Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Heike Strobel.
An in vitro enzyme selection that can, in principle, be generalised to most chemical reactions, is described. It makes use of filamentous phage display and of a tailor-made antibody fragment directed against the reaction product. The conversion of ATP into 3',5'-cyclic AMP catalysed by Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase is taken as an example.
Directed protein-evolution strategies generally make use of a link between a protein and the encoding DNA. In phage-display technology, this link is provided by fusion of the protein with a coat protein that is incorporated into the phage particle containing the DNA. Optimization of this link can be achieved by adjusting the signal sequence of the fusion. In a previous study, directed evolution of signal sequences for optimal display of the Taq DNA polymerase I Stoffel fragment on phage yielded signal peptides with a 50- fold higher incorporation of fusion proteins in phage particles. In this article, we show that for one of the selected signal sequences, improved display on phage can be generalized to other proteins, such as adenylate cyclases from Escherichia coli and Bordetella pertussis, and that this is highly dependent on short sequences at the C-terminus of the signal peptide. Further, the display of two enzymes on phage has been achieved and may provide a strategy for directing coevolution of the two proteins. These findings should be useful for display of large and cytoplasmic proteins on filamentous phage.
We report a combinatorial approach aimed at producing in a single step a large family of nucleoside triphosphate derivatives that could be tested for their ability to be substrates for DNA polymerases. We propose as a unique triphosphate building block a nucleotide with a hydrazine function anchored to an imidazole ring. Condensation between the 5'-triphosphate derivative of 1-(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)-imidazole-4-hydrazide (dY(NH(2))TP) and any aldehyde or ketone, followed by reduction of the intermediate hydrazones dXmTP, resulted in the corresponding hydrazides (dXnTP). Following this scheme, a series of aldehydes having various aromatic parts yielded a number of adducts dY(NHR)TP. Vent (exo-) DNA polymerase is found to be able to catalyse the single incorporation of these bulky triphosphate derivatives. Subsequent extensions of the modified pairs with canonical triphosphates resulted mainly in abortive elongations at primer+2, except after the incorporation of dY(NHben)TP and, to a lesser extent, dY(NHphe)TP opposite C. These results illustrate the potential of this parallel synthetic scheme for generating new substrates or inhibitors of replication in a single step.
We report the synthesis of a new nucleoside, 1-(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)-imidazole-4-hydrazide (dY(NH2)) as a reactive monomer for DNA diversification. The 5'-triphosphate derivative (dY(NH2)TP, 1) was evaluated in vitro as a substrate for several DNA polymerases. Primer extension reactions showed that dYNH2TP was well tolerated by KF (exo(-)) and Vent (exo-) DNA polymerases. One dYNH2MP was incorporated opposite each canonical base with an efficiency depending on the template base (A approximately T > G > C). Significant elongation after YNH2 incorporation was observed independently of the YNH2:N base pair formed. When the nucleobase YNH2 was incorporated into synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides via the phosphoramidite derivative 11, it directed the insertion of natural bases as well as itself. The mutagenicity of dYNH2TP was evaluated by PCR amplification using Vent (exo-) DNA polymerase. The triphosphate dY(NH2)TP was preferentially incorporated as a dATP or dGTP analogue and led to misincorporations at frequencies of approximately 2 x 10(-2) per base per amplification. A high proportion of transversions with a large distribution of all possible mutations was obtained. The reactivity of the nucleobase YNH2 within a template with several aldehydes was demonstrated.