1
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Jiang HK, Weng JH, Wang YH, Tsou JC, Chen PJ, Ko ALA, Söll D, Tsai MD, Wang YS. Rational design of the genetic code expansion toolkit for in vivo encoding of D-amino acids. Front Genet 2023; 14:1277489. [PMID: 37904728 PMCID: PMC10613524 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1277489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Once thought to be non-naturally occurring, D-amino acids (DAAs) have in recent years been revealed to play a wide range of physiological roles across the tree of life, including in human systems. Synthetic biologists have since exploited DAAs' unique biophysical properties to generate peptides and proteins with novel or enhanced functions. However, while peptides and small proteins containing DAAs can be efficiently prepared in vitro, producing large-sized heterochiral proteins poses as a major challenge mainly due to absence of pre-existing DAA translational machinery and presence of endogenous chiral discriminators. Based on our previous work demonstrating pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase's (PylRS') remarkable substrate polyspecificity, this work attempts to increase PylRS' ability in directly charging tRNAPyl with D-phenylalanine analogs (DFAs). We here report a novel, polyspecific Methanosarcina mazei PylRS mutant, DFRS2, capable of incorporating DFAs into proteins via ribosomal synthesis in vivo. To validate its utility, in vivo translational DAA substitution were performed in superfolder green fluorescent protein and human heavy chain ferritin, successfully altering both proteins' physiochemical properties. Furthermore, aminoacylation kinetic assays further demonstrated aminoacylation of DFAs by DFRS2 in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han-Kai Jiang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- Taiwan International Graduate Program Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Jui-Hung Weng
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Hui Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jo-Chu Tsou
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Pei-Jung Chen
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - An-Li Andrea Ko
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - 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
| | - Ming-Daw Tsai
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yane-Shih Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- Taiwan International Graduate Program Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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2
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Zhang Q, Zheng W, Song Z, Zhang Q, Yang L, Wu J, Lin J, Xu G, Yu H. Machine Learning Enables Prediction of Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase Substrate Specificity. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:2403-2417. [PMID: 37486975 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Knowledge about the substrate scope for a given enzyme is informative for elucidating biochemical pathways and also for expanding applications of the enzyme. However, no general methods are available to accurately predict the substrate specificity of an enzyme. Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) is a powerful tool for incorporating various noncanonical amino acids (NCAAs) into proteins, which enabled us to probe, image, rationally engineer, and evolve protein structure and function. However, the incorporation of a new NCAA typically requires the selection of large libraries of PylRS with randomized mutations at active sites, and this process requires multiple rounds of selection for each new substrate. Therefore, a single aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase with broad substrate promiscuity is ideal to facilitate widespread applications of the genetic NCAA incorporation technique. Herein, machine learning models were developed to predict the substrate specificity of PylRS to accept novel NCAAs that could be incorporated into proteins by three PylRS mutants. The models were built from a training set of 285 unique enzyme-substrate pairs of three PylRS mutants including IFRS, BtaRS, and MFRS against 95 NCAAs. The best BaggingTree (BT) model was then used for virtually screening a NCAAs library containing 1474 phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, and alanine analogues, and 156 NCAAs were predicted to be accepted by at least one of the three PylRS mutants. Then, 27 NCAAs including 24 positive and 3 negative substrates were experimentally tested for their activities, and 20 of the 24 positive substrates showed weak or strong activity and were accepted by at least one PylRS mutant, among which 11 NCAAs were never reported to be incorporated into proteins before. Three negative substrates did not show any activity. Experimental results suggested that the BT model provides a three-class classification accuracy of 0.69 and a binary classification accuracy of 0.86. This study expanded the substrate scope of three PylRS variants and provided a framework for developing machine learning models to predict substrate specificity of other PylRS variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qunfeng Zhang
- Institute of Bioengineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China
| | - Wenlong Zheng
- ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Centre, Hangzhou 311200, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhongdi Song
- Key Laboratory of Pollution Exposure and Health Intervention of Zhejiang Province, Interdisciplinary Research Academy, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou 310015, China
| | - Qiang Zhang
- ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Centre, Hangzhou 311200, Zhejiang, China
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China
| | - Lirong Yang
- Institute of Bioengineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China
- ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Centre, Hangzhou 311200, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jianping Wu
- Institute of Bioengineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China
- ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Centre, Hangzhou 311200, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jianping Lin
- Institute of Bioengineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China
| | - Gang Xu
- Institute of Bioengineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China
| | - Haoran Yu
- Institute of Bioengineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China
- ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Centre, Hangzhou 311200, Zhejiang, China
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3
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Gong X, Zhang H, Shen Y, Fu X. Update of the Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase/tRNA(Pyl) Pair and Derivatives for Genetic Code Expansion. J Bacteriol 2023; 205:e0038522. [PMID: 36695595 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00385-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The cotranslational incorporation of pyrrolysine (Pyl), the 22nd proteinogenic amino acid, into proteins in response to the UAG stop codon represents an outstanding example of natural genetic code expansion. Genetic encoding of Pyl is conducted by the pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and its cognate tRNA, tRNAPyl. Owing to the high tolerance of PylRS toward diverse amino acid substrates and great orthogonality in various model organisms, the PylRS/tRNAPyl-derived pairs are ideal for genetic code expansion to insert noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins of interest. Since the discovery of cellular components involved in the biosynthesis and genetic encoding of Pyl, synthetic biologists have been enthusiastic about engineering PylRS/tRNAPyl-derived pairs to rewrite the genetic code of living cells. Recently, considerable progress has been made in understanding the molecular phylogeny, biochemical properties, and structural features of the PylRS/tRNAPyl pair, guiding its further engineering and optimization. In this review, we cover the basic and updated knowledge of the PylRS/tRNAPyl pair's unique characteristics that make it an outstanding tool for reprogramming the genetic code. In addition, we summarize the recent efforts to create efficient and (mutually) orthogonal PylRS/tRNAPyl-derived pairs for incorporation of diverse ncAAs by genome mining, rational design, and advanced directed evolution methods.
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4
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Jiang HK, Ambrose NL, Chung CZ, Wang YS, Söll D, Tharp JM. Split aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases for proximity-induced stop codon suppression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2219758120. [PMID: 36787361 PMCID: PMC9974479 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2219758120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Synthetic biology tools for regulating gene expression have many useful biotechnology and therapeutic applications. Most tools developed for this purpose control gene expression at the level of transcription, and relatively few methods are available for regulating gene expression at the translational level. Here, we design and engineer split orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (o-aaRS) as unique tools to control gene translation in bacteria and mammalian cells. Using chemically induced dimerization domains, we developed split o-aaRSs that mediate gene expression by conditionally suppressing stop codons in the presence of the small molecules rapamycin and abscisic acid. By activating o-aaRSs, these molecular switches induce stop codon suppression, and in their absence stop codon suppression is turned off. We demonstrate, in Escherichia coli and in human cells, that split o-aaRSs function as genetically encoded AND gates where stop codon suppression is controlled by two distinct molecular inputs. In addition, we show that split o-aaRSs can be used as versatile biosensors to detect therapeutically relevant protein-protein interactions, including those involved in cancer, and those that mediate severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han-Kai Jiang
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT06511
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei11529, Taiwan
- Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei11529, Taiwan
- Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu100044, Taiwan
| | - Nicole L. Ambrose
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT06511
| | - Christina Z. Chung
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT06511
| | - Yane-Shih Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei11529, Taiwan
- Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei11529, Taiwan
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei10617, Taiwan
| | - Dieter Söll
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT06511
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT06511
| | - Jeffery M. Tharp
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN46202
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5
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Guo LT, Amikura K, Jiang HK, Mukai T, Fu X, Wang YS, O'Donoghue P, Söll D, Tharp JM. Ancestral Archaea Expanded the Genetic Code with Pyrrolysine. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102521. [PMID: 36152750 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) facilitates the co-translational installation of the 22nd amino acid pyrrolysine. Owing to its tolerance for diverse amino acid substrates, and its orthogonality in multiple organisms, PylRS has emerged as a major route to install noncanonical amino acids into proteins in living cells. Recently, a novel class of PylRS enzymes was identified in a subset of methanogenic archaea. Enzymes within this class (ΔPylSn) lack the N-terminal tRNA-binding domain that is widely conserved amongst PylRS enzymes, yet remain highly active and orthogonal in bacteria and eukaryotes. In this study, we use biochemical and in vivo UAG-readthrough assays to characterize the aminoacylation efficiency and substrate spectrum of a ΔPylSn class PylRS from the archaeon Ca. Methanomethylophilus alvus. We show that, compared to the full-length enzyme from Methanosarcina mazei, the Ca. M. alvus PylRS displays reduced aminoacylation efficiency, but an expanded amino acid substrate spectrum. To gain insight into the evolution of ΔPylSn enzymes, we performed molecular phylogeny using 156 PylRS and 105 tRNAPyl sequences from diverse anaerobic archaea and bacteria. This analysis suggests that the PylRS•tRNAPyl pair diverged before the evolution of the three domains of life, placing an early limit on the evolution of the Pyl-decoding trait. Furthermore, our results document the co-evolutionary history of PylRS and tRNAPyl and reveal the emergence of tRNAPyl sequences with unique A73 and U73 discriminator bases. The orthogonality of these tRNAPyl species with the more common G73-containing tRNAPyl will enable future efforts to engineer PylRS systems for further genetic code expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Tao Guo
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
| | - Kazuaki Amikura
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry; Department of Interdisciplinary Space Science, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Han-Kai Jiang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry; Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Takahito Mukai
- Department of Life Science, College of Science, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Xian Fu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yane-Shih Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry; Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Patrick O'Donoghue
- Department of Biochemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | - Dieter Söll
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry; Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jeffery M Tharp
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry; Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
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6
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Abstract
Archaeal pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetases (PylRSs) have been used to genetically encode over 200 distinct noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) in proteins in Escherichia coli and mammalian cells. This vastly expands the range of chemical functionality accessible within proteins produced in these organisms. Despite these clear successes, explorations of PylRS function in yeast remain limited. In this work, we demonstrate that the Methanomethylophilus alvus PylRS (MaPylRS) and its cognate tRNACUAMaPyl support the incorporation of ncAAs into proteins produced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using stop codon suppression methodologies. Additionally, we prepared three MaPylRS mutants originally engineered in E. coli and determined that all three were active with one or more ncAAs, although with low efficiencies of ncAA incorporation in comparison to the parent MaPylRS. Alongside MaPylRS variants, we evaluated the activity of previously reported Methanosarcina mazei, Methanosarcina barkeri, and chimeric M. mazei and M. barkeri PylRSs. Using S. cerevisiae RJY100 and pairing these PylRSs with the M. mazei tRNACUA, we did not observe any detectable stop codon suppression activity under the same conditions that produced moderately efficient ncAA incorporation with MaPylRS. The addition of MaPylRS/tRNACUAMaPyl to the orthogonal translation machinery toolkit in S. cerevisiae potentially opens the door to hundreds of ncAAs that have not previously been genetically encodable using other aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs. Extending the scope of ncAA incorporation in yeast could powerfully advance chemical and biological research for applications ranging from basic biological discovery to enzyme engineering and therapeutic protein lead discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica T. Stieglitz
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Priyanka Lahiri
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Matthew I. Stout
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - James A. Van Deventer
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
- Biomedical Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
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7
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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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8
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Qianzhu H, Abdelkader EH, Herath ID, Otting G, Huber T. Site-Specific Incorporation of 7-Fluoro-L-tryptophan into Proteins by Genetic Encoding to Monitor Ligand Binding by 19F NMR Spectroscopy. ACS Sens 2022; 7:44-49. [PMID: 35005899 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.1c02467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
A mutant aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase identified by a library selection system affords site-specific incorporation of 7-fluoro-L-tryptophan in response to an amber stop codon. The enzyme allows the production of proteins with a single hydrogen atom replaced by a fluorine atom as a sensitive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe. The substitution of a single hydrogen atom by another element that is as closely similar in size and hydrophobicity as possible minimizes possible perturbations in the structure, stability, and solubility of the protein. The fluorine atom enables site-selective monitoring of the protein response to ligand binding by 19F NMR spectroscopy, as demonstrated with the Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haocheng Qianzhu
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Elwy H. Abdelkader
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Iresha D. Herath
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Gottfried Otting
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide & Protein Science, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Thomas Huber
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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9
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Dean Cho CC, Blankenship LR, Ma X, Xu S, Liu W. The Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase Activity can be Improved by a P188 Mutation that Stabilizes the Full-Length Enzyme. J Mol Biol 2022; 434:167453. [PMID: 35033561 PMCID: PMC9018550 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2021] [Revised: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The amber suppression-based noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) mutagenesis technique has been widely used in both basic and applied research. So far more than two hundred ncAAs have been genetically encoded by amber codon in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes using wild-type and engineered pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS)-tRNAPyl (PylT) pairs. Methanosarcina mazei PylRS (MmPylRS) is arguably one of two most used PylRS variants. However, it contains an unstable N-terminal domain that is usually cleaved from the full-length protein during expression and therefore leads to a low enzyme activity. We discovered that the cleavage takes place after A189 and this cleavage is inhibited when MmPylRS is co-expressed with Ca. Methanomethylophilus alvus tRNAPyl (CmaPylT). In the presence of CmaPylT, MmPylRS is cleaved after an alternative site K110. MmPylRS is active toward CmaPylT. Its combined use with CmaPylT leads to enhanced incorporation of Nε-Boc-lysine (BocK) at amber codon. To prevent MmPylRS from cleavage after A189 in the presence of its cognate M. mazei tRNAPyl (MmPylT), we introduced mutations at P188. Our results indicated that the P188G mutation stabilizes MmPylRS. We showed that the P188G mutation in wild-type MmPylRS or its engineered variants allows enhanced incorporation of BocK and other noncanonical amino acids including Nε-acetyl-lysine when they are co-expressed with MmPylT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-Chuan Dean Cho
- The Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Lauren R Blankenship
- The Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Xinyu Ma
- The Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Shiqing Xu
- The Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Wenshe Liu
- The Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA; Institute of Biosciences and Technology and Department of Translational Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
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10
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Wang YH, Jian ML, Chen PJ, Tsou JC, Truong LP, Wang YS. Ferritin Conjugates With Multiple Clickable Amino Acids Encoded by C-Terminal Engineered Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase. Front Chem 2021; 9:779976. [PMID: 34900939 PMCID: PMC8655692 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.779976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
This study reports the application of expanding genetic codes in developing protein cage-based delivery systems. The evolved Methanosarcina mazei pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS)•tRNAPyl pairs derived from directed evolution are examined to probe their recognition for para-substituted phenylalanine analogs. The evolved MmPylRS, AzFRS, harboring a wide range of substrates, is further engineered at the C-terminal region into another variant, AzFRS-MS. AzFRS-MS shows suppression of the elevated sfGFP protein amount up to 10 TAG stop codons when charging p-azido-l-phenylalanine (AzF, 4), which allows the occurrence of click chemistry. Since protein nanocages used as drug delivery systems that encompass multiple drugs through a site-specific loading approach remain largely unexplored, as a proof of concept, the application of AzFRS-MS for the site-specific incorporation of AzF on human heavy chain ferritin (Ftn) is developed. The Ftn-4 conjugate is shown to be able to load multiple fluorescence dyes or a therapeutic agent, doxorubicin (Dox), through the strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) click reaction. Aiming to selectively target Her2+ breast cancer cells, Ftn-4-DOX conjugates fused with a HER2 receptor recognition peptide, anti-Her2/neu peptide (AHNP), is developed and demonstrated to be able to deliver Dox into the cell and to prolong the drug release. This work presents another application of evolved MmPylRS systems, whose potential in developing a variety of protein conjugates is noteworthy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Hui Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Mu-Lung Jian
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biochemical Sciences, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Pei-Jung Chen
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biochemical Sciences, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jo-Chu Tsou
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biochemical Sciences, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Le P Truong
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yane-Shih Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biochemical Sciences, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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11
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Hu L, Qin X, Huang Y, Cao W, Wang C, Wang Y, Ling X, Chen H, Wu D, Lin Y, Liu T. Thermophilic Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase Mutants for Enhanced Mammalian Genetic Code Expansion. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:2723-2736. [PMID: 32931698 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Genetic code expansion (GCE) is a powerful technique for site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins in living cells, which is achieved through evolved aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutants. Stability is important for promoting enzyme evolution, and we found that many of the evolved synthetase mutants have reduced thermostabilities. In this study, we characterized two novel pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetases (PylRSs) derived from thermophilic archaea: Methanosarcina thermophila (Mt) and Methanosarcina flavescens (Mf). Further study demonstrated that the wild-type PylRSs and several mutants were orthogonal and active in both Escherichia coli and mammalian cells and could thus be used for GCE. Compared with the commonly used M. barkeri PylRS, the wild-type thermophilic PylRSs displayed reduced GCE efficiency; however, some of the mutants, as well as some chimeras, outperformed their mesophilic counterparts in mammalian cell culture at 37 °C. Their better performance could at least partially be attributed to the fact that these thermophilic synthetases exhibit a threshold of enhanced stability against destabilizing mutations to accommodate structurally diverse substrate analogues. These were indicated by the higher melting temperatures (by 3-6 °C) and the higher expression levels that were typically observed for the MtPylRS and MfPylRS mutants relative to the Mb equivalents. Using histone H3 as an example, we demonstrated that one of the thermophilic synthetase mutants promoted the incorporation of multiple acetyl-lysine residues in mammalian cells. The enzymes developed in this study add to the PylRS toolbox and provide potentially better scaffolds for PylRS engineering and evolution, which will be necessary to meet the increasing demands for expanded substrate repertoire with better efficiency and specificity in mammalian systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liming Hu
- 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
| | - 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
| | - Yujia Huang
- 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
| | - Wenbing Cao
- 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
- College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Chuchen Wang
- 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
| | - Yong Wang
- 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
| | - Xinyu Ling
- 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
| | - Heqi Chen
- 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
| | - Dan Wu
- 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
| | - Yu Lin
- 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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12
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Seki E, Yanagisawa T, Kuratani M, Sakamoto K, Yokoyama S. Fully Productive Cell-Free Genetic Code Expansion by Structure-Based Engineering of Methanomethylophilus alvus Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:718-732. [PMID: 32182048 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS)/tRNAPyl pairs from Methanosarcina mazei and Methanosarcina barkeri are widely used for site-specific incorporations of non-canonical amino acids into proteins (genetic code expansion). In this study, we achieved the full productivity of cell-free protein synthesis for difficult, bulky non-canonical amino acids, such as Nε-((((E)-cyclooct-2-en-1-yl)oxy)carbonyl)-l-lysine (TCO*Lys), by using Methanomethylophilus alvus PylRS. First, based on the crystal structure of M. alvus PylRS, the productivities for various non-canonical amino acids were greatly increased by rational engineering of the amino acid-binding pocket. The productivities were further enhanced by using a much higher concentration of PylRS over that of M. mazei PylRS, or by mutating the outer layer of the amino acid-binding pocket. Thus, we achieved full productivity even for TCO*Lys. The quantity and quality of the cell-free-produced antibody fragment containing TCO*Lys were drastically improved. These results demonstrate the importance of full productivity for the expanded genetic code.
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13
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Jiang HK, Lee MN, Tsou JC, Chang KW, Tseng HW, Chen KP, Li YK, Wang YS. Linker and N-Terminal Domain Engineering of Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase for Substrate Range Shifting and Activity Enhancement. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:235. [PMID: 32322577 PMCID: PMC7156790 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The Methanosarcina mazei pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS)⋅tRNAPyl pair can be used to incorporate non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins at installed amber stop codons. Although engineering of the PylRS active site generates diverse binding pockets, the substrate ranges are found similar in charging lysine and phenylalanine analogs. To expand the diversity of the ncAA side chains that can be incorporated via the PylRS⋅tRNAPyl pair, exploring remote interactions beyond the active site is an emerging approach in expanding the genetic code research. In this work, remote interactions between tRNAPyl, the tRNA binding domain of PylRS, and/or an introduced non-structured linker between the N- and C-terminus of PylRS were studied. The substrate range of the PylRS⋅tRNAPyl pair was visualized by producing sfGFP-UAG gene products, which also indicated amber suppression efficiencies and substrate specificity. The unstructured loop linking the N-terminal and C-terminal domains (CTDs) of PylRS has been suggested to regulate the interaction between PylRS and tRNAPyl. In exploring the detailed role of the loop region, different lengths of the linker were inserted into the junction between the N-terminal and the C-terminal domains of PylRS to unearth the impact on remote effects. Our findings suggest that the insertion of a moderate-length linker tunes the interface between PylRS and tRNAPyl and subsequently leads to improved suppression efficiencies. The suppression activity and the substrate specificity of PylRS were altered by introducing three mutations at or near the N-terminal domain of PylRS (N-PylRS). Using a N-PylRS⋅tRNAPyl pair, three ncAA substrates, two S-benzyl cysteine and a histidine analog, were incorporated into the protein site specifically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han-Kai Jiang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Man-Nee Lee
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jo-Chu Tsou
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Kuan-Wen Chang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hsueh-Wei Tseng
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Kuang-Po Chen
- Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Yaw-Kuen Li
- Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Yane-Shih Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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14
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Yanagisawa T, Kuratani M, Seki E, Hino N, Sakamoto K, Yokoyama S. Structural Basis for Genetic-Code Expansion with Bulky Lysine Derivatives by an Engineered Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase. Cell Chem Biol 2019; 26:936-949.e13. [PMID: 31031143 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2019.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Revised: 12/25/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and tRNAPyl have been extensively used for genetic-code expansion. A Methanosarcina mazei PylRS mutant bearing the Y306A and Y384F mutations (PylRS(Y306A/Y384F)) encodes various bulky non-natural lysine derivatives by UAG. In this study, we examined how PylRS(Y306A/Y384F) recognizes many amino acids. Among 17 non-natural lysine derivatives, Nɛ-(benzyloxycarbonyl)lysine (ZLys) and 10 ortho/meta/para-substituted ZLys derivatives were efficiently ligated to tRNAPyl and were incorporated into proteins by PylRS(Y306A/Y384F). We determined crystal structures of 14 non-natural lysine derivatives bound to the PylRS(Y306A/Y384F) catalytic fragment. The meta- and para-substituted ZLys derivatives are snugly accommodated in the productive mode. In contrast, ZLys and the unsubstituted or ortho-substituted ZLys derivatives exhibited an alternative binding mode in addition to the productive mode. PylRS(Y306A/Y384F) displayed a high aminoacylation rate for ZLys, indicating that the double-binding mode minimally affects aminoacylation. These precise substrate recognition mechanisms by PylRS(Y306A/Y384F) may facilitate the structure-based design of novel non-natural amino acids.
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15
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Ohtake K, Mukai T, Iraha F, Takahashi M, Haruna KI, Date M, Yokoyama K, Sakamoto K. Engineering an Automaturing Transglutaminase with Enhanced Thermostability by Genetic Code Expansion with Two Codon Reassignments. ACS Synth Biol 2018; 7:2170-2176. [PMID: 30063837 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.8b00157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, we simultaneously incorporated two types of synthetic components into microbial transglutaminase (MTG) from Streptoverticillium mobaraense to enhance the utility of this industrial enzyme. The first amino acid, 3-chloro-l-tyrosine, was incorporated into MTG in response to in-frame UAG codons to substitute for the 15 tyrosine residues separately. The two substitutions at positions 20 and 62 were found to each increase thermostability of the enzyme, while the seven substitutions at positions 24, 34, 75, 146, 171, 217, and 310 exhibited neutral effects. Then, these two stabilizing chlorinations were combined with one of the neutral ones, and the most stabilized variant was found to contain 3-chlorotyrosines at positions 20, 62, and 171, exhibiting a half-life 5.1-fold longer than that of the wild-type enzyme at 60 °C. Next, this MTG variant was further modified by incorporating the α-hydroxy acid analogue of Nε-allyloxycarbonyl-l-lysine (AlocKOH), specified by the AGG codon, at the end of the N-terminal inhibitory peptide. We used an Escherichia coli strain previously engineered to have a synthetic genetic code with two codon reassignments for synthesizing MTG variants containing both 3-chlorotyrosine and AlocKOH. The ester bond, thus incorporated into the main chain, efficiently self-cleaved under alkaline conditions (pH 11.0), achieving the autonomous maturation of the thermostabilized MTG. The results suggested that synthetic genetic codes with multiple codon reassignments would be useful for developing the novel designs of enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Ken-ichi Haruna
- Institute for Innovation, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., 1-1 Suzuki-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-8681, Japan
| | - Masayo Date
- Institute for Innovation, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., 1-1 Suzuki-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-8681, Japan
| | - Keiichi Yokoyama
- Institute for Innovation, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., 1-1 Suzuki-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-8681, Japan
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16
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Bartholomae M, Baumann T, Nickling JH, Peterhoff D, Wagner R, Budisa N, Kuipers OP. Expanding the Genetic Code of Lactococcus lactis and Escherichia coli to Incorporate Non-canonical Amino Acids for Production of Modified Lantibiotics. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:657. [PMID: 29681891 PMCID: PMC5897534 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The incorporation of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, e.g., nisin from the Gram-positive bacterium Lactococcus lactis, bears great potential to expand the chemical space of various antimicrobials. The ncAA Nε-Boc-L-lysine (BocK) was chosen for incorporation into nisin using the archaeal pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase–tRNAPyl pair to establish orthogonal translation in L. lactis for read-through of in-frame amber stop codons. In parallel, recombinant nisin production and orthogonal translation were combined in Escherichia coli cells. Both organisms synthesized bioactive nisin(BocK) variants. Screening of a nisin amber codon library revealed suitable sites for ncAA incorporation and two variants displayed high antimicrobial activity. Orthogonal translation in E. coli and L. lactis presents a promising tool to create new-to-nature nisin derivatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maike Bartholomae
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Tobias Baumann
- Biocatalysis Group, Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology), Berlin, Germany
| | - Jessica H Nickling
- Biocatalysis Group, Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology), Berlin, Germany
| | - David Peterhoff
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Ralf Wagner
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Nediljko Budisa
- Biocatalysis Group, Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology), Berlin, Germany
| | - Oscar P Kuipers
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
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17
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Abstract
Pyrrolysine is the 22nd proteinogenic amino acid encoded into proteins in response to amber (TAG) codons in a small number of archaea and bacteria. The incorporation of pyrrolysine is facilitated by a specialized aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and its cognate tRNA (tRNAPyl). The secondary structure of tRNAPyl contains several unique features not found in canonical tRNAs. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the PylRS/tRNAPyl pair from archaea is orthogonal in E. coli and eukaryotic hosts, which has led to the widespread use of this pair for the genetic incorporation of non-canonical amino acids. In this brief review we examine the work that has been done to elucidate the structure of tRNAPyl, its interaction with PylRS, and survey recent progress on the use of tRNAPyl as a tool for genetic code expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffery M Tharp
- a Department of Chemistry , Texas A&M University , College Station , TX , USA
| | - Andreas Ehnbom
- a Department of Chemistry , Texas A&M University , College Station , TX , USA
| | - Wenshe R Liu
- a Department of Chemistry , Texas A&M University , College Station , TX , USA
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18
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Abstract
Genetic code expansion (GCE) has become a central topic of synthetic biology. GCE relies on engineered aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) and a cognate tRNA species to allow codon reassignment by co-translational insertion of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins. Introduction of such amino acids increases the chemical diversity of recombinant proteins endowing them with novel properties. Such proteins serve in sophisticated biochemical and biophysical studies both in vitro and in vivo, they may become unique biomaterials or therapeutic agents, and they afford metabolic dependence of genetically modified organisms for biocontainment purposes. In the Methanosarcinaceae the incorporation of the 22nd genetically encoded amino acid, pyrrolysine (Pyl), is facilitated by pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and the cognate UAG-recognizing tRNAPyl. This unique aaRS•tRNA pair functions as an orthogonal translation system (OTS) in most model organisms. The facile directed evolution of the large PylRS active site to accommodate many ncAAs, and the enzyme's anticodon-blind specific recognition of the cognate tRNAPyl make this system highly amenable for GCE purposes. The remarkable polyspecificity of PylRS has been exploited to incorporate >100 different ncAAs into proteins. Here we review the Pyl-OT system and selected GCE applications to examine the properties of an effective OTS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Crnković
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8114, USA
| | - Tateki Suzuki
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8114, USA
| | - Dieter Söll
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8114, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8114, USA
| | - Noah M. Reynolds
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8114, USA
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Exner MP, Köhling S, Rivollier J, Gosling S, Srivastava P, Palyancheva ZI, Herdewijn P, Heck MP, Rademann J, Budisa N. Incorporation of Amino Acids with Long-Chain Terminal Olefins into Proteins. Molecules 2016; 21:287. [PMID: 26938510 PMCID: PMC6272937 DOI: 10.3390/molecules21030287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2016] [Revised: 02/23/2016] [Accepted: 02/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The increasing need for site-specific protein decorations that mimic natural posttranslational modifications requires access to a variety of noncanonical amino acids with moieties enabling bioorthogonal conjugation chemistry. Here we present the incorporation of long-chain olefinic amino acids into model proteins with rational variants of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS). Nε-heptenoyl lysine was incorporated for the first time using the known promiscuous variant PylRS(Y306A/Y384F), and Nε-pentenoyl lysine was incorporated in significant yields with the novel variant PylRS(C348A/Y384F). This is the only example of rational modification at position C348 to enlarge the enzyme's binding pocket. Furthermore, we demonstrate the feasibility of our chosen amino acids in the thiol-ene conjugation reaction with a thiolated polysaccharide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias P Exner
- Institute of Chemistry, Technische Universität Berlin, Mueller-Breslau-Strasse 10, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Sebastian Köhling
- Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 2+4, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Julie Rivollier
- Service de Chimie Bioorganique et de Marquage, iBiTecS, CEA, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - Sandrine Gosling
- Service de Chimie Bioorganique et de Marquage, iBiTecS, CEA, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - Puneet Srivastava
- Medicinal Chemistry, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Zheni I Palyancheva
- Institute of Chemistry, Technische Universität Berlin, Mueller-Breslau-Strasse 10, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Piet Herdewijn
- Medicinal Chemistry, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Marie-Pierre Heck
- Service de Chimie Bioorganique et de Marquage, iBiTecS, CEA, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - Jörg Rademann
- Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 2+4, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Nediljko Budisa
- Institute of Chemistry, Technische Universität Berlin, Mueller-Breslau-Strasse 10, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
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