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Designer amphiphilic proteins as building blocks for the intracellular formation of organelle-like compartments.
- Source :
-
Nature materials [Nat Mater] 2015 Jan; Vol. 14 (1), pp. 125-32. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Nov 02. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Nanoscale biological materials formed by the assembly of defined block-domain proteins control the formation of cellular compartments such as organelles. Here, we introduce an approach to intentionally 'program' the de novo synthesis and self-assembly of genetically encoded amphiphilic proteins to form cellular compartments, or organelles, in Escherichia coli. These proteins serve as building blocks for the formation of artificial compartments in vivo in a similar way to lipid-based organelles. We investigated the formation of these organelles using epifluorescence microscopy, total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The in vivo modification of these protein-based de novo organelles, by means of site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids, allows the introduction of artificial chemical functionalities. Co-localization of membrane proteins results in the formation of functionalized artificial organelles combining artificial and natural cellular function. Adding these protein structures to the cellular machinery may have consequences in nanobiotechnology, synthetic biology and materials science, including the constitution of artificial cells and bio-based metamaterials.
- Subjects :
- Escherichia coli genetics
Escherichia coli ultrastructure
Green Fluorescent Proteins chemistry
Green Fluorescent Proteins genetics
Membrane Proteins chemistry
Membrane Proteins genetics
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
Organelles chemistry
Organelles genetics
Organelles ultrastructure
Recombinant Proteins chemistry
Recombinant Proteins genetics
Recombinant Proteins metabolism
Escherichia coli metabolism
Green Fluorescent Proteins metabolism
Membrane Proteins metabolism
Organelles metabolism
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1476-4660
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nature materials
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 25362355
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4118