocyclase domain of PatG (PatGmac, residues 492-851) was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells and purified using established protocols (Liu, H. & Naismith, J. H., 2009) The retention profile from gel filtration indicated that the domain was a monomer.
  • the protein formed crystals belonging to the space group C2, with two biological monomers in the asymmetric unit.
  • the structure was determined at 2.19 ⁇ resolution by molecular replacement using the subtilisin Bacillus Ak.1 protease (AkP) (PDB entry 1DBI) as a search model.
  • Table 1 shows the data collection and refinement statistics.
  • the refined model (PDB entry 4AKS) includes residues 514-653, 659-685, 694-717, 728-745, 754-822, and 835-851 in chain A, and 515-650, 660-688, and 692-850 in chain B.
  • the missing residues are in loops and at the N-terminus and are presumed to be disordered.
  • PatGmac has a spherical shape with dimensions of approximately 53 ⁇ 42 ⁇ 48 ⁇ .
  • the protein contains a seven-stranded parallel ⁇ -sheet with two a helices on each face, a fold common to all subtilisin-like proteases.
  • the conserved metal ion of subtilisin-like proteases is not present in PatGmac as the binding site is destroyed by sequence changes.
  • PatGmac contains a catalytic triad consisting of Asp548 located at the C-terminus of the ⁇ -strand ⁇ 1, His618 in the middle of ⁇ 4 and Ser783 at the N-terminus of ⁇ 7.
  • the carboxyl group of Asp548 is hydrogen bonded to the side-chain of His618 (2.9 ⁇ ), which is in turn hydrogen bonded to the side-chain of Ser783 (2.7 ⁇ ).
  • PatGmac has an insertion that extends from ⁇ 2 as a loop, then forms a helix-loop-helix motif and creates an N-terminal extension of ⁇ 4, the helix that harbors His618. The insertion is found in other macrocyclases but is not conserved in length or sequence.
  • PatGmac contains a helix-turn-helix insertion between ⁇ 2 and ⁇ 4 (A574 to K610) that sits above the active site; we denote this as the macrocyclization insertion. Eight of these residues form a two turn N-terminal extension of ⁇ 4 when compared to the typical subtilisin structure. This results in the catalytic His being in the middle of this helix rather than at the end. The other 29 residues form a helix-turn-helix motif.
  • Cys685/724 and Cys823/834 The Cys685/724 disulfide bond in PatGmac is different from that seen in subtilisins. Cys137 of AkP is equivalent to Cys685 of PatGmac and it forms an intraloop disulfide bond with Cys139, making an 11-atom ring that is proposed to rigidify the active site.
  • PatGmac Cys685/724 bridges two loops, one of which connects ⁇ 4 to ⁇ 6 adjacent to the active site.
  • Phe684 and Arg686 pack against the side-chain of Met660, completely filling the S4 and S3 substrate binding pockets.
  • Cys823/834 links the ends of the loop that connects ⁇ 8 to ⁇ 9 at the C-terminus of the domain and is distant from the active site.
  • the VPAPIPFPAYDG peptide was chosen to match the residues equivalent to P8-P4′, the eight-residue cassette and four C-terminal residue macrocyclization signature.
  • the proline residues were chosen to mimic the heterocycles of the natural substrate and the peptide can in fact be macrocyclized by PatGmac (albeit slowly).
  • the structure of the complex of PatGmacH618A was determined at 2.63 ⁇ by molecular replacement using PatGmac native as a search model (Table 1).
  • the difference electron density for bound peptide in the active site of one promoter was unambiguous for PIPFPAYDG (P5 to P4′) and showed that three N-terminal residues (VPA) of the substrate mimic are disordered.
  • the refined model (PDB entry 4AKT) contains residues 514-686, 694-719, 727-747, 754-823, and 833-851 in chain A, and 515-651, 657-688, and 692-851 in chain B.
  • Residues P5 and P4 of the substrate make no contact with the protein while P3 (Pro) has weak van der Waals interactions with Tyr210.
  • P2 also makes limited van der Waals contacts and the side chain sits in a shallow pocket.
  • the Pro of P1 adopts a cis peptide conformation that results in the substrate pointing away from the protein and the side-chain makes van der Waals contacts with His618Ala and Val622.
  • the carbonyl of the P1-P1′ peptide is 4.3 ⁇ from and correctly oriented for nucleophilic attack by the hydroxyl of Ser783.
  • the side-chain of Met784 sits on this face of the carbonyl while the side-chain of the absolutely conserved Asn717 points towards the opposite face in the correct position to stabilize the tetrahedral intermediate.
  • the P1′ Ala Ca and side-chain make only a few hydrophobic interactions, including contacts with Met784 and the protein backbone. It sits in a cavity that appears to be large enough for bulkier residues.
  • the P2′ (Tyr) residue makes extensive contacts with the protein: a n-stacking interaction with the highly conserved Phe747, a hydrogen bond to His746 (conserved as His or Lys in homologs) and a hydrogen bond between the Tyr main-chain oxygen and the nitrogen of Thr780.
  • the side-chain of P3′ (Asp) is oriented towards a large electropositive patch created by Arg589, Lys594, and Lys598. It makes a salt bridge with Lys598 and possibly Lys594, though the side chain of Lys594 is not well ordered.
  • the P4′ Gly residue makes no contact with the protein, although the terminal carboxyl group is close to Lys594.
  • the binding of the peptide is accompanied by changes in PatGmac at Phe684, as the main chain moves 2 ⁇ at the Ca position to avoid a clash with the substrate.
  • the side chains of Met660, Phe684 and Arg686 prevent the binding of substrates that adopt an extended conformation.
  • the active site where the acyl-enzyme intermediate would be formed is shielded from solvent by the macrocyclization insertion and the AYDG peptide.
  • the acyl-enzyme intermediate is in equilibrium with the substrate.
  • PatGmac the amino terminus of the substrate enters the active site, displacing AYDG and leading to macrocyclization. Mutations that disrupt binding of AYDG lead to linear product, as it is hydrolyzed by water. The role of the His in deprotonating the incoming amino terminus is speculative.
  • the peptide VGAGIGFPAYDG was used as a substrate for PatGmac in biochemical assays ( FIG. 4 c ).
  • the ratio of macrocyclized to linear product using this substrate peptide was determined by ion counts obtained from liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI MS). For native protein only macrocyclized product (cyclo[VGAGIGFP]) was detected (Table 2, FIGS. 5-10 ).
  • PatGmac is a slow enzyme; turnover rates reported to date are ⁇ 1 per day (Lee, J., McIntosh, J., Hathaway, B. J. & Schmidt, E. W., 2009; McIntosh, J. A. et al., 2010).
  • Increasing the sodium chloride concentration from 150 mM t. 500 mM gave greater than an order of magnitude improvement in rate.
  • Adding DMSO gave a small increase in rate but shifted the optimum pH, thus a buffer containing 500 NaCl and 5% DMSO at pH 8 gave a reaction rate over 50 times greater ( FIG. 1 ). Under these conditions, about 7% linearized VGAGIGFP byproduct was observed which can be separated from cyclo[VGAGIGFP] by HPLC.
  • the substrate VGAGIGFPAYRG has a modified recognition sequence (Asp to Arg); as expected PatGmac wild-type (and K594D and R589D/K594D/K598D) reacted extremely slowly with the substrate giving equal amounts of macrocyclized and linear products.
  • PatGmac K598D produced cyclo[VGAGIGFP] with only 8% linear product, at a rate over an order of magnitude faster than wild-type PatGmac with VGAGIGFPAYDG ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ).
  • the precise nature of the N terminus of the substrate influenced the rate, VGAGIGFPAYRG was processed an order of magnitude faster than GVAGIGFPAYRG.
  • PatE pre-pro-peptide was engineered consisting of the 37-residue N-terminal leader sequence and N- and C-terminal cleavage recognition sites flanking a single cassette (ITACITFC) corresponding to the natural product Patellamide D.
  • ITACITFC N- and C-terminal cleavage recognition sites flanking a single cassette
  • PatE2 Precursor peptide PatE2, PatD and TruD (heterocyclases), PatApr (subtilisin-like protease domain) and PatGmac (subtilisin-like protease/macrocyclase domain) were cloned and expressed in E. coli and purified for use in biochemistry reactions (see materials & methods, above).
  • PatE2 was cloned into the pBMS vector and expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) grown in auto-induction medium for 24 hours at 30° C., driving the protein to inclusion bodies.
  • Cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4,000 ⁇ g for 15 min at 20° C., re-suspended in urea lysis buffer (8 M urea, 500 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris pH 8.0, 20 mM Imdiazole and 3 mM ⁇ -mercaptoethanol ( ⁇ ME)) and lysed by sonication at 15 microns (SoniPrep 150, MSE). The lysate was cleared by centrifugation at 40,000 ⁇ g, 20° C.
  • the two heterocyclases are by far the most difficult to express and purify (40 mg pure protein/L culture). We therefore wanted to investigate if they can be used in smaller amounts and recycled.
  • the heterocyclization reaction is incubated at 37° C. overnight the amount of enzyme can be reduced from 1:20 to 1:200 (Enzyme:Substrate) but the reaction time is significantly longer.
  • N-terminal cleavage of the cassette is mediated by the subtilisin-like protease domain of PatA.
  • the protease domain acts on the recognition site ‘GLEAS’, cleaving between the S and the first residue of the cassette.
  • GLEAS recognition site
  • the cassette portion is purified from PatApr and cleaved leader sequence by injecting the reaction on to a Superdex S30 column (GE Healthcare), pre-equilibrated in 150 mM NaCl, 20 mM Bicine pH 8.1.
  • PatApr is highly expressed in E. coli with yields of >250 mg purified protein per litre of culture.
  • PatE2K a lysine residue between the PatA recognition sequence ‘GLEAS’ and the cassette residues to allow for trypsin cleavage (FIG. 11 )(e.g. X n -GLEASK[cassette]-X m )
  • FIG. 11 trypsin cleavage
  • heterocyclized peptides were purified as previously described and cleaved with 1:1000 trypsin at 37° C. for 2 hours. Complete cleavage was confirmed by MS ( FIG. 15 ) and the resulting fragments purified as above and subjected to macrocyclisation with PatGmac. Macrocyclisation of the peptide substrate was confirmed by MS.
  • the PatE2 pre-pro-peptide also re-engineered to contain a TEV protease signal (ENLYFQ)) between the PatA recognition sequence ‘GLEAS’ and the cassette residues to allow for TEV cleavage (e.g. X n -GLEASENLYFQ[cassette]-X m — )
  • TEV protease signal ENLYFQ
  • To test if this addition affected heterocyclase activity we incubated 100 ⁇ M PatE2TEV separately with 0.5 ⁇ M of PatD overnight at 37° C. Expected water losses of four and two respectively were found by MS.
  • the heterocyclized peptides were purified as previously described and cleaved with 1:1000 TEV at 37° C. for 2 hours. Complete cleavage was confirmed by MS and the resulting fragments purified as above and subjected to macrocyclisation with PatGmac
  • the final stage in patellamide production is C-terminal cleavage and macrocyclization. This step is catalyzed by the PatGmac domain.
  • our single cassette we incubated 100 ⁇ M heterocyclized (with either PatD or TruD) and N-terminally cleaved PatE2/PatE2K with 20 ⁇ M PatGmac for 24 hours at 37° C. in 20 mM Bicine pH 8.1, 500 mM NaCl, 5% DMSO to complete the reaction. Completeness of the reaction was confirmed by LCT-ESI MS ( FIG. 16 ). Ion count analysis shows that the sample was 100% macrocyclized with no linear product or non-cleaved substrate present. PatGmac is also highly expressed in E.
  • the NMR spectrum from in vitro cyclo-(I(MeOxn)V(Thn)I(MeOxn)V(Thn)) was found to correspond to the NMR spectrum of the natural tetrahydroascidiacyclamide produced by Lissoclinum patella
  • the ability to oxidise heterocycles following macrocyclisation was determined by assessing the conversion of thioazolines to thiazoles.
  • Reduced cyclo-(I(MeOxn)V(Thn)I(MeOxn)V(Thn)) produced from substrate peptide ITVCITVC was subjected to oxidation using MnO 2 in dichloromethane for three days at 28° C.
  • a peptide substrate was engineered with a SUMO-tag (Marblestone et al Protein Sci. 2006 January; 15(1): 182-189) and a cassette sequence that previously showed no soluble expression.
  • SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the peptide substrate was expressed in soluble form and the SUMO tag could be removed from the substrate with TEV protease.
  • Residues 1-15 undergo no change and thus appear uninvolved in binding to TruD.
  • the remainder of the residue signals are broadened to such an extent that they become invisible, indicating that binding occurs at or after residue 16.
  • the most highly conserved sequence in the leader region of PatE spans residues 26-34.
  • a synthetic peptide with the first 25 residues of PatE ( ⁇ 25PatE) deleted is processed as efficiently by TruD as native PatE.
  • Three additional peptides were tested ⁇ 37PatE (has only the five residue protease signature prior to the core peptide), ⁇ 42PatE (first residue is core peptide) and the eight-residue core peptide itself.
  • C51P ITACITFP
  • C51A ITACITFA
  • the MALDI mass spectrum of the novel cyclo[VGICAGFP] macrocyclic peptide ( 6 ; FIG. 27 ), exhibited a peak at 1509 Da, which provided indication that it was in a dimeric form, ( 21 ; FIG. 27 ) where two cyclic peptides were linked via a disulfide bond between their cysteine residues ( FIG. 27 ).
  • Cyclotides e.g. katala B1 are a family of plant proteins (28-40 amino acids) that have a unique topology, which combines a circular peptide backbone and a tightly knotted disulfide network that forms a CCK (cyclic cysteine knot) motif and makes the more than 80 known cyclotides exceptionally stable.
  • the cyclotides are resistant to thermal unfolding, chemical denaturants and proteolytic degradation. There is a wide interest in making these compounds for wide range of applications.
  • PatGmac was found to cyclise both the reduced and oxidised precursors. The reduced precursor gave no traceable starting material after reaction with the enzyme and the oxidised version being less efficient.
  • a minimal peptide ITASITFXAYDG (where X is g the unnatural amino acid 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid) was incubated with TruD or PatD as described above The reaction was analysed by MALDI MS and shows a loss of 18 Da consistent with heterocycle formation (formation of imidazoline) for both reactions, although the enzyme TruD was more efficient in this reaction ( FIG. 28 ).
  • R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 R 5 Patellamide A (1) CHMeEt CHMe 2 CHMeEt H CHMe 2 Patellamide B (2) CH 2 CHMe 2 Me CHMeEt Me CH 2 Ph Patellamide C (3) CHMe 2 Me CHMeEt Me CH 2 Ph Patellamide D (4) CHMeEt Me CHMeEt Me CH 2 Ph Patellamide E (5) CHMe 2 CHMe 2 CHMeEt Me CH 2 Ph Patellamide F (6) CHMe 2 CHMe 2 CHMe 2 Me CH 2 Ph Patellamide G (7) CHMeEt Me CH 2 CHMe 2 Me CH 2 Ph Ascidiacyclamide CHMeEt CHMe 2 CHMeEt Me CHMe 2 (8) R 1 R 2 Ulithiacyclamide A (20) CH 2 CHMe 2 CH 2 CHMe 2 Ulithiacyclamide B (21) CH 2 Ph CH 2 CHMe 2 R 1 R 2 Shereochemistry Lissoclinamide 1 (9) CHMe 2 CHM
  • PCC 7822 >gi
  • Cyanothece sp. PCC 7425 >gi
  • Microcystis sp. 130 >gi
  • subtilisin-like protease [ Planktothrix agardhii NIVA-CYA 126/8] >gi
  • Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 9806 >gi
  • Microcystis aeruginosa NIES-298 >gi
  • Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 >gi
  • Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 9809 >gi
  • PCC 8106 >gi
  • PCC 8005 >gi
  • PCC 6506 gi
  • PCC 7425 >gi
  • PCC 7822 >gi
  • PCC 7822 >gi

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Molecular Biology (AREA)
  • Biochemistry (AREA)
  • Proteomics, Peptides & Aminoacids (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Biophysics (AREA)
  • Genetics & Genomics (AREA)
  • Immunology (AREA)
  • Microbiology (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Bioinformatics & Cheminformatics (AREA)
  • Biotechnology (AREA)
  • Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • Urology & Nephrology (AREA)
  • Hematology (AREA)
  • Biomedical Technology (AREA)
  • Cell Biology (AREA)
  • Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Food Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Pathology (AREA)
  • Preparation Of Compounds By Using Micro-Organisms (AREA)
  • Micro-Organisms Or Cultivation Processes Thereof (AREA)
  • Enzymes And Modification Thereof (AREA)
  • Peptides Or Proteins (AREA)
  • Measuring Or Testing Involving Enzymes Or Micro-Organisms (AREA)
US14/410,939 2012-06-29 2013-06-28 In vitro production of cyclic peptides Abandoned US20150322474A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US15/683,266 US10494657B2 (en) 2012-06-29 2017-08-22 In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1211617.4 2012-06-29
GBGB1211617.4A GB201211617D0 (en) 2012-06-29 2012-06-29 Production of cyclic peptides
PCT/GB2013/051735 WO2014001822A2 (en) 2012-06-29 2013-06-28 In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Related Parent Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB2013/051735 A-371-Of-International WO2014001822A2 (en) 2012-06-29 2013-06-28 In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Related Child Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US15/683,266 Continuation US10494657B2 (en) 2012-06-29 2017-08-22 In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20150322474A1 true US20150322474A1 (en) 2015-11-12

Family

ID=46721667

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US14/410,939 Abandoned US20150322474A1 (en) 2012-06-29 2013-06-28 In vitro production of cyclic peptides
US15/683,266 Expired - Fee Related US10494657B2 (en) 2012-06-29 2017-08-22 In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Family Applications After (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US15/683,266 Expired - Fee Related US10494657B2 (en) 2012-06-29 2017-08-22 In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (2) US20150322474A1 (ja)
EP (1) EP2867246B1 (ja)
JP (1) JP2015521842A (ja)
AU (1) AU2013282973B2 (ja)
CA (1) CA2893710A1 (ja)
GB (1) GB201211617D0 (ja)
WO (1) WO2014001822A2 (ja)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10494657B2 (en) 2012-06-29 2019-12-03 Oxford University Innovation Limited In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2014136971A1 (ja) * 2013-03-07 2014-09-12 国立大学法人東京大学 ヘテロ環を含む化合物の製造方法
EP3103881A4 (en) * 2014-02-03 2017-10-25 The University of Tokyo Method for producing peptides having azole-derived skeleton
GB201419650D0 (en) 2014-11-04 2014-12-17 Univ Aberdeen The And Univ St Andrews The Modified heterocyclase
US20200255492A1 (en) 2017-08-31 2020-08-13 University Of Dundee Leptin peptides and their use for treating neurological disorders
GB201714372D0 (en) * 2017-09-07 2017-10-25 Univ Court Univ St Andrews Macrocyclisation tags
CA3126917A1 (en) * 2019-01-14 2020-07-23 New York University Cyclic peptide dimers

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AT405516B (de) 1997-02-27 1999-09-27 Immuno Ag Faktor x-analoge mit modifizierter proteasespaltstelle
US6413737B1 (en) 1999-07-09 2002-07-02 Cohesion Technologies, Inc. Ecarin prothrombin protease and methods
US8470965B2 (en) * 2006-03-01 2013-06-25 University Of Utah Research Foundation Methods and compositions related to cyclic peptide synthesis
AU2007223427A1 (en) * 2006-03-01 2007-09-13 University Of Utah Research Foundation Methods and compositions related to cyclic peptide synthesis
GB201211617D0 (en) 2012-06-29 2012-08-15 Univ Aberdeen Production of cyclic peptides

Non-Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
Lee citation supporting document, 9 pages, 2009. *
Lee, 2009 JACS, 131, 2122-2124 *
Lee, J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2009, 131, 2122–2124 *
McIntosh citation supporting document, 4 pages, 2010. *
McIntosh, J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2010, 132, 15499–15501 *

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10494657B2 (en) 2012-06-29 2019-12-03 Oxford University Innovation Limited In vitro production of cyclic peptides

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA2893710A1 (en) 2014-01-03
EP2867246B1 (en) 2019-11-13
US20180179570A1 (en) 2018-06-28
WO2014001822A3 (en) 2014-07-10
GB201211617D0 (en) 2012-08-15
AU2013282973B2 (en) 2017-12-07
AU2013282973A1 (en) 2015-02-05
JP2015521842A (ja) 2015-08-03
EP2867246A2 (en) 2015-05-06
US10494657B2 (en) 2019-12-03
WO2014001822A2 (en) 2014-01-03

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US10494657B2 (en) In vitro production of cyclic peptides
US11493504B2 (en) Activation of bioluminescene by structural complementation
CN110709412A (zh) 自发性异肽键形成速率提高的蛋白质和肽标签及其用途
JP2015521842A6 (ja) 環状ペプチドのｉｎｖｉｔｒｏ作製
Jagadish et al. Expression of fluorescent cyclotides using protein trans-splicing for easy monitoring of cyclotide-protein interactions
EP2534484A1 (en) Peptide tag systems that spontaneously form an irreversible link to protein partners via isopeptide bonds
CN112930190A (zh) 金属结合蛋白及其用途
US11634699B2 (en) Reagent to label proteins via lysine isopeptide bonds
JP4263598B2 (ja) チロシルｔＲＮＡ合成酵素変異体
EP2550290B1 (en) Method of modifying a specific lysine
US20200291444A1 (en) Macrocyclisation Tags
Nguyen et al. In vivo biotinylated calpastatin improves the affinity purification of human m-calpain
To et al. V., Schmitt, FJ, Budisa, N. & Friedrich, T. Residue-specific exchange of proline by proline analogs in fluorescent proteins: How" Molecular Surgery" of the backbone affects folding and stability
Hammerschmid et al. Structural modeling of a novel membrane-bound globin-coupled sensor in Geobacter sulfurreducens
Ottesen et al. An amalgamation of solid phase peptide synthesis and ribosomal peptide synthesis
Yang et al. Molecular basis of the biogenesis of a protein organelle for ethanolamine utilization
US20230342826A1 (en) Activation of bioluminescence by structural complementation
Ma et al. Site-Specific Phosphorylation of PDZ Domains
CN117062828A (zh) 在环或末端处与肽标签相互作用的多肽及其用途
Calvopina-Chavez et al. Micrococcin cysteine-to-thiazole conversion through transient interactions between the scaffolding protein TclI and the modification enzymes TclJ and TclN
Chittoor Structural Characterisation and Engineering of the Single Disulfide-Directed β-Hairpin (SDH) Fold
Irvine The interaction of protein disulfide isomerase with a substrate protein at different stages along its folding pathway
Wang Illuminate the Pathway of Membrane Protein Association and Degradation

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDR

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:NAISMITH, JAMES;KOEHNKE, JESKO;BENT, ANDREW;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20150130 TO 20150205;REEL/FRAME:037544/0042

Owner name: THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:HOUSSEN, WAEL;JASPARS, MARCEL;SMITH, MARGARET;SIGNING DATES FROM 20150204 TO 20150226;REEL/FRAME:037544/0267

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION