*Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2013 Oct;41(5):1201-5. doi: 10.1042/BST20130128.
Proteins that switch between distinct conformational states are ideal to monitor and control molecular processes within the complexity of biological systems. Inspired by the modular architecture of natural signalling proteins, our group explores generic design strategies for the construction of FRET-based sensor proteins and other protein switches. In the present article, I show that designing FRET sensors based on mutually exclusive domain interactions provides a robust method to engineer sensors with predictable properties and an inherently large change in emission ratio. The modularity of this approach should make it easily transferable to other applications of protein switches in fields ranging from synthetic biology, optogenetics and molecular diagnostics.
在生物系统的复杂性中,能够在不同构象状态之间切换的蛋白质是监测和控制分子过程的理想选择。受天然信号转导蛋白模块化结构的启发,我们的研究小组探索了基于 FRET 的传感器蛋白和其他蛋白质开关的通用设计策略。在本文中,我展示了基于互斥结构域相互作用设计 FRET 传感器为工程传感器提供了一种稳健的方法,使这些传感器具有可预测的特性和固有较大的发射比变化。这种方法的模块化应该使其易于应用于其他领域的蛋白质开关,如合成生物学、光遗传学和分子诊断学。