Enzyme Engineered To Produce Threose Nucleic Acid, a Synthetic Genetic Material
Researchers have engineered an enzyme to produce synthetic genetic material, advancing the discovery of new therapeutics.
Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.
A research team led by the University of California, Irvine has engineered an efficient new enzyme that can produce a synthetic genetic material called threose nucleic acid. The ability to synthesize artificial chains of TNA, which is inherently more stable than DNA, advances the discovery of potentially more powerful, precise therapeutic options to treat cancer and autoimmune, metabolic and infectious diseases.
A paper recently published in Nature Catalysis describes how the team created an enzyme called 10-92 that achieves faithful and fast TNA synthesis, overcoming key challenges in previous enzyme design strategies. Inching ever closer to the capability of natural DNA synthesis, the 10-92 TNA polymerase facilitates the development of future TNA drugs.
DNA polymerases are enzymes that replicate organisms’ genomes by accurately and efficiently copying DNA. They play vital roles in biotechnology and healthcare, as seen in the fight against COVID-19, in which they were crucial to pathogen detection and eventual treatment using the mRNA vaccine.
“This achievement represents a major milestone in the evolution of synthetic biology and opens up exciting possibilities for new therapeutic applications by significantly narrowing the performance gap between natural and artificial enzyme systems,” said corresponding author John Chaput, UC Irvine professor of pharmaceutical sciences. “Unlike DNA, TNA’s biostability allows it to be used in a much broader range of treatments, and the new 10-92 TNA polymerase will enable us to reach that goal.”
Want more breaking news?
Subscribe to Technology Networks’ daily newsletter, delivering breaking science news straight to your inbox every day.
Subscribe for FREE“Drugs of the future could look very different than those we use today,” Chaput said. “TNA’s resilience to enzymatic and chemical degradation positions it as the ideal candidate for developing new treatments such as therapeutic aptamers, a promising drug class that binds to target molecules with high specificity. Engineering enzymes that facilitate the discovery of new approaches could address the limitations of antibodies, such as improved tissue penetration, and potentially have an even greater positive impact on human health.”
Reference: Maola VA, Yik EJ, Hajjar M, et al. Directed evolution of a highly efficient TNA polymerase achieved by homologous recombination. Nat Catal. 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41929-024-01233-1
This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.