Synthetic biology-guided design and biosynthesis of protein polymers for delivery

Kai-Kai Tian; Zhi-Gang Qian; Xiao-Xia Xia

doi:10.1016/j.addr.2023.114728

Synthetic biology-guided design and biosynthesis of protein polymers for delivery

Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2023 Mar:194:114728. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2023.114728. Epub 2023 Feb 13.

Authors

Kai-Kai Tian¹, Zhi-Gang Qian¹, Xiao-Xia Xia²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
² State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: xiaoxiaxia@sjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36791475
DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2023.114728

Abstract

Vehicles derived from genetically engineered protein polymers have gained momentum in the field of biomedical engineering due to their unique designability, remarkable biocompatibility and excellent biodegradability. However, the design and production of these protein polymers with on-demand sequences and supramolecular architectures remain underexplored, particularly from a synthetic biology perspective. In this review, we summarize the state-of-the art strategies for constructing the highly repetitive genes encoding the protein polymers, and highlight the advanced approaches for metabolically engineering expression hosts towards high-level biosynthesis of the target protein polymers. Finally, we showcase the typical protein polymers utilized to fabricate delivery vehicles.

Keywords: Delivery vehicle; Metabolic engineering; Protein polymer; Self-assembly; Synthetic biology.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
Polymers*
Proteins
Synthetic Biology*

Substances

Polymers
Proteins