Biotechnological Applications of Protein Splicing

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Molecular Biology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Inteins, or protein splicing domains, are key tools in molecular biology and protein engineering.
• Initial applications included self-cleaving tags, semisynthetic protein production, and cyclized polypeptides.
• The identification of split-inteins has opened new avenues for protein modification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of protein splicing.
• To highlight the expanding role of intein-based technologies.
• To focus on applications in protein engineering and chemical biology.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on inteins and protein splicing.
• Analysis of historical and recent applications of intein technology.
• Discussion of split-intein functionalities in vitro and in vivo.

Main Results:

• Inteins offer versatile applications in protein engineering.
• Split-inteins facilitate precise and selective protein modifications.
• Intein-based methods are crucial for advancing chemical biology.

Conclusions:

• Protein splicing via inteins is a powerful biotechnological tool.
• Split-inteins significantly expand the utility of intein technology.
• Inteins are integral to modern protein engineering and chemical biology research.