1
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Jann C, Giofré S, Bhattacharjee R, Lemke EA. Cracking the Code: Reprogramming the Genetic Script in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes to Harness the Power of Noncanonical Amino Acids. Chem Rev 2024. [PMID: 39120726 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Over 500 natural and synthetic amino acids have been genetically encoded in the last two decades. Incorporating these noncanonical amino acids into proteins enables many powerful applications, ranging from basic research to biotechnology, materials science, and medicine. However, major challenges remain to unleash the full potential of genetic code expansion across disciplines. Here, we provide an overview of diverse genetic code expansion methodologies and systems and their final applications in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, represented by Escherichia coli and mammalian cells as the main workhorse model systems. We highlight the power of how new technologies can be first established in simple and then transferred to more complex systems. For example, whole-genome engineering provides an excellent platform in bacteria for enabling transcript-specific genetic code expansion without off-targets in the transcriptome. In contrast, the complexity of a eukaryotic cell poses challenges that require entirely new approaches, such as striving toward establishing novel base pairs or generating orthogonally translating organelles within living cells. We connect the milestones in expanding the genetic code of living cells for encoding novel chemical functionalities to the most recent scientific discoveries, from optimizing the physicochemical properties of noncanonical amino acids to the technological advancements for their in vivo incorporation. This journey offers a glimpse into the promising developments in the years to come.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cosimo Jann
- Biocenter, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- IMB Postdoc Programme (IPPro), 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Sabrina Giofré
- Biocenter, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- IMB Postdoc Programme (IPPro), 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Rajanya Bhattacharjee
- Biocenter, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- IMB International PhD Programme (IPP), 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Edward A Lemke
- Biocenter, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), 55128 Mainz, Germany
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2
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Weiss JL, Decker JC, Bolano A, Krahn N. Tuning tRNAs for improved translation. Front Genet 2024; 15:1436860. [PMID: 38983271 PMCID: PMC11231383 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1436860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Transfer RNAs have been extensively explored as the molecules that translate the genetic code into proteins. At this interface of genetics and biochemistry, tRNAs direct the efficiency of every major step of translation by interacting with a multitude of binding partners. However, due to the variability of tRNA sequences and the abundance of diverse post-transcriptional modifications, a guidebook linking tRNA sequences to specific translational outcomes has yet to be elucidated. Here, we review substantial efforts that have collectively uncovered tRNA engineering principles that can be used as a guide for the tuning of translation fidelity. These principles have allowed for the development of basic research, expansion of the genetic code with non-canonical amino acids, and tRNA therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua L Weiss
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - J C Decker
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Ariadna Bolano
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Natalie Krahn
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
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3
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Zheng Z, Wu X, Wang Y, Yang X, Chen H, Shen Y, Yang Y, Xia Q. Attenuating RNA Viruses with Expanded Genetic Codes to Evoke Adjustable Immune Response in PylRS-tRNACUAPyl Transgenic Mice. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1606. [PMID: 37897007 PMCID: PMC10610612 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101606] [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: 07/30/2023] [Revised: 09/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses pose heavy burdens on public-health systems. Synthetic biology holds great potential for artificially controlling their replication, a strategy that could be used to attenuate infectious viruses but is still in the exploratory stage. Herein, we used the genetic-code expansion technique to convert Enterovirus 71 (EV71), a prototypical RNA virus, into a controllable EV71 strain carrying the unnatural amino acid (UAA) Nε-2-azidoethyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine (NAEK), which we termed an EV71-NAEK virus. After NAEK supplementation, EV71-NAEK could recapitulate an authentic NAEK time- and dose-dependent infection in vitro, which could serve as a novel method to manipulate virulent viruses in conventional laboratories. We further validated the prophylactic effect of EV71-NAEK in two mouse models. In susceptible parent mice, vaccination with EV71-NAEK elicited a strong immune response and protected their neonatal offspring from lethal challenges similar to that of commercial vaccines. Meanwhile, in transgenic mice harboring a PylRS-tRNACUAPyl pair, substantial elements of genetic-code expansion technology, EV71-NAEK evoked an adjustable neutralizing-antibody response in a strictly external NAEK dose-dependent manner. These findings suggested that EV71-NAEK could be the basis of a feasible immunization program for populations with different levels of immunity. Moreover, we expanded the strategy to generate controllable coxsackieviruses for conceptual verification. In combination, these results could underlie a competent strategy for attenuating viruses and priming the immune system via artificial control, which might be a promising direction for the development of amenable vaccine candidates and be broadly applied to other RNA viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Qing Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Chemical Biology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; (Z.Z.); (X.W.); (Y.W.); (X.Y.); (H.C.); (Y.S.); (Y.Y.)
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4
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Chen Y, Gao T, He X, Niu W, Guo J. Genetic Code Expansion in Mammalian Cells Through Quadruplet Codon Decoding. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2676:181-190. [PMID: 37277633 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3251-2_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Genetic code expansion enables the site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins both in vitro and in vivo. In addition to a widely applied nonsense suppression strategy, the use of quadruplet codons could further expand the genetic code. A general approach to genetically incorporate ncAAs in response to quadruplet codons is achieved by utilizing an engineered aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) together with a tRNA variant containing an expanded anticodon loop. Here we provide a protocol to decode quadruplet UAGA codon with a ncAA in mammalian cells. We also describe microscopy imaging and flow cytometry analysis of ncAA mutagenesis in response to quadruplet codons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Chen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Tianyu Gao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Xinyuan He
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Wei Niu
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
| | - Jiantao Guo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
- The Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication (NCIBC), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
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5
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Xi Z, Davis L, Baxter K, Tynan A, Goutou A, Greiss S. Using a quadruplet codon to expand the genetic code of an animal. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:4801-4812. [PMID: 34882769 PMCID: PMC9122531 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab1168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetic code expansion in multicellular organisms is currently limited to the use of repurposed amber stop codons. Here, we introduce a system for the use of quadruplet codons to direct incorporation of non-canonical amino acids in vivo in an animal, the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. We develop hybrid pyrrolysyl tRNA variants to incorporate non-canonical amino acids in response to the quadruplet codon UAGA. We demonstrate the efficiency of the quadruplet decoding system by incorporating photocaged amino acids into two proteins widely used as genetic tools. We use photocaged lysine to express photocaged Cre recombinase for the optical control of gene expression and photocaged cysteine to express photo-activatable caspase for light inducible cell ablation. Our approach will facilitate the routine adoption of quadruplet decoding for genetic code expansion in eukaryotic cells and multicellular organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyan Xi
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Lloyd Davis
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Kieran Baxter
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Ailish Tynan
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Angeliki Goutou
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Sebastian Greiss
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
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6
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Therapeutic peptides: current applications and future directions. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2022; 7:48. [PMID: 35165272 PMCID: PMC8844085 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-022-00904-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 462] [Impact Index Per Article: 231.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptide drug development has made great progress in the last decade thanks to new production, modification, and analytic technologies. Peptides have been produced and modified using both chemical and biological methods, together with novel design and delivery strategies, which have helped to overcome the inherent drawbacks of peptides and have allowed the continued advancement of this field. A wide variety of natural and modified peptides have been obtained and studied, covering multiple therapeutic areas. This review summarizes the efforts and achievements in peptide drug discovery, production, and modification, and their current applications. We also discuss the value and challenges associated with future developments in therapeutic peptides.
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7
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Aphicho K, Kittipanukul N, Uttamapinant C. Visualizing the complexity of proteins in living cells with genetic code expansion. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2022; 66:102108. [PMID: 35026612 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2021.102108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Genetic code expansion has emerged as an enabling tool to provide insight into functions of understudied proteinogenic species, such as small proteins and peptides, and to probe protein biophysics in the cellular context. Here, we discuss recent technical advances and applications of genetic code expansion in cellular imaging of complex mammalian protein species, along with considerations and challenges on using the method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanokpol Aphicho
- School of Biomolecular Science and Engineering, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), Rayong, Thailand
| | - Narongyot Kittipanukul
- School of Biomolecular Science and Engineering, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), Rayong, Thailand
| | - Chayasith Uttamapinant
- School of Biomolecular Science and Engineering, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), Rayong, Thailand.
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8
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Guo J, Niu W. Genetic Code Expansion Through Quadruplet Codon Decoding. J Mol Biol 2021; 434:167346. [PMID: 34762896 PMCID: PMC9018476 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Noncanonical amino acid mutagenesis has emerged as a powerful tool for the study of protein structure and function. While triplet nonsense codons, especially the amber codon, have been widely employed, quadruplet codons have attracted attention for the potential of creating additional blank codons for noncanonical amino acids mutagenesis. In this review, we discuss methodologies and applications of quadruplet codon decoding in genetic code expansion both in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiantao Guo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States; The Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication (NCIBC), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States.
| | - Wei Niu
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States; The Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication (NCIBC), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
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9
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Mills EM, Barlow VL, Jones AT, Tsai YH. Development of mammalian cell logic gates controlled by unnatural amino acids. CELL REPORTS METHODS 2021; 1:100073. [PMID: 35474893 PMCID: PMC9017196 DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2021.100073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian cell logic gates hold great potential for wide-ranging applications. However, most of those currently available are controlled by drug(-like) molecules with inherent biological activities. To construct truly orthogonal circuits and artificial regulatory pathways, biologically inert molecules are ideal molecular switches. Here, we applied genetic code expansion and engineered logic gates controlled by two biologically inert unnatural amino acids. Genetic code expansion relies on orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs for co-translational and site-specific unnatural amino acid incorporation conventionally in response to an amber (UAG) codon. By screening 11 quadruplet-decoding pyrrolysyl tRNA variants from the literature, we found that all variants decoding CUAG or AGGA tested here are functional in mammalian cells. Using a quadruplet-decoding orthogonal pair together with an amber-decoding pair, we constructed logic gates that can be successfully controlled by two different unnatural amino acids, expanding the scope of genetic code expansion and mammalian cell logic circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily M. Mills
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, Wales CF10 3AT, UK
| | - Victoria L. Barlow
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, Wales CF10 3AT, UK
| | - Arwyn T. Jones
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Redwood Building, Cardiff, Wales CF10 3NB, UK
| | - Yu-Hsuan Tsai
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, Wales CF10 3AT, UK
- Institute of Molecular Physiology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518132, China
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10
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Demo G, Gamper HB, Loveland AB, Masuda I, Carbone CE, Svidritskiy E, Hou YM, Korostelev AA. Structural basis for +1 ribosomal frameshifting during EF-G-catalyzed translocation. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4644. [PMID: 34330903 PMCID: PMC8324841 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24911-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Frameshifting of mRNA during translation provides a strategy to expand the coding repertoire of cells and viruses. How and where in the elongation cycle +1-frameshifting occurs remains poorly understood. We describe seven ~3.5-Å-resolution cryo-EM structures of 70S ribosome complexes, allowing visualization of elongation and translocation by the GTPase elongation factor G (EF-G). Four structures with a + 1-frameshifting-prone mRNA reveal that frameshifting takes place during translocation of tRNA and mRNA. Prior to EF-G binding, the pre-translocation complex features an in-frame tRNA-mRNA pairing in the A site. In the partially translocated structure with EF-G•GDPCP, the tRNA shifts to the +1-frame near the P site, rendering the freed mRNA base to bulge between the P and E sites and to stack on the 16S rRNA nucleotide G926. The ribosome remains frameshifted in the nearly post-translocation state. Our findings demonstrate that the ribosome and EF-G cooperate to induce +1 frameshifting during tRNA-mRNA translocation.
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MESH Headings
- Biocatalysis
- Cryoelectron Microscopy
- Escherichia coli/genetics
- Escherichia coli/metabolism
- Escherichia coli Proteins/chemistry
- Escherichia coli Proteins/genetics
- Escherichia coli Proteins/metabolism
- Frameshifting, Ribosomal/genetics
- Models, Molecular
- Nucleic Acid Conformation
- Peptide Chain Elongation, Translational/genetics
- Peptide Elongation Factor G/chemistry
- Peptide Elongation Factor G/genetics
- Peptide Elongation Factor G/metabolism
- Protein Conformation
- RNA, Messenger/chemistry
- RNA, Messenger/genetics
- RNA, Messenger/metabolism
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/metabolism
- RNA, Transfer/chemistry
- RNA, Transfer/genetics
- RNA, Transfer/metabolism
- Ribosomes/genetics
- Ribosomes/metabolism
- Ribosomes/ultrastructure
- tRNA Methyltransferases/genetics
- tRNA Methyltransferases/metabolism
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Demo
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Howard B Gamper
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Anna B Loveland
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Isao Masuda
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Christine E Carbone
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Egor Svidritskiy
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Ya-Ming Hou
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Andrei A Korostelev
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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11
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Hao R, Ma K, Ru Y, Li D, Song G, Lu B, Liu H, Li Y, Zhang J, Wu C, Zhang G, Hu H, Luo J, Zheng H. Amber codon is genetically unstable in generation of premature termination codon (PTC)-harbouring Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) via genetic code expansion. RNA Biol 2021; 18:2330-2341. [PMID: 33849391 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2021.1907055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is the causative agent of FMD, a highly infectious and devastating viral disease of domestic and wild cloven-hoofed animals. FMD affects livestock and animal products' national and international trade, causing severe economic losses and social consequences. Currently, inactivated vaccines play a vital role in FMD control, but they have several limitations. The genetic code expansion technology provides powerful strategies for generating premature termination codon (PTC)-harbouring virus as a live but replication-incompetent viral vaccine. However, this technology has not been explored for the design and development of new FMD vaccines. In this study, we first expanded the genetic code of the FMDV genome via a transgenic cell line containing an orthogonal translation machinery. We demonstrated that the transgenic cells stably integrated the orthogonal pyltRNA/pylRS pair into the genome and enabled efficient, homogeneous incorporation of unnatural amino acids into target proteins in mammalian cells. Next, we constructed 129 single-PTC FMDV mutants and four dual-PTC FMDV mutants after considering the tolerance, location, and potential functions of those mutated sites. Amber stop codons individually substituted the selected amino acid codons in four viral proteins (3D, L, VP1, and VP4) of FMDV. We successfully rescued PTC-FMDV mutants, but the amber codon unexpectedly showed a highly degree of mutation rate during PTC-FMDV packaging and replication. Our findings highlight that the genetic code expansion technology for the generation of PTC-FMD vaccines needs to be further improved and that the genetic stability of amber codons during the packaging and replication of FMDV is a concern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongzeng Hao
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Kun Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yi Ru
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Dan Li
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Gaoyuan Song
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Bingzhou Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Huanan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yajun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jiaoyan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Chunping Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Guicai Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Haitao Hu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sealy Center for Vaccine Development and Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX, USA
| | - Jianxun Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Haixue Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, OIE/National Foot and Mouth Diseases Reference Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
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12
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Gamper H, Li H, Masuda I, Miklos Robkis D, Christian T, Conn AB, Blaha G, Petersson EJ, Gonzalez RL, Hou YM. Insights into genome recoding from the mechanism of a classic +1-frameshifting tRNA. Nat Commun 2021; 12:328. [PMID: 33436566 PMCID: PMC7803779 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20373-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
While genome recoding using quadruplet codons to incorporate non-proteinogenic amino acids is attractive for biotechnology and bioengineering purposes, the mechanism through which such codons are translated is poorly understood. Here we investigate translation of quadruplet codons by a +1-frameshifting tRNA, SufB2, that contains an extra nucleotide in its anticodon loop. Natural post-transcriptional modification of SufB2 in cells prevents it from frameshifting using a quadruplet-pairing mechanism such that it preferentially employs a triplet-slippage mechanism. We show that SufB2 uses triplet anticodon-codon pairing in the 0-frame to initially decode the quadruplet codon, but subsequently shifts to the +1-frame during tRNA-mRNA translocation. SufB2 frameshifting involves perturbation of an essential ribosome conformational change that facilitates tRNA-mRNA movements at a late stage of the translocation reaction. Our results provide a molecular mechanism for SufB2-induced +1 frameshifting and suggest that engineering of a specific ribosome conformational change can improve the efficiency of genome recoding. Genome recoding with quadruplet codons requires a +1-frameshift-suppressor tRNA able to insert an amino acid at quadruplet codons of interest. Here the authors identify the mechanisms resulting in +1 frameshifting and the steps of the elongation cycle in which it occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Howard Gamper
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Haixing Li
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Isao Masuda
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - D Miklos Robkis
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Thomas Christian
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Adam B Conn
- Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Gregor Blaha
- Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - E James Petersson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Ruben L Gonzalez
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
| | - Ya-Ming Hou
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA.
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13
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Fok JA, Mayer C. Genetic-Code-Expansion Strategies for Vaccine Development. Chembiochem 2020; 21:3291-3300. [PMID: 32608153 PMCID: PMC7361271 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202000343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
By providing long-term protection against infectious diseases, vaccinations have significantly reduced death and morbidity worldwide. In the 21st century, (bio)technological advances have paved the way for developing prophylactic vaccines that are safer and more effective as well as enabling the use of vaccines as therapeutics to treat human diseases. Here, we provide a focused review of the utility of genetic code expansion as an emerging tool for the development of vaccines. Specifically, we discuss how the incorporation of immunogenic noncanonical amino acids can aid in eliciting immune responses against adverse self-proteins and highlight the potential of an expanded genetic code for the construction of replication-incompetent viruses. We close the review by discussing the future prospects and remaining challenges for the application of these approaches in the development of both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelle A. Fok
- Stratingh Institute for ChemistryUniversity of GroningenNijenborgh 49474 AGGroningen (TheNetherlands
| | - Clemens Mayer
- Stratingh Institute for ChemistryUniversity of GroningenNijenborgh 49474 AGGroningen (TheNetherlands
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14
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Design of fluorescent protein-based sensors through a general protection-deprotection strategy. Methods Enzymol 2020; 640:63-82. [PMID: 32560806 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2020.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
Engineered fluorescent proteins have been extensively used in biological research for the study of gene expression, protein function and trafficking, and protein-protein interactions. In addition, fluorescent proteins have also been engineered to act as biosensing agents to detect intracellular signaling molecules and other small-molecule metabolites. Although they have been engineered extensively to achieve novel properties, fluorescent proteins are traditionally modified using the 20 canonical amino acids. This limits the number of functional groups that are available to the design and construction of novel fluorescent proteins. The expansion of the genetic code through the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids presents an opportunity to add new functionalities with the intent of modifying chemical and physical properties of fluorescent proteins. Herein we provide a general procedure for the site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids into fluorescent proteins in live cells. We will also discuss a noncanonical amino acid-containing fluorescent protein sensor that is based on a general protection-deprotection design strategy, for the selective detection and quantification of Hg2+.
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Pasin F, Menzel W, Daròs J. Harnessed viruses in the age of metagenomics and synthetic biology: an update on infectious clone assembly and biotechnologies of plant viruses. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2019; 17:1010-1026. [PMID: 30677208 PMCID: PMC6523588 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2018] [Revised: 12/09/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Recent metagenomic studies have provided an unprecedented wealth of data, which are revolutionizing our understanding of virus diversity. A redrawn landscape highlights viruses as active players in the phytobiome, and surveys have uncovered their positive roles in environmental stress tolerance of plants. Viral infectious clones are key tools for functional characterization of known and newly identified viruses. Knowledge of viruses and their components has been instrumental for the development of modern plant molecular biology and biotechnology. In this review, we provide extensive guidelines built on current synthetic biology advances that streamline infectious clone assembly, thus lessening a major technical constraint of plant virology. The focus is on generation of infectious clones in binary T-DNA vectors, which are delivered efficiently to plants by Agrobacterium. We then summarize recent applications of plant viruses and explore emerging trends in microbiology, bacterial and human virology that, once translated to plant virology, could lead to the development of virus-based gene therapies for ad hoc engineering of plant traits. The systematic characterization of plant virus roles in the phytobiome and next-generation virus-based tools will be indispensable landmarks in the synthetic biology roadmap to better crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Pasin
- Agricultural Biotechnology Research CenterAcademia SinicaTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Wulf Menzel
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ‐German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell CulturesBraunschweigGermany
| | - José‐Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas‐Universitat Politècnica de València)ValenciaSpain
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Hankore ED, Zhang L, Chen Y, Liu K, Niu W, Guo J. Genetic Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids Using Two Mutually Orthogonal Quadruplet Codons. ACS Synth Biol 2019; 8:1168-1174. [PMID: 30995842 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Genetic incorporation of noncanonical amino acids has emerged as a powerful tool for the study of protein structure and function. While the three triplet nonsense codons have been widely explored, quadruplet codons have attracted attention for the potential of creating additional blank codons for noncanonical amino acid mutagenesis. Here we demonstrated for the first time that two orthogonal quadruplet codons could be used to simultaneously encode two different noncanonical amino acids within a single protein in bacterial cells. To achieve this, we fine-tuned the interaction between aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and tRNA, which afforded up to 21-fold improvement in quadruplet codon decoding efficiency. This work represents a significant step toward the use of multiple quadruplet codons for noncanonical amino acid mutagenesis. Simultaneous incorporation of two or more noncanonical amino acids is of significant importance for biological applications that can benefit from multiple unique functional groups, such as fluorescence resonance energy transfer and nuclear magnetic resonance studies, and ultimately for the synthesis of completely unnatural biopolymers as new biomaterials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erome Daniel Hankore
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Linyi Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Yan Chen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Kun Liu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Wei Niu
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Jiantao Guo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
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Rezhdo A, Islam M, Huang M, Van Deventer JA. Future prospects for noncanonical amino acids in biological therapeutics. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2019; 60:168-178. [PMID: 30974337 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2019.02.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
There is growing evidence that noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) can be utilized in the creation of biological therapeutics ranging from protein conjugates to cell-based therapies. However, when does genetically encoding ncAAs yield biologics with unique properties compared to other approaches? In this review, we attempt to answer this question in the broader context of therapeutic development, emphasizing advances within the past two years. In several areas, ncAAs add valuable routes to therapeutically relevant entities, but application-specific needs ultimately determine whether ncAA-mediated or alternative solutions are preferred. Looking forward, using ncAAs to perform 'protein medicinal chemistry,' in which atomic-level changes to proteins dramatically enhance therapeutic properties, is a promising emerging area. Further upgrades to the performance of ncAA incorporation technologies will be essential to realizing the full potential of ncAAs in biological therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arlinda Rezhdo
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States
| | - Mariha Islam
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States
| | - Manjie Huang
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States
| | - James A Van Deventer
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States; Biomedical Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, United States.
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