BL6-2 HoLoPep

Various peptides with specific adhesive properties on different surfaces such as stainless steel, natural or synthetic polymers have already been identified using molecular screening methods at Henkel AG. In order to fully test the potential of the identified peptides for various applications in products such as detergents and cleaning agents as well as cosmetics and personal care and/or adhesives in the application-oriented, standardized test protocols of Henkel AG, larger quantities, estimated to be more than 100 grams, are required.

The production of peptides on a three-digit gram scale and the evaluation of competitive production systems will be the subject of the project. The existing E. coli production system will be scaled up to a 100 liter scale and alternative extracellular production platforms will be investigated.

Production organisms such as the filamentous fungi A. oryzae and/or T. reesei will be tested and evaluated. Furthermore, a suitable process will be developed that enables the provision of peptides or further formulation work within a cost framework suitable for technical applications. Various basic operations such as filtration, precipitation and chromatography are suitable and must be compared. In addition, the use of anchor peptide technology is being investigated as a cost-effective option for processing peptides. Aspects of the required purity, the chemical or enzymatic separation of additional sequences, e.g. inclusion body, purification tags, anchor peptides, are addressed from the beginning of the process development.

After successful completion of the HoLoPep project on a laboratory scale, up to 100 liter fermenters in phase 1 of Bio4MatPro, the transfer to demonstrator or pilot scale is planned in phase 2. Finally, if the project is successful, testing of the developed process on a pilot scale will be the subject of further project phases.