Ana L J L Ribeiro, Patricia Pérez-Arnaiz, Mercedes Sánchez-Costa, Lara Pérez, Marcos Almendros, Liisa van Vliet, Fabrice Gielen, Jesmine Lim, Simon Charnock, Florian Hollfelder, J Eduardo González-Pastor, José Berenguer, Aurelio Hidalgo
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: In vitro expression involves the utilization of the cellular transcription and translation machinery in an acellular context to produce one or more proteins of interest and has found widespread application in synthetic biology and in pharmaceutical biomanufacturing. Most in vitro expression systems available are active at moderate temperatures, but to screen large libraries of natural or artificial genetic diversity for highly thermostable enzymes or enzyme variants, it is instrumental to enable protein synthesis at high temperatures.
Objectives: Develop an in vitro expression system operating at high temperatures compatible with enzymatic assays and with technologies that enable ultrahigh-throughput protein expression in reduced volumes, such as microfluidic water-in-oil (w/o) droplets.
Results: We produced cell-free extracts from Thermus thermophilus for in vitro translation including thermostable enzymatic cascades for energy regeneration and a moderately thermostable RNA polymerase for transcription, which ultimately limited the temperature of protein synthesis. The yield was comparable or superior to other thermostable in vitro expression systems, while the preparation procedure is much simpler and can be suited to different Thermus thermophilus strains. Furthermore, these extracts have enabled in vitro expression in microfluidic droplets at high temperatures for the first time.
Conclusions: Cell-free extracts from Thermus thermophilus represent a simpler alternative to heavily optimized or pure component thermostable in vitro expression systems. Moreover, due to their compatibility with droplet microfluidics and enzyme assays at high temperatures, the reported system represents a convenient gateway for enzyme screening at higher temperatures with ultrahigh-throughput.
期刊介绍:
Microbial Cell Factories is an open access peer-reviewed journal that covers any topic related to the development, use and investigation of microbial cells as producers of recombinant proteins and natural products, or as catalyzers of biological transformations of industrial interest. Microbial Cell Factories is the world leading, primary research journal fully focusing on Applied Microbiology.
The journal is divided into the following editorial sections:
-Metabolic engineering
-Synthetic biology
-Whole-cell biocatalysis
-Microbial regulations
-Recombinant protein production/bioprocessing
-Production of natural compounds
-Systems biology of cell factories
-Microbial production processes
-Cell-free systems