METHODS OF GENERATING AND SCREENING FOR LYTIC CHIMERIC POLYPEPTIDES

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods of generating and screening for chimeric polypeptides, which comprise at least one cell binding domain (CBD) and at least one enzymatic active domain (EAD) having bacterial cell wall lytic activity. Lytic chimeric polypeptides obtainable by the methods of the present invention are useful in therapy and prophylaxis of pathogenic bacterial colonisation, including bacterial infections and bacterial diseases. The present invention also relates to a library of chimeric polypeptides obtainable by the methods of the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The rapidly increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a growing challenge for medicine and health care systems worldwide. The use of bacteriophage-derived endolysins for the treatment of bacterial infections is one promising alternative to overcome the increasing number of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Bacteriophage lysins have been designated using various names including lysins, phage-lysins, virolysins, and endolysins. Structurally, lysins are commonly found as modular proteins with at least one domain that confers the enzymatic activity for hydrolysing specific bonds in the murein or peptidoglycan layer of the bacterial cell wall (enzymatic active domain—EAD), and one domain that confers binding specificity to a cell surface epitope (cell binding domain—CBD). Thus, lysin family members (cell wall or peptidoglycan hydrolases) exhibit a modular design in which a catalytic domain is fused to a specificity mediating or binding domain.

The use of endolysins to kill bacteria was disclosed for the first time by Gasson in 1991 (GB 2 255 561). Further therapeutic and prophylactic applications, including animal model systems, have been described by Nelson et al. 2001. This work describes a topical application of endolysins against group A streptococci and pneumococci in oral and nasopharyngeal treatment. In the field of staphylococcal treatment with bacteriophage derived lysins, Rashel et al. 2007 have shown that endolysin from phage phiMR11 is able to eradicate MRSA in nares of mice and protects mice by intraperitoneal injection from septic death. Further regimes of treatment and pharmaceutical compositions to treat and prevent bacterial infections using phage derived lysins are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,862. However, in all so far published examples using bacteriophage derived endolysins for the treatment of bacterial infections, the amount of protein for an effective treatment is very high. This is due the poor stability of the enzymes and due to inhibition of the activity in application relevant matrices.

In case of lysins against Staphylococcus bacteria, a number of wild-type endolysins have been cloned and characterized. For example, protein 17 from phage P68 is a staphylococcal endolysin, which is reported to exhibit antimicrobial activity against S. aureus isolates including clinical isolates (Takac and Blasi 2005). Various groups investigated the endolysin of S. aureus bacteriophage phi11 in antimicrobial applications. Navarre et al. 1999 identified two enzymatic active domains (amidase and endopeptidase) in phi11 lysin and showed that a mutant with deletion of the amidase domain is still active. Mutants of phi11 (and phi12) endolysin have been characterized by different activity assays on S. aureus cell walls, heat inactivated bacteria and on bacterial biofilms (Sass and Bierbaum 2007). All these investigations have in common that they are using artificial experimental conditions for functional characterization of the endolysins. Therefore, no evidences regarding efficacy on living cells under application-relevant conditions can be drawn from these publications. Another staphylolytic enzyme is derived from bacteriophage phiK. This endolysin, called lysK, has been characterized in more detail by the groups of David M. Donavan and R. Paul Ross (O'Flaherty et al. 2005; WO 2008/001342; Becker et al. 2008; Horgan et al. 2009). They have been able to show, that lysK has a broad bactericidal activity against living staphylococcus bacteria without discriminating between the different genera. LysK consists of one CBD and two EADs, a cysteine-histidine amino peptidase (CHAP) and an amidase domain. Expressing the individual EADs, they were able to show that the CHAP domain alone is sufficient for killing but not the amidase domain. A deletion mutant, without amidase domain (lysKA221-390), possesses the same killing activity as the wild type protein. Determining MIC values for the truncation/deletion constructs, only MIC values for the wild type LysK and the lysKA221-390 were measurable in TSB medium. The CHAP domain alone showed no measurable activity within such a complex matrix. The determined MIC values are considerably high, 78 μg/ml and 63 μg/ml for wild type lysK and lysKA221-390, respectively. No chimeric lysin based on lysK domains has been described so far. All published data using wild type endolysins clearly show that these molecules are quite effective in killing bacteria in buffer solutions. The advantage of these molecules is the very fast onset time (minutes to hours), and the mode of action from outside without involvement of metabolic processes within the cell. As a matter of fact, for endolysins induction/acquisition of resistance has not been described in literature. On the other hand, wild type endolysins tend to be quite unstable at elevated temperatures and functionality is reduced in complex compositions like culture media or biological fluids. All published MIC values (minimal inhibitory concentration) or MBC values (minimal bactericidal concentration) are in the range >50 μg/ml. It can be speculated that in many cases MIC values are not reported for experimental reasons.

Enzymes with cell wall degrading properties similar to bacteriophage lysins (endolysins) can also be found in bacteria. Autolysins are bacteriolytic enzymes that digest the cell-wall peptidoglycan of the bacteria that produce them. Autolysins are involved in cell wall reconstruction during bacterial cell division. Although potentially lethal, autolysins appear to be universal among bacteria that possess peptidoglycan. “Autolysin” is the term used for lysins, which are produced by bacteria and involved in cell division, while the term “lysin” or “endolysin” refers to lytic enzymes, which are involved in phage release, as described herein above. Bacteriocins are molecules also produced and secreted by microorganisms. They are antibacterial substances of a proteinaceous nature that are produced by different bacterial species. A subclass of bacteriocins consists of enzymes (proteinaceous toxins) which are produced by bacteria to inhibit the growth of similar or closely related concurrence bacterial strain(s) in their habitat. They also contain CBDs and EADs. Bacteriocins target prokaryotes but not eukaryotes, making them safe for human consumption.

The bacteriocin lysostaphin is naturally produced by Staphylococcus simulans to combat Staphylococcus aureus. It is highly effective in vitro and capable of killing bacteria in complex media (Kumar J. 2008). Lysostaphin consists of one CBD and one glycyl-glycine endopeptidase domain, which cleaves the characteristic penta-glycine cross bridge in S. aureus cell walls. This molecule has been tested in various animal models and exhibit good efficacy even in complex matrices (Kokai-Kun et al. 2007; Kusuma et al. 2007). The reported MIC values of lysostaphin are more than 1000-fold lower compared to lysK (<0.02 μg/ml). The major disadvantage of lysostaphin is the occurrence of resistance in S. aureus. Two different genetic escape mechanisms have been described so far: First, incorporation of serine into the penta-glycine bridge (DeHart et al. 1995). Secondly, shortening of the glycine bridge; gly3 or gly2 (Ehlert et al. 1997; Stranden et al. 1997). It can be assumed that such monogenic resistance marker will rapidly be selected under selection pressure.

Enzymatic active domains (EADs) can further be found in structural bacteriophage proteins (tail associated muralytic enzymes). They are part of the early infection machinery of the bacteriophage, locally hydrolyzing the cell wall prior to DNA injection.

In order to deal with the fact of resistance development, groups started to investigate the combination of different lysins. For example, synergistic effects between lysK and lysostaphin (Becker et al. 2008) have been described, resulting in reduced effective concentrations for killing S. aureus. The drawback of this concept is, that in case of occurrence of resistance against one component (for example, lysostaphin), the concentration of the second component will not be effective anymore. Furthermore, a composition with two active components is difficult to develop and expensive in production. While Staphylococci and Streptococci belong to the most common human pathogenic bacteria, Listeria are likewise widespread human and animal pathogenic bacteria, eliciting the disease pattern of listeriosis. Listeria phage lysins have been proven as antimicrobial substances for decontamination of listeria. For example, WO 2004/004495 describes the Listeria-phage lysine PlyP100 from the Listeria phage P100 and its successful application in Listeria contamination of food. WO 96/07756 describes phage lysins from Listeria-infecting phages exhibiting lytic activity on the cell wall of Listeria bacteria. In particular, WO 96/07756 discloses Listeria phage lysins Ply118, Ply500 and Ply511 from Listeria phages A118, A500 and A511, respectively. Specifically, Ply511 has been shown to have a broad host range against a multitude of Listeria serovars. WO 2010/010192 describes the Listeria lysine PlyP40 from Listeria phage P40 and its use as antimicrobial substance in decolonisation of Listeria.

Sanz et al. 1996 describes the construction of a chimeric trifunctional pneumococcal peptidoglycan hydrolase by fusing a choline-binding domain with two catalytic modules that provide lysozyme and amidase activity. It was demonstrated that the three modules can acquire the proper folding conformation in the three-domain chimeric enzyme and that the activity of the chimeric enzyme is comparable to that of the parent enzymes.

It is known that a combination of domains (CBDs and EADs) from different source organisms is possible. However, the purpose of such domain exchange experiments was always to alter or broaden the host specificity of the lysins (Diaz et al. 1990; Croux et al. 1993; Donovan et al. 2006). So far, no systematic domain exchange experiments have been performed with endolysin-derived EADs to obtain lytic molecules with improved properties with respect to efficacy, resistance potential and stability.

The present invention successfully provides methods of generating and screening for lytic chimeric polypeptides, which can be used in the control of bacterial contamination, colonization and infection. The methods according to the present invention allow the generation and identification of new and highly effective lytic chimeric polypeptides as a substitute for antibiotics or bacteria killing substances.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The use of lytic domains of a bacteriophage endolysin, a bacteriocin or a bacterial autolysin, specifically lytic domains of bacteriophage derived endolysins, for the treatment of bacterial infections is a promising alternative to overcome the increasing number of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. As shown in principle by a number of investigators, it is possible to kill bacteria in vitro and in animal models. Advantage of such lytic proteins is the fast onset of action and the lower risk of resistance development against these enzymes.

In accordance with, inter alia, Sanz et al. 1996 and based on the modular theory of protein evolution, the inventors of the present application were aiming at constructing fully active lytic chimeric enzymes with improved biological properties, which can be used in the treatment and prophylaxis of pathogenic bacterial contamination, colonisation and infection. The methods of the present invention provide for means in generating and screening for such improved lytic chimeric polypeptides based on the random assembly of functional cell binding domains and enzymatically active domains exhibiting lytic activity on bacterial cell walls.

The present invention successfully provides novel methods of generating and screening for chimeric polypeptides, which can be used in the treatment and prophylaxis of pathogenic bacterial contamination, colonisation and infection. The novel methods are based on random recombination of protein domains, and the chimeric polypeptides obtainable by the methods according to the invention are characterized in that they comprise at least one enzymatic active domain and at least one cell binding domain. Thus, the present invention provides for novel combinations of EADs and CBDs from different source or origin and allows generating and screening for chimeric lytic polypeptides with improved properties regarding binding and/or lysis of bacterial cells. The present invention also provides a library of chimeric polypeptides obtainable by the methods of the present invention.

The first aspect of the invention comprises the following items:

[1] A method of screening for a lytic chimeric polypeptide comprising the steps of:

(a) providing one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one cell binding domain (CBD) and one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one enzymatic active domain (EAD) and optionally one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one CBD and at least one EAD, wherein the EAD is selected from the group consisting of

(i) the lytic domain of a bacteriophage lysin,

(ii) the lytic domain of a bacteriocin,

(iii) the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin; and

(iv) a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity.

(b) amplifying a first (1^st) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce different restriction sites at the 5′-end and at the 3′-end, and a tag labeling at the 5′-end or at the 3′-end;

(c) amplifying a second (2^nd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: at the 5′-end the same restriction site as at the 3′-end of the 1^stdomain, and at the 3′-end a restriction site different from the restriction sites introduced into the 1^stdomain sequence,

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: at the 3′-end the same restriction site as at the 5′-end of the 1^stdomain, and at the 5′-end a restriction site different from the restriction sites introduced into the 1^stdomain sequence;

(d) optionally amplifying a third (3^rd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: at the 5′-end the same restriction site as at the 3′-end of the preceding 2^nddomain, and at the 3′-end a restriction site that is different from that at the 5′-end of the 1^stdomain,

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: at the 3′-end the same restriction site as at the 5′-end of the preceding 2^nddomain, and at the 5′-end a restriction site that is different from that at the 3′-end of the 1^stdomain;

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain sequence;

(e) optionally amplifying one or more further domain sequences selected from the domain sequences of (a) for extending the series of domain sequences according to steps (b) to (d), using for each of said one or more further domain sequences a pair of primers designed following the principle of steps (c) and (d) so as to introduce:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: at the 5′-end the same restriction site as at the 3′-end of the preceding domain, and at the 3′-end a restriction site that is different from that at the 5′-end of the 1^stdomain,

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: at the 3′-end the same restriction site as at the 5′-end of the preceding domain, and at the 5′-end a restriction site that is different from that at the 3′-end of the 1^stdomain;

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of each of said one or more further domain sequences;

(f) performing a restriction digest of the amplified domain sequences of any of steps (b) to (e) with restriction enzymes targeting the restriction sites introduced in any of steps (b) to (e), wherein a restriction digest is not performed on the restriction site introduced to an end carrying a tag labelling;

(g) ligating the digested 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence obtained in step (f) to obtain a ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(h) binding the ligation product of step (g) to a solid support using the tag labeling of the 1^stdomain sequence to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(j) optionally ligating the digested 3^rddomain sequence of (d) obtained in step (f) to the bound ligation product of step (h) to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^st, 2^ndand 3^rddomain sequence;

(l) releasing the ligation product obtained in any of steps (h) to (k) from the solid support; (m) cloning the ligation product obtained in step (l) into an expression vector; (n) introducing the vector obtained in step (m) into an expression host, preferably into a bacterial expression host;

(o) culturing the expression host of step (n) carrying the vector obtained in step (m) under conditions suitable to allow expression of a lytic polypeptide encoded by the domain sequences of the cloned ligation product;

(p) selecting and isolating an expression clone expressing a lytic polypeptide according to step (o) using the lytic activity of the polypeptide; and

(q) characterizing the lytic polypeptide expressed by the isolated expression clone of step (p) and identifying a lytic chimeric polypeptide.

[2] A method of generating a chimeric polypeptide having at least one cell binding domain (CBD) and at least one enzymatic active domain (EAD), the method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one CBD and one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one EAD, and optionally one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one CBD and at least one EAD, wherein the EAD is selected from the group consisting of

(i) the lytic domain of a bacteriophage lysin;

(ii) the lytic domain of a bacteriocin;

(iii) the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin; and

(iv) a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity.

(c) amplifying a second (2^nd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: at the 5′-end the same restriction site as at the 3′-end of the first domain, and at the 3′-end a restriction site different from the restriction sites introduced into the 1^stdomain sequence,

(d) optionally amplifying a third (3^rd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain sequence;

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of each of said one or more further domain sequences; (f) performing a restriction digest of the amplified domain sequences of any of steps (b) to (e) using restriction enzymes targeting the restriction sites introduced in any of steps (b) to (e), wherein a restriction digest is not performed on the restriction site introduced to an end carrying a tag labelling;

(g) ligating the digested 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence obtained in step (f) to obtain a ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(h) binding the ligation products of step (g) to a solid support using the tag labeling of the 1^stdomain sequence to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(l) releasing the ligation product obtained in any one of steps (h) to (k) from the solid support; and

(m) characterizing the ligation product obtained in step (l) and identifying chimeric polypeptides having at least one CBD and at least one EAD.

[3] The method of item [1] or [2], further comprising a washing step after binding the first ligation product to the solid support in step (h) to remove unbound ligation products and/or non-ligated domain sequences.

[4] The method of any one of items [1] to [3], wherein steps (g) and (h) are replaced by a step of binding the digested 1^stdomain sequence to a solid support using the tag labeling at the 5′-end or 3′-end, respectively, and a subsequent step of ligating the digested 2″ domain sequence of (c) obtained in step (f) to the bound 1^stdomain sequence to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence.

[5] The method of item [4], further comprising a step of removing unbound domain sequences after binding the first ligation product to the solid support, and optionally a further step of removing non-ligated domain sequences after ligating the second domain sequence to the bound first domain sequence.

[6] The method for screening a lytic chimeric polypeptide of any one of items [1] and [3] to [5], further comprising a step of removing non-ligated domain sequences after each ligation step performed in any of steps (j) to (k).

[7] The method for generating chimeric polypeptides having at least one CBD and at least one EAD of any one of items [2] to [5], further comprising a step of removing non-ligated domain sequences after each ligation step performed in steps (j) and (k).

[8] The method of any one of items [1] to [7], wherein the domain sequences of (a) are cloned into a vector prior to amplification.

[9] The method of any one of items [1] to [8], wherein the step of releasing the ligation product or ligation products from the solid support is carried out using a restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at that end of the 1^stdomain, which is carrying the tag labelling.

[10]. The method of any one of items [1] to [9], wherein in case of repeated ligation steps optionally after any repeated ligation step part of the obtained bound ligation product is separated from the method prior to performing a subsequent ligation step.

[11] The method of any one of items [1] to [10], wherein the solid support is a particle, a surface of a device, a foil or a fleece.

[12] The method of item [11], wherein the particle is a silica bead or an organic polymer bead being magnetic.

[13] A lytic chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the method for screening a lytic chimeric polypeptide of any one of items [1] and [3] to [12].

[14] A chimeric polypeptide or a plurality of chimeric polypeptides obtainable by the method of generating chimeric polypeptides having at least one CBD and at least one EAD of any one of items [2] to [12].

[15] A DNA library comprising the clones carrying the ligation products obtained in the method of any one of items [1] to [12].

A second aspect of the invention comprises the following items:

1″. A method of screening for a lytic chimeric polypeptide comprising the steps of:

(i) the lytic domain of a bacteriophage lysin,

(ii) the lytic domain of a bacteriocin,

(iii) the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin; and

(iv) a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity;

(c) amplifying a second (2nd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

(d) optionally amplifying a third (3^rd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain sequence;

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the domain sequence of step (b) with a restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at the 3′-end and performing a restriction digest of the domain sequences of any of steps (c) to (e) with restriction enzymes targeting the restriction sites at the 5′-ends,

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the domain sequence of step (b) with a restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at the 5′-end and performing a restriction digest of the domain sequences of any of steps (c) to (e) with restriction enzymes targeting the restriction sites at the 3′-ends;

(g) ligating the digested 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence obtained in step (f) to obtain a ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(h) binding the ligation product of step (g) to a solid support using the tag labeling of the 1^stdomain sequence to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(j) performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (h):

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of (h) with a restriction enzyme targeting the 3′-end of the 2^nddomain, (ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of (h) with a restriction enzyme targeting the 5′-end of the 2^nddomain; (k) optionally ligating the digested 3^rddomain sequence of step (d) obtained in step (f) to the bound ligation product of step (j) to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^st, 2^ndand 3^rddomain sequence;

(l) performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (k):

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (k) with a restriction enzyme targeting the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain.

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (k) with a restriction enzyme targeting the 5′-end of the 3^rddomain.

(m) optionally ligating one or more digested domain sequences of (e) obtained in step (f) to the bound ligation product of step (l) to obtain a bound ligation product comprising one or more further domain sequences of step (e), thereby performing after each ligation step a restriction digest of the bound ligation product as follows:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 3′-end of the said further domain sequence that was ligated to the bound ligation product,

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 5′-end of the said further domain sequence that was ligated to the bound ligation product;

(n) releasing the ligation product obtained in any of steps (h) to (m) from the solid support;

(o) cloning the ligation product obtained in step (n) into an expression vector;

(p) introducing the vector obtained in step (o) into an expression host, preferably into a bacterial expression host;

(q) culturing the expression host of step (p) carrying the vector obtained in step (o) under conditions suitable to allow expression of a lytic polypeptide encoded by the domain sequences of the cloned ligation product;

(r) selecting and isolating an expression clone expressing a lytic polypeptide according to step (q) using the lytic activity of the polypeptide; and

(s) characterizing the lytic polypeptide expressed by the isolated expression clone of step (r) and identifying a lytic chimeric polypeptide.

2″. A method of generating a chimeric polypeptide having at least one cell binding domain (CBD) and at least one enzymatic active domain (EAD), the method comprising the steps of:

(i) the lytic domain of a bacteriophage lysin;

(ii) the lytic domain of a bacteriocin;

(iii) the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin; and

(iv) a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity.

(c) amplifying a second (2^nd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

(d) optionally amplifying a third (3^rd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain sequence;

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of each of said one or more further domain sequences;

(f) performing a restriction digest of the domain sequences of any of steps (b) to (e):

(g) ligating the digested 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence obtained in step (f) to obtain a ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(h) binding the ligation product of step (g) to a solid support using the tag labeling of the 1^stdomain sequence to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(j) performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (h):

(k) optionally ligating the digested 3^rddomain sequence of (d) obtained in step (f) to the bound ligation product of step (j) to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^st, 2^ndand 3^rddomain sequence;

(l) performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (k):

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (k) with a restriction enzyme targeting the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain.

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product of step (k) with a restriction enzyme targeting the 5′-end of the 3^rddomain.

(n) releasing the ligation product obtained in any of steps (h) to (m) from the solid support;

(o) characterizing the ligation product obtained in step (n) and identifying chimeric polypeptides having at least one CBD and at least one EAD.

3″. The method of item 1″ or 2″, further comprising a washing step after binding the first ligation product to the solid support in step (h) to remove unbound ligation products and/or non-ligated domain sequences.

4″. The method of any one of items 1″ to 3″, wherein steps (g) and (h) are replaced by a step of binding the digested 1^stdomain sequence to a solid support using the tag labeling at the 5′-end or 3′-end, respectively, and a subsequent step of ligating the digested 2″ domain sequence of (c) obtained in step (f) to the bound 1^stdomain sequence to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence.

5″. The method of item 4″, further comprising a step of removing unbound domain sequences after binding the first ligation product to the solid support, and optionally a further step of removing non-ligated domain sequences after ligating the second domain sequence to the bound first domain sequence.

6″. The method for screening a lytic chimeric polypeptide of any one of items 1″ and 3″ to 5″, further comprising a step of removing non-ligated domain sequences and/or undesired products resulting from the restriction digest after each ligation and restriction step performed in any of steps (h) to (m).

7″. The method for generating chimeric polypeptides having at least one CBD and at least one EAD of any one of items 2″ to 5″, further comprising a step of removing non-ligated domain sequences and/or undesired products resulting from the restriction digest after each ligation and restriction step performed in steps (k) to (m).

8″. The method of any one of items 2″ to 5″, wherein step (o) comprises the steps of:

(o) cloning the ligation product obtained in step (n) into an expression vector;

(p) introducing the vector obtained in step (o) into an expression host, preferably into a bacterial expression host;

(r) selecting and isolating an expression clone expressing a lytic polypeptide according to step (q) using the lytic activity of the polypeptide; and

(s) characterizing the lytic polypeptide expressed by the isolated expression clone of step (r) and identifying a lytic chimeric polypeptide having at least one CBD and at least one EAD.

9″. The method of any one of items 1″ to 8″, wherein the domain sequences of (a) are cloned into a vector prior to amplification.

10″. The method of any one of items 1″ to 9″, wherein the step of releasing the ligation product or ligation products from the solid support is carried out using a restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at that end of the 1^stdomain, which is carrying the tag labelling.

11″. The method of any one of items 1″ to 10″, wherein in case of repeated ligation steps optionally after any repeated ligation step part of the obtained bound ligation product is separated from the method prior to performing a subsequent ligation step.

12″. The method of any one of items 1″ to 11″, wherein the solid support is a particle, a surface of a device, a foil or a fleece.

13″. The method of item 12″, wherein the particle is a silica bead or an organic polymer bead being magnetic.

14″. A lytic chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the method for screening a lytic chimeric polypeptide of any one of items 1″ and 3″ to 13″.

15″. A chimeric polypeptide or a plurality of chimeric polypeptides obtainable by the method of generating chimeric polypeptides having at least one CBD and at least one EAD of any one of items 2″ to 13″.

16″. A library of chimeric polypeptides obtainable by the method of any one of items 2″ to 13″.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a scheme of the modified cloning vector pET14b. The 5′ end of the insert will be ligated to the NcoI site, the 3′ end of the insert will be ligated to the SpeI site of the vector. Downstream of the SpeI site lies the sequence for the synthetic linker. For the insert carries no stop codon the translation will include the synthetic linker and a stop at a vector intrinsic codon behind the BamHI-site.

FIG. 2 shows a scheme for the introduction of position specific restriction sites by position specific primer combinations. In particular, FIG. 2 shows the cloning vector pET14b with an insert (here: EAD) from NcoI to BamHI site. The forward PCR primer overlaps 3′ with the insert and introduces for position 1 a NcoI site and a biotin tag, for position 2 a PstI site and for position 3 a SalI site. The reverse PCR primer overlaps 5′ with the insert and introduces for position 1 a PstI site, for position 2 a SalI site and for position 3 a EcoRV site.

FIG. 3: PCR of EAD500 with position specific primer combinations and thus restriction sites of position 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 3 shows the agarose gel with the PCR products of EAD500 of position 1, position 2 and position 3. The products were generated with the position specific PCR primers and the cloned EAD500 as template. The generated fragments have the same size but carry the different, position specific restriction sites.

FIG. 4: Agarose gel analysis of S1, S2 and Beads. FIG. 4 shows a binding experiment of biotinylated and non-biotinylated DNA and streptavidin coated beads. The biotin tags can be cut off by NcoI digest. S1 is the supernatant after incubation of DNA with streptavidin coated beads and contains biotinylated DNA with 1400 bp and 600 bp as well as non-biotinylated DNA with 700 bp. The non-biotinylated DNA could not bind to the streptavidin beads because of the lack of a biotin tag. The biotinylated DNA exceeded the binding capacity of the streptavidin beads and was thus in the supernatant. The beads were washed and resuspended in buffer and a restriction digest with NcoI was performed. The supernatant was removed (=S2). S2 contains only DNA with 1400 bp and 600 bp. These fragments were biotinylated and could bind to the beads. The Beads themselves showed no DNA bands at the agarose gel.

FIG. 5 shows the 16 possible constructs of the ligation of the 4 N-terminal EADs (EAD511, EADP35, EADP40 and EADPSA) combined with the 4 C-terminal CBDs (CBD006, CBD500, CBD511, CBDP40 variant A). In the random ligation every EAD should be ligated to every CBD.

FIG. 6: PCR fragments of EADs and CBDs for position 1 and position 2, respectively. E: EAD, C: CBD. FIG. 6 shows an agarose gel with the PCR products of the EADs (E) for position 1 (EAD511: 640 bp, EADP40: 730 bp, EADPSA: 601 bp, EADP35: 505 bp) amplified with the specific primers for position 1 and the CBDs (C) for position 2 (CBD511: 550 bp, CBDP40 variant A: 463 bp, CBD500: 532 bp, CBD006: 337 bp) amplified with the specific primers for position 2.

FIG. 7: Analysis of ligation and DNA-capture on 1.5% agarose gel. L: Ligation, NS: Supernatant after NcoI digest, D: pooled domains. FIG. 7 shows an agarose gel of the random ligation of the 4 N-terminal EADs and the 4 C-terminal CBDs. About 0.06 pmol of each fragment were applicated in lane D as indicated by the arrows. Lane L shows the ligation products with 0.06 pmol of each fragment. Lane NS shows the ligation products out of 0.06 pmol of each fragment that were captured via biotin tag by streptavidin coated beads and cut off the beads by NcoI.

FIG. 8: Scheme of pQE60-lib with modified cloning site. FIG. 8 shows a scheme of the pQE60-lib vector. The multiple cloning site was adapted for cloning of inserts with an 5′ NcoI site and a 3′ PstI, SalI or EcoRV site. The translation begins with the ATG of the NcoI site and ends at a vector intrinsic stop codon between the EcoRV site and HindIII site.

FIG. 9: Induced E. coli M15 cells show lysis after plasmid transformation and colony growth. FIG. 9 shows a lysis selection plate with induced endolysin expressing E. coli M15 tranformants. Transformed E. coli cells were plated on lysis plates with heat inactivated Listeria cells WSLC 2011 (Listeria innocua, serotype 6a). The lysis selection plate contains LB Top Agar, heat inactivated Listeria cells WSLC 2011 (Listeria innocua, serotype 6a), IPTG and Ampicillin. E. coli M15 were transformed with pQE60-lib carrying endolysins and plated. E. coli cells that express a soluble and active protein are surrounded by a clearance of the Listeria cells.

FIG. 10: Confirmation of the 16 possible variants. FIG. 10 shows the confirmation of the 16 possible variants A to P of the 4 N-terminal EADs (EADP40, EADP35, EAD511, EADPSA) and the 4 C-terminal CBDs (CBD511, CBD500, CBDP40 variant A, CBDO06). Colony PCR was performed with pQE forward and pQE reverse primer and digested at the PstI site where the domains were ligated together during the cloning procedure. The resulting fragments were analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The separated domains can be identified by the individual domain sizes. The domain sizes include also fragments from the domain borders to the priming sites of pQE forward and pQE reverse primer. CBDP40 means CBDP40-A construct of Table 1.

FIG. 11 shows the SDS gel analysis of protein expression of the 16 variants A-P. All proteins have the correct size. Hence, the domain fragments are ligated correctly without frame shifts. The numeration is the same as in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12: Lytic spectrum of the 16 variants follows the behaviour of corresponding CBDs.

FIG. 12 shows the lytic behaviour of the variants A-P against Listeria serovars 6a (L. innocua WSLC2011), 1/2a (L. monocytogenes EGDe) and 4b (L. monocytogenes ScottA). The proteins behave corresponding to the CBD binding spectra: variants A, D, F and K have CBD511 and lyse all three serovars, the CBD511 binds all three serovars. Variants with CBD500 (B, E, G and L) lyse only serovars 6a and 4b, variants with CBD006 (I, M, O P) lyse mainly serovars 1/2a. Candidates with CBDP40 are not lytic active against the tested Listeria cells what means that this CBDP40-variant A is not functionable. Sv 6a: L. innocua WSLC2011, 1/2a: L. monocytogenes EGDe, 4b: L. monocytogenes ScottA.

FIG. 13A-B: FIGS. 13A and 13B shows the claimed methods using either 5′-labeling (FIG. 13A) or 3′-labeling (FIG. 13B) of the 1^stdomain according to the first aspect of the invention. According to the first aspect of the invention, the claimed methods comprise performing a restriction digest on the amplified domain sequences of any of steps (b) to (e) with restriction enzymes targeting the restriction sites introduced in any of steps (b) to (e), wherein a restriction digest is not performed on the restriction site introduced to an end carrying a tag labelling.

FIG. 14A-B: FIGS. 14A and 14B shows the claimed methods using either 5′-labeling (FIG. 14A) or 3′-labeling (FIG. 14B) of the 1^stdomain according to the second aspect of the invention. According to the second aspect of the invention, the claimed methods comprise performing a restriction digest on the domain sequences of any of steps (b) to (e) as follows:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain (FIG. 14A): performing a restriction digest of the domain sequence of step (b) with a restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at the 3′-end and performing a restriction digest of the domain sequences of any of steps (c) to (e) with restriction enzymes targeting the restriction sites at the 5′-ends,

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain (FIG. 14B): performing a restriction digest of the domain sequence of step (b) with a restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at the 5′-end and performing a restriction digest of the domain sequences of any of steps (c) to (e) with restriction enzymes targeting the restriction sites at the 3′-ends.

Furthermore, according to the second aspect of the invention, the claimed methods further comprise performing a further restriction digest on the bound ligation product as follows:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 3′-end of the domain ligated to the bound ligation product,

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 5′-end of the domain ligated to the bound ligation product.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing has outlined the features of various embodiments in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of various embodiments will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.

The prior art describes lytic chimeric polypeptides, which may comprise a CBD and an EAD. WO 2010/020657 describes the combination of different fragments of polypeptides from different wild-type enzymes into new chimeric polypeptide constructs (“shuffling”). As mentioned therein, the fragments are combined by molecular biological methods on the nucleic acid level. There are several differences between WO 2010/020657 and the novel methods of the present invention. In particular, in contrast to WO 2010/020657 the methods of the present invention comprise the use of a solid support. This provides for an improvement of the efficiency and accuracy of the methods of generating and screening for a chimeric polypeptide according to the present invention. In addition, the use of a solid support provides for accelerating the generation of novel chimeric polypeptides. Furthermore, the methods of the present invention follow a cyclic process, which has the effect that only those constructs are formed that have the desired length, i.e., chimeric polypeptides having, for example, 3 or 4 domains. In connection with this it is of note that the constructs as such are not generated in a directed manner. That is, the sequence (i.e., chronological order) of the domains in the chimeric polypeptides obtained from the methods is not predetermined (combinatorial approach). Here, the approach followed in the prior art, in particular in WO 2010/020657, is completely different. In particular, in the chimeric polypeptides generated in the prior art the domains are predetermined (directed cloning approach), and the domains used in the cloning methods were known domains having specific favourable characteristics and advantageous properties/activities. This is not surprising given that it was desired in the prior art to combine EADs, which were known for their favourable lytic activity. In other words, the prior art was following the principle of considering which combination of known fully characterized domains may be desirous. In contrast, the domains applied in the methods of the present invention are independent of any such previous knowledge, even though of course known domain sequences may be applied to the methods of the present invention. However, basically there is no prior knowledge necessary with respect to the characteristics, the relative positions, and activities/properties of the domains applied in the methods of the present invention. The chimeric polypeptides obtained from the methods of the present invention are characterized using the lytic activity of the resulting constructs. Therefore, the claimed methods allow selecting those variants, which have desired superior properties. This approach followed by the methods of the present invention is a hypothesis-free approach (discovery-driven). There is no need to identify and characterize the domain sequences prior to conducting the methods of the present invention. This is in clear contrast to the prior art methods. The prior art neither teaches nor suggest or foreshadows the approach that is underlying the methods of the present invention.

In essence, the methods of the present invention allow generating and screening for improved domain combinations that could not have been expected from considering the single domains in isolation. This effectiveness of the claimed methods has been demonstrated in the examples of the present application (Examples 5 and 6). Therefore, the present application provides evidence for the quality of the claimed methods. There is no method whatsoever in the prior art that would generate results similar to those achieved with the methods of the present invention.

In addition, the following Table shows the number of variants that can be obtained with the methods of the present invention:

Number of

DNA
possible 2-

sequences
domain
possible 3-
possible 4-

(domains)
variants
domain variants
domain variants
Total

5
25
125
625
775

10
100
1000
10000
11100

20
400
8000
160000
168400

25
625
15625
390625
406875

Therefore, the methods of the present invention provide for a rapid and accurate generation of all variants resulting from a specific number of DNA sequences applied to the methods.

Enormous time-consuming, laborious efforts are required if all possible variants would have to be generated using conventional cloning methods.

Furthermore, the methods of the present invention have the effect that undesired by-products are eliminated during the method steps, thereby providing for a high efficiency of the methods and improving the likelihood that all possible variants are present in the resulting library.

In the present invention, the term “CBD” represents the abbreviation for cell binding domain, more specifically cell wall binding domain. Thus, the term “CBD” may also represent the abbreviation for cell wall binding domain. The terms “cell binding domain” and “cell wall binding domain” may be used interchangeably. The structural and functional definition of a CBD according to the present invention is given elsewhere in the description. In the present invention, “EAD” represents the abbreviation for enzymatic active domain. In the present invention, an EAD has lytic activity against bacteria. Thus, an EAD in accordance with the present invention can also be considered as a lytic domain. A more specific structural and functional definition of an EAD according to the present invention is given elsewhere here in the description. EADs in accordance with the present invention can be isolated from nature or can be produced by recombinant or synthetic means.

In the literature, the terms “bacteriophage lysins”, “phage endolysins”, “endolysins”, “virolysins” and “lysins” are often interchangeably used. Thus, in the present invention, the terms “bacteriophage lysins”, “phage endolysins”, “endolysins” and “lysins” can be used interchangeably while defining the same kind of enzymes, namely bacterial cell wall-hydrolyzing enzymes synthesized during the late phase of gene expression in the lytic cycle of phage multiplication. By way of another definition, endolysin are enzymes encoded by double stranded (ds) DNA phage genomes that lyse bacterial cell walls. In general, in the present invention the term “bacteriophage” or “phage” means “lytic bacteriophage” or “lysogenic bacteriophage” (“lytic phage” or “lysogenic phage”).

A “phage” or “bacteriophage”, as used herein, relates to the well-known category of viruses that infect bacteria. Phages include DNA or RNA sequences encapsidated in a protein envelope or coat (“capsid”).

In the present invention, the term “bacterium” preferably describes a “target bacterium”, and refers to a bacterium that is bound by a chimeric polypeptide of the present invention and and/or whose growth, survival, or replication is inhibited by the enzymatic activity of an EAD in accordance with the present invention. Such a bacterium in accordance with the present invention is preferably a pathogenic bacterium. The inhibition of bacterial growth refers to the slowing or stopping of the rate of a bacteria cell's division or cessation of bacterial cell division, or to death of bacteria. The term “target bacterium” specifically includes both Gram-positive and Gram-negative target bacteria, preferably Gram-positive bacteria.

In the present invention, a polypeptide obtainable by the claimed methods is chimeric because it comprises a combination of domains selected from CBDs and EADs, which is as such not found in nature. Preferably, the domains combined in a chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention are of different source or origin. Thus, a chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention may comprise a CBD and an EAD from the same source or origin, provided that the chimeric polypeptide comprises at least one further CBD and/or EAD from a different source or origin.

Furthermore, a chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention may comprise a CBD and an EAD from the same source or origin if the combination of domains from the same source or origin is as such not found in nature. In the present invention, the term “heterologous” may be used interchangeably with the term “chimeric”.

In the present invention, the term “domain(s) of different source or origin” includes “domain(s) of a different source or origin of organism” and “domain(s) of a different source or origin of enzyme”.

A chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention may comprise more than one EAD and, thus, can act on different cell wall structures, and hence has the potential to treat two or more different bacterial infections at the same time.

In the present invention, a pathogenic bacterial species is defined by the similarities found among its members. Properties such as biochemical reactions, chemical composition, cellular structures, genetic characteristics, and immunological features are used in defining a pathogenic bacterial species and thus differentiating different pathogenic bacterial species.

An EAD in accordance with the present invention exhibits lytic activity against a bacterial cell. Thus, an EAD in accordance with the present invention exhibits the activity of inhibition of bacterial growth, including the slowing or stopping of the rate of cell division of bacteria or cessation of bacterial cell division, or to death of bacteria (killing colonizing bacteria).

In various embodiments of the present invention, the EAD is the lytic domain of a bacteriophage endolysin, including bacteriophage endolysins against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. More preferably, the EAD is the lytic domain of a bacteriophage endolysin, wherein the endolysin is from a bacteriophage that infects a Gram-positive bacterium. In various embodiments the EAD is the lytic domain of a bacteriophage endolysin, wherein the endolysin is from a bacteriophage that infects a Gram-negative bacterium.

As mentioned before, in the present invention bacteriophage lysins (or lysins) are bacterial cell wall-hydrolyzing enzymes synthesized during the late phase of gene expression in the lytic cycle of phage multiplication. As peptidoglycan is the major structural component of bacterial cell walls, in the present invention bacteriophage lysins are preferably peptidoglycan-hydrolysing enzymes. More preferably, in the present invention a bacteriophage lysine is a glycosidase, amidase, or endopeptidase, depending on the type of chemical bond they cleave within the peptidoglycan. Still more preferably, a bacteriophage lysine to be used in the present invention exhibits muramidase activity, glucosaminidase activity, or transglycosylase activity. Thus, in the present invention, a bacteriophage lysine provides at least one of the following enzymatic activities against a peptidoglycan substrate: muramidase activity, glucosaminidase activity, N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase activity and endopeptidase activity.

By way of another definition, bacteriophage endolysin are enzymes encoded by double stranded (ds) DNA phage genomes that lyse bacterial cell walls. This definition of bacteriophage endolysins is encompassed by the present invention, too.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the EAD is the lytic domain of a bacteriocin, including the lytic domain of a bacteriocin from Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Preferably, the EAD is the lytic domain of a bacteriocin from a Gram-positive bacterium. In various embodiments, the EAD is the lytic domain of a bacteriocin from a Gram-negative bacterium.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the EAD is the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin, including autolyins from both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Preferably, the EAD is the lytic domain of an autolysin from a Gram-positive bacterium. In various embodiments, the EAD is the lytic domain of an autolysin from a Gram-negative bacterium.

Bacteriophages are not only known to encode and produce lysins, but also so-called tail associated muralytic enzymes (TAMEs), which are likewise capable of hydrolysing bacterial cell walls. While lysins are produced in the final stage of the phage-life cycle to facilitate the release of progeny phage from the host bacterium, TAMEs are, in contrast, structural proteins necessary during the first stage of the process of infection of a host cell. The first stage of the phage infection process comprises the steps of adsorption to and penetration of the host cell, which is mediated using, inter alia, the TAME. Many but not all phages have tails attached to the phage head. Thus, in various embodiments of the present invention, the EAD is a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity. Preferably, the EAD is a tail-associated protein having lytic activity of phages that infect Gram-positive hosts. In various embodiments, the EAD is a tail-associated protein having lytic activity of phages that infect Gram-negative hosts. Bacteriophage tail-associated proteins typically mediate the recognition and attachment of the phage to the target host, and some of them possess cell wall degrading activities, which assist in penetration of phage components into the host.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the EAD is derived from bacteriophage tail-equivalents in caudovirales, which provide means for the phage to enter a bacterial host from the external environment.

A chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention may comprise more than one CBD and, thus, can bind to different cell wall structures, and hence has the potential to treat two or more different bacterial infections at the same time.

In the present invention, any kind of CBD can be used in the methods of the present invention and includes cell-binding domains, which are part of proteins binding to a target bacterial cell, specifically to the cell wall of a target bacterium. Thus, in the present invention, the CBDs are specifically cell wall-binding domains. In general, a CBD in accordance with the present invention binds to bacterial cells, specifically to cell walls of target bacteria, more specifically to cell wall components produced by a target cell, which are non-covalently or covalently associated with the cell wall of a target cell. In other words, the cell-binding domain or cell wall-binding domain is that part of a cell binding protein or cell wall binding protein, which is necessary and sufficient for the binding ability to a bacterial cell or target bacterial cell, specifically for the binding ability to the cell surface of a bacterial cell or target bacterial cell. The bacterial cell or target bacterial cell includes any Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacterial cell.

In various preferred embodiments of the present invention, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of a bacteriophage endolysin, including bacteriophage endolysins against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. More preferably, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of a bacteriophage endolysin, wherein the endolysin is from a bacteriophage that infects a Gram-positive bacterium. In various embodiments the CBD is the cell-binding domain of a bacteriophage endolysin, wherein the endolysin is from a bacteriophage that infects a Gram-negative bacterium.

In various preferred embodiments of the present invention, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of a bacteriocin, including the cell-binding domain of a bacteriocin from Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Preferably, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of a bacteriocin from a Gram-positive bacterium. In various embodiments, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of a bacteriocin from a Gram-negative bacterium.

In various preferred embodiments of the present invention, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of a bacterial autolysin, including autolysins from both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Preferably, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of an autolysin from a Gram-positive bacterium. In various embodiments, the CBD is the cell-binding domain of an autolysin from a Gram-negative bacterium.

CBDs to be used in the methods of the present invention are capable of specifically binding to bacteria. Thus, while CBDs in accordance with the present invention exhibit cell binding activity, they have no or no significant hydrolytic activity. No or no significant hydrolytic activity in this context is intended to describe the situation whereby the hydrolytic activity is not sufficient to prevent the application of a CBD to bind to a bacterial cell, more specifically to a bacterial cell wall. A CBD to be used in the methods of the present invention is supposed to be a protein, which does not have any hydrolytic activity itself. This also applies to fragments and variants of a CBD according to the present invention, which are also encompassed by the present invention.

The present invention encompasses DNA sequences of any known CBDs and EADs. In the present invention, also DNA sequences coding for functional fragments of known CBDs and EADs as well as DNA sequences coding for mutants and variants of known CBDs and EADs having the same biological function or activity as the known reference CBD or EAD may be used in the methods of the present invention, i.e. binding to the cell wall of a bacterial cell and exhibiting the activity of hydrolysing a bacterial cell wall, respectively.

As used herein, the terms “functional fragment”, “mutant” and “variant” refer to a polypeptide, which possesses biological function or activity identified through a defined functional assay and associated with a particular biologic, morphologic, or phenotypic alteration in a bacterial cell or of a bacterial cell. EADs and CBDs in accordance with the present invention specifically also encompass naturally occurring forms like, for example, alternatively spliced or modified forms and naturally-occurring variants thereof, the DNA sequences coding for which can be used in the methods of the present invention.

The DNA sequences encoding fragments and variants of CBDs and EADs that can be used in the methods of the present invention include chemically synthesized DNA sequences (synthetic genes).

Modifications of CBDs and EADs in accordance with the present invention may result in mutant or variant proteins having substantially equivalent activity to a reference CBD or EAD described herein. Such modifications may be deliberate, as by site-directed mutagenesis, or may occur by spontaneous changes in nucleotide and amino acid sequences where these changes produce modified polypeptides having substantially equivalent activity to the respective reference CBD or EAD. Any polypeptides produced by minor modifications of a known CBD or EAD primary amino acid sequence are included herein as long as the biological activity of a cell wall binding domain or an enzymatic active domain exhibiting lytic activity is present. DNA sequences encoding such modified CBD and EAD polypeptides may also be used in the methods according to the present invention.

As used herein, “substantially equivalent activity” refers to polypeptides, wherein changes in one or more nucleotide bases of the respective nucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide result in substitution of one or more amino acids, but do not affect the functional properties of the polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence. “Substantially equivalent activity” also refers to modifications of CBD and/or EAD encoding nucleic acid sequences such as deletion or insertion that do not substantially affect the functional properties of the resulting transcript and/or protein. It is therefore understood that in the methods according to the present invention more than the nucleotide or amino acid sequences of known CBDs and EADs can be used, i.e. including functional equivalents thereof.

CBDs and EADs for use in the present invention may be identified by analysis of genome sequences using the NCBI website (world wide web at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov); specifically, ORF Finder at the NCBI website may be used for identification (world wide web at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gorf/gorf.html). Sequences of predicted proteins can be scanned for homology with known proteins using BLAST searches via the NCBI website (world wide web at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST). Multiple sequence alignments of homologous genes and proteins can be performed using ClustalW at the EBI website (world wide web at ebi.ac.uk/Tools/clustalw2/index.html).

In particular, with respect to endolysins the skilled person is in the position to identify CBDs and EADs by homology search in the genome of bacteria and bacterial phages and/or functional screening of DNA libraries of phage genomes. Such homology searches may not only target lysine genes, but also the corresponding holin genes as the holin and lysine happen to be encoded adjacently in a particular genome. By targeting holing genes, it is thus possible to identify adjacent lysins. In addition, bacteriophage endolysin CBDs and EADs may be identified experimentally as described, for example, in Loessner et al. 2002 and Korndorfer et al. 2006, i.e. by determining the domain structure of an endolysin and elucidating the cell wall binding and lytic function of the respective domains. Bacteriophage lysins to be analyzed for CBDs and EADs may be identified by the method described in Schuch et al. 2009. As mentioned therein, the techniques described can be adapted to identify lysins from any phage infecting Gram-positive or even Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, endolysin CBDs and EADs may be identified using DNA libraries as described in Schmitz et al. 2008.

Likewise, with respect to autolysins and bacteriocins, the skilled person is in the position to identify CBDs and EADs by homology search in the genome of bacteria. CBDs and EADs of autolysins and bacteriocins may also be identified experimentally.

Basically, the methods according to the present invention are characterized by binding a first domain sequence, which may be a CBD or an EAD and which may be part of a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, to a solid support using a tag labelling of said first domain sequence to be bound to the solid support. Furthermore, the methods according to the present invention are basically characterized by ligating one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to said first domain sequence when bound to the solid support and/or to a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, which is bound to the solid support phase by said first domain sequence being bound to the solid support. Thus, ligating one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences includes not only ligating one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a single first domain sequence originally bound to the solid support, but also ligating one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a ligation construct, which comprises two or more domain sequences and which was originally bound to the solid support by a first domain sequence. Thus, the ligation steps result in ligation products of one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a single first domain sequence bound to a solid support or one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, which was originally bound to the solid support by a first domain sequence. Still further, the methods according to the present invention are basically characterized by releasing the ligation product from the solid support after ligation of one or more domain sequences to said first domain sequence bound to the solid support and/or to the ligation construct, which was originally bound to the solid support phase by said first domain sequence being bound to the solid support. Thus, the step of releasing a ligation product from the solid support after performing one or more steps of ligation of one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences provides a DNA coding for a polypeptide, which can then be proven as a lytic chimeric polypeptide in accordance with the present invention.

Accordingly, the present invention provides methods of generating and screening for a chimeric polypeptide comprising at least one CBD and at least one EAD comprising the steps of (i) binding a first domain sequence, which may be a CBD or an EAD and which may be part of a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, to a solid support using a tag labelling of the domain sequence to be bound to the solid support, (ii) ligating one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to said first domain sequence bound to the solid support and/or to said ligation construct comprising one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, which is bound to the solid support phase by said first domain sequence bound to the solid support, and (iii) releasing from the solid support the ligation product resulting from ligation of one or more domain sequences to the first domain sequence bound to the solid support and/or resulting from ligation of one or more domain sequences to said ligation construct, which was originally bound to the solid support phase by the said first domain sequence bound to the solid support.

In the present invention, one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences are bound to the solid support as a first domain sequence by tag labelling. Thus, a non-limited number of different so-called first domain sequences are bound to the solid support, and to each of which one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences may be ligated. This allows providing a non-limited number of ligation products corresponding to all combinations of CBDs and EADs, which are statistically possible depending on the CBD and EAD sequences applied and the ligation cycles performed, and which are as such not found in nature.

The situation described above accordingly holds for constructs of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, which are bound to the solid support phase. That is, in various embodiments of the present invention a non-limited number of constructs of one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences may be bound to the solid support by the first domain sequence carrying a tag labelling. Thus, to each of the originally bound ligation constructs of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, one or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences may be ligated. This allows providing a non-limited number of ligation products corresponding to all combinations of CBDs and EADs, which are statistically possible depending on the CBD and EAD sequences applied and the ligation cycles performed, and which are as such not found in nature.

More specifically, the methods of the present invention may provide for a non-limited number of ligation products corresponding to all combinations of CBDs and EADs from the different sources or origins described herein. Thus, the generation and screening for lytic chimeric polypeptides provided by the present invention is based on a random shuffling of domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences using a solid support, on which a non-limited number of ligation products of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences is formed. Thus, the number of first domain sequences and/or ligation constructs of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, which are originally to be bound to the solid support in order to form ligation products by repeatedly performing ligation steps on said first domain sequence(s) and/or ligation construct(s), is non-limited and includes even the binding of only one such first domain sequence and/or only one such ligation construct to the solid support.

In accordance with the present invention, the domain sequence originally bound to the solid support or that domain sequence of a ligation construct, which is directly bound to the solid support via tag labelling, is called the 1^stdomain sequence. Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention the ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, which is originally bound to the solid support via tag labelling of the first domain sequence of such a ligation construct, may also be called a first ligation product.

In the present invention, a solid support having bound first domain sequences and/or ligation constructs of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences may be called solid support phase. Thus, in the present invention ligating domain sequences to first domain sequences and/or ligation constructs bound to a solid support may also be described as ligating domain sequences to the solid support phase.

In various embodiments, the methods according to the present invention are characterized by the step of providing one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one CBD, and furthermore one or more DNA sequences each encoding at least one EAD, wherein the EAD is selected from the group consisting of (i) the lytic domain of a bacteriophage lysin, (ii) the lytic domain of a bacteriocin, (iii) the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin; and (iv) a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity. Optionally, step (a) of the methods according to the present invention furthermore provides one or more DNA sequences, wherein each sequence encodes at least one CBD and at least one EAD, wherein the EAD is selected from the group consisting of (i) the lytic domain of a bacteriophage lysin, (ii) the lytic domain of a bacteriocin, (iii) the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin; and (iv) a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity. Thus, while in step (a) basically each of the DNA sequences (one or more) encodes either at least one CBD or at least one EAD, optionally step (a) furthermore includes providing one or more DNA sequences, wherein each DNA sequence encodes both at least one CBD and at least one EAD.

In the present invention, the generation of ligatable, position-specific PCR fragments (see Example 2) may be performed in two ways: either with a primer which is not tag-labelled (i.e., for example, a non-biotinylated primer) or with a primer which is tag-labelled (i.e., for example, a biotinylated primer). PCR products for domain sequences, which are generated with a primer that is not tag-labelled, as well as PCR products for the first domain sequence (“position 1”) generated with a primer that is tag-labelled, are to be purified using common purification kits. PCR products for domain sequences except for first domain sequences generated with a primer that is tag-labelled (with, for example, a biotin-tag) may be purified by correspondingly prepared magnetic particles. That is, in case of using the biotin-streptavidin-system, such PCR products may be purified by streptavidin-coated magnetic particles. In particular, PCR products are bound to beads, which are subsequently washed for applying an appropriate buffer or change of buffer and released from the beads by restriction digest at restriction sites previously introduced into the domain sequence. PCR products for first domain sequences generated with a primer that is tag-labelled may not be purified by magnetic particles together with the use of a restriction enzyme because this would remove the tag-labelling from the first domain sequence, which is however required for binding of first domain sequences to a solid support.

In the present invention, the amplification of the domain sequences follows standard procedures using PCR and position-specific primers. Alternatively, domain sequences may be obtained from plasmid preparations, i.e. for the ligation reaction a multiple of domain sequences can be prepared by restriction digest from plasmids, which carry the domain sequences and which are cultured in appropriate hosts for “amplification” of the plasmids. In the present invention, binding of ligation products to a solid support is performed using a tag labelling, preferably a biotin tag labelling. Various peptide tags have become popular in biotechnology, among them those essentially enabling reversible immobilization of proteins to affinity matrices.

In the present invention, the introduction of a tag labelling at the 5′-end or 3′-end of a domain DNA sequence can be performed using standard labelling systems involving the use of, for example, 5′- and 3′-biotinylated primers, respectively. In various embodiments, the tag labelling may be introduced not directly at the 5′-end, but at a base position located more downstream in the 3′-end direction, provided that the tag labelling may still be removed by restriction enzyme digest. In the present invention, a tag labelling is a labelling which provides for a binding of a nucleic acid sequence to a solid support such as a particle, a surface of a device, a foil or a fleece, more specifically a silica bead or an organic polymer bead, which may be magnetic. Thus, in various embodiments of the present invention a tag labelling provides for a chemical tag labelling, e.g. a biotin labelling or a digoxigenin labelling. In various embodiments, the biotin-streptavidin-system is a preferred system to be used in the methods according to the present invention, wherein the binding of a domain sequence, specifically a first domain sequence in accordance with the present invention, or a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a solid support is mediated by streptavidin. In various other embodiments, the digoxigenin-antibody-system is a preferred system to be used in the methods according to the present invention, wherein the binding of a domain sequence, specifically a first domain sequence in accordance with the present invention, or a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a solid support is mediated by an antibody.

In various embodiments of the methods of the present invention, the first domain to be ligated to the solid support may be a nonsense-domain, which is carrying a tag labelling and which may be detached after performing the ligation step(s) ligating EAD and CBD domains to the solid support phase, i.e. in accordance with the step of releasing the obtained ligation product from the solid support.

In the present invention, restriction digests with restriction enzymes are performed by standard procedures and according to the manual of the manufacturer of the respective restriction enzyme.

In the present invention, ligation of domain sequences follows standard procedures. In various embodiments, ligation of the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence is performed in ligase buffer while ligation of the ligated 1^stand 2^nddomain with one or more further domain sequences is performed in restriction enzyme buffer of the respective restriction enzyme(s) under addition of ATP. In various embodiments, ligation of domains to the solid phase, i.e. ligation of domains to the solid support having bound already a ligation product, is performed using bound and free domains in a ratio of 1:5, preferably 1:10. In various embodiments, the ratio of bound and free domains is 1:15, more preferably 1:20.

In the methods of the present invention, the domain sequences may be ligated to the solid support phase after a restriction digest has been performed on each of the amplified domain sequences with the appropriate restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site previously introduced into the respective domain sequences in accordance with the present invention. Alternatively, the domain sequences may be ligated to the solid support phase with only that end of the domain sequence being digested with a corresponding restriction enzyme, which is ligated to the preceding domain sequence on the solid support phase. Depending on the orientation of the growing ligation product, i.e. depending on the tag labelling of the first domain sequence being either at the 5′-end or at the 3′-end, the digested end of the domain sequence to be ligated may either be the 3′-end or the 5′-end. In this situation, a restriction digest is performed on the solid support phase, i.e., in particular, on the growing ligation product, using the appropriate restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site introduced into the most recent ligated domain sequence in order to prepare the non-ligated end of the most recent ligated domain sequence for being ligated with a further domain sequence. This alternative way of step-by-step restriction digest and ligation of a domain sequence is preferably applicable in the situation where the ligatable domain sequences are amplified using a primer which is tag-labelled (i.e., for example, a biotinylated primer). Accordingly, the resulting PCR products may be purified by correspondingly prepared magnetic particles and the PCR products are released from the beads by restriction digest, which is performed at that restriction site previously introduced into the domain sequence to be amplified, which is required for ligating the domain sequence to the growing ligation product on the solid support phase. This approach does not require performing a restriction digest on the other restriction site previously introduced at the other end (either 5′ or 3′) of the domain sequence to be amplified. As described above, a restriction digest on this restriction site is then performed after the domain sequence has been ligated to the solid support phase. In various embodiments of the present invention, the step of releasing the ligation product or ligation products from the solid support is carried out using a restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at that end of the 1^stdomain, which is carrying the tag labelling. In various other embodiments of the present invention, the step of releasing the ligation product or ligation products from the solid support is carried out by releasing the bound tag from the solid support. In this case, the ligation product together with the tag labelling is released from the solid support. Thus, when using, for example, the biotin-streptavidin system in the methods of the present invention, this means disruption of the streptavidin-biotin bond under appropriate conditions. Where the step of releasing the ligation product from the solid support is carried out by releasing the bound tag from the solid support, subsequent cloning of the released ligation product into an expression vector requires a restriction digest of the ligation product with the respective restriction enzyme targeting the restriction site at that end of the 1^stdomain of the ligation product, which is carrying the tag labelling.

In the present invention, introducing the expression vector carrying the ligation product released from the solid support into an expression host can be performed by methods described in standard laboratory manuals, and includes standard transformation procedures like, for example, electroporation or the use of chemically competent cells.

In the present invention, the expression host, into which the expression vector carrying the ligation product is introduced, includes any host-based system, which allows expression of the ligation product released from the solid support. Host cells can be genetically engineered to incorporate expression systems or portions thereof. Representative examples of appropriate hosts include bacterial cells, such as streptococci, staphylococci, enterococci, E. coli, Streptomyces and Bacillus subtilis cells; fungal cells, such as yeast cells and Aspergillus cells; insect cells such as Drosophila S2 and Spodoptera Sf9 cells; animal cells such as CHO, COS, HeLa, C127, 3T3, BHK, 293 and Bowes melanoma cells and plant cells.

In the present invention, the expression host is preferably a bacterial expression strain. More preferably, the bacterial expression strain is an inducible bacterial expression strain like, for example, the T5 or T7-expression strains. In general, expression hosts and expression vectors (plasmids) that can be used in the present invention are known to the person skilled in the art.

Expression vectors to be used in the present invention provide for or are designed to allow cloning of the ligation product obtained from the solid support by appropriate restriction enzyme sites. The expression system constructs to be used in the present invention may contain control regions that regulate as well as engender expression. Generally, any system or vector suitable to express ligation products and chimeric polypeptides according to the present invention may be used for expression in this regard. The appropriate sequences may be inserted into the expression system by any of a variety of well-known and routine techniques.

In various embodiments, the restriction vector carries an appropriate selection marker like, for example, an ampicillin resistance gene.

In the present invention, selecting an expression clone expressing a lytic chimeric polypeptide encoded by the domain sequences of a ligation product obtained from the solid support includes, but is not limited to, picking single colonies forming a lytic halo on agar plates comprising, for example, Listeria cells. Such colonies are transformants carrying an expression vector with a ligation product and expressing a polypeptide, which is lytic to said Listeria cells. The single colonies can be isolated by, for example, picking and culturing on appropriate back-up agar plates. An appropriate back-up agar plate comprises an antibiotic in accordance with the expression vector carrying the ligation product obtained from the solid support.

It will be understood that not all vectors, expression control sequences and hosts will function equally well to express the DNA sequences of this invention. Neither will all hosts function equally well with the same expression system. However, one skilled in the art will be able to select the proper vectors, expression control sequences, and hosts without undue experimentation to accomplish the desired expression without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the present invention, characterizing and identifying a polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention as a lytic polypeptide includes, but is not limited to, testing selected clones for their lytic activity against several bacterial strains, i.e., for example, against different Listeria serovars. Thus, a lytic polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention can be characterized for its lytic activity against one or more bacterial strains.

In the present invention, characterizing and identifying a polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention as a lytic polypeptide also includes, but is not limited to, sequencing of the clones showing lytic activity against bacterial strains, i.e. identifying the sequence of the lytic polypeptide encoded by the plasmid carrying the ligation product obtained in the methods of the present invention.

In the present invention, characterizing and identifying a polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention as a lytic polypeptide furthermore includes, but is not limited to, performing tests on expression of the lytic polypeptide encoded by the plasmid carrying the ligation product obtained in the methods of the present invention.

In the present invention, removing non-ligated domain sequences after performing the steps of ligating domains to the solid support phase includes, but is not limited to, washing the solid support phase using an appropriate washing buffer for washing away non-ligated domain sequences. Thus, in the present invention the step of removing non-ligated domain sequences after a ligation step is preferably a washing step. The same holds for the step of removing unbound domain sequences after binding first domain sequences and/or ligation constructs according to the present invention to a solid support.

In general, the methods according to the present invention may comprise one or more washing steps after each step of binding of a first domain sequence or a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a solid support. The same applies to each step of ligating domain sequences to a first domain sequence and/or to a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences, which are originally bound to the solid support in order to form ligation products by repeatedly performing ligation steps on said first domain sequence(s) and/or said ligation construct(s). As used herein, the washing steps provide for changing buffers, which may become necessary due to, for example, different restriction enzymes to be used when performing the ligation steps of the methods of the present invention. Similarly, a washing step may become necessary between the steps of binding of a first domain sequence or a ligation construct of two or more domain sequences selected from CBD and EAD sequences to a solid support and the subsequent ligation steps. In addition, one or more washing steps may become necessary after performing a restriction digest on the solid support phase as described herein above, i.e., a restriction digest performed on the growing ligation product. Such washing steps may not only become necessary for changing buffers, in particular restriction enzyme buffers, but may also be performed in order to remove, i.e. washing away, undesired products resulting from the restriction digest. Accordingly, such washing steps as described before may be performed after any step of performing a restriction digest in the present invention.

As will be understood by the one of skilled in the art, the method of generating a chimeric polypeptide having at least one CBD and at least one EAD according to the present invention (cf. item [2] under “Summary of the Invention”) may furthermore comprise a step of cloning the ligation product obtained in step (l) into a cloning vector prior to characterizing the obtained ligation products. The characterization of a polypeptide obtainable by said method as a chimeric polypeptide in accordance with the present invention includes, but is not limited to, sequencing of the ligation products obtained and thus elucidating the CBD and EAD domain structures. Furthermore, characterization of a polypeptide obtainable by said method as a chimeric polypeptide in accordance with the present invention may be done by testing the polypepitde for its cell wall binding and lytic activity against several bacterial strains, for example, against different Listeria serovars.

In the present invention, the terms “protein” and “peptide” may be used interchangeably with the term “enzyme”. In other words, a “lytic chimeric polypeptide” obtainable by the methods of the present invention is a polypeptide, which comprises one or more heterologous domains exhibiting lytic activity on pathogenic bacterial cells.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the methods further comprise a step of selecting expression hosts carrying the expression vector with the ligation product cloned therein prior to culturing the expression host under conditions suitable to allow expression of a lytic polypeptide encoded by the domain sequences of the cloned ligation product.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the domain sequences are joined (linked) by a linker sequence, which is a native or a synthetic linker sequence. In various embodiments of the present invention, the “linker sequence” refers to an amino acid sequence that joins two domain sequences of a lytic chimeric polypeptide of the present invention or fragments or variants thereof. In general, as used herein, a linker includes, but is not limited to, an amino acid sequence that covalently links the domains of the lytic chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the present invention. More specifically, the linker comprises at least one peptide bond. As appreciated by one of skill in the art, the linker can comprise additional amino acids. In general, a linker sequence or domain linker as used in the present invention denotes an amino acid sequence functioning to connect single domain sequences with each other. Properties of linker sequences or domain linkers in accordance with the present invention as well as methods to detect those are known to the person skilled in the art. In the present invention, a linker sequence may be incorporated into a chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention if it is part of a cloning vector as exemplarily shown in FIG. 1. While FIG. 1 shows exemplarily a synthetic linker, the linker of the cloning vector may also be a native linker cloned into the cloning vector. Alternatively, a native linker may be incorporated into a chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention if a selected domain sequence is isolated together with its native linker sequence. Furthermore, a linker sequence may be incorporated into a chimeric polypeptide obtainable by the methods of the present invention by means of PCR applied in various steps of the methods of the present invention.

The methods for generating a chimeric polypeptide having at least one CBD and at least one EAD according to the present invention provide for a plurality of chimeric polypeptides.

The present invention also provides a DNA library comprising the clones carrying the ligation products obtained in the methods according to the present invention.

Based on comparative test methods available in the art (see, for example, Kusuma and Kokai-Kun 2005), the person skilled in the art can easily determine whether a lytic chimeric polypeptide obtained by the methods of the present invention shows improved biological properties over lytic polypeptides known in the art. Improved biological properties means an improvement with respect to lower working concentration, higher stability, altered specificity and/or hydrolyzing activity on bacterial cell walls.

In various preferred embodiments, the methods of the present invention comprise amplifying the 1^st, 2^ndand 3^rddomain sequences, and optionally amplifying one or more further domain sequences.

In various embodiments of the method for generating a chimeric polypeptide according to the first aspect of the invention, step (m), i.e. characterizing the ligation product obtained in step (l), comprises the steps of:

(m) cloning the ligation product obtained in step (l) into an expression vector;

(n) introducing the vector obtained in step (m) into an expression host, preferably into a bacterial expression host;

(p) selecting and isolating an expression clone expressing a lytic polypeptide according to step (o) using the lytic activity of the polypeptide; and

(q) characterizing the lytic polypeptide expressed by the isolated expression clone of step (p) and identifying a lytic chimeric polypeptide having at least one CBD and at least one EAD.

In various embodiments of the method of screening for a lytic chimeric polypeptide and the method of generating a chimeric polypeptide according to the second aspect of the invention, steps (h) and (j) and steps (k) and (l) may be combined, as reflected in corresponding steps (h) and (j) of the following embodiments of the claimed methods according to the second aspect of the invention: 1″. A method of screening for a lytic chimeric polypeptide comprising the steps of:

(i) the lytic domain of a bacteriophage lysin,

(ii) the lytic domain of a bacteriocin,

(iii) the lytic domain of a bacterial autolysin; and

(iv) a bacteriophage tail-associated protein having lytic activity;

(c) amplifying a second (2^nd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

(d) optionally amplifying a third (3^rd) domain sequence selected from the domain sequences of (a) using a pair of primers designed to introduce:

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain sequence;

wherein the pair of primers is further designed such that the restriction sites are different at the 5′-end and the 3′-end of each of said one or more further domain sequences;

(f) performing a restriction digest of the domain sequences of any of steps (b) to (e):

(g) ligating the digested 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence obtained in step (f) to obtain a ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence;

(h) binding the ligation product of step (g) to a solid support using the tag labeling of the 1^stdomain sequence to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^stand 2^nddomain sequence, and performing a restriction digest of said bound ligation product:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 3′-end of the 2^nddomain, (ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 5′ end of the 2^nddomain;

(j) optionally ligating the digested 3^rddomain sequence of step (d) obtained in step (f) to the bound ligation product of step (h) to obtain a bound ligation product comprising the 1^st, 2^ndand 3^rddomain sequence, and performing a restriction digest of said bound ligation product:

(i) in case of 5′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 3′-end of the 3^rddomain.

(ii) in case of 3′-end labelling of the 1^stdomain: performing a restriction digest of the bound ligation product with a restriction enzyme targeting the 5′-end of the 3^rddomain.

(k) optionally ligating one or more digested domain sequences of (e) obtained in step (f) to the bound ligation product of step (j) to obtain a bound ligation product comprising one or more further domain sequences of step (e), thereby performing after each ligation step a restriction digest of the bound ligation product as follows:

(l) releasing the ligation product obtained in any of steps (h) to (k) from the solid support;