Expertise & Technology

The Nuclera eProtein Discovery Platform enables rapid cell-free expression screening for challenging protein targets, including toxic proteins, difficult-to-express proteins, and membrane proteins. Using digital microfluidics, the system screens multiple constructs, tags, additives, and expression conditions in parallel, helping identify workable expression strategies faster than traditional manual approaches.

The Protein Core supports flexible workflows, from gene synthesis and eProtein discovery screening to data interpretation and scale-up of promising hits. This service is especially useful for early-stage feasibility testing, construct comparison, and projects where conventional microbial or mammalian expression has not yet delivered.

FastScreen is a 3–4‑week feasibility study that identifies the most suitable expression strategy for your biological. Based on literature insights and our extensive in‑house expertise, we typically select one primary expression system to evaluate first. Only when the optimal host is uncertain multiple systems in parallel can be screened (E. coli, Pichia pastoris, HEK293F, CHO).

Using a focused, matrix‑based screening approach, FastScreen rapidly determines whether efficient production is achievable. After ±1 month, you receive a clear go/no‑go decision and a data‑driven recommendation for the best production strategy.

The Core offers end‑to‑end upstream capabilities for both microbial and mammalian systems. Our infrastructure includes:

• Up to 20 L fed‑batch microbial fermentation
• Up to 12 L mammalian cell culture (transient or stable HEK293F/CHO production)
• Standardized workflows for cell harvest, lysis and clarification

These robust, scalable processes allow reliable production of biologicals ranging from research‑grade material to pilot‑scale batches ready for downstream purification and characterization.

For proteins expressed as inclusion bodies, FastFold provides a 2–3‑week matrix‑based refolding screen to identify optimal renaturation conditions. Our platform evaluates:

• Multiple refolding buffers
• Dilution, dialysis and on‑column refolding methods
• Recovery efficiency and aggregation propensity

The final deliverable includes a recommended refolding strategy and a validated workflow ready for production scale‑up.

When no purification protocol is available, FastClean screens a broad panel of chromatographic resins and combinations to identify the most effective downstream workflow. This enables rapid development of purification strategies for novel biologicals, complex constructs or difficult‑to‑purify proteins.

The Core performs expert (site-specific) conjugation of proteins and antibodies with:

• Fluorophores (e.g., Alexa Fluor dyes)
• Polymers 
• Peptides
• …

These modifications support imaging, stability enhancement and functional tuning. We also apply conjugation technologies to nanobodies®, alphabodies®, affibodies® and other emerging biologicals, improving serum half‑life or enabling targeted applications.

With extensive experience producing hundreds of nanobodies®, the Core supports expression and purification across E. coli, Pichia pastoris and mammalian systems. General guidelines include:

• E. coli: ideal for monovalent nanobodies®
• Pichia pastoris: preferred for higher yields, multivalent constructs, or tag‑free purification
• HEK293F: recommended for nanobody‑Fc fusions or constructs requiring post‑translational modifications

Our expertise spans monovalent, bivalent and multivalent formats, with purification options including conventional chromatography and tag‑free workflows.

Understanding how biologicals fold, assemble and interact with their targets is essential for evaluating functionality, developability and mechanism of action. The Core provides a growing set of interaction‑focused analytical technologies, including:

• Bio‑Layer Interferometry (Octet) for affinity, binding kinetics and competition assays
• Mass photometry (TwoMP) for interaction stoichiometry and complex heterogeneity

These tools allow in‑depth characterization of binding affinity, kinetics, oligomerization behavior, conformational changes and interaction networks, supporting both discovery and engineering of biologicals.

The VIB Protein Core offers a comprehensive biophysical and analytical platform to assess purity, folding state, aggregation, stability and overall quality of biologicals. Key capabilities include:

• SEC‑MALS‑UV‑RI for absolute molecular weight determination and aggregation profiling
• Dynamic and static light scattering (DLS/SLS) for size distribution, colloidal stability and temperature‑dependent behavior
• Endotoxin testing (EndoSafe PTS), refractometry and complementary QC workflows for regulatory‑relevant quality parameters
• Formulation screening and accelerated stability testing under diverse storage and transport conditions
• Expertise that supports lyophilization and solid‑state stabilization strategies, in collaboration with academic partners

This integrated analytics suite ensures that every biological produced meets state‑of‑the‑art quality standards, providing deep insight into structural integrity and stability throughout development.

For many biologicals (especially cytokines, growth factors and antibodies) functional activity is essential. The Core provides:

• Cellular activity assays for cytokines (e.g., TNF‑α, IL‑2, …), benchmarked against WHO standards
• Customized in‑vitro assays on request
• Collaboration with specialized VIB groups for advanced functional readouts

This ensures that each biological delivered is not only pure, stable and well‑characterized, but also functionally active.