A tunable and reversible platform for the intracellular formation of genetically engineered protein microdomains.
Biomacromolecules
; 13(11): 3439-44, 2012 Nov 12.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23088632
From mitochondria to the nuclear envelope, the controlled assembly of micro- and nanostructures is essential for life; however, the level at which we can deliberately engineer the assembly of microstructures within intracellular environments remains primitive. To overcome this obstacle, we present a platform to reversibly assemble genetically engineered protein microdomains (GEPMs) on the time scale of minutes within living cells. Biologically inspired from the human protein tropoelastin, these protein polymers form a secondary aqueous phase above a tunable transition temperature. This assembly process is easily manipulated to occur at or near physiological temperature by adjusting molecular weight and hydrophobicity. We fused protein polymers to green fluorescent protein (GFP) to visualize their behavior within the cytoplasm. While soluble, these polymers have a similar intracellular diffusion constant as cytosolic proteins at 7.4 µm(2)/s; however, above their phase transition temperature, the proteins form distinct microdomains (0.1-2 µm) with a reduced diffusion coefficient of 1.1 µm(2)/s. Microdomain assembly and disassembly are both rapid processes with half-lives of 3.8 and 1.0 min, respectively. Via selection of the protein polymer, the assembly temperature is tunable between 20 and 40 °C. This approach may be useful to control intracellular formation of genetically engineered proteins and protein complexes into concentrated microdomains.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Péptidos
/
Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusión
/
Ingeniería de Proteínas
/
Elastina
/
Estructura Terciaria de Proteína
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Biomacromolecules
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
Año:
2012
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos