System for detecting protease
First Claim
1. A chimeric protein comprising at least one signal protein that has a trafficking signal targeting to a subcellular organelle and at least one proteolytic cleavage site for a protease, which is constructed such that(a) the trafficking signals of all the signal proteins are inactivated by linking the proteolytic site or a signal masking protein through the proteolytic site to the N- or C-terminus of the signal proteins, and thus the chimeric protein is present in cytosol;
- (b) the trafficking signal of at least one signal protein is activated when the proteolytic cleavage site is cleaved by the protease, and as a result at least one fragment protein that includes the activated signal protein is transported to a subcellular organelle; and
(c) the chimeric protein is labeled with at least one detectable amino acid sequence and the position and intensity distribution of the detectable amino acid sequence signal in the cell is altered depending on the cleavage by the protease.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a system for detecting a protease inside a cell. In one embodiment, the system includes a chimeric protein that comprises as covalently linked components: 1) at least one optionally masked signal protein; 2) at least one protease-specific cleavage site; and 3) at least one detectable amino acid sequence. The invention has a wide spectrum of applications including use in the detection of novel protease inhibitors inside cells and tissue.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A chimeric protein comprising at least one signal protein that has a trafficking signal targeting to a subcellular organelle and at least one proteolytic cleavage site for a protease, which is constructed such that
(a) the trafficking signals of all the signal proteins are inactivated by linking the proteolytic site or a signal masking protein through the proteolytic site to the N- or C-terminus of the signal proteins, and thus the chimeric protein is present in cytosol; -
(b) the trafficking signal of at least one signal protein is activated when the proteolytic cleavage site is cleaved by the protease, and as a result at least one fragment protein that includes the activated signal protein is transported to a subcellular organelle; and (c) the chimeric protein is labeled with at least one detectable amino acid sequence and the position and intensity distribution of the detectable amino acid sequence signal in the cell is altered depending on the cleavage by the protease. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11)
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2. A chimeric protein comprising at least two signal proteins that have trafficking signals targeting to subcellular organelles and at least one proteolytic cleavage site for a protease, which is constructed such that
(a) the trafficking signal of one signal protein remains active, and those of the rest of the signal proteins are inactivated by linking the proteolytic site or a signal masking protein through the proteolytic site to the N- or C-terminus of the signal proteins, and thus the chimeric protein is transported to a specific subcellular organelle targeted by the trafficking signal of the active signal protein; -
(b) at least one proteolytic site and at least one inactivated signal protein are exposed to cytosol after the chimeric protein is transported to the subcellular organelle; (c) the trafficking signal of the at least one inactivated signal protein exposed to cytosol is activated when the proteolytic cleavage site is cleaved by the protease, and as a result the fragment protein that includes the activated signal protein is transported to a subcellular organelle that is different from the subcellular organelle to which the chimeric protein was transported; and (d) the chimeric protein is labeled with at least one detectable amino acid sequence and the position and intensity distribution of the detectable amino acid sequence in the cell is altered depending on the cleavage by the protease. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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Specification