Despite broad interest in understanding the biological implications of protein farnesylation in regulating different facets of cell biology, the use of this post-translational modification to develop protein-based materials and therapies remains underexplored. The progress has been slow due to the lack of accessible methodologies to generate farnesylated proteins with broad physicochemical diversities rapidly. This limitation, in turn, has hindered the empirical elucidation of farnesylated proteins' sequence-structure-function rules. To address this gap, we genetically engineered prokaryotes to develop operationally simple, high-yield biosynthetic routes to produce farnesylated proteins and revealed determinants of their emergent material properties (nano-aggregation and phase-behavior) using scattering, calorimetry, and microscopy. These outcomes foster the development of farnesylated proteins as recombinant therapeutics or biomaterials with molecularly programmable assembly.
Keywords: bioconjugation; farnesylation; lipidated biopolymers; lipidation; post-translational modification; recombinant nano-biomaterials; self-assembly.