A rapid cell-free expression and screening platform for antibody discovery.

Antibody discovery is bottlenecked by the individual expression and evaluation of antigen-specific hits. Here, we address this bottleneck by developing a workflow combining cell-free DNA template generation, cell-free protein synthesis, and binding measurements of antibody fragments in a process that takes hours rather than weeks. We apply this workflow to evaluate 135 previously published antibodies targeting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including all 8 antibodies previously granted emergency use authorization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and demonstrate identification of the most potent antibodies. We also evaluate 119 anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from a mouse immunized with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and identify neutralizing antibody candidates, including the antibody SC2-3, which binds the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein of all tested variants of concern. We expect that our cell-free workflow will accelerate the discovery and characterization of antibodies for future pandemics and for research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications more broadly.

In vitro ribosome synthesis and evolution through ribosome display.

Directed evolution of the ribosome for expanded substrate incorporation and novel functions is challenging because the requirement of cell viability limits the mutations that can be made. Here we address this challenge by combining cell-free synthesis and assembly of translationally competent ribosomes with ribosome display to develop a fully in vitro methodology for ribosome synthesis and evolution (called RISE). We validate the RISE method by selecting active genotypes from a ~1.7 × 107 member library of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) variants, as well as identifying mutant ribosomes resistant to the antibiotic clindamycin from a library of ~4 × 103 rRNA variants. We further demonstrate the prevalence of positive epistasis in resistant genotypes, highlighting the importance of such interactions in selecting for new function. We anticipate that RISE will facilitate understanding of molecular translation and enable selection of ribosomes with altered properties.

Single enzyme RT-PCR of full-length ribosomal RNA.

The ribosome is a two-subunit, macromolecular machine composed of RNA and proteins that carries out the polymerization of α-amino acids into polypeptides. Efforts to engineer ribosomal RNA (rRNA) deepen our understanding of molecular translation and provide opportunities to expand the chemistry of life by creating ribosomes with altered properties. Toward these efforts, reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) of the entire 16S and 23S rRNAs, which make up the 30S small subunit and 50S large subunit, respectively, is important for isolating desired phenotypes. However, reverse transcription of rRNA is challenging due to extensive secondary structure and post-transcriptional modifications. One key challenge is that existing commercial kits for RT-PCR rely on reverse transcriptases that lack the extreme thermostability and processivity found in many commercial DNA polymerases, which can result in subpar performance on challenging templates. Here, we develop methods employing a synthetic thermostable reverse transcriptase (RTX) to enable and optimize RT-PCR of the complete Escherichia coli 16S and 23S rRNAs. We also characterize the error rate of RTX when traversing the various post-transcriptional modifications of the 23S rRNA. We anticipate that this work will facilitate efforts to study and characterize many naturally occurring long RNAs and to engineer the translation apparatus for synthetic biology.