1. The cyclic peptide G4CP2 enables the modulation of galactose metabolism in yeast by interfering with GAL4 transcriptional activity
- Author
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Rosa, S, Tagliani, A, Bertaso, C, Tadini, L, Visentin, C, Gourlay, L, Pricl, S, Feni, L, Pellegrino, S, Pesaresi, P, Masiero, S, Rosa S., Tagliani A., Bertaso C., Tadini L., Visentin C., Gourlay L. J., Pricl S., Feni L., Pellegrino S., Pesaresi P., Masiero S., Rosa, S, Tagliani, A, Bertaso, C, Tadini, L, Visentin, C, Gourlay, L, Pricl, S, Feni, L, Pellegrino, S, Pesaresi, P, Masiero, S, Rosa S., Tagliani A., Bertaso C., Tadini L., Visentin C., Gourlay L. J., Pricl S., Feni L., Pellegrino S., Pesaresi P., and Masiero S.
- Abstract
Genetically-encoded combinatorial peptide libraries are convenient tools to identify peptides to be used as therapeutics, antimicrobials and functional synthetic biology modules. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a cyclic peptide, G4CP2, that interferes with the GAL4 protein, a transcription factor responsible for the activation of galactose catabolism in yeast and widely exploited in molecular biology. G4CP2 was identified by screening CYCLIC, a Yeast Two-Hybrid-based combinatorial library of cyclic peptides developed in our laboratory. G4CP2 interferes with GAL4-mediated activation of galactose metabolic enzymes both when expressed intracellularly, as a recombinant peptide, and when provided exogenously, as a chemically-synthesized cyclic peptide. Our results support the application of G4CP2 in microbial biotechnology and, additionally, demonstrate that CYCLIC can be used as a tool for the rapid identification of peptides, virtually without any limitations with respect to the target protein. The possible biotechnological applications of cyclic peptides are also discussed.
- Published
- 2023