Bacterial enzymes: powerful tools for protein labeling, cell signaling, and therapeutic discovery

Lu Liu; Janine L Gray; Edward W Tate; Aimin Yang

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.05.004

Bacterial enzymes: powerful tools for protein labeling, cell signaling, and therapeutic discovery

Trends Biotechnol. 2023 Nov;41(11):1385-1399. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.05.004. Epub 2023 Jun 14.

Authors

Lu Liu¹, Janine L Gray², Edward W Tate³, Aimin Yang⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China.
² Department of Chemistry, Molecular Sciences Research Hub, Imperial College London, London W12 0BZ, UK.
³ Department of Chemistry, Molecular Sciences Research Hub, Imperial College London, London W12 0BZ, UK. Electronic address: e.tate@imperial.ac.uk.
⁴ School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China. Electronic address: aimin.yang@cqu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37328400
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.05.004

Abstract

Bacteria have evolved a diverse set of enzymes that enable them to subvert host defense mechanisms as well as to form part of the prokaryotic immune system. Due to their unique and varied biochemical activities, these bacterial enzymes have emerged as key tools for understanding and investigating biological systems. In this review, we summarize and discuss some of the most prominent bacterial enzymes used for the site-specific modification of proteins, in vivo protein labeling, proximity labeling, interactome mapping, signaling pathway manipulation, and therapeutic discovery. Finally, we provide a perspective on the complementary advantages and limitations of using bacterial enzymes compared with chemical probes for exploring biological systems.

Keywords: bacterial enzymes; in vivo labeling; proximity labeling; signaling pathways; site-specific bioconjugation; therapeutic applications.

Publication types

Review