Genetically Encoded Inverse Bolaamphiphiles

Biomacromolecules. 2020 Feb 10;21(2):660-669. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.9b01380. Epub 2019 Dec 31.

Abstract

Developing new protein-based materials with a programmable assembly is of great scientific interest and technological importance. Inspired by nature's use of post-translational modifications (PTMs) to control the function and location of proteins, we have leveraged lipidation-the PTM of proteins with lipids-to synthesize genetically encoded lipidated proteins with controllable hierarchical assembly. Specifically, we envisioned the combination of two orthogonal lipidation pathways with different regioselectivity and substrate preferences inside Escherichia coli to produce recombinant nanomaterials with distinct lipidation domains at each terminus of proteins. In this study, we demonstrate the orthogonality of N-myristoylation and C-cholesterylation pathways for recombinant production of lipidated proteins with a unique triblock architecture, which is a hydrophilic protein block flanked by two lipid tails, i.e., inverse bolaamphiphiles. Our study indicates that the architecture of lipidated protein and the sequence of the polypeptide can be used to control the hierarchical self-assembly of these materials. We envision this bio-enabled approach yielding unexplored recombinant hybrid biomaterials with tunable nanoscale structure and morphology with applications in nanobiotechnology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cholesterol / metabolism
  • Dynamic Light Scattering
  • Elastin / chemistry
  • Elastin / metabolism
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Furans / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Nephelometry and Turbidimetry
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Peptides / genetics
  • Peptides / metabolism*
  • Plasmids / genetics
  • Protein Domains
  • Protein Engineering / methods*
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational / genetics
  • Pyridones / chemistry*
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism*
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

Substances

  • Furans
  • Peptides
  • Pyridones
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • bolaamphiphile
  • Elastin
  • Cholesterol