Ion channel engineering using protein trans-splicing

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Conventional site-directed mutagenesis and genetic code expansion approaches have been instrumental in providing detailed functional and pharmacological insight into membrane proteins such as ion channels. Recently, this has increasingly been complemented by semi-synthetic strategies, in which part of the protein is generated synthetically. This means a vast range of chemical modifications, including non-canonical amino acids (ncAA), backbone modifications, chemical handles, fluorescent or spectroscopic labels and any combination of these can be incorporated. Among these approaches, protein trans-splicing (PTS) is particularly promising for protein reconstitution in live cells. It relies on one or more split inteins, which can spontaneously and covalently link flanking peptide or protein sequences. Here, we describe the use of PTS and its variant tandem PTS (tPTS) in semi-synthesis of ion channels in Xenopus laevis oocytes to incorporate ncAAs, post-translational modifications or metabolically stable mimics thereof. This strategy has the potential to expand the type and number of modifications in ion channel research.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMethods in Enzymology
Number of pages30
PublisherElsevier
Publication date2021
Pages19-48
ISBN (Print)978-0-12-823924-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
SeriesMethods in Enzymology
ISSN0076-6879

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.

    Research areas

  • Chemical modification, Membrane proteins, Protein semi-synthesis

ID: 273635540