Why reinvent the wheel? Building new proteins based on ready-made parts.

ABSTRACT: We protein engineers are ambivalent about evolution: on the one hand, evolution inspires us with myriad examples of biomolecular binders, sensors, and catalysts; on the other hand, these examples are seldom well-adapted to the engineering tasks we have in mind. Protein engineers have therefore modified natural proteins by point substitutions and fragment exchanges in an effort to generate new functions. A counterpoint to such design efforts, which is being pursued now with greater success, is to completely eschew the starting materials provided by nature and to design new protein functions from scratch by using de novo molecular modeling and design. While important progress has been made in both directions, some areas of protein design are still beyond reach. To this end, we advocate a syn

SUBMITTER: Khersonsky O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4918424 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature