Gastrobodies are engineered antibody mimetics resilient to pepsin and hydrochloric acid

Abstract

Wicke, Bedford & Howarth present a protein engineering strategy focusing on the survival of protein targeting reagents in the GI tract. For this, they engineer a Kunitz soybean trypsin inhibitor as the scaffold and showcase the binding of the engineered antibody mimetics to Clostridium difficile toxins and the resistance of the binders to acid, digestive proteases and heat.