Development of novel bioengineered molecular scaffolds for the detection and management of viral diseases

Aquaculture currently supplies more than half of all human consumption of fish and seafood, and is expected to grow even further to meet future demand. However, these intensive farming models, together with climate change, have led to a dramatic increase in disease outbreaks of both bacterial and viral nature, which negatively impact fish yield. This problem is particularly relevant in Mediterranean mariculture, where newly emerged viruses threaten the health and production of finfish. Therefore, it appears clear that correct sanitary management of fish farms should be adopted to either prevent or reduce losses due to such pathologies. This requires an array of fast and reliable diagnostic techniques capable of detecting the presence of pathogens and diagnosing diseases in fish stock. To address the need for new solutions for the rapid diagnosis and management of these diseases we bioengineered a biocompatible molecular scaffold with the double aim of applying it as biosensors and neutralizing agents. By using directed evolution approach, we identified two unique genetically encoded molecular scaffolds capable of specifically recognising a viral antigen. Further affinity maturation process was applied to engineered scaffolds with higher binding affinities over the parental ones. The two bioengineered scaffolds were further recombinantly produced in E. coli and then purified using multiple chromatography techniques. The ability of the two bioengineered molecular scaffolds to detect and neutralise the viral particle is currently investigated both in vitro and in vivo.