Synthetic Biology Parts, Devices and Applications

228 11 Small Functional Peptides and Their Application in Superfunctionalizing Proteins

Ta g

Function

substrate/enzyme

Length

(aa’s) Application References

PPV protease

recognition

peptide

PPV protease 7 Cleavage of fusion proteins; has

potential as TEV‐orthogonal

tool for in vivo studies

[82]

TVMV

protease

recognition

peptide

TVMV protease 7 Cleavage of fusion proteins; has

potential as TEV‐orthogonal

tool for in vivo studies

[83]

Peptide is an affinity tag

Strep‐tag Strep‐Tactin,

avidin

8 One‐step purification,

immobilization, detection

[47]

Peptide is reactive

SpyTag SpyCatcher 13 Isopeptide bond formation with

protein partner SpyCatcher

[85]

SnoopTag SnoopCatcher 12 Isopeptide bond formation with

protein partner SnoopCatcher.

The reaction is orthogonal to

SpyTag/SpyCatcher

[87]

Table 11.1 (Continued)

Definitions

Permissive site Sites within a protein where insertions of several amino acids

are accepted without compromising folding or function

Functional peptide Small amino acid sequence (defined here as approximately

6–30 residues), which shows a stand‐alone biological function

Superfunctionalization Incorporation of an (orthogonal) functionality into the

primary function of a protein by insertion of a functional peptide sequence

into a permissive site of the target protein

Protein scaffold A protein who’s primary function is to structurally serve as

docking point for additional functions

Protein engineering The design of new enzymes or proteins with new or desir-

able functions

Abbreviations

aa amino acid

FlAsH fluorescein arsenical helix binder

TC‐tag tetra cysteine tag

LplA lipoic acid ligase

LAP LplA acceptor peptide

BirA biotin ligase