Weidmann J, Schnölzer M, Dawson PE, Hoheisel JD. Copying Life: Synthesis of an Enzymatically Active Mirror-Image DNA-Ligase Made of D-Amino Acids.
Cell Chem Biol 2019;
26:645-651.e3. [PMID:
30880154 DOI:
10.1016/j.chembiol.2019.02.008]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2018] [Revised: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Our objective is the creation of a mirror-image synthetic biology: that is, to mimic, entirely independent of Nature, a biological system and to re-create it from artificial component parts. Utilizing enantiomeric L-nucleotides and D-amino acids rather than the natural components, we use chemical synthesis toward a basic, self-replicating mirror-image biological system. Here, we report the synthesis of a functional DNA-ligase in the D-enantiomeric conformation, which is an exact mirror-image of the natural enzyme, exhibiting DNA ligation activity on chirally inverted nucleic acids in L-conformation, but not acting on natural substrates and with natural co-factors. Starting from the known structure of the Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 DNA-ligase and the homologous but shorter DNA-ligase of Haemophilus influenza, we designed and synthesized chemically peptides, which could then be assembled into a full-length molecule yielding a functional protein. The structure and the activity of the mirror-image ligase were characterized, documenting its enantiospecific functionality.
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