Regioselective cysteine bioconjugation by appending a labeled cystein tag to a protein by using protein splicing in trans

Towards targeted Cas9 (CRISPR-Cas) delivery: Preparation of IgG antibody-Cas9 conjugates using a split intein

The CRISPR-Cas9 system has revolutionized the field of genetic engineering, but targeted cellular delivery remains a central problem. The delivery of the preformed ribonuclease-protein (RNP) complex has the advantages of fewer side effects and avoidance of potential permanent effects. We reasoned that an internalizing IgG antibody as a targeting device could address the delivery of Cas9-RNP. We opted for protein trans-splicing mediated by a split intein to facilitate posttranslational conjugation of the two large protein entities. We recently described the cysteine-less CL split intein that efficiently performs under oxidizing conditions and does not interfere with disulfide bonds or thiol bioconjugation chemistries. Using the CL split intein, we report for the first time the ligation of monoclonal IgG antibody precursors, expressed in mammalian cells, and a Cas9 precursor, obtained from bacterial expression. A purified IgG-Cas9 conjugate was loaded with sgRNA to form the active RNP complex and introduced a double-strand break in its target DNA in vitro. Furthermore, a synthetic peptide variant of the short N-terminal split intein precursor proved useful for chemical modification of Cas9. The split intein ligation procedure reported here for IgG-Cas9 provides the first step towards a novel CRISPR-Cas9 targeting approach involving the preformed RNP complex.

Structural and biochemical analysis of a novel atypically split intein reveals a conserved histidine specific to cysteine-less inteins

Protein trans-splicing mediated by a split intein reconstitutes a protein backbone from two parts. This virtually traceless autoprocessive reaction provides the basis for numerous protein engineering applications. Protein splicing typically proceeds through two thioester or oxyester intermediates involving the side chains of cysteine or serine/threonine residues. A cysteine-less split intein has recently attracted particular interest as it can splice under oxidizing conditions and is orthogonal to disulfide or thiol bioconjugation chemistries. Here, we report the split PolB16 OarG intein, a second such cysteine-independent intein. As a unique trait, it is atypically split with a short intein-N precursor fragment of only 15 amino acids, the shortest characterized to date, which was chemically synthesized to enable protein semi-synthesis. By rational engineering we obtained a high-yielding, improved split intein mutant. Structural and mutational analysis revealed the dispensability of the usually crucial conserved motif N3 (block B) histidine as an obvious peculiar property. Unexpectedly, we identified a previously unnoticed histidine in hydrogen-bond forming distance to the catalytic serine 1 as critical for splicing. This histidine has been overlooked so far in multiple sequence alignments and is highly conserved only in cysteine-independent inteins as a part of a newly discovered motif NX. The motif NX histidine is thus likely of general importance to the specialized environment in the active site required in this intein subgroup. Together, our study advances the toolbox as well as the structural and mechanistic understanding of cysteine-less inteins.

In Cellulo Protein Semi-Synthesis from Endogenous and Exogenous Fragments Using the Ultra-Fast Split Gp41-1 Intein

Protein semi-synthesis inside live cells from exogenous and endogenous parts offers unique possibilities for studying proteins in their native context. Split-intein-mediated protein trans-splicing is predestined for such endeavors and has seen some successes, but a much larger variety of established split inteins and associated protocols is urgently needed. We characterized the association and splicing parameters of the Gp41-1 split intein, which favorably revealed a nanomolar affinity between the intein fragments combined with the exceptionally fast splicing rate. Following bead-loading of a chemically modified intein fragment precursor into live mammalian cells, we fluorescently labeled target proteins on their N- and C-termini with short peptide tags, thus ensuring minimal perturbation of their structure and function. In combination with a nuclear-entrapment strategy to minimize cytosolic fluorescence background, we applied our technique for super-resolution imaging and single-particle tracking of the outer mitochondrial protein Tom20 in HeLa cells.

Biochemical and Structural Characterization of an Unusual and Naturally Split Class 3 Intein

Split inteins are indispensable tools for protein engineering because their ligation and cleavage reactions enable unique modifications of the polypeptide backbone. Three different classes of inteins have been identified according to the nature of the covalent intermediates resulting from the acyl rearrangements in the multistep protein‐splicing pathway. Class 3 inteins employ a characteristic internal cysteine for a branched thioester intermediate. A bioinformatic database search of non‐redundant protein sequences revealed the absence of split variants in 1701 class 3 inteins. We have discovered the first reported split class 3 intein in a metagenomics data set and report its biochemical, mechanistic and structural analysis. The AceL NrdHF intein exhibits low sequence conservation with other inteins and marked deviations in residues at conserved key positions, including a variation of the typical class‐3 WCT triplet motif. Nevertheless, functional analysis confirmed the class 3 mechanism of the intein and revealed excellent splicing yields within a few minutes over a wide range of conditions and with barely detectable cleavage side reactions. A high‐resolution crystal structure of the AceL NrdHF precursor and a mutagenesis study explained the importance and roles of several residues at the key positions. Tolerated substitutions in the flanking extein residues and a high affinity between the split intein fragments further underline the intein's future potential as a ligation tool.

A mesophilic cysteine-less split intein for protein trans-splicing applications under oxidizing conditions

Split intein-mediated protein trans-splicing has found extensive applications in chemical biology, protein chemistry, and biotechnology. However, an enduring limitation of all well-established split inteins has been the requirement to carry out the reaction in a reducing environment due to the presence of 1 or 2 catalytic cysteines that need to be in a reduced state for splicing to occur. The concomitant exposure of the fused proteins to reducing agents severely limits the scope of protein trans-splicing by excluding proteins sensitive to reducing conditions, such as those containing critical disulfide bonds. Here we report the discovery, characterization, and engineering of a completely cysteine-less split intein (CL intein) that is capable of efficient trans-splicing at ambient temperatures, without a denaturation step, and in the absence of reducing agents. We demonstrate its utility for the site-specific chemical modification of nanobodies and an antibody Fc fragment by N- and C-terminal trans-splicing with short peptide tags (CysTag) that consist of only a few amino acids and have been prelabeled on a single cysteine using classical cysteine bioconjugation. We also synthesized the short N-terminal fragment of the atypically split CL intein by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Furthermore, using the CL intein in combination with a nanobody-epitope pair as a high-affinity mediator, we showed chemical labeling of the extracellular domain of a cell surface receptor on living mammalian cells with a short CysTag containing a synthetic fluorophore. The CL intein thus greatly expands the scope of applications for protein trans-splicing.

Arylation Chemistry for Bioconjugation

Bioconjugation chemistry has been used to prepare modified biomolecules with functions beyond what nature intended. Central to these techniques is the development of highly efficient and selective bioconjugation reactions that operate under mild, biomolecule compatible conditions. Methods that form a nucleophile-sp2 carbon bond show promise for creating bioconjugates with new modifications, sometimes resulting in molecules with unparalleled functions. Here we outline and review sulfur, nitrogen, selenium, oxygen, and carbon arylative bioconjugation strategies and their applications to modify peptides, proteins, sugars, and nucleic acids.

N-terminal chemical protein labeling using the naturally split GOS-TerL intein

Chemoselective and regioselective chemical protein labeling is of great importance, yet no current technique is sufficiently general and simple to perform. Protein trans-splicing by split inteins can be used to ligate short tags with chemical labels to either the N or the C terminus of a protein. The CysTag approach exploits split intein fragments without a cysteine fused with such a short tag containing a single cysteine that is easily amenable to selective modification using classical cysteine bioconjugation. Labeling of the protein of interest is achieved through transfer of the pre-labeled tag by protein trans-splicing. This protocol keeps other cysteines unmodified. While split inteins for C-terminal CysTag labeling were previously reported, no high-yielding and naturally split intein for N-terminal labeling has been available. In this work, the recently discovered GOS-TerL intein was explored as the only known naturally split intein that both lacks a cysteine in its N-terminal fragment and is active under ambient conditions. Thioredoxin as a model protein and a camelid nanobody were labeled with a synthetic fluorophore by transferring the pre-labeling CysTag in the protein trans-splicing reaction with yields of about 50 to 90%. The short N-terminal intein fragment was also chemically synthesized with a tag to enable protein labeling by semi-synthetic protein trans-splicing. Our results expand the scope of the CysTag labeling strategy, which achieves selective chemical modification without the requirement for sophisticated biorthogonal functional groups and rather builds on the plethora of commercially available reagents directed at the thiol side chain of cysteine. Copyright © 2017 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Traceless and Chemoselective Amine Bioconjugation via Phthalimidine Formation in Native Protein Modification

ortho-Phthalaldehyde (OPA) and its derivatives are found to react chemoselectively with amino groups on peptides and proteins rapidly and tracelessly under the physiological condition via formation of phthalimidines, which provides a novel and promising approach when performing bioconjugation on native proteins. The notable advantages of this method over the existing native protein lysine-labeling approaches include a traceless process, a self-reacting, specific and fast reaction, ease of operation, and the ability to use nonhydrolyzable reagents. Its applications have been effectively demonstrated including conjugation of peptides and proteins, and generation of an active PEGlyated l-asparaginase.

An Unprecedented Combination of Serine and Cysteine Nucleophiles in a Split Intein with an Atypical Split Site

Protein splicing mediated by inteins is a self-processive reaction leading to the excision of the internal intein domain from a precursor protein and the concomitant ligation of the flanking sequences, the extein-N and extein-C parts, thereby reconstituting the host protein. Most inteins employ a splicing pathway in which the upstream scissile peptide bond is consecutively rearranged into two thioester or oxoester intermediates before intein excision and rearrangement into the new peptide bond occurs. The catalytically critical amino acids involved at the two splice junctions are cysteine, serine, or threonine. Notably, the only potential combination not observed so far in any of the known or engineered inteins corresponds to the transesterification from an oxoester to a thioester, which suggested that this formal uphill reaction with regard to the thermodynamic stability might be incompatible with intein-mediated catalysis. We show that corresponding mutations also led to inactive gp41-1 and AceL-TerL inteins. We report the novel GOS-TerL split intein identified from metagenomic databases as the first intein harboring the combination of Ser1 and Cys+1 residues. Mutational analysis showed that its efficient splicing reaction indeed follows the shift from oxoester to thioester and thus represents a rare diversion from the canonical pathway. Furthermore, the GOS-TerL intein has an atypical split site close to the N terminus. The Int(N) fragment could be shortened from 37 to 28 amino acids and exchanged with the 25-amino acid Int(N) fragment from the AceL-TerL intein, indicating a high degree of promiscuity of the Int(C) fragment of the GOS-TerL intein.

Ligation of synthetic peptides to proteins using semisynthetic protein trans-splicing

Protein trans-splicing using split inteins is a powerful and convenient reaction to chemically modify recombinantly expressed proteins under mild conditions. In particular, semisynthetic protein trans-splicing with one intein fragment short enough to be accessible by solid-phase peptide synthesis can be used to transfer a short peptide segment with the desired synthetic moiety to the protein of interest. In this chapter, we provide detailed protocols for two such split intein systems. The M86 mutant of the Ssp DnaB intein and the MX1 mutant of the AceL-TerL intein are two highly engineered split inteins with very short N-terminal intein fragments of only 11 and 25 amino acids, respectively, and allow the efficient N-terminal labeling of proteins.

Chemical-tag labeling of proteins using fully recombinant split inteins

Chemical-tag labeling of proteins involving split inteins is an approach for the selective chemical modification of proteins without the requirement of any chemical synthesis to be performed. In a two-step protocol, a very short tag fused to a split intein auxiliary protein is first labeled in a bioconjugation reaction with a synthetic moiety either at its N-terminus (amine-tag) or at the side chain of an unnatural amino acid (click-tag). The labeled protein is then mixed with the protein of interest fused to the complementary intein fragment. In the resulting spontaneous protein trans-splicing reaction the split intein fragments remove themselves and ligate the tag to the protein of interest in a virtually traceless fashion. The reaction can be performed either using a purified protein of interest or to label a protein in the context of a living cell. All protein components are recombinantly expressed and all chemical reagents are commercially available.

Conserved residues that modulate protein trans-splicing of Npu DnaE split intein

The first crystal trans-structure of a naturally occurring split intein has been determined for the Npu (Nostoc punctiforme PCC73102) DnaE split intein. Guided by this structure, the residues NArg50 and CSer35, well conserved in DnaE split inteins, are identified to be critical in the trans-splicing of Npu DnaE split intein. An in vitro splicing assay demonstrates that NArg50 and CSer35 play synergistic roles in modulating its intein activity. The C-terminal CAsn36 exhibits two orientations of its side chain and interacts with both NArg50 and CSer35 through hydrogen bonding. These interactions likely facilitate the cyclization of asparagine in the course of protein splicing. The mutation of either residue reduces intein activity, and correlates with the low activity of the Ssp (Cyanobacterium synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803) DnaE split intein. On the other hand, NArg50 also forms a hydrogen bond with the highly conserved F-block CAsp17, thus influencing the N-S acyl shift during N-terminal cleavage. Sequence alignments show that residues NArg50 and CSer35 are rather conserved in those split inteins that lack a penultimate histidine residue. The conserved non-catalytic residues of split inteins modulate the efficiency of protein trans-splicing by hydrogen-bond interactions with the catalytic residues at the splice junction.

Click-tag and amine-tag: chemical tag approaches for efficient protein labeling in vitro and on live cells using the naturally split Npu DnaE intein

Protein labeling with synthetic moieties remains in many cases a technically challenging or unresolved task. Two new and simple concepts are presented. In both approaches, a very short tag of only a few amino acids is prepared with the desired chemical modification and, in a second step, it is transferred to the protein of interest by protein trans-splicing. For the amine-tag, a recombinant intein fragment free of lysine residues was generated such that the amine group of the N terminus could be selectively modified with regular amine-reactive reagents. Thus, standard bioconjugation procedures without any chemical synthesis could be applied without modification of lysines in the protein of interest. For the click-tag, protein trans-splicing was combined with unnatural amino acid mutagenesis and subsequent bioorthogonal side chain modification, as demonstrated for click chemistry using p-azidophenylalanine. By the two-step strategy, exposure of the protein of interest to the copper catalyst was avoided.

Recent progress in intein research: from mechanism to directed evolution and applications

Inteins catalyze a post-translational modification known as protein splicing, where the intein removes itself from a precursor protein and concomitantly ligates the flanking protein sequences with a peptide bond. Over the past two decades, inteins have risen from a peculiarity to a rich source of applications in biotechnology, biomedicine, and protein chemistry. In this review, we focus on developments of intein-related research spanning the last 5 years, including the three different splicing mechanisms and their molecular underpinnings, the directed evolution of inteins towards improved splicing in exogenous protein contexts, as well as novel applications of inteins for cell biology and protein engineering, which were made possible by a clearer understanding of the protein splicing mechanism.

Unprecedented rates and efficiencies revealed for new natural split inteins from metagenomic sources

Inteins excise themselves out of precursor proteins by the protein splicing reaction and have emerged as valuable protein engineering tools in numerous and diverse biotechnological applications. Split inteins have recently attracted particular interest because of the opportunities associated with generating a protein from two separate polypeptides and with trans-cleavage applications made possible by split intein mutants. However, natural split inteins are rare and differ greatly in their usefulness with regard to the achievable rates and yields. Here we report the first functional characterization of new split inteins previously identified by bioinformatics from metagenomic sources. The N- and C-terminal fragments of the four inteins gp41-1, gp41-8, NrdJ-1, and IMPDH-1 were prepared as fusion constructs with model proteins. Upon incubation of complementary pairs, we observed trans-splicing reactions with unprecedented rates and yields for all four inteins. Furthermore, no side reactions were detectable, and the precursor constructs were consumed virtually quantitatively. The rate for the gp41-1 intein, the most active intein on all accounts, was k = 1.8 ± 0.5 × 10(-1) s(-1), which is ∼10-fold faster than the rate reported for the Npu DnaE intein and gives rise to completed reactions within 20-30 s. No cross-reactivity in exogenous combinations was observed. Using C1A mutants, all inteins were efficient in the C-terminal cleavage reaction, albeit at lower rates. C-terminal cleavage could be performed under a wide range of reaction conditions and also in the absence of native extein residues flanking the intein. Thus, these inteins hold great potential for splicing and cleavage applications.

Synthetic glycopeptides and glycoproteins with applications in biological research

Over the past few years, synthetic methods for the preparation of complex glycopeptides have been drastically improved. The need for homogenous glycopeptides and glycoproteins with defined chemical structures to study diverse biological phenomena further enhances the development of methodologies. Selected recent advances in synthesis and applications, in which glycopeptides or glycoproteins serve as tools for biological studies, are reviewed. The importance of specific antibodies directed to the glycan part, as well as the peptide backbone has been realized during the development of synthetic glycopeptide-based anti-tumor vaccines. The fine-tuning of native chemical ligation (NCL), expressed protein ligation (EPL), and chemoenzymatic glycosylation techniques have all together enabled the synthesis of functional glycoproteins. The synthesis of structurally defined, complex glycopeptides or glyco-clusters presented on natural peptide backbones, or mimics thereof, offer further possibilities to study protein-binding events.

Site-specific protein double labeling by expressed protein ligation: applications to repeat proteins

In the last few years, the use of labeled proteins has significantly expanded in the life sciences. Now, labeled proteins are indispensable tools for a wide spectrum of biophysical and chemical biology applications. In particular, the quest for more sophisticated experimental setups requires the development of new synthetic methodology, especially for multiple site-specific labeling. In this paper, we describe a synthetic strategy based on expressed protein ligation to prepare proteins in high purity and homogeneity, in which two different molecular probes are incorporated specifically at any desired position. Proteins are sequentially labeled in solution, with the advantage that a large excess of probes is not required and the labeled fragments are not restricted to peptide synthesis length limitations. This strategy was applied to selectively label a repeat protein with a fluorophores pair in different positions along the protein sequence. The doubly labeled proteins were prepared at high purity and homogeneity, as required for single molecule FRET studies. Remarkably, this approach can be adapted to the introduction of more than two molecular probes.

Protein trans-splicing as a protein ligation tool to study protein structure and function

Protein trans-splicing (PTS) exerted by split inteins is a protein ligation reaction which enables overcoming the barriers of conventional heterologous protein production. We provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art in split intein engineering, as well as the achievements of PTS technology in the realm of protein structure-function analyses, including incorporation of natural and artificial protein modifications, controllable protein reconstitution, segmental isotope labeling and protein cyclization. We further discuss factors crucial for the successful implementation of PTS in these protein engineering approaches, and speculate on necessary future endeavours to make PTS a universally applicable protein ligation tool.

Extending the scope of site-specific cysteine bioconjugation by appending a prelabeled cysteine tag to proteins using protein trans-splicing

Incorporating synthetic probes site-specifically into proteins is of central interest in several areas of biotechnology and protein chemistry. Bioconjugation techniques provide a simple and effective means of chemically modifying a protein. In particular, covalent chemical modifications of cysteine residues belong to one of the most important reactions due to the unique reactivity of its thiol moiety and the relatively low abundance of this amino acid in proteins. However, such types of modifications cannot be performed in a regioselective fashion when one or more additional cysteines are present. To address this limitation, we have developed an approach where a short cysteine-containing tag (Cys-Tag) fused to one part of a split intein and modified at its sulfhydryl group can be used to label proteins by trans-splicing with a protein of interest (POI) fused to the other half of the split intein. In this way, it is possible to selectively label a protein containing multiple cysteines. The artificially split Mycobacterium xenopi GyrA intein and the Synechocystis sp. DnaB intein were highly suitable for this purpose and were successfully used for the labeling of several proteins. This approach enables a simple route for labeling proteins by site-specific cysteine bioconjugation with any one of several commercially available cysteine-modifying probes.

Protein C-terminal labeling and biotinylation using synthetic peptide and split-intein

Background

Site-specific protein labeling or modification can facilitate the characterization of proteins with respect to their structure, folding, and interaction with other proteins. However, current methods of site-specific protein labeling are few and with limitations, therefore new methods are needed to satisfy the increasing need and sophistications of protein labeling.

Methodology

A method of protein C-terminal labeling was developed using a non-canonical split-intein, through an intein-catalyzed trans-splicing reaction between a protein and a small synthetic peptide carrying the desired labeling groups. As demonstrations of this method, three different proteins were efficiently labeled at their C-termini with two different labels (fluorescein and biotin) either in solution or on a solid surface, and a transferrin receptor protein was labeled on the membrane surface of live mammalian cells. Protein biotinylation and immobilization on a streptavidin-coated surface were also achieved in a cell lysate without prior purification of the target protein.

Conclusions

We have produced a method of site-specific labeling or modification at the C-termini of recombinant proteins. This method compares favorably with previous protein labeling methods and has several unique advantages. It is expected to have many potential applications in protein engineering and research, which include fluorescent labeling for monitoring protein folding, location, and trafficking in cells, and biotinylation for protein immobilization on streptavidin-coated surfaces including protein microchips. The types of chemical labeling may be limited only by the ability of chemical synthesis to produce the small C-intein peptide containing the desired chemical groups.

In vivo and in vitro protein ligation by naturally occurring and engineered split DnaE inteins

Background

Protein trans-splicing by naturally occurring split DnaE inteins is used for protein ligation of foreign peptide fragments. In order to widen biotechnological applications of protein trans-splicing, it is highly desirable to have split inteins with shorter C-terminal fragments, which can be chemically synthesized.

Principal Findings

We report the identification of new functional split sites in DnaE inteins from Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 and from Nostoc punctiforme. One of the newly engineered split intein bearing C-terminal 15 residues showed more robust protein trans-splicing activity than naturally occurring split DnaE inteins in a foreign context. During the course of our experiments, we found that protein ligation by protein trans-splicing depended not only on the splicing junction sequences, but also on the foreign extein sequences. Furthermore, we could classify the protein trans-splicing reactions in foreign contexts with a simple kinetic model into three groups according to their kinetic parameters in the presence of various reducing agents.

Conclusion

The shorter C-intein of the newly engineered split intein could be a useful tool for biotechnological applications including protein modification, incorporation of chemical probes, and segmental isotopic labelling. Based on kinetic analysis of the protein splicing reactions, we propose a general strategy to improve ligation yields by protein trans-splicing, which could significantly enhance the applications of protein ligation by protein trans-splicing.

Solution structure of DnaE intein from Nostoc punctiforme: structural basis for the design of a new split intein suitable for site-specific chemical modification

Naturally split DnaE intein from Nostoc punctiforme (Npu) has robust protein trans-splicing activity and high tolerance of sequence variations at the splicing junctions. We determined the solution structure of a single chain variant of NpuDnaE intein by NMR spectroscopy. Based on the NMR structure and the backbone dynamics of the single chain NpuDnaE intein, we designed a functional split variant of the NpuDnaE intein having a short C-terminal half (C-intein) composed of six residues. In vivo and in vitro protein ligation of model proteins by the newly designed split intein were demonstrated.

The naturally split Npu DnaE intein exhibits an extraordinarily high rate in the protein trans-splicing reaction

We have studied the naturally split alpha subunit of the DNA polymerase III (DnaE) intein from Nostoc punctiforme PCC73102 (Npu) using purified proteins and determined an apparent first-order rate constant of (1.1+/-0.2)x10(-2) s(-1) at 37 degrees C. This represents the highest rate reported for the protein trans-splicing reaction so far (t(1/2) of approximately 60s). Furthermore, the reaction was very robust and high-yielding with respect to different extein sequences, temperatures from 6 to 37 degrees C, and the presence of up to 6 M urea. Given these outstanding properties, the Npu DnaE intein appears to be the intein of choice for many applications in protein and cellular chemistry.

Site-specific chemical modification of proteins with a prelabelled cysteine tag using the artificially split Mxe GyrA intein

The selective modification of proteins with a synthetic probe is of central interest for many aspects of protein chemistry. We have recently reported a new approach in which a short cysteine-containing tag (CysTag) fused to one part of a split intein is first modified with a sulfhydryl-reactive probe. In a second step, protein trans-splicing is used to link the labelled CysTag to a target protein that has been expressed in fusion with the complementary split intein fragment. Here, we present the generation and biochemical characterisation of the artificially split Mycobacterium xenopi GyrA intein. We show that this split intein is active without a renaturation step and that it provides a significant improvement for the CysTag protein-labelling approach in terms of product yields and target protein tolerance. Two proteins with multiple cysteine residues, human growth hormone and a multidomain nonribosomal peptide synthetase, were site-specifically modified with high yields. Our approach combines the benefits of the plethora of commercially available cysteine-reactive probes with a straightforward route for their site-specific incorporation even into complex and cysteine-rich proteins.

Semisynthesis of proteins using split inteins

Protein splicing is an autocatalytic reaction in which an internal protein domain, the intein, excises itself out of a precursor protein and concomitantly links the two flanking sequences, the exteins, with a native peptide bond. In split inteins, the intein domain is divided into two parts that undergo fragment association followed by protein splicing in trans. Thus, the extein sequences joined in the process originate from two separate molecules. The specificity and sequence promiscuity of split inteins make this approach a generally useful tool for the preparation of semisynthetic proteins. To this end, the recombinant part of the protein of interest is expressed as a fusion protein with one split intein fragment. The synthetic part is extended by the other, complementary fragment of the split intein. A recently introduced split intein, in which the N-terminal fragment consists of only 11 native amino acids, has greatly facilitated preparation of the synthetic part by solid-phase peptide synthesis. This intein enables the chemoenzymatic synthesis of N-terminally modified semisynthetic proteins. The reaction can be performed under native conditions and at protein and peptide concentrations in the low micromolar range. In contrast to chemical ligation procedures like native chemical ligation and expressed protein ligation, the incorporation of a thioester group and an aminoterminal cysteine into the two polypeptides to be linked is not necessary. We discuss properties of useful inteins, design rules for split inteins and intein insertion sites and we describe selected examples in detail.

Interaction studies and alanine scanning analysis of a semi-synthetic split intein reveal thiazoline ring formation from an intermediate of the protein splicing reaction

We recently reported an artificially split intein based on the Ssp DnaB mini-intein that consists of a synthetic N-terminal intein fragment (Int(N)) and a recombinant C-terminal part (Int(C)), which are 11 and 143 amino acids in length, respectively. This intein holds great promise for the preparation of semi-synthetic proteins by protein trans-splicing. In this work we synthesized a set of Int(N) peptide variants to investigate their structure-function relationship with regard to fragment association and promotion of protein trans-splicing. A further truncation of the Int(N) sequence below 11 amino acids resulted in loss of activity, whereas C-terminal extensions were tolerated. Alanine scanning analysis identified three essential hydrophobic residues, whereas substitutions at other positions were tolerated. We developed assays to monitor association of Int(N) with an Int(C) mutant blocked in protein splicing by native PAGE and fluorescence anisotropy. The kinetic parameters of intein complex formation were K(d) = 1.1 mum, k(on) = 16.8 m(-1) s(-1), and k(off) = 1.8 x 10(-5) s(-1) for the native Int(N11) sequence. Intriguingly, a G(-1)A substitution, previously known to significantly impair protein splicing, was revealed to result in thiazoline ring formation involving the catalytic Cys-1, likely by aberrant dehydration of a oxythiazolidine intermediate. This finding provides experimental evidence for the postulated intermediate during the initial N/S acyl shift and underlines the delicate spatial and temporal alignment required in the intein active site to prevent side reactions of the protein-splicing pathway.