Issue 60, 2021

Reprogramming natural proteins using unnatural amino acids

Abstract

Unnatural amino acids have gained significant attention in protein engineering and drug discovery as they allow the evolution of proteins with enhanced stability and activity. The incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins offers a rational approach to engineer enzymes for designing efficient biocatalysts that exhibit versatile physicochemical properties and biological functions. This review highlights the biological and synthetic routes of unnatural amino acids to yield a modified protein with altered functionality and their incorporation methods. Unnatural amino acids offer a wide array of applications such as antibody-drug conjugates, probes for change in protein conformation and structure–activity relationships, peptide-based imaging, antimicrobial activities, etc. Besides their emerging applications in fundamental and applied science, systemic research is necessary to explore unnatural amino acids with novel side chains that can address the limitations of natural amino acids.

Graphical abstract: Reprogramming natural proteins using unnatural amino acids

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
19 Sept. 2021
Accepted
18 Nov. 2021
First published
26 Nov. 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2021,11, 38126-38145

Reprogramming natural proteins using unnatural amino acids

A. Adhikari, B. R. Bhattarai, A. Aryal, N. Thapa, P. KC, A. Adhikari, S. Maharjan, P. B. Chanda, B. P. Regmi and N. Parajuli, RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 38126 DOI: 10.1039/D1RA07028B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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