Part:BBa_K249002
Lumazine Synthase
Lumazine Synthase is an enzyme which creates Lumazine, a product which aggregates forming a hollow spheroid which can act as a mirocompartment, or artificial organelle. The Lumazine forms negatively charged pores, which can be used to introduce proteins. The proteins which are being introduced into the microcompartment must be equipped with an Arginine Tag.
Seebeck, F. P., Woycechowsky, K. J., Zhuang, W., Rabe, J. P., and Hilvert, D., (2006). A simple tagging system for protein encapulation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 4516-4517
Lethbridge_HS 2020 Contribution: Literature Report
Wild type Lumazine synthase from Aquifex aeolicus naturally forms a 60 subunit 13 nm diameter capsid [1]. It naturally encapsulates riboflavin synthetase; both proteins take part in the production of riboflavin or vitamin B12. As the inside layer of the lumazine synthase capsid is negatively charged, the encapsulation of a positively charged capsid can easily be done. However, with the use of protein engineering, two Lumazine synthase proteins have been made called AALS-neg and AALS-13 where the first is a more negatively charged variant and the second is an optimized version of AALS-neg [2] These two variants have been used to encapsulate a Green fluorescent protein that has a poly-arginine tag. This tag provides a positive charged end that can interact with the inside of the capsid.
Besides the engineering of the protein to encapsulate novel cargo’s, Lumazine synthase has been also used for the delivery of antigens in vaccine development [3]. Typically, the antigens are displayed on the surface of the formed Lumazine synthase capsid, which improves the activation of the immune system and the overall positive response to the vaccine.
Sequence and Features
- 10COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
- 12COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
- 21COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
- 23COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
- 25COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]
- 1000COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]
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