2024 - Enzyme Engineering Advancements with Xdrop and Flow Cytometry

Library sizes of >1012 enzyme variants can be generated during enzyme engineering. However, conventional microtiter plate- or agar plate-based screening systems only allow a few thousand variants to be screened, leaving most of the generated variants unexplored. Therefore, ultrahigh-throughput screening (uHTS) technologies are critical for exploring the diversity of enzymes in a library.
In uHTS, a link must be made between each signal and the activity of the enzyme variant, and between the genotype and the generated signal (phenotype). Samplix’s two sizes of double-emulsion droplets, designated DE20 and DE50, form a closed compartment for cell growth and assays. This provides the link between genotype and phenotype.
Moreover, cells producing rare, active enzyme variants are often outgrown in bulk cultivation, greatly complicating the identification of potentially improved variants. Encapsulated cells grow in isolation, so rare, active variant-producing cells are not out-competed.
Samplix has developed a workflow using Xdrop and the Xdrop DE20 Cartridge to encapsulate living bacterial cells producing an enzyme library with rare, active variants in DE20 droplets. The droplets support:
Fluorescence-based analysis in a unique single-cell format and sorting using a cell sorter or Xdrop Sort
Recovery of the cells producing the desired variants for further growth and analysis
Register for this webinar to learn how Xdrop improves the efficiency of enzyme engineering by increasing the throughput for fluorescence-based screening.
Keywords: Protein Engineering, Other Research, Basic Research, Single Cell Sorting, Gut Microbiome, Protein Therapeutic, Protein, Bioanalytical Testing, Enzymes, Microbiome, Bacterial Enzymes, Laboratory Technology, Flow Cytometry, Proteomics, Single cell, Drug Discovery, Enzyme