title: Recombinant artificial forisomes provide ample quantities of smart biomaterials for use in technical devices.
abstract: Forisomes are mechanoproteins that undergo ATP-independent contraction-expansion cycles triggered by divalent cations, pH changes, and electrical stimuli. Although native forisomes from Medicago truncatula comprise a number of subunits encoded by separate genes, here we show that at least two of those subunits (MtSEO1 and MtSEO4) can assemble into homomeric forisome bodies that are functionally similar to their native, multimeric counterparts. We expressed these subunits in plants and yeast, resulting in the purification of large quantities of artificial forisomes with unique characteristics depending on the expression platform. These artificial forisomes were able to contract and expand in vitro like native forisomes and could respond to electrical stimulation when immobilized between interdigital transducer electrodes. These results indicate that recombinant artificial forisomes with specific characteristics can be prepared in large amounts and used as components of microscale and nanoscale devices.
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institut für Molekularbiologie und Angewandte Okologie, Forckenbeckstrasse 6, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Boje
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Gundula A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Noll
authors.forename: Antonia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rüping
authors.forename: Sira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Groscurth
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Twyman
authors.forename: Lawrence M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kawchuk
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prüfer
mesh_terms: D019677:Artificial Gene Fusion; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000378:metabolism*; D003285:Contractile Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D046913:Medicago truncatula / Q000378:metabolism; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003285:Contractile Proteins; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins