Engineered Ribosomes for Basic Science and Synthetic Biology
Overview
Molecular Biology
Affiliations
The ribosome is the cell's factory for protein synthesis. With protein synthesis rates of up to 20 amino acids per second and at an accuracy of 99.99%, the extraordinary catalytic capacity of the bacterial translation machinery has attracted extensive efforts to engineer, reconstruct, and repurpose it for biochemical studies and novel functions. Despite these efforts, the potential for harnessing the translation apparatus to manufacture bio-based products beyond natural limits remains underexploited, and fundamental constraints on the chemistry that the ribosome's RNA-based active site can carry out are unknown. This review aims to cover the past and present advances in ribosome design and engineering to understand the fundamental biology of the ribosome to facilitate the construction of synthetic manufacturing machines. The prospects for the development of engineered, or designer, ribosomes for novel polymer synthesis are reviewed, future challenges are considered, and promising advances in a variety of applications are discussed.
Engineering tRNAs for the Ribosomal Translation of Non-proteinogenic Monomers.
Sigal M, Matsumoto S, Beattie A, Katoh T, Suga H Chem Rev. 2024; 124(10):6444-6500.
PMID: 38688034 PMC: 11122139. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00894.
Cell-free Biosynthesis of Peptidomimetics.
Lee K, Willi J, Cho N, Kim I, Jewett M, Lee J Biotechnol Bioprocess Eng. 2023; :1-17.
PMID: 36778039 PMC: 9896473. DOI: 10.1007/s12257-022-0268-5.
Rare ribosomal RNA sequences from archaea stabilize the bacterial ribosome.
Nissley A, Penev P, Watson Z, Banfield J, Cate J Nucleic Acids Res. 2023; 51(4):1880-1894.
PMID: 36660825 PMC: 9976906. DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac1273.
Chan A, Sawant M, Burdick D, Tom J, Song A, Cunningham C ACS Chem Biol. 2023; 18(1):81-90.
PMID: 36607609 PMC: 9872084. DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00712.
Expression Profile of Housekeeping Genes and Tissue-Specific Genes in Multiple Tissues of Pigs.
Pan X, Cai J, Wang Y, Xu D, Jiang Y, Gong W Animals (Basel). 2022; 12(24).
PMID: 36552460 PMC: 9774903. DOI: 10.3390/ani12243539.