Tackling Achilles' Heel in Synthetic Biology: Pairing Intracellular Synthesis of Noncanonical Amino Acids with Genetic-Code Expansion to Foster Biotechnological Applications.

For the last two decades, synthetic biologists have been able to unlock and expand the genetic code, generating proteins with unique properties through the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs). These evolved biomaterials have shown great potential for applications in industrial biocatalysis, therapeutics, bioremediation, bioconjugation, and other areas. Our ability to continue developing such technologies depends on having relatively easy access to ncAAs.

Long-Range Modulations of Electric Fields in Proteins.

Electrostatic interactions are essential for controlling the protein structure and function. Whereas so far experimental and theoretical efforts focused on the effect of local electrostatics, this work aims at elucidating the long-range modulation of electric fields in proteins upon binding to charged surfaces. The study is based on cytochrome c (Cytc) variants carrying nitrile reporters for the vibrational Stark effect that are incorporated into the protein via genetic engineering and chemical modification.

Global substitution of hemeproteins with noncanonical amino acids in Escherichia coli with intact cofactor maturation machinery.

Global substitution of canonical amino acids (cAAs) with noncanonical (ncAAs) counterparts in proteins whose function is dependent on post-translational events such as cofactor binding is still a methodically challenging and difficult task as ncAA insertion generally interferes with the cofactor biosynthesis machinery. Here, we report a technology for the expression of fully substituted and functionally active cofactor-containing hemeproteins. The maturation process which yields an intact cofactor is timely separated from cAA→ncAA substitutions.

An expanded genetic code for probing the role of electrostatics in enzyme catalysis by vibrational Stark spectroscopy.

Background: To find experimental validation for electrostatic interactions essential for catalytic reactions represents a challenge due to practical limitations in assessing electric fields within protein structures.

Scope Of Review: This review examines the applications of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) as genetically encoded probes for studying the role of electrostatic interactions in enzyme catalysis.

Major Conclusions: ncAAs constitute sensitive spectroscopic probes to detect local electric fields by exploiting the vibrational Stark effect (VSE) and thus have the potential to map the protein electrostatics.

Discovery and Investigation of Natural Editing Function against Artificial Amino Acids in Protein Translation.

Fluorine being not substantially present in the chemistry of living beings is an attractive element in tailoring novel chemical, biophysical, and pharmacokinetic properties of peptides and proteins. The hallmark of ribosome-mediated artificial amino acid incorporation into peptides and proteins is a broad substrate tolerance, which is assumed to rely on the absence of evolutionary pressure for efficient editing of artificial amino acids. We used the well-characterized editing proficient isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (IleRS) from to investigate the crosstalk of aminoacylation and editing activities against fluorinated amino acids.

Orthogonal translation meets electron transfer: in vivo labeling of cytochrome c for probing local electric fields.

Cytochrome c (cyt c), a redox protein involved in diverse fundamental biological processes, is among the most traditional model proteins for analyzing biological electron transfer and protein dynamics both in solution and at membranes. Studying the role of electric fields in energy transduction mediated by cyt c relies upon appropriate reporter groups. Up to now these had to be introduced into cyt c by in vitro chemical modification.

Coupling bioorthogonal chemistries with artificial metabolism: intracellular biosynthesis of azidohomoalanine and its incorporation into recombinant proteins.

In this paper, we present a novel, "single experiment" methodology based on genetic engineering of metabolic pathways for direct intracellular production of non-canonical amino acids from simple precursors, coupled with expanded genetic code. In particular, we engineered the intracellular biosynthesis of L-azidohomoalanine from O-acetyl-L-homoserine and NaN3, and achieved its direct incorporation into recombinant target proteins by AUG codon reassignment in a methionine-auxotroph E. coli strain.

Synthesis, structure, and catalase-like activity of dimanganese(III) complexes of 1,5-bis[(2-hydroxy-5-X-benzyl)(2-pyridylmethyl)amino]pentan-3-ol (X = H, Br, OCH3).

New diMn(III) complexes of general formula [Mn(2)L(mu-OR)(mu-OAc)]BPh(4) (H(3)L = 1,5-bis[(2-hydroxy-5-X-benzyl)(2-pyridylmethyl)amino]pentan-3-ol, 1: X = H, R = Me, 2: X = OMe, R = Me, 3: X = Br, R = Me, 4: X = Br, R = Et) have been prepared and structurally characterized. The synthesized complexes possess a triply bridged (mu-alkoxo)(2)(mu-acetato)Mn(2)(3+) core, a short intermetallic distance of 2.95/6 A modulated by the aliphatic spacers between the central alcoholato and N-amino donor sites, and the remaining coordination sites of the two Mn(III) centers occupied by the six donor atoms of the polydentate ligand.

New dimanganese(III) complexes of pentadentate (N2O3) Schiff base ligands with the [Mn2(mu-OAc)(mu-OR)2]3+ core: synthesis, characterization and mechanistic studies of H2O2 disproportionation.

Two new diMn(III) complexes [Mn(2)(III)L(1)(mu-AcO)(mu-MeO)(methanol)(2)]Br (1) and [Mn(2)(III)L(2)(mu-AcO)(mu-MeO)(methanol)(ClO(4))] (2) (L(1)H(3)=1,5-bis(2-hydroxybenzophenylideneamino)pentan-3-ol; L(2)H(3)=1,5-bis(2-hydroxynaphtylideneamino)pentan-3-ol) were synthesized and structurally characterized. Structural studies evidence that these complexes have a bis(mu-alkoxo)(mu-carboxylato) triply bridged diMn(III) core in the solid state and in solution, with two substitution-labile sites--one on each Mn ion--in cis-position. The two complexes show catalytic activity toward disproportionation of H(2)O(2), with saturation kinetics on [H(2)O(2)], in methanol and dimethyl formamide at 25 degrees C.

Synthesis, characterisation and catalase-like activity of dimanganese(III) complexes of 1,5-bis(5-X-salicylidenamino)pentan-3-ol (X=nitro and chloro).

The dimanganese(III,III) complexes [Mn(2)(III)(5-NO(2)-salpentO)(mu-AcO)(mu-MeO)(methanol)(2)]Y (1: Y=Br, 2a: Y=I, 2b: Y=I(3)), [Mn(2)(III)(5-NO(2)-salpentO)(mu-AcO)(mu-MeO)(methanol)(ClO(4))] (3) and [Mn(2)(III)(5-Cl-salpentO)(mu-AcO)(mu-MeO)(methanol)(2)]Br (4), where salpentOH is the symmetrical Schiff base ligand 1,5-bis(salicylidenamino)pentan-3-ol, were synthesised and structurally characterized. Complex 2b crystallises in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/c, and exhibits Mn. .