Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA92697-3958, USA.
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA92697-3958, USA.
Q Rev Biophys. 2020 Jul 27;53:e8. doi: 10.1017/S0033583520000050.
DNA polymerases play a central role in biology by transferring genetic information from one generation to the next during cell division. Harnessing the power of these enzymes in the laboratory has fueled an increase in biomedical applications that involve the synthesis, amplification, and sequencing of DNA. However, the high substrate specificity exhibited by most naturally occurring DNA polymerases often precludes their use in practical applications that require modified substrates. Moving beyond natural genetic polymers requires sophisticated enzyme-engineering technologies that can be used to direct the evolution of engineered polymerases that function with tailor-made activities. Such efforts are expected to uniquely drive emerging applications in synthetic biology by enabling the synthesis, replication, and evolution of synthetic genetic polymers with new physicochemical properties.
DNA 聚合酶在生物学中起着核心作用，在细胞分裂过程中将遗传信息从一代传递到下一代。在实验室中利用这些酶的力量，推动了涉及 DNA 合成、扩增和测序的生物医学应用的增加。然而，大多数天然存在的 DNA 聚合酶所表现出的高底物特异性通常排除了它们在需要修饰底物的实际应用中的使用。超越天然遗传聚合物需要复杂的酶工程技术，这些技术可用于指导具有定制活性的工程聚合酶的进化。这些努力有望通过合成遗传聚合物的新物理化学性质的合成、复制和进化，为合成生物学中的新兴应用提供独特的驱动力。
