Lessons from healthcare: Are pharma deals relevant to industrial biotech?

BackgroundBacterial surface display is an attractive technique for the production of cell-anchored, functional proteins and engineering of whole-cell catalysts. Although various outer membrane proteins have been used for surface display, an easy and versatile high-throughput-compatible assay for evaluating and developing surface display systems is missing.ResultsUsing a single domain antibody (also called nanobody) with high affinity for green fluorescent protein (GFP), we constructed a system that allows for fast, fluorescence-based detection of displayed proteins. The outer membrane hybrid protein LppOmpA and the autotransporter C-IgAP exposed the nanobody on the surface of Escherichia coli with very different efficiency. Both anchors were capable of functionally displaying the enzyme Chitinase A as a fusion with the nanobody, and this considerably increased expression levels compared to displaying the nanobody alone. We used flow cytometry to analyse display capability on single-cell versus population level and found that the signal peptide of the anchor has great effect on display efficiency.ConclusionsWe have developed an inexpensive and easy read-out assay for surface display using nanobody:GFP interactions. The assay is compatible with the most common fluorescence detection methods, including multi-well plate whole-cell fluorescence detection, SDS-PAGE in-gel fluorescence, microscopy and flow cytometry. We anticipate that the platform will facilitate future in-depth studies on the mechanism of protein transport to the surface of living cells, as well as the optimisation of applications in industrial biotech.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-016-0474-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A biotechnology mind in ferment <i>Arnold Demain still thrives as core leader in industrial biotech</i>

Editorial overview: Systems biology for biotechnology

With antibiotics increasingly being shunned as growth promoters, chemical makers are investing in short-chain organic acids as a new way to help farmers increase meat production without contributing to antibiotic resistance. The specialty chemical company Oxea just completed an expansion of its plant in Oberhausen, Germany, that boosts output of short-chain organic acids such as propionic acid, butyric acid, and isobutyric acid. Last month, Sweden's Perstorp launched production of valeric acid, which it says is the first new organic acid for animal nutrition in decades. Also last month, the French industrial biotech firm Metabolic Explorer said it plans to invest in a facility that makes butyric acid via fermentation. All three companies are responding to rising farmer interest in organic acids and their derivatives as components of animal feed free of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs). Europe, the largest market for the organic acids, banned AGPs in 2006. The U.S. FDA

Biotechnology is becoming more popular and well identified as a mainline industry. Students have shown greater interest in learning the techniques. As a discipline, biotechnology has led to new advancements in many areas. Criminal investigation has changed dramatically thanks to DNA fingerprinting. Significant advances in forensic medicine, anthropology and wildlife management have been noticed in the last few years. Biotechnology has brought out hundreds of medical diagnostic tests that keep the blood safe from infectious diseases such as HIV and also aid detection of other conditions early enough to be successfully treated. Medical kits for diabetes, blood cholesterol and home pregnancy tests are also biotechnology diagnostic products. Industrial biotech applications have led to cleaner processes that produce less waste and use less energy and water in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles, food, energy, and metals and minerals. Laundry detergents produced in many countries contain biotechnology-based enzymes making them nature friendly and safer. Agricultural biotechnology benefits farmers, consumers and the environment by increasing yields and farm income, decreasing pesticide applications and improving soil and water quality, and providing healthful foods for consumers. Biotechnology has created more than 200 new therapies and vaccines, including products to treat cancer, diabetes, HIV/ AIDS and autoimmune disorders.

Research on fast-growing microbes holds promise for many industrial applications, including shortening test and trial times in research and development stages and reducing the operation costs for production. Such microbes can be obtained either by selecting naturally occurring variants or via metabolic engineering approaches, either eliminating ‘unnecessary’ or adding necessary pathways affecting growth speed in the cell. Here, we review recent research and development of engineered fast-growing strains in industrial biotechology, with a special focus on vaccine production using (synthetic biology) engineered pathogenic strains. We will discuss whether this represents a security concern and whether the industrial biotech sector needs to pay more attention to issues of Gain-of-Function (GoF) while developing and harnessing these fast-growing microbes. We will also shed a light on the use of in-built biosafety circuits as a way to control the propagation of fast-growing strains, including their capacity to survive in the environment. Other possible GoF concerns raised by the publication of research results in this field will be also addressed. In conclusion, judging from the current development from the field, assessing the potential GoF risks on engineered fast-growing microbes does not lead to a clear generalized outcome. We argue that fast growing strains need to be evaluated in combination with their wild type and engineered characteristics, and require always a case-by-case assessment. Monitoring the progress of the field and proactively raising awareness on the GoF issues among the scientists are important for the further development of the field.

RETURN TO ISSUEPREVNewsNEXTCATALYZING BIOBASED CHEMICALSHIGH-THROUGHPUT-SCREENING FIRMS say their techniques are giving industrial biotech some competitionALEXANDER H. TULLOCite this: Chem. Eng. News 2010, 88, 38, 15–17Publication Date (Print):September 20, 2010Publication History Published online27 March 2011Published inissue 20 September 2010https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-v088n038.p015Copyright © 2010 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETYArticle Views17Altmetric-Citations4LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit PDF (1 MB) SUBJECTS:Biobased chemicals,Biotechnology,Catalysts,Fermentation,Pharmaceuticals Get e-Alerts