AbstractDrawing inspiration from allosteric signaling enzymes, whose catalytic and regulatory units are non‐covalently linked, we have devised a method to establish unnatural, effector‐mediated enzyme activation within native cells. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated by introducing a synthetic regulatory unit (sRU) onto glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK‐3) through non‐covalent means. Our study reveals that this synthetic regulator mediates an unnatural crosstalk between GSK‐3 and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), whose expression is regulated by cellular oxygen levels. Specifically, with this approach, the constitutively active GSK‐3 is transformed into an activable enzyme, whereas LDHA is repurposed as an unnatural effector protein that controls the activity of the kinase, making it unnaturally dependent on the cell‘s hypoxic response. These findings demonstrate a step toward imitating the function of effector‐regulated cell‐signaling enzymes, which play a key biological role in mediating the response of cells to changes in their environment. In addition, at the proof‐of‐principle level, our results indicate the potential to develop a new class of protein inhibitors whose inhibitory effect in cells is dictated by the cell‘s environment and consequent protein expression profile.
摘要从异位信号酶(其催化和调控单元是非共价连接的)中汲取灵感,我们设计了一种在原生细胞内建立非自然的、效应器介导的酶激活的方法。通过非共价方式在糖原合酶激酶 3(GSK-3)上引入合成调控单元(sRU),证明了这种方法的可行性。我们的研究发现,这种合成调节因子介导了 GSK-3 与乳酸脱氢酶 A(LDHA)之间的非自然串扰,而后者的表达受细胞氧水平的调节。具体来说,通过这种方法,组成型活性 GSK-3 被转化为一种可激活的酶,而 LDHA 则被改造为一种非天然的效应蛋白,可控制激酶的活性,从而使其不自然地依赖于细胞的缺氧反应。这些发现表明,在模仿效应器调控的细胞信号酶的功能方面迈出了一步,这种酶在介导细胞对环境变化的反应方面发挥着关键的生物学作用。此外,在原理验证层面,我们的研究结果表明有可能开发出一类新的蛋白质抑制剂,其对细胞的抑制作用取决于细胞的环境和随之而来的蛋白质表达谱。