Genetic Encoding of 7-Aza-L-Tryptophan: Isoelectronic Substitution of a Single CH-Group in a Protein for a Nitrogen Atom (#203)
Genetic code expansion (GCE) via stop codon suppression is a powerful technique for studying biological macromolecules. This technique enables the precise installation of different functionalities into peptides and proteins through the site-specific incorporation of non-canonical amino acids (ncAA). We succeeded in genetically encoding the isoelectronic tryptophan analogue 7-azatryptophan (7AW), leading to proteins with a single CH-group substituted for a nitrogen atom. 7AW is readily synthesized enzymatically from serine and 7-azaindole using tryptophan synthetase β-subunit (TrpB). Using 15N/13C-labeled 7AW, the NMR resonance peak assignments of the tryptophan residues in Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease was achieved.
- E. H. Abdelkader, H. Qianzhu, J. George, R. L. Frkic, C. J. Jackson, C. Nitsche, G. Otting, T. Huber, Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2022, 61, e202114154
- H. Qianzhu, E. H. Abdelkader, I. D. Herath, G. Otting, T. Huber, ACS Sens 2022, 7, 44-49