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Updated: Aug 31, 2025

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Tailoring the Tag/Catcher System by Integrating Covalent Bonds and Noncovalent Interactions for Highly Efficient
Yao Chen1,2, Dengming Ming2, Liying Zhu3
1State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Food Science and Light Industry, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China.
Abstract:
Covalent bonds and noncovalent interactions play crucial roles in enzyme self-assembly. Here, we designed a Tag/Catcher system named NGTag/NGCatcher in which the Catcher is a highly charged protein that can bind proteins with positively charged tails and rapidly form a stable isopeptide bond with NGTag. In this study, we present a multienzyme strategy based on covalent bonds and noncovalent interactions. In vitro, mCherry, YFP, and GFP can form protein-rich three-dimensional networks based on NGCatcher, NGTag, and RK (Arginine/Lysine) tails, respectively. Furthermore, this technology was applied to improve lycopene production in Escherichia coli. Three key enzymes were involved in lycopene production variants from Deinococcus wulumuqiensis R12 of NGCatcher_CrtE, NGTag_Idi, and RKIspARK, where the multienzyme complexes were clearly observed in vivo and in vitro, and the lycopene production in vivo was 17.8-fold higher than that in the control group. The NGTag/NGCatcher system will provide new opportunities for in vivo and in vitro multienzyme catalysis.
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