There are multiple mechanisms by which DNA can become damaged. Such damage must be repaired for the cell to avoid ill-health consequences. Homologous recombination (HR) is a means of repairing one specific type of damage, a double-strand break (DSB). This complex pathway includes the Rad51-DNA nucleoprotein filament as its primary machinery. Current methodology for studying HR proteins includes the use of fluorescently labeled DNA to probe for HR dynamics. This technique limits the number of proteins that can be involved in experimentation, and often only works as an end reporter. The work here aims at improving upon standard techniques by creating two fluorescent protein probes. The first probe was developed by directly attaching a fluorophore to Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad51 with the use of click chemistry and the incorporation of unnatural amino acids. This probe could function as a primary reporter on the formation and dissociation of the Rad51-DNA filament in the presence of pro- and anti- HR mediator proteins. The second probe was created by labeling the exterior cysteine residues of Plasmodium falciparum single strand DNA binding protein (SSB) with a fluorophore via maleimide chemistry. This probe acts as a secondary reporter for HR dynamics by signaling for when free single stranded DNA (ssDNA) is available.

Protein-protein interactions are of great importance to a number of essential biological processes including cell cycle regulation, cell-cell interactions, DNA replication, transcription and translation. Thus, an understanding of protein-protein interactions is critical for understanding many facets of cell function. Unfortunately, the tools and methods currently in use to identify and study protein-protein interactions focus largely on high affinity, stable interactions. However, the majority of the protein-protein interactions involved in regulatory processes have weak affinities and are transient in nature. Therefore, it is important to develop new biotechnology capable of detecting weak and/or transient protein-protein interactions in vivo. Here, we describe four new methods that allow for the identification and study of weak and/or transient protein-protein interactions in vivo. First, we developed a rapid method to convert Escherichia coli orthogonal tRNA/synthetase pairs into an orthogonal system for mammalian cells in order to site-specifically incorporate unnatural amino acids into any gene of interest using stop codon suppression. This method will allow the expression and purification of proteins that carry normally transient post-translational modifications. Second, we successfully employed site-specific unnatural amino acid incorporation to chemically cross-link a known homodimer, Sortase A, in vivo. Third, we developed a novel tetracycline repressor-based mammalian two-hybrid system and successfully detected homo- and hetero-dimers that are known to have weak binding constants. Finally, a synthetic antibody (termed a synbody) that binds weakly to the SH3 domain of the proto-oncogene Abelson tyrosine kinase was developed. The synbody can potentially be used as a first generation drug and/or biomarker. We hope that the methods developed in this dissertation will enable the scientific community to better understand weak/transient protein-protein interactions in vivo. / text

Thesis advisor: Abhisheck Chatterjee / The genetic codon expansion (GCE) is a technique that uses an orthogonal tRNA/aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) pair to incorporate noncanonical amino acids (ncAA) into proteins, to enable more protein-based chemistry. In the past two decades, more than 200 ncAAs have been site-specifically introduced into proteins in E. coli, and facilitated studies of protein structures, functions and interaction with other molecules. Although a large variety of ncAAs are available for incorporation in the bacterial systems, significantly fewer ncAAs are accessible for incorporation in eukaryotic cells. An expanded GCE toolbox will be beneficial for numerous applications in eukaryotic systems. Currently, introducing ncAAs in eukaryotes predominantly relies on the archaeal pyrrolysyl tRNA/aaRS pair. Such a strong dependence on a single platform has precluded genetic encoding of many desirable ncAAs, including structural mimics of many important post-translational modifications. The work presented in this thesis first developed an engineered E. coli leucyl tRNA/aaRS pair to enable site-specific incorporation of citrulline, an important PTM, into proteins expressed in mammalian cells. This technology was used to reveal the role of citrullination on site R372 and R374 of PAD4. Additionally, aiming at genetically encoding more diverse ncAAs, all 20 E. coli derived tRNA/aaRS pairs were screened for their ability to suppress TAG and TGA in mammalian cells. This study revealed several tRNA/aaRS pairs that are suitable for ncAA incorporation in mammalian cells, including those selective for phenylalanine, lysine, arginine, serine and glutamine. Efforts are currently under way to engineer these pairs to genetically encode new structural classes of ncAAs. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

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Proteins—polymers of amino acids—are a major class of biomolecules whose myriad functions facilitate many crucial biological processes. Accordingly, human control over these biological processes depends upon the ability to study, produce, and modify proteins. One innovative tool for accomplishing these aims is cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS). This technique, rather than using living cells to make protein, simply extracts the cells' natural protein-making machinery and then uses it to produce protein in vitro. Because living cells are no longer involved, scientists can freely adapt the protein production environment in ways not otherwise possible. However, improved versatility and yield of CFPS protein production is still the subject of considerable research. This work focuses on two ideas for furthering that research.The first idea is the adaptation of CFPS to make proteins containing unnatural amino acids. Unnatural amino acids are not found in natural biological proteins; they are synthesized artificially to possess useful properties which are then conferred upon any protein made with them. However, current methods for incorporating unnatural amino acids do not allow incorporation of more than one type of unnatural amino acid into a single protein. This work helps lay the groundwork for the incorporation of different unnatural amino acid types into proteins. It does this by using modified aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs), which are key components in CFPS, to be compatible with unnatural amino acids. The second idea is the preservation of DNA templates from enzyme degradation in CFPS. Among the advantages of CFPS is the option of using linear expression templates (LETs) in place of plasmids as the DNA template for protein production. Because LETs can be produced more quickly than plasmids can, using LETs greatly reduces the time required to obtain a DNA template for protein production. This renders CFPS a better candidate for high-throughput testing of proteins. However, LETs are more susceptible to enzyme-mediated degradation than plasmids are, which means that LET-based CFPS protein yields are lower than plasmid-based CFPS yields. This work explores the possibility of increasing the protein yield of LET-based CFPS by addition of sacrificial DNA, DNA which is not used as a protein-making template but which is degraded by the enzymes in place of the LETs.