<i>Phytophthora infestans</i>, the oomycete pathogen responsible for late blight of potato and tomato, is regarded as the biggest threat to global potato production and is thought to cost the industry around £6 billion annually. Traditionally, fungicides have been used to control the disease, but this is both economically and environmentally costly, as multiple chemical applications may be required during a single growing season. <i>P. infestans</i> has rapidly overcome genetic resistances introduced into cultivated potato from wild species. This provides the rationale for developing artificial resistance genes to create durable resistance to late blight disease.<i>Phytophthora</i> species secrete essential effectors into plant cells that target critical host cellular mechanisms to promote disease. One such <i>P. infestans</i> effector is AVR3a^KI which is recognised by the potato R3a protein, a member of the CC-NB-LRR type resistance gene family. However, the closely related virulent form, AVR3a^EM, which is homozygous in more than 70% of wild <i>P. infestans</i> isolates, evades this recognition. Domain swapping experiments have revealed that the LRR domain of R3a is involved in recognition of AVR3a^KI, as the CC-NB domain of an R3a-paralog which does not mediate recognition of AVR3a^KI, is able to induce a HR when combined with the LRR of wild-type R3a. However, a chimeric protein consisting of the CC-NB domain of a more distantly-related homolog of R3a and the LRR of domain of R3a, is unable to recognise AVR3a^KI, suggesting that function is achieved only when the different domains of an R protein are attuned to recognition and signalling. Gain-of-function variants of <i>R3a</i> (<i>R3a*</i>), engineered by an iterative process of error-prone PCR, DNA fragmentation, re-assembly of the leucine rich repeat (LRR)-encoding region of <i>R3a</i>, are able to recognise both forms of AVR3a. This gain-of-recognition is accompanied by a gain-of-mechanism, as shown by a cellular re-localisation from the cytoplasm to prevacuolar compartments upon perception of recognised effector forms. However, R3a* variants do not confer resistance to AVR3a^EM-carrying isolates of <i>P. infestans</i>.Future efforts will target the NB-ARC domain of R3a, in a bid to fine-tune the intra-cellular signalling of gain-of-recognition R3a* variants. It is hoped that a shuffled <i>R3a*</i> gene, capable of conferring resistance to <i>P. infestans</i> isolates harbouring AVR3a^EM, will provide durable late blight resistance when deployed in the field in combination with other mechanistically different R proteins.

Elastin-like peptide (ELP) fusions promote therapeutic delivery and efficacy. Recombinant proteins, like neurotrophins, lack bioavailability, have short in vivo half-lives, and require high manufacturing costs. Fusing recombinant proteins with genetically encodable ELPs will increase bioavailability, enhance in vivo solubilization, as well as provide a cost-effective method for purification without the need for chromatography. During expression of neurotrophin-ELP (N-ELP) fusions, dense water-insoluble aggregates known as inclusion bodies (IBs) are formed. Inclusion bodies are partially and misfolded proteins that usually require denaturants like Urea for solubilization. Strong denaturants arrest ELPs stimuli-responsive property and increase unwanted aggregation, making purification difficult, yet possible. The current field of study exhibit issues with protein recovery due to solubility issues and aggregation. This study examines the solubility challenges of inclusion body proteins and the role ELP fusion tags play on IBs solubility. Elastin-like peptides are a class of stimuli-responsive biopolymers whose biocompatibility and limited toxicity are attractive for biological applications. ELPs are tunable polymers, which consist of peptide repeat units (VPGXG), where X is any amino acid except Proline while the guest residue or length of the sequence can be chosen. ELPs have uniquely tunable phase transitioning properties that allow the protein to undergo molecular self-assemblies into different nanostructures in response to the changes in their environment (e.g. pH or temperature). Optimizing the purification process via suppressing aggregation during the refolding process has increased protein recovery slightly however, more work is needed to attain 90 percent recovery. Usage of ELPs has increased the solubility of N-ELP fusions, specifically for brain-derived neurotrophic factor ELP fusions.

Evolution of enzymes with novel functional properties has gained much attention in recent years. Naturally evolved enzymes are adapted to work in living cells under physiological conditions, circumstances that are not always available for industrial processes calling for novel and better catalysts. Furthermore, altering enzyme function also affords insight into how enzymes work and how natural evolution operates. Previous investigations have explored catalytic properties in the directed evolution of mutant libraries with high sequence variation. Before this study was initiated, functional analysis of mutant libraries was, to a large extent, restricted to uni- or bivariate methods. Consequently, there was a need to apply multivariate data analysis (MVA) techniques in this context. Directed evolution was approached by DNA shuffling of glutathione transferases (GSTs) in this thesis. GSTs are multifarious enzymes that have detoxication of both exo- and endogenous compounds as their primary function. They catalyze the nucleophilic attack by the tripeptide glutathione on many different electrophilic substrates. Several multivariate analysis tools, e.g. principal component (PC), hierarchical cluster, and K-means cluster analyses, were applied to large mutant libraries assayed with a battery of GST substrates. By this approach, evolvable units (quasi-species) fit for further evolution were identified. It was clear that different substrates undergoing different kinds of chemical transformation can group together in a multi-dimensional substrate-activity space, thus being responsible for a certain quasi-species cluster. Furthermore, the importance of the chemical environment, or substrate matrix, in enzyme evolution was recognized. Diverging substrate selectivity profiles among homologous enzymes acting on substrates performing the same kind of chemistry were identified by MVA. Important structure-function activity relationships with the prodrug azathioprine were elucidated by segment analysis of a shuffled GST mutant library. Together, these results illustrate important methods applied to molecular enzyme evolution.

To assure nuclear power sustainability, ongoing efforts on advanced closed-fuel cycle options and adapted open cycles have led to investigations of various strategies involving utilization of Transuranic (TRU) nuclides in nuclear reactors. Due to favorable performance characteristics, multiple studies are focused on transmutation options using High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs). Prismatic HTGRs allow for 3-Dimensional (3D) fuel shuffling and prior shuffling algorithms were based on experimental block movement and/or manual block shuffle patterns. In this dissertation, a physics based 3D multi-directional reloading algorithm for prismatic deep burn very high temperature reactors (DB-VHTRs) was developed and tested to meet DB-VHTR operation constraints utilizing a high fidelity neutronics model developed for this dissertation. The high fidelity automated neutronics model allows design flexibility and metric tracking in spatial and temporal dimensions. Reduction of TRUs in DB-VHTRs utilizing full vectors of TRUs from light water reactor spent nuclear fuel has been demonstrated for both a single and two-fuel composition cores. Performance of the beginning-of-life and end-of-life (EOL) domains for multi-dimensional permutations were evaluated. Utilizing a two-fuel assembly permutation within the two-fuel system domain for a Single-Fuel vector, the developed shuffling algorithm for this dissertation has successfully been tested to meet performance objectives and operation constraints.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:02:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3427.pdf: 6177352 bytes, checksum: f9f6df521c16815add3a5b1dba3f6753 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-30 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Cystatins are proteins that inhibit specifically cysteine peptidases. The Canecystatin 1 gene which codifies a protein containing 106 amino acids residues was identified in sugarcane and possesses significant similarity with Oryzacystatin, a cystatin from rice. In order to obtain a cystatin with improved activity, direct evolution experiments were carried out. A DNA shuffling library was constructed using these two cystatins. One clone named A10PL3 obtained from these shuffled cystatins was selected, expressed in E.coli, purified and an analyzed by activity assays. These results showed that the activity of hybrid protein A10PL3 increased, in particular regarding its inhibitory activity on cathepsin B compared with its two precursors. The present study aimed to revert the changes of individual clone A10PL3 through site-directed mutations, generating three mutant cystatins: Mutant I (Thr17Ile), Mutant II (Gln 84Leu) and Mutant III (Thr17Ile); (Gln84Leu). Assays for inhibitory activity against the human cathepsins B and L were performed. Structural studies were also made by means of molecular modeling of proteins by homology that were enabled to understand the molecular mechanisms related to improvement of the inhibitory activity of these cystatins. These studies therefore corroborate with the observed data previously which demonstrated the improvement of specific protein A10PL3 in cathepsin B inhibition (Ki 16 nM) in relation to their parents. The mutants I, II and III, did not present improvement in inhibitory activity against cathepsin B. The structural studies revealed that the mutations performed on cystatin A10PL3 destabilized the hydrophobic core making it more flexible, thus increasing the inhibitory activity on cathepsin B. The absence of interactions underlying the hydrophobic core resulted in a trend of lower solubility, probably due to their inability to adopt a compact formation, which resulted in the exposure of some residues which are part of that core, which can lead to aggregation and also contribute to increasing the flexibility of cystatin, influencing their inhibitory activity. / Cistatinas são proteínas que inibem especificamente cisteíno peptidases. A canacistatina 1, uma proteína com 106 resíduos de aminoácidos, apresenta grande similaridade com a proteína Orizacistatina 1, uma cistatina de arroz. Com o objetivo de se obter uma cistatina com a atividade inibitória melhorada, experimentos de evolução molecular direta de proteínas foram realizados, através da construção de uma biblioteca de DNA shuffling usando estas duas cistatinas. Um clone denominado A10PL3 foi selecionado, expresso, purificado e submetido a ensaios de inibição de atividade enzimática. Foi demonstrado que a proteína A10PL3 exibiu aumento da atividade inibitória contra catepsina B humana em comparação com seus dois precursores. O presente estudo teve como objetivo reverter as alterações do clone A10PL3 através de mutações sítio-dirigidas, gerando mais três cistatinas mutantes: Mutante I (Thr17Ile), Mutante II (Gln 84 Leu) e Mutante III (Thr17Ile); (Gln84Leu). Ensaios de atividade inibitória dos mutantes contra as catepsinas humanas B e L foram realizados. Além disso, foram desenvolvidos estudos estruturais por meio de modelagem molecular de proteínas por homologia que permitiram a compreensão dos determinantes moleculares relacionados à melhoria da atividade inibitória destas cistatinas. Os resultados aqui apresentados são importantes, pois corroboram com os dados observados anteriormente, demonstrando a melhora na especificidade da atividade inibitória da proteína A10PL3 contra a catepsina B (Ki = 16 nM) em relação aos seus parentais. Os mutantes I, II e III não foram capazes de inibir a catepsina B. Os estudos estruturais revelaram que as mutações na cistatina A10PL3 desestabilizaram o núcleo hidrofóbico provavelmente tornando a região N-terminal da proteína mais flexível, influenciando a atividade inibitória contra a catepsina B. A desestabilização do núcleo hidrofóbico resultou na tendência de uma menor solubilidade, provavelmente devido à sua tendência de expor resíduos que fazem parte desse núcleo, o que pode levar à agregação e também contribuir para o aumento da flexibilidade da cistatina.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is a small, non-enveloped, single-stranded DNA virus that causes disease in pigs and is an economically important pathogen affecting pig populations worldwide. PCV2 contains two major open reading frames (ORF): ORF1 encodes two replicase proteins and ORF2 encodes the immunogenic capsid protein. There are three genotypes of PCV2 (PCV2a, PCV2b, and PCV2c), but vaccines available for PCV2 infection are only targeted against PCV2a. The objective of this thesis was to create viable chimeric PCV2 viruses with an ORF2 displaying genetic diversity from all PCV2 genotypes by synthetic DNA shuffling. Variation was identified at 55 amino acid positions in the ORF2 gene among 853 PCV2 capsid gene sequences available in the GenBank database. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers spanning ORF2 were synthesized to contain this naturally observed sequence diversity. Sets of overlapping oligonucleotide primers were fused together using overlap extension PCR to create full-length shuffled ORF2 sequences. The shuffled library of the ORF2 genes was subsequently cloned into the genomic backbone of a wildtype PCV2a infectious DNA clone and transfected into porcine kidney cells (PK-15). After transfection and infection of PK-15 cells, viability of chimeric viruses was screened by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using anti-PCV2 Rep antibodies. PCR was used to amplify the genomes of viable shuffled viruses from infected cells. PCV2 viruses containing an ORF2 displaying genetic diversity from PCV2a, PCV2b, and PCV2c were isolated in vitro. These shuffled PCV2 viruses may be used as potential candidates for a broadly-protective PCV2 vaccine, although additional studies are warranted to determine in vivo infectivity and pathogenicity. / Master of Science

La diversité du monde vivant repose pour une large part sur la diversité des protéines codées dans les génomes. Comment une telle diversité a-t-elle été générée ? La théorie classique postule que cette diversité résulte à la fois de la divergence de séquence et de la combinatoire des arrangements de protéines en domaines à partir de quelques milliers de domaines anciens, mais elle n’explique pas les nombreuses protéines orphelines.Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudié l’évolution des protéines du point de vue de leur décomposition en domaines en utilisant trois bases de données : HOGENOM (familles de protéines homologues), Pfam (familles de domaines expertisées) et ProDom (familles de modules protéiques construites automatiquement). Chaque famille d’HOGENOM a ainsi été décomposée en domaines de Pfam ou modules de ProDom. Nous avons modélisé l’évolution de ces familles par un réseau Bayésien basé sur l’arbre phylogénétique des espèces. Dans le cadre de ce modèle, on peut reconstituer rigoureusement les scénarios d’évolution les plus probables qui reflètent la présence ou l’absence de chaque protéine, domaine ou module dans les espèces ancestrales. La mise en relation de ces scénarios permet d’analyser l’émergence de nouvelles protéines en fonctions de domaines ou modules ancestraux. L’analyse avec Pfam suggère que la majorité de ces événements résulte de réarrangements de domaines anciens, en accord avec la théorie classique. Cependant une part très significative de la diversité des protéines est alors négligée. L’analyse avec ProDom, au contraire, suggère que la majorité des nouvelles protéines ont recruté de nouveaux modules protéiques. Nous discutons les biais de Pfam et de ProDom qui permettent d’expliquer ces points de vue différents. Nous proposons que l’émergence de nouveaux modules protéiques peut résulter d’un turn-over rapide de séquences codantes, et que cette innovation au niveau des modules est essentielle à l’apparition de nombreuses protéines nouvelles tout au long de l’évolution. / The diversity of life derives mostly from the variety of proteins coded in genomes. How did evolution produce such a tremendous diversity ? The classical theory postulates that this diversity results both from sequence divergence and from the combinatorial arrangements of a few thousand primary protein domain types. However this does not account for the increasing number of entirely unique proteins as found in most genomes.In this thesis, we study the evolution of proteins from the point of view of their domain decomposition and rely on three databases : HOGENOM (homologous protein families), Pfam (manually curated protein domain families) and ProDom (automatically built protein module families). Each protein family from HOGENOM has thus been decomposed into Pfam domains or ProDom modules. We have modelled the evolution of these families using a Bayesian network based on the phylogenetic species tree. In the framework of this model, we can rigorously reconstitute the most likely evolutionary scenarios reflecting the presence or absence of each protein, domain or module in ancestral species. The comparison of these scenarios allows us to analyse the emergence of new proteins in terms of ancestral domains or modules. Pfam analysis suggests that the majority of protein innovations results from rearrangements of ancient domains, in agreement with the classical paradigm of modular protein evolution. However a very significant part of protein diversity is then neglected. On the other hand ProDom analysis suggests that the majority of new proteins have recruited novel protein modules. We discuss the respective biases of Pfam and ProDom underlying these contrasting views. We propose that the emergence of new protein modules may result from a fast turnover of coding sequences and that this module innovation is essential to the emergence of numerous novel proteins throughout evolution

Le travail présenté dans cette thèse porte sur l'adaptation bactérienne aux molécules chlorées, tant au niveau des ressources génétiques nécessaires à la mise en place des gênes de dégradation qu'au niveau de la structure de la communauté microbienne observée durant la dégradation de ces composés. La première partie de ce document est une bibliographie qui se focalise sur les mécanismes développés par les bactéries pour répondre aux stress environnementaux, et sur les possibles origines des gènes responsables des premières étapes de dégradation des composés chlorés : les dehalogenases (qui réalisent les étapes de déchloration). Le deuxième chapitre de cette thèse porte sur des essais expérimentaux de remodelage génétique, dans le but de valider les hypothèses présentées lors de la bibliographie quant aux mécanismes qui ont pu conduire à la génération de nouveaux gênes de dégradation. Ces remodelages in vitro et in vivo ont été effectués en utilisant les gènes linB et dhaA. Le chapitre suivant examine la structure de la communauté bactérienne lors de la dégradation réductive du tetrachloroéthylène (PCE). Pour cette étude, des outils de biologie moléculaire, plus spécifiquement des puces phylogénétiques, ont été utilisés pour étudier la structure de la communauté microbienne depuis l'introduction du polluant jusqu'à sa dégradation. Afin d'élucider les fonctions métaboliques qui peuvent être corrélées avec la dégradation du PCE, les résultats des puces phylogénétiques ont été comparés avec un suivi chimique des métabolites de dégradation de ce composé, lors d'une étude en microcosmes. L'objectif du dernier chapitre de la thèse a été de relier la structure de la communauté microbienne avec la cinétique de dégradation des composés chimiques étudiés. Pour cela, une étude globale comportant à la fois un suivi chimique des métabolites de dégradation, une quantification des gènes de dégradation impliqués dans la déchloration réductive du PCE ainsi que l'étude de la structure de la communauté microbienne ont été mis en place. Cette étude a permis de corréler les conditions environnementales nécessaires à la déchloration et la communauté microbienne associée avec l'expression des déhalogénases quantifiées. En résumé, cette thèse explore à la fois les mécanismes mis en place par les bactéries pour dégrader ces composés polluants et la structure de la communauté bactérienne durant la dégradation de ce polluant. Comprendre ces deux étapes dans l'adaptation bactérienne peut contribuer à améliorer l'utilisation des capacités bactériennes utilisées en bioremédiation. / This thesis concerns the bacterial adaptation to the chlorinated compounds at both the gene level and the microbial community level. The bibliography will focus on the adaptation mechanisms developed by bacteria to respond to environmental stresses and on the possible origins of the genes responsible for the first steps of chlorinated compound degradation, those encoding for the dehalogenases, which perform the dechlorination or chlorine removal step. The second chapter of the thesis consists of an experimental exploration of the gene shuffling hypothesis presented in the bibliography, using linB and dhaA genes. The next chapter examines the bacterial community structure in relation to compound degradation using the reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene. For this study, molecular biology tools, specifically phylochip microarrays were used to examine bacterial community structure from the moment of pollutant introduction to the environment and during bioremediation. In order to elucidate the metabolic functions, which correlate the PCE degradation, phylogenetic results were compared with functional genes in the microcosms studied. The last chapter of this global study on chlorinated compound degradation genes was to link the microbial community structure kinetics with the chemical degradation kinetics. In order to evaluate the molecular biological parameters of the microbial community, all the genes known to be involved in the entire pathway of PCE reductive dechlorination were quantified. This global study, incorporating chemical monitoring, dehalogenase quantification and microbial community structure, produced correlations between the environmental conditions necessary for dechlorination and the microbial community associated with dehalogenase expression. In summary, both the mechanisms implemented by the bacteria to degrade this compound pollutant and the bacterial community structure during the pollutant degradation were addressed. Improving the understanding of these two steps in bacterial adaptation can contribute to the understanding of bacterial and environmental cleanup capabilities.

Genetic engineering has allowed the design and production of recombinant antibodies (rmAbs) in plants. Nowadays, rmAbs are used in the treatment of a wide range of pathologies such as infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases and cancer, making rmAbs an important group of biomolecules within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. By the time this study was started, the immunoglobulin G (IgG) was the antibody isotype predominantly expressed in plants. In recent years Modular DNA cloning technology has facilitated antibody engineering, with the development and expression of new rmAbs formats. However, there is hardly any study where different antibody formats are produced and compared in terms of yield and neutralizing capacity. Therefore, the starting point of the first chapter of this thesis is a comparative study where five different formats of the same commercial rmAb (Infliximab) against the human cytokine Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-¿) were expressed and compared. The results obtained in Chapter 1 demonstrate that both the isotype and the structure of the chosen rmAb influence the yield and the neutralizing capacity of rmAb. The expression of new antibody formats not only refers to the antibody isotype or structure; the format also refers to the combination of antibody idiotypes, leading to the production of oligo or polyclonal antibodies. Therefore, the possibility of co-expressing different monoclonal antibodies simultaneously in plants (creating oligoclonal or polyclonal formats) was raised. In the second chapter of this thesis, the expression of three rmAbs against the Ebola virus glycoprotein was studied. The three rmAbs were transiently expressed in N. benthamiana individually, by establishing separated production lines; in parallel, all three rmAbs were also co-expressed simultaneously in the same production line. The results obtained in this chapter demonstrated that the individual expression of rmAbs is feasible. However, when all three rmAbs are co-expressed, a drastic decrease in the binding of the antibody to the antigen was observed due to chain shuffling, as each heavy chain (HC) can be bound to any light chain (LC) other than its cognate chain, giving rise to an antibody cocktail with lower activity. With the objective of developing a method that allows co-expression of several rmAb in a single production line, we next proposed to exploit the viral interference phenomenon (also known as superinfection exclusion, SE). The results shown in Chapter three demonstrate that the production of an oligoclonal cocktail composed of 36 rmAbs in plants was possible using a viral expression system showing SE. The data obtained in this chapter showed that the resulting oligoclonal cocktail was active and capable of neutralizing toxic activities of the venom of the snake Bothrops asper in vitro and in vivo, wich was used as a model for studying the efficacy of the oligoclonal antibodies produced. The results of this thesis confirm and support the use of plants as platforms for the expression of alternative formats of antibodies. / La ingeniería genética ha permitido el diseño y la producción de anticuerpos recombinantes (rmAbs) en plantas. Hoy en día, los rmAbs se utilizan en el tratamiento de un amplio rango de patologías como enfermedades infecciosas, enfermedades inflamatorias y cáncer, convirtiéndose en un importante grupo de biomoléculas dentro de la industria farmacéutica y biotecnológica. Hasta la fecha de este estudio, en plantas se ha producido mayoritariamente la inmunoglobulina del tipo G (IgG). Gracias al desarrollo de la ingeniería del ADN recombinante y de la ingeniería de anticuerpos, es posible diseñar y producir nuevos formatos de rmAbs. Sin embargo, apenas existen estudios comparativos donde se demuestre si el formato de anticuerpo elegido es el idóneo en términos de rendimiento y capacidad neutralizante. Por tanto, el punto de partida del primer Capítulo de esta tesis consistió en la realización de un estudio comparativo de la expresión en plantas de cinco formatos distintos de un mismo rmAb comercial (Infliximab) frente a la citoquina humana Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-¿). Los resultados obtenidos en el Capítulo 1 demuestran que tanto el isotipo como la estructura del rmAb elegido influye en los niveles de rendimiento y en la capacidad neutralizante del rmAb. La expresión de nuevos formatos de anticuerpos no solo afecta al isotipo o a la estructura de las regiones constantes, sino que también se puede incluir en este término la expresión conjunta de distintos idiotipos de anticuerpos recombinantes, dando lugar a anticuerpos policlonales u oligoclonales recombinantes. Por tanto en esta tesis se planteó la posibilidad de co-expresar simultáneamente distintos anticuerpos monoclonales en plantas formando un cóctel oligoclonal. En el segundo Capítulo de esta tesis se diseñaron tres rmAbs frente a la glicoproteína de la cubierta del virus del Ébola. Los tres rmAbs se expresaron transitoriamente en N. benthamiana de manera individual mediante el establecimiento de líneas paralelas de producción y también se co-expresaron los tres rmAbs simultáneamente en una misma línea de producción. Los resultados obtenidos en este Capítulo demostraron que la expresión de los rmAbs de manera individual es factible. Sin embargo, cuando se co-expresan los tres rmAbs se observa una drástica disminución en la unión del anticuerpo al antígeno debido al barajado de cadenas, fenómeno por el cual cada cadena pesada (HC) se puede unir con cualquier cadena ligera (LC) distinta de su acompañante, dando lugar a un anticuerpo con una baja actividad. Finalmente, con el objetivo de desarrollar un método que permita co-expresar en una misma línea de producción varios rmAbs de forma reproducible se propuso explotar el fenómeno de la exclusión viral, un característica propia de los virus de plantas. Los resultados mostrados en el Capítulo 3 demuestran que es posible la producción de un cóctel oligoclonal compuesto por 36 rmAbs en N. benthamiana aprovechando el fenómeno de la exclusión viral. Los datos obtenidos en este capítulo muestran que el cóctel oligoclonal producido de esta forma mantiene intactas las actividades de los anticuerpos individuales y es capaz de neutralizar las actividades tóxicas del veneno de la serpiente Bothrops asper en ensayos in vitro e in vivo. Los resultados de esta tesis confirman y avalan el uso de las plantas como plataformas de expresión de formatos alternativos de anticuerpos. / El desenvolupament de l'enginyeria genètica ha permès el disseny i la producció d'anticossos recombinants (rmAbs) en plantes. Hui en dia, els rmAbs s'utilitzen en el tractament d'un ampli rang de patologies com malalties infeccioses, malalties inflamatòries i càncer convertint-se en un important grup de biomolècules dins de les indústries farmacèutiques i biotecnològiques. Fins a la data, s'han expressat majoritàriament la immunoglobulina del tipus G. Gràcies al desenvolupament de l'enginyeria de l'ADN recombinant i l'enginyeria dels anticossos s'han desenvolupat i expressat formats alternatius de rmAbs. Tanmateix, hi ha molts pocs estudis comparatius on es demostra si el format de l'anticòs elegit influeix en el rendiment i en la capacitat neutralitzant. Per tant, el punt de partida del primer Capítol d'esta Tesi és la realització d'un estudi comparatiu on s'expressen cinc formats diferents d'un mateix anticòs comercial (Infliximab) front a la citocina humana Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-¿). Els resultats obtesos demostren que tant l'isotip com l'estructura del rmAb elegit influeix en el rendiment i en la capacitat neutralitzant del rmAb. L'expressió de nous formats d'anticossos no sols afecta a l'isotip o a l'estructura del rmAb sinó que també pot incloure's dins d'aquest concepte l'expressió individual i l'expressió conjunta de diferents rmAbs. Partint d'aquesta hipòtesi, es va plantejar la possibilitat de co-expressar diferents rmAbs (còctel oligoclonal) en plantes. En el segon Capítol d'esta tesi es dissenyaren tres rmAbs front a la glicoproteïna del virus de l'Ébola. Els tres rmAbs s'expressaren transitòriament en N. benthamiana de manera individual mitjançant l'establiment de línies paral·leles de producció i també es co-expressaren els tres rmAbs en la mateixa línia de producció. Els resultats obtesos en este Capítol demostraren que l'expressió dels rmAbs de manera individual és factible. Tanmateix, quan es co-expressaren els tres rmAbs s'observà una dràstica disminució en la unió de l'anticòs a l'antigen com a conseqüència del shuffling chain, pel qual la cadena pesada (HC) s'uneix amb qualsevol cadena lleugera (LC) diferent a la seua acompanyant, formant un anticòs amb una baixa capacitat d'unió a l'antigen. Amb l'objectiu de desenvolupar un mètode que permeta co-expressar, en una mateixa línia de producció, un còctel oligoclonal es proposà explotar el fenomen de l'exclusió viral. Els resultats obtesos en el Capítol 3 demostren que l'expressió d' un còctel oligoclonal format per 36 rmAbs en plantes és possible. Els resultats mostren que el nostre còctel oligoclonal es capaç de neutralitzar activitats tòxiques del verí de la serp Bothrops asper en assaigs in vitro i in vivo. Els resultat obtesos en aquesta Tesi confirmen i avalen l'ús de les plantes com plataformes d'expressió de formats alternatius d'anticossos. / Huet Trujillo, E. (2017). Nuevas metodologías para la producción de anticuerpos recombinantes en plantas [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/90469 / TESIS

This thesis presents the application of different protein engineering methods on enzymes and non-catalytic proteins that act upon xyloglucans. Xyloglucans are polysaccharides found as storage polymers in seeds and tubers, and as cross-linking glucans in the cell wall of plants. Their structure is complex with intricate branching patterns, which contribute to the physical properties of the polysaccharide including its binding to and interaction with other glucans such as cellulose. One important group of xyloglucan-active enzymes is encoded by the GH16 XTH gene family in plants, including xyloglucan endo-transglycosylases (XET) and xyloglucan endo-hydrolases (XEH). The molecular determinants behind the different catalytic routes of these homologous enzymes are still not fully understood. By combining structural data and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, interesting facts were revealed about enzyme-substrate interaction. Furthermore, a pilot study was performed using structure-guided recombination to generate a restricted library of XET/XEH chimeras. Glycosynthases are hydrolytically inactive mutant glycoside hydrolases (GH) that catalyse the formation of glycosidic linkages between glycosyl fluoride donors and glycoside acceptors. Different enzymes with xyloglucan hydrolase activity were engineered into glycosynthases, and characterised as tools for the synthesis of well-defined homogenous xyloglucan oligo- and polysaccharides with regular substitution patterns. Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) are non-catalytic protein domains that bind to polysaccharidic substrates. An important technical application involves their use as molecular probes to detect and localise specific carbohydrates in vivo. The three-dimensional structure of an evolved xyloglucan binding module (XGBM) was solved by X-ray diffraction. Affinity-guided directed evolution of this first generation XGBM resulted in highly specific probes that were used to localise non-fucosylated xyloglucans in plant tissue sections. / QC 20100902