Controlling cell architecture with protein design

IF 6 2区生物学 Q1 CELL BIOLOGY

Current Opinion in Cell Biology Pub Date : 2025-07-15 DOI:10.1016/j.ceb.2025.102569

Jessica A. Cross , Derek N. Woolfson , Mark P. Dodding

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Abstract

Cells depend on a complex and precisely regulated subcellular organization, largely driven by the cytoskeleton and motor proteins that control intracellular transport. This review explores innovative strategies to manipulate cellular architecture using targeted protein design and engineering of cytoskeletal elements and molecular motors. We highlight advances in inducible dimerization techniques, which enable precise control over cytoskeletal dynamics through light- and small-molecule-sensitive domains. In addition, we discuss modifications to motor proteins that alter directionality, processivity, and cargo specificity, providing insights into their roles in cellular transport. Rapid advances in de novo protein design offer new tools to hijack natural cytoskeletal machinery and create synthetic elements for cellular architecture, including membraneless organelles and synthetic cytoskeletal tracks. This research promises to deepen our understanding of cellular organization, uncover regulatory mechanisms, and provide new proteins for therapeutic applications and synthetic cell development.

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用蛋白质设计控制细胞结构

细胞依赖于复杂和精确调控的亚细胞组织，主要由控制细胞内运输的细胞骨架和运动蛋白驱动。本文综述了利用靶向蛋白设计和细胞骨架元件和分子马达的工程技术来操纵细胞结构的创新策略。我们强调了诱导二聚化技术的进展，这使得通过光和小分子敏感域精确控制细胞骨架动力学成为可能。此外，我们还讨论了对运动蛋白的修饰，这些修饰会改变方向性、进程性和货物特异性，从而深入了解它们在细胞运输中的作用。新蛋白质设计的快速发展为劫持天然细胞骨架机制和创造细胞结构的合成元素提供了新的工具，包括无膜细胞器和合成细胞骨架轨道。这项研究有望加深我们对细胞组织的理解，揭示调控机制，并为治疗应用和合成细胞发育提供新的蛋白质。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Current Opinion in Cell Biology 生物-细胞生物学

CiteScore

14.60

自引率

1.30%

发文量

审稿时长

93 days

期刊介绍： Current Opinion in Cell Biology (COCEBI) is a highly respected journal that specializes in publishing authoritative, comprehensive, and systematic reviews in the field of cell biology. The journal's primary aim is to provide a clear and readable synthesis of the latest advances in cell biology, helping specialists stay current with the rapidly evolving field. Expert authors contribute to the journal by annotating and highlighting the most significant papers from the extensive body of research published annually, offering valuable insights and saving time for readers by distilling key findings. COCEBI is part of the Current Opinion and Research (CO+RE) suite of journals, which leverages the legacy of editorial excellence, high impact, and global reach to ensure that the journal is a widely read resource integral to scientists' workflow. It is published by Elsevier, a publisher known for its commitment to excellence in scientific publishing and the communication of reproducible biomedical research aimed at improving human health. The journal's content is designed to be an invaluable resource for a diverse audience, including researchers, lecturers, teachers, professionals, policymakers, and students.