Sino Biological's Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Powers AI-Driven Protein Design Study Published in Nature Communications

Sino Biological, Inc. (Shenzhen Stock Exchange: 301047.SZ) announced that its gene synthesis and cell-free protein expression workflow was utilized in a recent study by Tencent AI for Life Sciences Lab, published in Nature Communications. The study demonstrates how the technology facilitated rapid experimental validation of AI-designed proteins with enhanced activity, stability, and multifunctionality, bridging the gap between computational design and functional proteins.

Artificial intelligence has significantly accelerated protein sequence design, but translating these designs into functional proteins remains a key challenge. Factors such as activity, stability, folding, and expression often lead to discrepancies between in silico predictions and experimental outcomes. To address this, the study introduced an Ontology Reinforcement Iteration (ORI) framework, integrating protein ontology with reinforcement learning from wet-lab feedback. Experimental data on protein expression and functional activity were continuously fed back into the model, enabling iterative optimization and improved design accuracy.

The researchers used Sino Biological’s XPressMAX™ Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Kit to enable rapid protein expression and functional screening. Protein-coding sequences were cloned into the kit’s expression vector and added to the proprietary cell-free reaction system, supporting rapid design–build–test cycles. This workflow allowed the team to engineer a lysozyme with over 100-fold higher activity than the natural enzyme, develop a thermostable chitinase retaining activity at 85°C, and successfully express bifunctional enzymes with improved performance compared with naturally occurring multifunctional enzymes.

The XPressMAX™ kit features ultra-fast synthesis with protein expression completed in as little as 3 hours, high screening efficiency optimized for VHH, scFv, and miniproteins, flexible template support for plasmid and linear DNA templates, disulfide bond-friendly expression without additional enhancers, cost-effective performance, and scalable supply for high-throughput and industrial applications.

This development is significant because it addresses a major bottleneck in protein engineering: the slow and often unreliable experimental validation of computationally designed proteins. By enabling rapid, high-throughput testing, Sino Biological’s technology could accelerate the development of novel enzymes and therapeutic proteins, potentially impacting industries from pharmaceuticals to industrial biotechnology. The successful collaboration with Tencent AI underscores the growing synergy between AI and wet-lab experimentation, paving the way for more efficient protein design pipelines.

Sino Biological is an international reagent supplier and CRO service provider specializing in recombinant protein production and antibody development, with facilities including the US-based Center for Bioprocessing (C4B) in Houston and SignalChem Biotech in Canada.