Viral attenuation by engineered protein fragmentation.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Garry DJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6009699 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Viral attenuation by engineered protein fragmentation.
Garry Daniel J DJ Ellington Andrew D AD Molineux Ian J IJ Bull James J JJ
Virus evolution 20180101 1
A possible but untested method of viral attenuation is protein fragmentation, engineering wild-type proteins as two or more peptides that self-assemble after translation. Here, the bacteriophage T7 was engineered to encode its essential RNA polymerase as two peptides. Initial fitness was profoundly suppressed. Subjecting the engineered virus to over 100 generations of adaptation by serial transfer resulted in a large fitness increase, still remaining below that of evolved wild-type. The fitness ...[more]
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