Metabolic Incorporation of latent fast reacting thioeSTERs

Single protein building blocks, so-called protein monomers, can be genetically engineered so that they polycondensate into rubber-like elastic (elastomeric) protein biopolymers. These elastomeric protein biopolymers are innovative raw materials for promising biomedical applications and for materials science. In recent years, the production of elastomeric protein biopolymers has been the subject of intense research. Despite significant advances, we still need versatile and efficient approaches to further improve and diversify the properties of the targeted materials. The goal of this project is to combine concepts from chemistry and synthetic biology to develop a fully integrated approach for the polycondensation of protein monomers. To achieve this goal, protein monomers will be equipped with activatable and extremely fast- reacting thioester groups at defined positions. We expect that the tremendous reactivity and chemoselectivity of the thioester groups will improve the single-chain polycondensation of the monomeric protein building blocks. In particular, the robustness of the approach will be challenged through the recombinant production of a titin protein monomer containing the thioester groups, which polymerizes to form a biopolymer endowed with muscle-like mechanical properties.