Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology), Department of Chemistry, Biocatalysis Group, Franklinstraße 29, 10587 Berlin, Germany.
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2012 Oct;23(5):751-7. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2011.12.027. Epub 2012 Jan 9.
The expansion of the genetic code is gradually becoming a core discipline in Synthetic Biology. It offers the best possible platform for the transfer of numerous chemical reactions and processes from the chemical synthetic laboratory into the biochemistry of living cells. The incorporation of biologically occurring or chemically synthesized non-canonical amino acids into recombinant proteins and even proteomes via reprogrammed protein translation is in the heart of these efforts. Orthogonal pairs consisting of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase and its cognate tRNA proved to be a general tool for the assignment of certain codons of the genetic code with a maximum degree of chemical liberty. Here, we highlight recent developments that should provide a solid basis for the development of generalist tools enabling a controlled variation of chemical composition in proteins and even proteomes. This will take place in the frame of a greatly expanded genetic code with emancipated codons liberated from the current function or with totally new coding units.
遗传密码的扩展逐渐成为合成生物学的核心学科。它为将许多化学反应和过程从化学合成实验室转移到活细胞的生物化学中提供了最佳平台。通过重新编程蛋白质翻译，将生物发生或化学合成的非规范氨基酸掺入重组蛋白甚至蛋白质组中，是这些努力的核心。由氨酰-tRNA 合成酶及其同源 tRNA 组成的正交对被证明是一种通用工具，可将遗传密码的某些密码子赋予最大程度的化学自由度。在这里，我们强调了最近的发展，这些发展应该为开发通用工具提供坚实的基础，从而能够控制蛋白质甚至蛋白质组中化学组成的变化。这将在一个大大扩展的遗传密码的框架内进行，其中从当前功能中解放出来的密码子或全新的编码单元可以自由使用。
