51
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Zhang ZX, Nong FT, Wang YZ, Yan CX, Gu Y, Song P, Sun XM. Strategies for efficient production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli: alleviating the host burden and enhancing protein activity. Microb Cell Fact 2022; 21:191. [PMID: 36109777 PMCID: PMC9479345 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-022-01917-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli, one of the most efficient expression hosts for recombinant proteins (RPs), is widely used in chemical, medical, food and other industries. However, conventional expression strains are unable to effectively express proteins with complex structures or toxicity. The key to solving this problem is to alleviate the host burden associated with protein overproduction and to enhance the ability to accurately fold and modify RPs at high expression levels. Here, we summarize the recently developed optimization strategies for the high-level production of RPs from the two aspects of host burden and protein activity. The aim is to maximize the ability of researchers to quickly select an appropriate optimization strategy for improving the production of RPs.
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52
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Allen GL, Grahn AK, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Waldrop S, Guo J, Kay BK. Expanding the chemical diversity of M13 bacteriophage. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:961093. [PMID: 36003937 PMCID: PMC9393631 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.961093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteriophage M13 virions are very stable nanoparticles that can be modified by chemical and genetic methods. The capsid proteins can be functionalized in a variety of chemical reactions without loss of particle integrity. In addition, Genetic Code Expansion (GCE) permits the introduction of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into displayed peptides and proteins. The incorporation of ncAAs into phage libraries has led to the discovery of high-affinity binders with low nanomolar dissociation constant (K D) values that can potentially serve as inhibitors. This article reviews how bioconjugation and the incorporation of ncAAs during translation have expanded the chemistry of peptides and proteins displayed by M13 virions for a variety of purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Katerina Kourentzi
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Richard C. Willson
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Sean Waldrop
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Jiantao Guo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Brian K. Kay
- Tango Biosciences, Inc., Chicago, IL, United States
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53
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Engineering of enzymes using non-natural amino acids. Biosci Rep 2022; 42:231590. [PMID: 35856922 PMCID: PMC9366748 DOI: 10.1042/bsr20220168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In enzyme engineering, the main targets for enhancing properties are enzyme activity, stereoselective specificity, stability, substrate range, and the development of unique functions. With the advent of genetic code extension technology, non-natural amino acids (nnAAs) are able to be incorporated into proteins in a site-specific or residue-specific manner, which breaks the limit of 20 natural amino acids for protein engineering. Benefitting from this approach, numerous enzymes have been engineered with nnAAs for improved properties or extended functionality. In this review, we focus on applications and strategies for using nnAAs in enzyme engineering. Notably, approaches to computational modelling of enzymes with nnAAs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the bottlenecks that currently need to be addressed in order to realise the broader prospects of this genetic code extension technique.
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54
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Bilbrough T, Piemontese E, Seitz O. Dissecting the role of protein phosphorylation: a chemical biology toolbox. Chem Soc Rev 2022; 51:5691-5730. [PMID: 35726784 DOI: 10.1039/d1cs00991e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Protein phosphorylation is a crucial regulator of protein and cellular function, yet, despite identifying an enormous number of phosphorylation sites, the role of most is still unclear. Each phosphoform, the particular combination of phosphorylations, of a protein has distinct and diverse biological consequences. Aberrant phosphorylation is implicated in the development of many diseases. To investigate their function, access to defined protein phosphoforms is essential. Materials obtained from cells often are complex mixtures. Recombinant methods can provide access to defined phosphoforms if site-specifically acting kinases are known, but the methods fail to provide homogenous material when several amino acid side chains compete for phosphorylation. Chemical and chemoenzymatic synthesis has provided an invaluable toolbox to enable access to previously unreachable phosphoforms of proteins. In this review, we selected important tools that enable access to homogeneously phosphorylated protein and discuss examples that demonstrate how they can be applied. Firstly, we discuss the synthesis of phosphopeptides and proteins through chemical and enzymatic means and their advantages and limitations. Secondly, we showcase illustrative examples that applied these tools to answer biological questions pertaining to proteins involved in signal transduction, control of transcription, neurodegenerative diseases and aggregation, apoptosis and autophagy, and transmembrane proteins. We discuss the opportunities and challenges in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Bilbrough
- Department of Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Emanuele Piemontese
- Department of Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Oliver Seitz
- Department of Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
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55
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Katoh T, Suga H. In Vitro Genetic Code Reprogramming for the Expansion of Usable Noncanonical Amino Acids. Annu Rev Biochem 2022; 91:221-243. [PMID: 35729073 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-040320-103817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Genetic code reprogramming has enabled us to ribosomally incorporate various nonproteinogenic amino acids (npAAs) into peptides in vitro. The repertoire of usable npAAs has been expanded to include not only l-α-amino acids with noncanonical sidechains but also those with noncanonical backbones. Despite successful single incorporation of npAAs, multiple and consecutive incorporations often suffer from low efficiency or are even unsuccessful. To overcome this stumbling block, engineering approaches have been used to modify ribosomes, EF-Tu, and tRNAs. Here, we provide an overview of these in vitro methods that are aimed at optimal expansion of the npAA repertoire and their applications for the development of de novo bioactive peptides containing various npAAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takayuki Katoh
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; ,
| | - Hiroaki Suga
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; ,
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56
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Fu X, Huang Y, Shen Y. Improving the Efficiency and Orthogonality of Genetic Code Expansion. BIODESIGN RESEARCH 2022; 2022:9896125. [PMID: 37850140 PMCID: PMC10521639 DOI: 10.34133/2022/9896125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The site-specific incorporation of the noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) into proteins via genetic code expansion (GCE) has enabled the development of new and powerful ways to learn, regulate, and evolve biological functions in vivo. However, cellular biosynthesis of ncAA-containing proteins with high efficiency and fidelity is a formidable challenge. In this review, we summarize up-to-date progress towards improving the efficiency and orthogonality of GCE and enhancing intracellular compatibility of introduced translation machinery in the living cells by creation and optimization of orthogonal translation components, constructing genomically recoded organism (GRO), utilization of unnatural base pairs (UBP) and quadruplet codons (four-base codons), and spatial separation of orthogonal translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xian Fu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, Shenzhen 518120China
| | - Yijian Huang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yue Shen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, Shenzhen 518120China
- Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
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57
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Wang S, Osgood AO, Chatterjee A. Uncovering post-translational modification-associated protein-protein interactions. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2022; 74:102352. [PMID: 35334254 PMCID: PMC9464464 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
In living systems, the chemical space and functional repertoire of proteins are dramatically expanded through the post-translational modification (PTM) of various amino acid residues. These modifications frequently trigger unique protein-protein interactions (PPIs) - for example with reader proteins that directly bind the modified amino acid residue - which leads to downstream functional outcomes. The modification of a protein can also perturb its PPI network indirectly, for example, through altering its conformation or subcellular localization. Uncovering the network of unique PTM-triggered PPIs is essential to fully understand the roles of an ever-expanding list of PTMs in our biology. In this review, we discuss established strategies and current challenges associated with this endeavor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Arianna O Osgood
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Abhishek Chatterjee
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
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58
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Landrieu I, Dupré E, Sinnaeve D, El Hajjar L, Smet-Nocca C. Deciphering the Structure and Formation of Amyloids in Neurodegenerative Diseases With Chemical Biology Tools. Front Chem 2022; 10:886382. [PMID: 35646824 PMCID: PMC9133342 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2022.886382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein aggregation into highly ordered, regularly repeated cross-β sheet structures called amyloid fibrils is closely associated to human disorders such as neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, or systemic diseases like type II diabetes. Yet, in some cases, such as the HET-s prion, amyloids have biological functions. High-resolution structures of amyloids fibrils from cryo-electron microscopy have very recently highlighted their ultrastructural organization and polymorphisms. However, the molecular mechanisms and the role of co-factors (posttranslational modifications, non-proteinaceous components and other proteins) acting on the fibril formation are still poorly understood. Whether amyloid fibrils play a toxic or protective role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases remains to be elucidated. Furthermore, such aberrant protein-protein interactions challenge the search of small-molecule drugs or immunotherapy approaches targeting amyloid formation. In this review, we describe how chemical biology tools contribute to new insights on the mode of action of amyloidogenic proteins and peptides, defining their structural signature and aggregation pathways by capturing their molecular details and conformational heterogeneity. Challenging the imagination of scientists, this constantly expanding field provides crucial tools to unravel mechanistic detail of amyloid formation such as semisynthetic proteins and small-molecule sensors of conformational changes and/or aggregation. Protein engineering methods and bioorthogonal chemistry for the introduction of protein chemical modifications are additional fruitful strategies to tackle the challenge of understanding amyloid formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle Landrieu
- University Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1167 - RID-AGE - Risk Factors and Molecular Determinants of Aging-Related Diseases, Lille, France
- CNRS EMR9002 Integrative Structural Biology, Lille, France
| | - Elian Dupré
- University Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1167 - RID-AGE - Risk Factors and Molecular Determinants of Aging-Related Diseases, Lille, France
- CNRS EMR9002 Integrative Structural Biology, Lille, France
| | - Davy Sinnaeve
- University Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1167 - RID-AGE - Risk Factors and Molecular Determinants of Aging-Related Diseases, Lille, France
- CNRS EMR9002 Integrative Structural Biology, Lille, France
| | - Léa El Hajjar
- University Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1167 - RID-AGE - Risk Factors and Molecular Determinants of Aging-Related Diseases, Lille, France
- CNRS EMR9002 Integrative Structural Biology, Lille, France
| | - Caroline Smet-Nocca
- University Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1167 - RID-AGE - Risk Factors and Molecular Determinants of Aging-Related Diseases, Lille, France
- CNRS EMR9002 Integrative Structural Biology, Lille, France
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59
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Koch NG, Baumann T, Budisa N. Efficient Unnatural Protein Production by Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase With Genetically Fused Solubility Tags. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 9:807438. [PMID: 35284428 PMCID: PMC8905625 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.807438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Introducing non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) by engineered orthogonal pairs of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and tRNAs has proven to be a highly useful tool for the expansion of the genetic code. Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) from methanogenic archaeal and bacterial species is particularly attractive due to its natural orthogonal reactivity in bacterial and eukaryotic cells. However, the scope of such a reprogrammed translation is often limited, due to low yields of chemically modified target protein. This can be the result of substrate specificity engineering, which decreases the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase stability and reduces the abundance of active enzyme. We show that the solubility and folding of these engineered enzymes can become a bottleneck for the production of ncAA-containing proteins in vivo. Solubility tags derived from various species provide a strategy to remedy this issue. We find the N-terminal fusion of the small metal binding protein from Nitrosomonas europaea to the PylRS sequence to improve enzyme solubility and to boost orthogonal translation efficiency. Our strategy enhances the production of site-specifically labelled proteins with a variety of engineered PylRS variants by 200–540%, and further allows triple labeling. Even the wild-type enzyme gains up to 245% efficiency for established ncAA substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaj G Koch
- Biokatalyse, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Bioanalytik, Institut für Biotechnologie, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tobias Baumann
- Biokatalyse, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nediljko Budisa
- Biokatalyse, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Chemical Synthetic Biology, Department of Chemistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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60
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McLure RJ, Radford SE, Brockwell DJ. High-throughput directed evolution: a golden era for protein science. TRENDS IN CHEMISTRY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trechm.2022.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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61
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Zang J, Chen Y, Liu C, Lin S. Probing the Role of Aurora Kinase A Threonylation with Site-Specific Lysine Threonylation. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 18:674-678. [PMID: 35230082 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Protein post-translational modifications play central roles in regulating protein functions. Lysine threonylation is a newly discovered reversible post-translational modification. However, the biological effect of lysine threonylation on proteins remains largely elusive. Here we report a chemical biology approach for site-specific incorporation of Nε-threonyllysine into proteins with high efficiency and investigate the biological effect of lysine threonylation on Aurora kinase A. Using this unnatural amino acid mutagenesis approach, we find that threonylation of Lys162 of Aurora kinase A inhibits its kinase activity both in vitro and in vivo and that the inhibitory effect can be reversed by the deacetylase Sirtuin 3, which removes the threonylated group from the lysine. Additionally, threonylation of Aurora kinase A makes its substrate p53 more stable in the cell. Therefore, our study demonstrates that site-specific lysine threonylation is a powerful method for probing the biological effect of protein threonylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Zang
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Department of Medical Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yulin Chen
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Department of Medical Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Chao Liu
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Department of Medical Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Shixian Lin
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Department of Medical Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Cancer Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
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62
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Yang A, Tao H, Szymczak LC, Lin L, Song J, Wang Y, Bai S, Modica J, Huang SY, Mrksich M, Feng X. Efficient Enzymatic Incorporation of Dehydroalanine Based on SAMDI-Assisted Identification of Optimized Tags for OspF/SpvC. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:414-425. [PMID: 35129954 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Site-specific modification of proteins has important applications in biological research and drug development. Reactive tags such as azide, alkyne, and tetrazine have been used extensively to achieve the abovementioned goal. However, bulky side-chain "ligation scars" are often left after the labeling and may hinder the biological application of such engineered protein products. Conjugation chemistry via dehydroalanine (Dha) may provide an opportunity for "traceless" ligation because the activated alkene moiety on Dha can then serve as an electrophile to react with radicalophile, thiol/amine nucleophile, and reactive phosphine probe to introduce a minimal linker in the protein post-translational modifications. In this report, we present a mild and highly efficient enzymatic approach to incorporate Dha with phosphothreonine/serine lyases, OspF and SpvC. These lyases originally catalyze an irreversible elimination reaction that converts a doubly phosphorylated substrate with phosphothreonine (pT) or phosphoserine (pS) to dehydrobutyrine (Dhb) or Dha. To generate a simple monophosphorylated tag for these lyases, we conducted a systematic approach to profile the substrate specificity of OspF and SpvC using peptide arrays and self-assembled monolayers for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. The optimized tag, [F/Y/W]-pT/pS-[F/Y/W] (where [F/Y/W] indicates an aromatic residue), results in a ∼10-fold enhancement of the overall peptide labeling efficiency via Dha chemistry and enables the first demonstration of protein labeling as well as live cell labeling with a minimal ligation linker via enzyme-mediated incorporation of Dha.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anming Yang
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecular Chemical Biology, and Department of Chemistry, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Huanyu Tao
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Lindsey C. Szymczak
- Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Liang Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Bio-organic and Natural Products Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Junfeng Song
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecular Chemical Biology, and Department of Chemistry, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Yi Wang
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecular Chemical Biology, and Department of Chemistry, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Silei Bai
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecular Chemical Biology, and Department of Chemistry, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Justin Modica
- Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Sheng-You Huang
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Milan Mrksich
- Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Xinxin Feng
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Nanomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecular Chemical Biology, and Department of Chemistry, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
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63
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Mukai T, Amikura K, Fu X, Söll D, Crnković A. Indirect Routes to Aminoacyl-tRNA: The Diversity of Prokaryotic Cysteine Encoding Systems. Front Genet 2022; 12:794509. [PMID: 35047015 PMCID: PMC8762117 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.794509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Universally present aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) stringently recognize their cognate tRNAs and acylate them with one of the proteinogenic amino acids. However, some organisms possess aaRSs that deviate from the accurate translation of the genetic code and exhibit relaxed specificity toward their tRNA and/or amino acid substrates. Typically, these aaRSs are part of an indirect pathway in which multiple enzymes participate in the formation of the correct aminoacyl-tRNA product. The indirect cysteine (Cys)-tRNA pathway, originally thought to be restricted to methanogenic archaea, uses the unique O-phosphoseryl-tRNA synthetase (SepRS), which acylates the non-proteinogenic amino acid O-phosphoserine (Sep) onto tRNACys. Together with Sep-tRNA:Cys-tRNA synthase (SepCysS) and the adapter protein SepCysE, SepRS forms a transsulfursome complex responsible for shuttling Sep-tRNACys to SepCysS for conversion of the tRNA-bound Sep to Cys. Here, we report a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of the diversity of indirect Cys encoding systems. These systems are present in more diverse groups of bacteria and archaea than previously known. Given the occurrence and distribution of some genes consistently flanking SepRS, it is likely that this gene was part of an ancient operon that suffered a gradual loss of its original components. Newly identified bacterial SepRS sequences strengthen the suggestion that this lineage of enzymes may not rely on the m1G37 identity determinant in tRNA. Some bacterial SepRSs possess an N-terminal fusion resembling a threonyl-tRNA synthetase editing domain, which interestingly is frequently observed in the vicinity of archaeal SepCysS genes. We also found several highly degenerate SepRS genes that likely have altered amino acid specificity. Cross-analysis of selenocysteine (Sec)-utilizing traits confirmed the co-occurrence of SepCysE and the Sec-utilizing machinery in archaea, but also identified an unusual O-phosphoseryl-tRNASec kinase fusion with an archaeal Sec elongation factor in some lineages, where it may serve in place of SepCysE to prevent crosstalk between the two minor aminoacylation systems. These results shed new light on the variations in SepRS and SepCysS enzymes that may reflect adaptation to lifestyle and habitat, and provide new information on the evolution of the genetic code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahito Mukai
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
- Department of Life Science, College of Science, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kazuaki Amikura
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Xian Fu
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Dieter Söll
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Ana Crnković
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
- Department of Molecular Biology and Nanobiotechnology, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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64
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Applications of genetic code expansion in studying protein post-translational modification. J Mol Biol 2021; 434:167424. [PMID: 34971673 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 12/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Various post-translational modifications can naturally occur on proteins, regulating the activity, subcellular localization, interaction, or stability of the proteins. However, it can be challenging to decipher the biological implication or physiological roles of site-specific modifications due to their dynamic and sub-stoichiometric nature. Genetic code expansion method, relying on an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair, enables site-specific incorporation of non-canonical amino acids. Here we focus on the application of genetic code expansion to study site-specific protein post-translational modification in vitro and in vivo. After a brief introduction, we discuss possibilities of incorporating non-canonical amino acids containing post-translational modifications or their mimics into target proteins. This approach is applicable for Ser/Thr/Tyr phosphorylation, Tyr sulfation and nitration, Lys acetylation and acylation, Lys/His mono-methylation, as well as Arg citrullination. The next section describes the use of a precursor non-canonical amino acid followed by chemical and/or enzymatic reactions to afford the desired modification, such as Cys/Lys acylation, ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifications, as well as Lys/Gln methylation. We also discuss means for functional regulation of enzymes involving in post-translational modifications through genetically incorporated non-canonical amino acids. Lastly, the limitations and perspectives of genetic code expansion in studying protein post-translational modification are described.
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65
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Qin X, Liu T. Recent Advances in Genetic Code Expansion Techniques for Protein Phosphorylation Studies. J Mol Biol 2021; 434:167406. [PMID: 34929199 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Protein phosphorylation is a reversible, residue-specific posttranslational modification that plays a pivotal role in cell signaling, and the phosphorylation state of proteins is tightly regulated by kinases and phosphatases. Malfunction of this regulation is often associated with human diseases, and therefore elucidation of the function and regulation of this posttranslational modification is important. Genetic code expansion, which allows for site-specific introduction of noncanonical amino acids directly into target proteins in response to a non-sense codon is a powerful method for preparing homogeneously phosphorylated proteins both in Escherichia coli and mammalian cells and therefore is useful for studying protein phosphorylation. Herein, we summarize recent developments in the application of genetic code expansion for protein phosphorylation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuewen Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Tao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.
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66
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Zhu P, Franklin R, Vogel A, Stanisheuski S, Reardon P, Sluchanko NN, Beckman JS, Karplus PA, Mehl RA, Cooley RB. PermaPhos Ser : autonomous synthesis of functional, permanently phosphorylated proteins. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2021:2021.10.22.465468. [PMID: 34931187 PMCID: PMC8687462 DOI: 10.1101/2021.10.22.465468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Installing stable, functional mimics of phosphorylated amino acids into proteins offers a powerful strategy to study protein regulation. Previously, a genetic code expansion (GCE) system was developed to translationally install non-hydrolyzable phosphoserine (nhpSer), with the γ-oxygen replaced with carbon, but it has seen limited usage. Here, we achieve a 40-fold improvement in this system by engineering into Escherichia coli a biosynthetic pathway that produces nhpSer from the central metabolite phosphoenolpyruvate. Using this "PermaPhos Ser " system - an autonomous 21-amino acid E. coli expression system for incorporating nhpSer into target proteins - we show that nhpSer faithfully mimics the effects of phosphoserine in three stringent test cases: promoting 14-3-3/client complexation, disrupting 14-3-3 dimers, and activating GSK3β phosphorylation of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein. This facile access to nhpSer containing proteins should allow nhpSer to replace Asp and Glu as the go-to pSer phosphomimetic for proteins produced in E. coli .
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip Zhu
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
| | - Rachel Franklin
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
| | - Amber Vogel
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
| | - Stanislau Stanisheuski
- Oregon State University, Department of Chemistry, 153 Gilbert Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331
| | - Patrick Reardon
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
| | - Nikolai N. Sluchanko
- A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Federal Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Moscow, Russia
| | - Joseph S. Beckman
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
- e-MSion Inc., 2121 NE Jack London St, Corvallis, Oregon 97330
| | - P. Andrew Karplus
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
| | - Ryan A. Mehl
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
| | - Richard B. Cooley
- Oregon State University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2011 Agricultural and Life Sciences, Corvallis, OR 97331
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67
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Directed-evolution of translation system for efficient unnatural amino acids incorporation and generalizable synthetic auxotroph construction. Nat Commun 2021; 12:7039. [PMID: 34857769 PMCID: PMC8639764 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27399-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids (UAAs) with similar incorporation efficiency to that of natural amino acids (NAAs) and low background activity is extremely valuable for efficient synthesis of proteins with diverse new chemical functions and design of various synthetic auxotrophs. However, such efficient translation systems remain largely unknown in the literature. Here, we describe engineered chimeric phenylalanine systems that dramatically increase the yield of proteins bearing UAAs, through systematic engineering of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and its respective cognate tRNA. These engineered synthetase/tRNA pairs allow single-site and multi-site incorporation of UAAs with efficiencies similar to those of NAAs and high fidelity. In addition, using the evolved chimeric phenylalanine system, we construct a series of E. coli strains whose growth is strictly dependent on exogenously supplied of UAAs. We further show that synthetic auxotrophic cells can grow robustly in living mice when UAAs are supplemented.
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68
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Tang H, Zhang P, Luo X. Recent Technologies for Genetic Code Expansion and their Implications on Synthetic Biology Applications. J Mol Biol 2021; 434:167382. [PMID: 34863778 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Genetic code expansion (GCE) enables the site-specific incorporation of non-canonical amino acids as novel building blocks for the investigation and manipulation of proteins. The advancement of genetic code expansion has been benefited from the development of synthetic biology, while genetic code expansion also helps to create more synthetic biology tools. In this review, we summarize recent advances in genetic code expansion brought by synthetic biology progresses, including engineering of the translation machinery, genome-wide codon reassignment, and the biosynthesis of non-canonical amino acids. We highlight the emerging application of this technology in construction of new synthetic biology parts, circuits, chassis, and products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongting Tang
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Pan Zhang
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Xiaozhou Luo
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
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69
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Vistrup-Parry M, Chen X, Johansen TL, Bach S, Buch-Larsen SC, Bartling CRO, Ma C, Clemmensen LS, Nielsen ML, Zhang M, Strømgaard K. Site-specific phosphorylation of PSD-95 dynamically regulates the postsynaptic density as observed by phase separation. iScience 2021; 24:103268. [PMID: 34761188 PMCID: PMC8567388 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Revised: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Postsynaptic density protein 95 is a key scaffolding protein in the postsynaptic density of excitatory glutamatergic neurons, organizing signaling complexes primarily via its three PSD-95/Discs-large/Zona occludens domains. PSD-95 is regulated by phosphorylation, but technical challenges have limited studies of the molecular details. Here, we genetically introduced site-specific phosphorylations in single, tandem, and full-length PSD-95 and generated a total of 11 phosphorylated protein variants. We examined how these phosphorylations affected binding to known interaction partners and the impact on phase separation of PSD-95 complexes and identified two new phosphorylation sites with opposing effects. Phosphorylation of Ser78 inhibited phase separation with the glutamate receptor subunit GluN2B and the auxiliary protein stargazin, whereas phosphorylation of Ser116 induced phase separation with stargazin only. Thus, by genetically introducing phosphoserine site-specifically and exploring the impact on phase separation, we have provided new insights into the regulation of PSD-95 by phosphorylation and the dynamics of the PSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Vistrup-Parry
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 162, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Xudong Chen
- Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Thea L Johansen
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 162, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sofie Bach
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 162, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sara C Buch-Larsen
- Proteomics Program, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Christian R O Bartling
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 162, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Chenxue Ma
- Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Louise S Clemmensen
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 162, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Michael L Nielsen
- Proteomics Program, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mingjie Zhang
- Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.,Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Gaoke Innovation Center, Guangqiao Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, China
| | - Kristian Strømgaard
- Center for Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 162, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
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Wang K, Liu Y, Yu Z, Gu B, Hu J, Huang L, Ge X, Xu L, Zhang M, Zhao J, Hu M, Le R, Wu Q, Ye S, Gao S, Zhang X, Xu RM, Li G. Phosphorylation at Ser68 facilitates DCAF11-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of CENP-A during the cell cycle. Cell Rep 2021; 37:109987. [PMID: 34758320 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
CENP-A (centromeric protein A), a histone H3 variant, specifies centromere identity and is essential to centromere maintenance. Little is known about how protein levels of CENP-A are controlled in mammalian cells. Here, we report that the phosphorylation of CENP-A Ser68 primes the ubiquitin-proteasome-mediated proteolysis of CENP-A during mitotic phase in human cultured cells. We identify two major polyubiquitination sites that are responsible for this phosphorylation-dependent degradation. Substituting the two residues, Lys49 and Lys124, with arginines abrogates proper CENP-A degradation and results in CENP-A mislocalization to non-centromeric regions. Furthermore, we find that DCAF11 (DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 11/WDR23) is the E3 ligase that specifically mediates the observed polyubiquitination. Deletion of DCAF11 hampers CENP-A degradation and causes its mislocalization. We conclude that the Ser68 phosphorylation plays an important role in regulating cellular CENP-A homeostasis via DCAF11-mediated degradation to prevent ectopic localization of CENP-A during the cell cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kehui Wang
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yuting Liu
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhouliang Yu
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Bo Gu
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Jie Hu
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Li Huang
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiao Ge
- Center for Comparative Biomedicine, Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Lingyi Xu
- Department of Biophysics, Department of Pathology of Sir Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China; Department of Biophysics, Institute of Neuroscience, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Mengyu Zhang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Function and Application of Biological Macromolecular Structures, School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Jicheng Zhao
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Mingli Hu
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Rongrong Le
- School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Qiang Wu
- Center for Comparative Biomedicine, Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine (Ministry of Education), Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Sheng Ye
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Function and Application of Biological Macromolecular Structures, School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China; Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Shaorong Gao
- School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Xiaodong Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Rui-Ming Xu
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Guohong Li
- National Laboratory of Bio-macromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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71
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Zhu HQ, Tang XL, Zheng RC, Zheng YG. Recent advancements in enzyme engineering via site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 37:213. [PMID: 34741210 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-021-03177-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
With increased attention to excellent biocatalysts, evolving methods based on nature or unnatural amino acid (UAAs) mutagenesis have become an important part of enzyme engineering. The emergence of powerful method through expanding the genetic code allows to incorporate UAAs with unique chemical functionalities into proteins, endowing proteins with more structural and functional features. To date, over 200 diverse UAAs have been incorporated site-specifically into proteins via this methodology and many of them have been widely exploited in the field of enzyme engineering, making this genetic code expansion approach possible to be a promising tool for modulating the properties of enzymes. In this context, we focus on how this robust method to specifically incorporate UAAs into proteins and summarize their applications in enzyme engineering for tuning and expanding the functional properties of enzymes. Meanwhile, we aim to discuss how the benefits can be achieved by using the genetically encoded UAAs. We hope that this method will become an integral part of the field of enzyme engineering in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang-Qin Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China.,Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Ling Tang
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China.,Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China
| | - Ren-Chao Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China. .,Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yu-Guo Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China.,Engineering Research Center of Bioconversion and Biopurification of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China
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72
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Lammers M. Post-translational Lysine Ac(et)ylation in Bacteria: A Biochemical, Structural, and Synthetic Biological Perspective. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:757179. [PMID: 34721364 PMCID: PMC8556138 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.757179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Ac(et)ylation is a post-translational modification present in all domains of life. First identified in mammals in histones to regulate RNA synthesis, today it is known that is regulates fundamental cellular processes also in bacteria: transcription, translation, metabolism, cell motility. Ac(et)ylation can occur at the ε-amino group of lysine side chains or at the α-amino group of a protein. Furthermore small molecules such as polyamines and antibiotics can be acetylated and deacetylated enzymatically at amino groups. While much research focused on N-(ε)-ac(et)ylation of lysine side chains, much less is known about the occurrence, the regulation and the physiological roles on N-(α)-ac(et)ylation of protein amino termini in bacteria. Lysine ac(et)ylation was shown to affect protein function by various mechanisms ranging from quenching of the positive charge, increasing the lysine side chains’ size affecting the protein surface complementarity, increasing the hydrophobicity and by interfering with other post-translational modifications. While N-(ε)-lysine ac(et)ylation was shown to be reversible, dynamically regulated by lysine acetyltransferases and lysine deacetylases, for N-(α)-ac(et)ylation only N-terminal acetyltransferases were identified and so far no deacetylases were discovered neither in bacteria nor in mammals. To this end, N-terminal ac(et)ylation is regarded as being irreversible. Besides enzymatic ac(et)ylation, recent data showed that ac(et)ylation of lysine side chains and of the proteins N-termini can also occur non-enzymatically by the high-energy molecules acetyl-coenzyme A and acetyl-phosphate. Acetyl-phosphate is supposed to be the key molecule that drives non-enzymatic ac(et)ylation in bacteria. Non-enzymatic ac(et)ylation can occur site-specifically with both, the protein primary sequence and the three dimensional structure affecting its efficiency. Ac(et)ylation is tightly controlled by the cellular metabolic state as acetyltransferases use ac(et)yl-CoA as donor molecule for the ac(et)ylation and sirtuin deacetylases use NAD+ as co-substrate for the deac(et)ylation. Moreover, the accumulation of ac(et)yl-CoA and acetyl-phosphate is dependent on the cellular metabolic state. This constitutes a feedback control mechanism as activities of many metabolic enzymes were shown to be regulated by lysine ac(et)ylation. Our knowledge on lysine ac(et)ylation significantly increased in the last decade predominantly due to the huge methodological advances that were made in fields such as mass-spectrometry, structural biology and synthetic biology. This also includes the identification of additional acylations occurring on lysine side chains with supposedly different regulatory potential. This review highlights recent advances in the research field. Our knowledge on enzymatic regulation of lysine ac(et)ylation will be summarized with a special focus on structural and mechanistic characterization of the enzymes, the mechanisms underlying non-enzymatic/chemical ac(et)ylation are explained, recent technological progress in the field are presented and selected examples highlighting the important physiological roles of lysine ac(et)ylation are summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Lammers
- Synthetic and Structural Biochemistry, Institute for Biochemistry, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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73
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Yi H, Zhang J, Ke F, Guo X, Yang J, Xie P, Liu L, Wang Q, Gao X. Comparative Analyses of the Transcriptome and Proteome of Escherichia coli C321.△A and Further Improving Its Noncanonical Amino Acids Containing Protein Expression Ability by Integration of T7 RNA Polymerase. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:744284. [PMID: 34659179 PMCID: PMC8511705 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.744284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins has been proven to be a powerful tool to manipulate protein structure and function, and to investigate many biological processes. Improving the yields of ncAA-containing proteins is of great significance in industrial-scale applications. Escherichia coli C321.ΔA was generated by the replacement of all known amber codons and the deletion of RF1 in the genome and has been proven to be an ideal host for ncAA-containing protein expression using genetic code expansion. In this study, we investigated the transcriptome and proteome profiles of this first codon reassignment strain and found that some functions and metabolic pathways were differentially expressed when compared with those of its parent strain. Genes involved in carbohydrate and energy metabolism were remarkably downregulated. Our results may provide important clues about the growth defects in E. coli C321.ΔA. Furthermore, we improved the yields of ncAA-containing proteins in E. coli C321.ΔA by integrating the T7 RNA polymerase system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huawei Yi
- Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Famin Ke
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Xiurong Guo
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Jian Yang
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Peijuan Xie
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Li Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Qin Wang
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China
| | - Xiaowei Gao
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.,Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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74
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Kim S, Yi H, Kim YT, Lee HS. Engineering Translation Components for Genetic Code Expansion. J Mol Biol 2021; 434:167302. [PMID: 34673113 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The expansion of the genetic code consisting of four bases and 20 amino acids into diverse building blocks has been an exciting topic in synthetic biology. Many biochemical components are involved in gene expression; therefore, adding a new component to the genetic code requires engineering many other components that interact with it. Genetic code expansion has advanced significantly for the last two decades with the engineering of several components involved in protein synthesis. These components include tRNA/aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, new codons, ribosomes, and elongation factor Tu. In addition, biosynthesis and enhanced uptake of non-canonical amino acids have been attempted and have made meaningful progress. This review discusses the efforts to engineer these translation components, to improve the genetic code expansion technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sooin Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Sogang University, 35 Baekbeomro Mapogu, Seoul 04107, Republic of Korea
| | - Hanbin Yi
- Department of Chemistry, Sogang University, 35 Baekbeomro Mapogu, Seoul 04107, Republic of Korea
| | - Yurie T Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Sogang University, 35 Baekbeomro Mapogu, Seoul 04107, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun Soo Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Sogang University, 35 Baekbeomro Mapogu, Seoul 04107, Republic of Korea.
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75
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Chen X, Liu Y, Hou J, Lu Y. A linear DNA template-based framework for site-specific unnatural amino acid incorporation. Synth Syst Biotechnol 2021; 6:192-199. [PMID: 34401545 PMCID: PMC8347695 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2021.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids (UNAAs) into proteins using an orthogonal translation system (OTS) has expanded the scope of protein-coding chemistry. The key factor affecting UNAA embedding efficiency is the orthogonality of the OTS. Compared to traditional cell systems, cell-free systems are more convenient to control the reaction process and improve the utilization rate of UNAA. In this study, a linear DNA template-based cell-free unnatural protein synthesis system for rapid high-throughput screening and evolution was proposed. A total of 14 cell extracts were selected for screening out cell extract with high expression level. The result showed that EcAR7 ΔA ΔSer cell extract was optimal for the cell-free system. In addition, the screening results of four UNAAs, p-propargyloxy-l-phenylalanine (pPaF), p-azyl-phenylalanine (pAzF), p-acetyl-l-phenylalanine (pAcF), and p-benzoyl-l-phenylalanine (pBpF), showed that o-aaRS and o-tRNA of pPaF had good orthogonality. A new pair of corresponding o-aaRS and o-tRNA for pBpF was screened out. These results proved that this method could speed up the screening of optimal OTS components for UNAAs with versatile functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinjie Chen
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Yingying Liu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Jiaqi Hou
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Yuan Lu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
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76
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Cao L, Liu J, Ghelichkhani F, Rozovsky S, Wang L. Genetic Incorporation of ϵ-N-Benzoyllysine by Engineering Methanomethylophilus alvus Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase. Chembiochem 2021; 22:2530-2534. [PMID: 34118176 PMCID: PMC8406699 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202100218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Post-translational modifications regulate protein structure and function. Lysine benzoylation is a newly discovered histone modification with unique physiological relevance. To construct proteins with this modification site-specifically, we generated orthogonal tRNAPyl -MaBzKRS pairs by engineering Methanomethylophilus alvus pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase, allowing the genetic incorporation of ϵ-N-benzoyllysine (BzK) into proteins with high efficiency in E. coli and mammalian cells. Two types of MaBzKRS were identified to incorporate BzK using mutations located at different positions of the amino acid binding pocket. These MaBzKRS are small in size and highly expressed, which will afford broad utilities in studying the biological effects of lysine benzoylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Cao
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, 555 Mission Bay Blvd. South, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Jun Liu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, 555 Mission Bay Blvd. South, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Farid Ghelichkhani
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Sharon Rozovsky
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Lei Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, 555 Mission Bay Blvd. South, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
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77
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Schiapparelli P, Pirman NL, Mohler K, Miranda-Herrera PA, Zarco N, Kilic O, Miller C, Shah SR, Rogulina S, Hungerford W, Abriola L, Hoyer D, Turk BE, Guerrero-Cázares H, Isaacs FJ, Quiñones-Hinojosa A, Levchenko A, Rinehart J. Phosphorylated WNK kinase networks in recoded bacteria recapitulate physiological function. Cell Rep 2021; 36:109416. [PMID: 34289367 PMCID: PMC8379681 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Revised: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in genetic code expansion have enabled the production of proteins containing site-specific, authentic post-translational modifications. Here, we use a recoded bacterial strain with an expanded genetic code to encode phosphoserine into a human kinase protein. We directly encode phosphoserine into WNK1 (with-no-lysine [K] 1) or WNK4 kinases at multiple, distinct sites, which produced activated, phosphorylated WNK that phosphorylated and activated SPAK/OSR kinases, thereby synthetically activating this human kinase network in recoded bacteria. We used this approach to identify biochemical properties of WNK kinases, a motif for SPAK substrates, and small-molecule kinase inhibitors for phosphorylated SPAK. We show that the kinase inhibitors modulate SPAK substrates in cells, alter cell volume, and reduce migration of glioblastoma cells. Our work establishes a protein-engineering platform technology that demonstrates that synthetically active WNK kinase networks can accurately model cellular systems and can be used more broadly to target networks of phosphorylated proteins for research and discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Natasha L Pirman
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Kyle Mohler
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | | | - Natanael Zarco
- Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Onur Kilic
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Chad Miller
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Sagar R Shah
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Svetlana Rogulina
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - William Hungerford
- Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Laura Abriola
- Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Denton Hoyer
- Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Benjamin E Turk
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | | | - Farren J Isaacs
- Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | | | - Andre Levchenko
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Jesse Rinehart
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
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78
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Porter JJ, Heil CS, Lueck JD. Therapeutic promise of engineered nonsense suppressor tRNAs. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. RNA 2021; 12:e1641. [PMID: 33567469 PMCID: PMC8244042 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.1641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Nonsense mutations change an amino acid codon to a premature termination codon (PTC) generally through a single-nucleotide substitution. The generation of a PTC results in a defective truncated protein and often in severe forms of disease. Because of the exceedingly high prevalence of nonsense-associated diseases and a unifying mechanism, there has been a concerted effort to identify PTC therapeutics. Most clinical trials for PTC therapeutics have been conducted with small molecules that promote PTC read through and incorporation of a near-cognate amino acid. However, there is a need for PTC suppression agents that recode PTCs with the correct amino acid while being applicable to PTC mutations in many different genomic landscapes. With these characteristics, a single therapeutic will be able to treat several disease-causing PTCs. In this review, we will focus on the use of nonsense suppression technologies, in particular, suppressor tRNAs (sup-tRNAs), as possible therapeutics for correcting PTCs. Sup-tRNAs have many attractive qualities as possible therapeutic agents although there are knowledge gaps on their function in mammalian cells and technical hurdles that need to be overcome before their promise is realized. This article is categorized under: RNA Processing > tRNA Processing Translation > Translation Regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J. Porter
- Department of Pharmacology and PhysiologyUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterRochesterNew YorkUSA
| | - Christina S. Heil
- Department of Pharmacology and PhysiologyUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterRochesterNew YorkUSA
| | - John D. Lueck
- Department of Pharmacology and PhysiologyUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterRochesterNew YorkUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterRochesterNew YorkUSA
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79
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Abstract
![]()
Since the establishment
of site-specific mutagenesis of single
amino acids to interrogate protein function in the 1970s, biochemists
have sought to tailor protein structure in the native cell environment.
Fine-tuning the chemical properties of proteins is an indispensable
way to address fundamental mechanistic questions. Unnatural amino
acids (UAAs) offer the possibility to expand beyond the 20 naturally
occurring amino acids in most species and install new and useful chemical
functions. Here, we review the literature about advances in UAA incorporation
technology from chemoenzymatic aminoacylation of modified tRNAs to in vitro translation systems to genetic encoding of UAAs
in the native cell environment and whole organisms. We discuss innovative
applications of the UAA technology to challenges in bioengineering
and medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mia A Shandell
- York Structural Biology Laboratory, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, U.K
| | - Zhongping Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Virginia W Cornish
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, United States.,Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, United States
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80
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Incorporation of backbone modifications in mRNA-displayable peptides. Methods Enzymol 2021; 656:521-544. [PMID: 34325797 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2021.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Here we comprehensively summarize the most recent efforts in our research team, aiming at installing N-methyl and azole backbones into peptides expressed in translation. The genetic code reprogramming using the Flexible In-vitro Translation system (FIT system) has proven to be the most reliable and versatile approach for ribosomally installing various exotic amino acids. However, it had been yet difficult in translating diverse kinds of multiple and consecutive sequences of N-methyl amino acids (MeAAs). We have recently reported that a semi-rational fine tuning of MeAA-tRNA affinities for EF-Tu by altering tRNA T-stem sequence achieves efficient delivery of MeAA-tRNAs to the ribosome. Indeed, this approach has made it possible to express N-methyl-peptides containing multiple MeAAs with a remarkably high fidelity. Another interesting backbone modification in peptides is azole moieties often found in natural products, but they are explicitly installed by post-translational modifying enzymes. We have recently devised a method to bypass such enzymatic processes where a bromovinyl group-containing amino acid is incorporated into the peptide by genetic code reprogramming and then chemically converted to an azole group via an intramolecular heterocyclization reaction. These methods will grant more drug-like properties to peptides than ordinary peptides in terms of protease resistance and cell membrane permeability. Particularly when they can be integrated with in vitro mRNA display, such as the RaPID system, the discovery of de novo bioactive peptides can be realized.
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81
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Abstract
Over the past decade, harnessing the cellular protein synthesis machinery to incorporate non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into tailor-made peptides has significantly advanced many aspects of molecular science. More recently, groundbreaking progress in our ability to engineer this machinery for improved ncAA incorporation has led to significant enhancements of this powerful tool for biology and chemistry. By revealing the molecular basis for the poor or improved incorporation of ncAAs, mechanistic studies of ncAA incorporation by the protein synthesis machinery have tremendous potential for informing and directing such engineering efforts. In this chapter, we describe a set of complementary biochemical and single-molecule fluorescence assays that we have adapted for mechanistic studies of ncAA incorporation. Collectively, these assays provide data that can guide engineering of the protein synthesis machinery to expand the range of ncAAs that can be incorporated into peptides and increase the efficiency with which they can be incorporated, thereby enabling the full potential of ncAA mutagenesis technology to be realized.
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82
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Kofman C, Lee J, Jewett MC. Engineering molecular translation systems. Cell Syst 2021; 12:593-607. [PMID: 34139167 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2021.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Molecular translation systems provide a genetically encoded framework for protein synthesis, which is essential for all life. Engineering these systems to incorporate non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into peptides and proteins has opened many exciting opportunities in chemical and synthetic biology. Here, we review recent advances that are transforming our ability to engineer molecular translation systems. In cell-based systems, new processes to synthesize recoded genomes, tether ribosomal subunits, and engineer orthogonality with high-throughput workflows have emerged. In cell-free systems, adoption of flexizyme technology and cell-free ribosome synthesis and evolution platforms are expanding the limits of chemistry at the ribosome's RNA-based active site. Looking forward, innovations will deepen understanding of molecular translation and provide a path to polymers with previously unimaginable structures and functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Kofman
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Joongoo Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Michael C Jewett
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Interdisplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
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83
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Chen H, Wilson J, Ottinger S, Gan Q, Fan C. Introducing noncanonical amino acids for studying and engineering bacterial microcompartments. Curr Opin Microbiol 2021; 61:67-72. [PMID: 33813159 PMCID: PMC8169543 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2021.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2020] [Revised: 02/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) with selectively permeable shells and encapsulated enzyme cores are well-suited candidates for nano-bioreactors because of their advantages of enhancing pathway flux and protection against toxic products. To better study and engineer protein-based BMCs, a series of protein chemistry approaches are adopted. As one of the most advanced techniques, genetic code expansion can introduce various noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) with diverse functional groups into target proteins, thus providing powerful tools for protein studies and engineering. This review summarizes and proposes useful tools based on current development of the genetic code expansion technique towards challenges in BMC studies and engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Chen
- Cell and Molecular Biology Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Jessica Wilson
- Cell and Molecular Biology Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Sara Ottinger
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Qinglei Gan
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Chenguang Fan
- Cell and Molecular Biology Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
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84
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Iwane Y, Kimura H, Katoh T, Suga H. Uniform affinity-tuning of N-methyl-aminoacyl-tRNAs to EF-Tu enhances their multiple incorporation. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:10807-10817. [PMID: 33997906 PMCID: PMC8565323 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2020] [Revised: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
In ribosomal translation, the accommodation of aminoacyl-tRNAs into the ribosome is mediated by elongation factor thermo unstable (EF-Tu). The structures of proteinogenic aminoacyl-tRNAs (pAA-tRNAs) are fine-tuned to have uniform binding affinities to EF-Tu in order that all proteinogenic amino acids can be incorporated into the nascent peptide chain with similar efficiencies. Although genetic code reprogramming has enabled the incorporation of non-proteinogenic amino acids (npAAs) into the nascent peptide chain, the incorporation of some npAAs, such as N-methyl-amino acids (MeAAs), is less efficient, especially when MeAAs frequently and/or consecutively appear in a peptide sequence. Such poor incorporation efficiencies can be attributed to inadequate affinities of MeAA-tRNAs to EF-Tu. Taking advantage of flexizymes, here we have experimentally verified that the affinities of MeAA-tRNAs to EF-Tu are indeed weaker than those of pAA-tRNAs. Since the T-stem of tRNA plays a major role in interacting with EF-Tu, we have engineered the T-stem sequence to tune the affinity of MeAA-tRNAs to EF-Tu. The uniform affinity-tuning of the individual pairs has successfully enhanced the incorporation of MeAAs, achieving the incorporation of nine distinct MeAAs into both linear and thioether-macrocyclic peptide scaffolds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoshihiko Iwane
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Kimura
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Takayuki Katoh
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Suga
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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85
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Schmidt M, Kubyshkin V. How To Quantify a Genetic Firewall? A Polarity-Based Metric for Genetic Code Engineering. Chembiochem 2021; 22:1268-1284. [PMID: 33231343 PMCID: PMC8049029 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202000758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Genetic code engineering aims to produce organisms that translate genetic information in a different way from that prescribed by the standard genetic code. This endeavor could eventually lead to genetic isolation, where an organism that operates under a different genetic code will not be able to transfer functional genes with other living species, thereby standing behind a genetic firewall. It is not clear however, how distinct the code should be, or how to measure the distance. We have developed a metric (Δcode ) where we assigned polarity indices (clog D7 ) to amino acids to calculate the distances between pairs of genetic codes. We then calculated the distance between a set of 204 genetic codes, including the 24 known distinct natural codes, 11 extreme-distance codes created computationally, nine theoretical special purpose codes from literature and 160 codes in which canonical amino acids were replaced by noncanonical chemical analogues. The metric can be used for building strategies towards creating semantically alienated organisms, and testing the strength of genetic firewalls. This metric provides the basis for a map of the genetic codes that could guide future efforts towards novel biochemical worlds, biosafety and deep barcoding applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Vladimir Kubyshkin
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of ManitobaDysart Road 144WinnipegR3T 2N2Canada
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86
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Manandhar M, Chun E, Romesberg FE. Genetic Code Expansion: Inception, Development, Commercialization. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:4859-4878. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c11938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Miglena Manandhar
- Synthorx, a Sanofi Company, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Eugene Chun
- Synthorx, a Sanofi Company, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
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87
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Dyakin VV, Wisniewski TM, Lajtha A. Racemization in Post-Translational Modifications Relevance to Protein Aging, Aggregation and Neurodegeneration: Tip of the Iceberg. Symmetry (Basel) 2021; 13:455. [PMID: 34350031 PMCID: PMC8330555 DOI: 10.3390/sym13030455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Homochirality of DNA and prevalent chirality of free and protein-bound amino acids in a living organism represents the challenge for modern biochemistry and neuroscience. The idea of an association between age-related disease, neurodegeneration, and racemization originated from the studies of fossils and cataract disease. Under the pressure of new results, this concept has a broader significance linking protein folding, aggregation, and disfunction to an organism's cognitive and behavioral functions. The integrity of cognitive function is provided by a delicate balance between the evolutionarily imposed molecular homo-chirality and the epigenetic/developmental impact of spontaneous and enzymatic racemization. The chirality of amino acids is the crucial player in the modulation the structure and function of proteins, lipids, and DNA. The collapse of homochirality by racemization is the result of the conformational phase transition. The racemization of protein-bound amino acids (spontaneous and enzymatic) occurs through thermal activation over the energy barrier or by the tunnel transfer effect under the energy barrier. The phase transition is achieved through the intermediate state, where the chirality of alpha carbon vanished. From a thermodynamic consideration, the system in the homo-chiral (single enantiomeric) state is characterized by a decreased level of entropy. The oscillating protein chirality is suggesting its distinct significance in the neurotransmission and flow of perceptual information, adaptive associative learning, and cognitive laterality. The common pathological hallmarks of neurodegenerative disorders include protein misfolding, aging, and the deposition of protease-resistant protein aggregates. Each of the landmarks is influenced by racemization. The brain region, cell type, and age-dependent racemization critically influence the functions of many intracellular, membrane-bound, and extracellular proteins including amyloid precursor protein (APP), TAU, PrP, Huntingtin, α-synuclein, myelin basic protein (MBP), and collagen. The amyloid cascade hypothesis in Alzheimer's disease (AD) coexists with the failure of amyloid beta (Aβ) targeting drug therapy. According to our view, racemization should be considered as a critical factor of protein conformation with the potential for inducing order, disorder, misfolding, aggregation, toxicity, and malfunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor V. Dyakin
- Virtual Reality Perception Lab (VRPL), The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (NKI), Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
| | - Thomas M. Wisniewski
- Departments of Neurology, Pathology and Psychiatry, Center for Cognitive Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Abel Lajtha
- Center for Neurochemistry, The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (NKI), Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
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88
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McKenna M, Balasuriya N, Zhong S, Li SSC, O'Donoghue P. Phospho-Form Specific Substrates of Protein Kinase B (AKT1). Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2021; 8:619252. [PMID: 33614606 PMCID: PMC7886700 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.619252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein kinase B (AKT1) is hyper-activated in diverse human tumors. AKT1 is activated by phosphorylation at two key regulatory sites, Thr308 and Ser473. Active AKT1 phosphorylates many, perhaps hundreds, of downstream cellular targets in the cytosol and nucleus. AKT1 is well-known for phosphorylating proteins that regulate cell survival and apoptosis, however, the full catalog of AKT1 substrates remains unknown. Using peptide arrays, we recently discovered that each phosphorylated form of AKT1 (pAKT1S473, pAKT1T308, and ppAKT1S473,T308) has a distinct substrate specificity, and these data were used to predict potential new AKT1 substrates. To test the high-confidence predictions, we synthesized target peptides representing putative AKT1 substrates. Peptides substrates were synthesized by solid phase synthesis and their purity was confirmed by mass spectrometry. Most of the predicted peptides showed phosphate accepting activity similar to or greater than that observed with a peptide derived from a well-established AKT1 substrate, glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β). Among the novel substrates, AKT1 was most active with peptides representing PIP3-binding protein Rab11 family-interacting protein 2 and cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1, indicating their potential role in AKT1-dependent cellular signaling. The ppAKT1S473,T308 enzyme was highly selective for peptides containing a patch of basic residues at −5, −4, −3 and aromatic residues (Phe/Tyr) at +1 positions from the phosphorylation site. The pAKT1S473 variant preferred more acidic peptides, Ser or Pro at +4, and was agnostic to the residue at −5. The data further support our hypothesis that Ser473 phosphorylation plays a key role in modulating AKT1 substrate selectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- McShane McKenna
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Nileeka Balasuriya
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Shanshan Zhong
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Shawn Shun-Cheng Li
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Patrick O'Donoghue
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.,Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
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89
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Katoh T, Suga H. Development of Bioactive Foldamers Using Ribosomally Synthesized Nonstandard Peptide Libraries. BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN 2021. [DOI: 10.1246/bcsj.20200326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Takayuki Katoh
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Suga
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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90
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Liu Y, Davis RG, Thomas PM, Kelleher NL, Jewett MC. In vitro-Constructed Ribosomes Enable Multi-site Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids into Proteins. Biochemistry 2021; 60:161-169. [PMID: 33426883 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Efforts to expand the scope of ribosome-mediated polymerization to incorporate noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into peptides and proteins hold promise for creating new classes of enzymes, therapeutics, and materials. Recently, the integrated synthesis, assembly, and translation (iSAT) system was established to construct functional ribosomes in cell-free systems. However, the iSAT system has not been shown to be compatible with genetic code expansion. Here, to address this gap, we develop an iSAT platform capable of manufacturing pure proteins with site-specifically incorporated ncAAs. We first establish an iSAT platform based on extracts from genomically recoded Escherichia coli lacking release factor 1 (RF-1). This permits complete reassignment of the amber codon translation function. Next, we optimize orthogonal translation system components to demonstrate the benefits of genomic RF-1 deletion on incorporation of ncAAs into proteins. Using our optimized platform, we demonstrate high-level, multi-site incorporation of p-acetyl-phenylalanine (pAcF) and p-azido-phenylalanine into superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP). Mass spectrometry analysis confirms the high accuracy of incorporation for pAcF at one, two, and five amber sites in sfGFP. The iSAT system updated for ncAA incorporation sets the stage for investigating ribosomal mutations to better understand the fundamental basis of protein synthesis, manufacturing proteins with new properties, and engineering ribosomes for novel polymerization chemistries.
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91
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Mekkattu Tharayil S, Mahawaththa M, Loh CT, Adekoya I, Otting G. Phosphoserine for the generation of lanthanide-binding sites on proteins for paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. MAGNETIC RESONANCE (GOTTINGEN, GERMANY) 2021; 2:1-13. [PMID: 37904776 PMCID: PMC10539748 DOI: 10.5194/mr-2-1-2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/01/2023]
Abstract
Pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) generated by paramagnetic lanthanide ions provide valuable long-range structural information in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analyses of biological macromolecules such as proteins, but labelling proteins site-specifically with a single lanthanide ion remains an ongoing challenge, especially for proteins that are not suitable for ligation with cysteine-reactive lanthanide complexes. We show that a specific lanthanide-binding site can be installed on proteins by incorporation of phosphoserine in conjunction with other negatively charged residues, such as aspartate, glutamate or a second phosphoserine residue. The close proximity of the binding sites to the protein backbone leads to good immobilization of the lanthanide ion, as evidenced by the excellent quality of fits between experimental PCSs and PCSs calculated with a single magnetic susceptibility anisotropy (Δ χ ) tensor. An improved two-plasmid system was designed to enhance the yields of proteins with genetically encoded phosphoserine, and good lanthanide ion affinities were obtained when the side chains of the phosphoserine and aspartate residues are not engaged in salt bridges, although the presence of too many negatively charged residues in close proximity can also lead to unfolding of the protein. In view of the quality of the Δ χ tensors that can be obtained from lanthanide-binding sites generated by site-specific incorporation of phosphoserine, this method presents an attractive tool for generating PCSs in stable proteins, particularly as it is independent of cysteine residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sreelakshmi Mekkattu Tharayil
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein
Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University,
Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Mithun Chamikara Mahawaththa
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein
Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University,
Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Choy-Theng Loh
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein
Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University,
Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
- present address: Hangzhou Wayland Bioscience Co. Ltd, Hangzhou
310030, PR China
| | - Ibidolapo Adekoya
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein
Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University,
Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Gottfried Otting
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein
Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University,
Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
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92
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Abstract
The encoded biosynthesis of proteins provides the ultimate paradigm for high-fidelity synthesis of long polymers of defined sequence and composition, but it is limited to polymerizing the canonical amino acids. Recent advances have built on genetic code expansion - which commonly permits the cellular incorporation of one type of non-canonical amino acid into a protein - to enable the encoded incorporation of several distinct non-canonical amino acids. Developments include strategies to read quadruplet codons, use non-natural DNA base pairs, synthesize completely recoded genomes and create orthogonal translational components with reprogrammed specificities. These advances may enable the genetically encoded synthesis of non-canonical biopolymers and provide a platform for transforming the discovery and evolution of new materials and therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jason W Chin
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK.
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93
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Di Mattia T, Martinet A, Ikhlef S, McEwen AG, Nominé Y, Wendling C, Poussin-Courmontagne P, Voilquin L, Eberling P, Ruffenach F, Cavarelli J, Slee J, Levine TP, Drin G, Tomasetto C, Alpy F. FFAT motif phosphorylation controls formation and lipid transfer function of inter-organelle contacts. EMBO J 2020; 39:e104369. [PMID: 33124732 PMCID: PMC7705450 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2019104369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2019] [Revised: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Organelles are physically connected in membrane contact sites. The endoplasmic reticulum possesses three major receptors, VAP‐A, VAP‐B, and MOSPD2, which interact with proteins at the surface of other organelles to build contacts. VAP‐A, VAP‐B, and MOSPD2 contain an MSP domain, which binds a motif named FFAT (two phenylalanines in an acidic tract). In this study, we identified a non‐conventional FFAT motif where a conserved acidic residue is replaced by a serine/threonine. We show that phosphorylation of this serine/threonine is critical for non‐conventional FFAT motifs (named Phospho‐FFAT) to be recognized by the MSP domain. Moreover, structural analyses of the MSP domain alone or in complex with conventional and Phospho‐FFAT peptides revealed new mechanisms of interaction. Based on these new insights, we produced a novel prediction algorithm, which expands the repertoire of candidate proteins with a Phospho‐FFAT that are able to create membrane contact sites. Using a prototypical tethering complex made by STARD3 and VAP, we showed that phosphorylation is instrumental for the formation of ER‐endosome contacts, and their sterol transfer function. This study reveals that phosphorylation acts as a general switch for inter‐organelle contacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Di Mattia
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Arthur Martinet
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Souade Ikhlef
- Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Valbonne, France
| | - Alastair G McEwen
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Yves Nominé
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Corinne Wendling
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Pierre Poussin-Courmontagne
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Laetitia Voilquin
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Pascal Eberling
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Frank Ruffenach
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Jean Cavarelli
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - John Slee
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK
| | | | - Guillaume Drin
- Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Valbonne, France
| | - Catherine Tomasetto
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
| | - Fabien Alpy
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France.,Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 1258, Illkirch, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, Illkirch, France.,Université de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France
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94
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Conibear AC. Deciphering protein post-translational modifications using chemical biology tools. Nat Rev Chem 2020; 4:674-695. [PMID: 37127974 DOI: 10.1038/s41570-020-00223-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Proteins carry out a wide variety of catalytic, regulatory, signalling and structural functions in living systems. Following their assembly on ribosomes and throughout their lifetimes, most eukaryotic proteins are modified by post-translational modifications; small functional groups and complex biomolecules are conjugated to amino acid side chains or termini, and the protein backbone is cleaved, spliced or cyclized, to name just a few examples. These modifications modulate protein activity, structure, location and interactions, and, thereby, control many core biological processes. Aberrant post-translational modifications are markers of cellular stress or malfunction and are implicated in several diseases. Therefore, gaining an understanding of which proteins are modified, at which sites and the resulting biological consequences is an important but complex challenge requiring interdisciplinary approaches. One of the key challenges is accessing precisely modified proteins to assign functional consequences to specific modifications. Chemical biologists have developed a versatile set of tools for accessing specifically modified proteins by applying robust chemistries to biological molecules and developing strategies for synthesizing and ligating proteins. This Review provides an overview of these tools, with selected recent examples of how they have been applied to decipher the roles of a variety of protein post-translational modifications. Relative advantages and disadvantages of each of the techniques are discussed, highlighting examples where they are used in combination and have the potential to address new frontiers in understanding complex biological processes.
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95
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Gang D, Park HS. Noncanonical Amino Acids in Synthetic Biosafety and Post-translational Modification Studies. Chembiochem 2020; 22:460-468. [PMID: 32794239 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202000437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) has been extensively studied because of its broad applicability. In the past decades, various in vitro and in vivo ncAA incorporation approaches have been developed to generate synthetic recombinant proteins. Herein, we discuss the methodologies for ncAA incorporation, and their use in diverse research areas, such as in synthetic biosafety and for studies of post-translational modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donghyeok Gang
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
| | - Hee-Sung Park
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 341418, Korea
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96
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Cui Z, Johnston WA, Alexandrov K. Cell-Free Approach for Non-canonical Amino Acids Incorporation Into Polypeptides. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:1031. [PMID: 33117774 PMCID: PMC7550873 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.01031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Synthetic biology holds promise to revolutionize the life sciences and biomedicine via expansion of macromolecular diversity outside the natural chemical space. Use of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) via codon reassignment has found diverse applications in protein structure and interaction analysis, introduction of post-translational modifications, production of constrained peptides, antibody-drug conjugates, and novel enzymes. However, simultaneously encoding multiple ncAAs in vivo requires complex engineering and is sometimes restricted by the cell's poor uptake of ncAAs. In contrast the open nature of cell-free protein synthesis systems offers much greater freedom for manipulation and repurposing of the biosynthetic machinery by controlling the level and identity of translational components and reagents, and allows simultaneous incorporation of multiple ncAAs with non-canonical side chains and even backbones (N-methyl, D-, β-amino acids, α-hydroxy acids etc.). This review focuses on the two most used Escherichia coli-based cell-free protein synthesis systems; cell extract- and PURE-based systems. The former is a biological mixture with >500 proteins, while the latter consists of 38 individually purified biomolecules. We delineate compositions of these two systems and discuss their respective advantages and applications. Also, we dissect the translational components required for ncAA incorporation and compile lists of ncAAs that can be incorporated into polypeptides via different acylation approaches. We highlight the recent progress in using unnatural nucleobase pairs to increase the repertoire of orthogonal codons, as well as using tRNA-specific ribozymes for in situ acylation. We summarize advances in engineering of translational machinery such as tRNAs, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, elongation factors, and ribosomes to achieve efficient incorporation of structurally challenging ncAAs. We note that, many engineered components of biosynthetic machinery are developed for the use in vivo but are equally applicable to the in vitro systems. These are included in the review to provide a comprehensive overview for ncAA incorporation and offer new insights for the future development in cell-free systems. Finally, we highlight the exciting progress in the genomic engineering, resulting in E. coli strains free of amber and some redundant sense codons. These strains can be used for preparation of cell extracts offering multiple reassignment options.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenling Cui
- Synthetic Biology Laboratory, School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Wayne A Johnston
- Synthetic Biology Laboratory, School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Kirill Alexandrov
- Synthetic Biology Laboratory, School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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97
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Gassaway BM, Cardone RL, Padyana AK, Petersen MC, Judd ET, Hayes S, Tong S, Barber KW, Apostolidi M, Abulizi A, Sheetz JB, Kshitiz, Aerni HR, Gross S, Kung C, Samuel VT, Shulman GI, Kibbey RG, Rinehart J. Distinct Hepatic PKA and CDK Signaling Pathways Control Activity-Independent Pyruvate Kinase Phosphorylation and Hepatic Glucose Production. Cell Rep 2020; 29:3394-3404.e9. [PMID: 31825824 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Pyruvate kinase is an important enzyme in glycolysis and a key metabolic control point. We recently observed a pyruvate kinase liver isoform (PKL) phosphorylation site at S113 that correlates with insulin resistance in rats on a 3 day high-fat diet (HFD) and suggests additional control points for PKL activity. However, in contrast to the classical model of PKL regulation, neither authentically phosphorylated PKL at S12 nor S113 alone is sufficient to alter enzyme kinetics or structure. Instead, we show that cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are activated by the HFD and responsible for PKL phosphorylation at position S113 in addition to other targets. These CDKs control PKL nuclear retention, alter cytosolic PKL activity, and ultimately influence glucose production. These results change our view of PKL regulation and highlight a previously unrecognized pathway of hepatic CDK activity and metabolic control points that may be important in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon M Gassaway
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Rebecca L Cardone
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Max C Petersen
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | | | | | - Karl W Barber
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Maria Apostolidi
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Joshua B Sheetz
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Kshitiz
- Department of Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Hans R Aerni
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | | | - Varman T Samuel
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Gerald I Shulman
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Richard G Kibbey
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jesse Rinehart
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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98
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Krauskopf K, Lang K. Increasing the chemical space of proteins in living cells via genetic code expansion. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2020; 58:112-120. [PMID: 32911429 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
In recent years it has become possible to genetically encode an expanded set of designer amino acids with tailored chemical and physical properties (dubbed unnatural amino acids, UAAs) into proteins in living cells by expanding the genetic code. Together with developments in chemistries that are amenable to and selective within physiological settings, these strategies have started to have a big impact on biological studies, as they enable exciting in cellulo applications. Here we highlight recent advances to covalently stabilize transient protein-protein interactions and capture enzyme substrate-complexes in living cells using proximity-triggered and residue-selective photo-induced crosslinking approaches. Furthermore, we describe recent efforts in controlling enzyme activity with photocaged UAAs and in extending their application to a variety of enzymatic scaffolds. In addition, we discuss the site-specific incorporation of UAAs mimicking post-translational modifications (PTMs) and approaches to generate natively-linked ubiquitin-protein conjugates to probe the role of PTMs in modulating complex cellular networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Krauskopf
- Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM), Department of Chemistry, Group of Synthetic Biochemistry, Technical University of Munich, Institute for Advanced Study, Lichtenbergstr. 4, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Kathrin Lang
- Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM), Department of Chemistry, Group of Synthetic Biochemistry, Technical University of Munich, Institute for Advanced Study, Lichtenbergstr. 4, 85748, Garching, Germany.
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99
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Abstract
Within the broad field of synthetic biology, genetic code expansion (GCE) techniques enable creation of proteins with an expanded set of amino acids. This may be invaluable for applications in therapeutics, bioremediation, and biocatalysis. Central to GCE are aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) as they link a non-canonical amino acid (ncAA) to their cognate tRNA, allowing ncAA incorporation into proteins on the ribosome. The ncAA-acylating aaRSs and their tRNAs should not cross-react with 20 natural aaRSs and tRNAs in the host, i.e., they need to function as an orthogonal translating system. All current orthogonal aaRS•tRNA pairs have been engineered from naturally occurring molecules to change the aaRS's amino acid specificity or assign the tRNA to a liberated codon of choice. Here we discuss the importance of orthogonality in GCE, laboratory techniques employed to create designer aaRSs and tRNAs, and provide an overview of orthogonal aaRS•tRNA pairs for GCE purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Krahn
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Jeffery M Tharp
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Ana Crnković
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Dieter Söll
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.
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100
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Unremitting progresses for phosphoprotein synthesis. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2020; 58:96-111. [PMID: 32889414 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2020] [Revised: 07/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Phosphorylation, one of the important protein post-translational modifications, is involved in many essential cellular processes. Site-specifical and homogeneous phosphoproteins can be used as probes for elucidating the protein phosphorylation network and as potential therapeutics for interfering their involved biological events. However, the generation of phosphoproteins has been challenging owing to the limitation of chemical synthesis and protein expression systems. Despite the pioneering discoveries in phosphoprotein synthesis, over the past decade, great progresses in this field have also been made to promote the biofunctional exploration of protein phosphorylation largely. Therefore, in this review, we mainly summarize recent advances in phosphoprotein synthesis, which includes five sections: 1) synthesis of the nonhydrolyzable phosphorylated amino acid mimetic building blocks, 2) chemical total and semisynthesis strategy, 3) in-cell and in vitro genetic code expansion strategy, 4) the late-stage modification strategy, 5) nonoxygen phosphoprotein synthesis.
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