Chikungunya Virus nsP3 Blocks Stress Granule Assembly by Recruitment of G3BP into Cytoplasmic Foci

Chikungunya virus nonstructural protein nsP3 has an essential but unknown role in alphavirus replication and interacts with Ras-GAP SH3 domain-binding protein (G3BP). Here we describe the first known function of nsP3, to inhibit stress granule assembly by recruiting G3BP into cytoplasmic foci. A conserved SH3 domain-binding motif in nsP3 is essential for both nsP3-G3BP interactions and viral RNA replication. This study reveals a novel role for nsP3 as a regulator of the cellular stress respons

Protein cross-linking tools for the construction of nanomaterials

Across bioengineering there is a need to couple proteins to other proteins, or to peptides. Although traditional chemical conjugations have dominated in the past, more and more highly specific coupling strategies are becoming available that are based on protein engineering. Here we review the use of protein modification approaches such as enzymatic and autocatalytic protein-protein coupling, as well as the use of hetero-dimerizing (or hetero-oligomerizing) modules, applied to the specific case of linking together de novo designed recombinant polypeptides into precisely structured nanomaterials. Such polypeptides are increasingly being investigated for biomedical and other applications. In this review, we describe the protein-engineering based cross-linking strategies that dramatically expand the repertoire of possible molecular structures and, hence, the range of materials that can be produced from them

Production in Pichia pastoris of protein-based polymers with small heterodimer-forming blocks

Some combinations of leucine zipper peptides are capable of forming a-helical heterodimeric coiled coils with very high affinity. These can be used as physical cross-linkers in the design of protein-based polymers that form supramolecular structures, for example hydrogels, upon mixing solutions containing the complementary blocks. Such two-component physical networks are of interest for many applications in biomedicine, pharmaceutics, and diagnostics. This article describes the efficient secretory production of A and B type leucine zipper peptides fused to protein-based polymers in Pichia pastoris. By adjusting the fermentation conditions, we were able to significantly reduce undesirable proteolytic degradation. The formation of A-B heterodimers in mixtures of the purified products was confirmed by size exclusion chromatography. Our results demonstrate that protein-based polymers incorporating functional heterodimer-forming blocks can be produced with P. pastoris in sufficient quantities for use in future supramolecular self-assembly studies and in various applications