SNAP display: in vitro protein evolution in microdroplets

SNAP display is based on the covalent reaction of the DNA repair protein AGT (O(6)-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase, the "SNAP-tag") with its substrate benzylguanine (BG). Linear, BG-labelled template DNA is encapsulated in water-in-oil emulsion droplets with a diameter of a few micrometres (i.e. 1 mL of emulsion contains ∼10(10) compartments). Each droplet contains only a single DNA copy, which is transcribed and translated in vitro. The expressed AGT fusion proteins attach to their coding DNA via the BG label inside the droplet, which ensures that a specific genotype-phenotype linkage is established. Subsequently, the emulsion is broken and protein-DNA conjugates, which constitute a DNA-tagged protein library, selected via affinity panning. This method will prove a useful addition to the array of in vitro display systems, distinguished by the stability of DNA as the coding nucleic acid and the covalent link between gene and protein.