Abstract

Chemoselective ligation strategies have previously provided synthetic access to water-soluble proteins with novel properties, and more recently these strategies have been used to prepare ion channels. Examples of ion channels prepared by total chemical synthesis include bacterial mechanosensitive channels, and viral ion channels. Chemical protein synthesis allows for the generation of ion channel proteins with both native, and engineered structural or conductance properties.

Keywords: chemical protein synthesis, native chemical ligation, membrane proteins, ion channels, protein engineering