Heat-inducible N-degron module
US5705387A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 25, 1996 |
| Grant date | Jan 6, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 25, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC07K2319/95
- WIPO fieldBiotechnology
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
The N-degron is an intracellular degradation signal whose essential determinant is a specific, destabilizing, N-terminal amino acid residue. A set of N-degrons containing different destabilizing residues is manifested as the N-end rule, which relates the in vivo half-life of a protein to the identity of its N-terminal amino acid residue. Disclosed herein is a heat-inducible N-degron module. A heat-inducible N-degron module is a protein or peptide bearing a destabilizing N-terminal amino acid residue which becomes a substrate of the N-end rule pathway only at a temperature high enough to result in at least partial unfolding of the protein. At this elevated (nonpermissive) temperature, the heat-inducible N-degron module (and any protein or peptide attached at its C-terminus) is rapidly degraded in a cell in which the N-end rule pathway is operative. Also disclosed are DNA and protein fusion constructs, methods for screening for additional heat-inducible N-degron modules and methods for using the disclosed heat-inducible N-degron modules.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.