Development of a differential scanning fluorimetry based high throughput screening assay for the discovery of affinity binders against an anthrax protein

The anthrax protein protective antigen (PA) is responsible for cell-surface recognition and aids the delivery of the toxic anthrax enzymes into host cells. By targeting PA and preventing it from binding to host cells, it is hoped that the delivery of toxins into the cell will be inhibited. The current assay reported for PA is a low throughput functional assay. Here, the high throughput screening method using differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) was developed and optimized to screen a number of libraries from various sources including a selection of FDA-approved drugs as well as hits selected by a virtual screening campaign.DSF is a rapid technique that uses fluorescence to monitor the thermal unfolding of proteins using a standard QPCR instrument. A positive shift in the calculated melting temperature (Tm), of the protein in the presence of a compound, relative to the Tm of the unbound protein, indicates that stabilization of the protein by ligand binding may have occurred. Optimization of the melting assay showed SYPRO Orange to be an ideal dye as a marker and lead to the reduction of DMSO concentration to <1% (v/v) in the final assay. The final assay volume was minimized to 25 μL with 5 μg protein per well of 96-well plate. In addition, a buffer, salt and additive screen lead to the selection of 10 mM HEPES–NaOH pH 7.5, 100 mM NaCl as the assay buffer. This method has been shown here to be useful as a primary method for the detection of small-molecule PA ligands, giving a hit rate of ∼7%. These ligands can then be studied further using PA functional assays to confirm their biological activities before being selected as lead compounds for the treatment of anthrax.