Abstract 2008 Expanding LOCKR Applications: Building a Protein Control System for Bacteria

The use of designed protein systems in synthetic biology to regulate cellular processes and protein function has advanced significantly in recent years. The Latching Orthogonal Cage/Key pRotein (LOCKR) system is a de novo designed protein system consisting of a “Switch” and a “Key” that can regulate a variety of cellular processes. Various biological functions can be encoded in the Switch, including degron sequences that signal for protein degradation (degronSwitch). The degronSwitch can be fused to a protein of interest to regulate protein degradation.