Contribution

Our New Basic Parts

We developed 2 new basic parts to contribute to the iGEM registry, each being a codon optimized for E. coli.

These parts includes

  • A aprotinin coding sequence sequence that controls extracellular secretion of the serine protease that P. Destructans uses to degrade the keratin and collagen of its bat hosts.
  • The destructin-1 coding sequence sequence that lacks the leader peptide sequence. This is the active form of the enzyme. This is what degrades the keratin and collagen of the bat hosts.

The destructin protein transitions from its inactive zymogen form to its active enzyme form. This involves the leader peptide, which initially blocks the active site, being cleaved off during secretion. This cleavage activates the enzyme, allowing it to bind to and hydrolyze its substrate, collagen. However, it's not clear whether this cleavage happens automatically over time or if it requires the action of other proteases.

Our intention in adding these sequences is that other teams may take an interest in our project, and that they may try other approaches to inhibit destructin-1, which could be used to counter white-nose syndrome.

Sequences:

  1. Leader peptide sequences, part:BBa_25YKTQOT Part Link:aprotinin coding sequence
  2. Mature protein sequences, part: BBa_257411BH Part Link: destructin-1 coding sequence

Reference:

  1. O’Donoghue, A.J. et al. (2015) ‘Destructin-1 is a collagen-degrading endopeptidase secreted by Pseudogymnoascus Destructans, the causative agent of white-nose syndrome’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(24), pp. 7478–7483. /pnas.1507082112.