UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2011;103:1-20. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-415906-8.00008-X.
Bacterial microcompartments are large supramolecular assemblies, resembling viruses in size and shape, found inside many bacterial cells. A protein-based shell encapsulates a series of sequentially acting enzymes in order to sequester certain sensitive metabolic processes within the cell. Crystal structures of the individual shell proteins have revealed details about how they self-assemble and how pores through their centers facilitate molecular transport into and out of the microcompartments. Biochemical and genetic studies have shown that enzymes are directed to the interior in some cases by special targeting sequences in their termini. Together, these findings open up prospects for engineering bacterial microcompartments with novel functionalities for applications ranging from metabolic engineering to targeted drug delivery.
细菌微室是大型超分子组装体，在许多细菌细胞内发现，其大小和形状类似于病毒。一种基于蛋白质的外壳将一系列连续作用的酶包裹起来，以便将某些敏感的代谢过程隔离在细胞内。单个壳蛋白的晶体结构揭示了它们如何自我组装以及它们中心的孔如何促进分子进出微室的细节。生化和遗传研究表明，在某些情况下，酶通过其末端的特殊靶向序列被定向到内部。这些发现为工程细菌微室提供了新的功能，从代谢工程到靶向药物输送等应用领域都有广阔的前景。
