Genetically encoding Nε-acetyllysine in recombinant proteins

H Neumann, SY Peak-Chew, JW Chin - Nature chemical biology, 2008 - nature.com
H Neumann, SY Peak-Chew, JW Chin
Nature chemical biology, 2008nature.com
N ε-acetylation of lysine (1) is a reversible post-translational modification with a regulatory
role that rivals that of phosphorylation in eukaryotes. No general methods exist to synthesize
proteins containing N ε-acetyllysine (2) at defined sites. Here we demonstrate the site-
specific incorporation of N ε-acetyllysine in recombinant proteins produced in Escherichia
coli via the evolution of an orthogonal N ε-acetyllysyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA CUA pair. This
strategy should find wide applications in defining the cellular role of this modification.
Abstract
N ε-acetylation of lysine (1) is a reversible post-translational modification with a regulatory role that rivals that of phosphorylation in eukaryotes. No general methods exist to synthesize proteins containing N ε-acetyllysine (2) at defined sites. Here we demonstrate the site-specific incorporation of N ε-acetyllysine in recombinant proteins produced in Escherichia coli via the evolution of an orthogonal N ε-acetyllysyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA CUA pair. This strategy should find wide applications in defining the cellular role of this modification.
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