Abstract
Producing novel enzymes that are catalytically active in vitro and biologically functional in vivo is a key goal of synthetic biology. Here we describe Syn-F4, the first de novo protein that meets both criteria. Purified Syn-F4 hydrolyzes the siderophore ferric enterobactin, and expression of Syn-F4 allows an inviable strain of Escherichia coli to grow in iron-limited medium. These findings demonstrate that entirely new sequences can provide life-sustaining enzymatic functions in living organisms.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 253-255 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Nature Chemical Biology |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2018 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology