Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2025

Synthesis of an Intein-mediated Artificial Protein Hydrogel
Published on: January 27, 2014
An artificially split class 3 intein
Tia M Ariagno1, John S Smetana1, Christopher W Lennon1
1Department of Biological Sciences, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, United States.
Abstract:
Inteins excise themselves from precursor polypeptides through protein splicing, joining N- and C-exteins with a peptide bond. Split inteins are expressed as separate polypeptides that undergo protein trans splicing (PTS). Here, we demonstrate PTS can be achieved using an artificially split class 3 intein. Because class 3 inteins use an internal initiating nucleophile near the C-extein junction, rather than the first residue of the intein, both catalytic nucleophiles are present on a single polypeptide. This results in a compact arrangement of catalytic nucleophiles for PTS compared to the standard arrangement for split class 1 inteins.
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