Izert-Nowakowska, M. A. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2026

Evaluation of degron motifs in Escherichia coli using a fluorescent reporter

Fluorescent reporters provide a useful tool for studying degron motifs. Fusing a degron of interest to a fluorescent protein allows to accurately track protein levels overtime to characterise the degradation kinetics of studied degrons. Here we describe a rapid and simple method to study degron peptides in Escherichia coli using plasmid-encoded eGFP-degron fusion constructs. The described methods provide an accessible workflow to evaluate degrons. We provide protocols for generation of pBAD plasmids encoding the studied constructs and two different methods for evaluating degrons - an end-point fluorescence measurement on agar plates and a kinetic measurement in liquid cultures in a 96-well format for high-throughput degron studies.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2024

Depletion of essential GroEL protein in Escherichia coli using Clp-Interacting Peptidic Protein Erasers (CLIPPERs)

New, universal tools for targeted protein degradation in bacteria can help to accelerate protein function studies and antimicrobial research. We have developed a new method for degrading bacterial proteins using plasmid-encoded degrader peptides which deliver target proteins for degradation by a highly conserved ClpXP protease. We demonstrated the mode of action of the degraders on a challenging essential target, GroEL. The studies in bacteria were complemented by in vitro binding and structural studies. Expression of degrader peptides resulted in a temperature-dependent growth inhibition and depletion of GroEL levels over time. The reduction of GroEL levels was accompanied by dramatic proteome alterations. The presented method offers a new alternative approach for regulating protein levels in bacteria without genomic modifications or tag fusions. Our studies demonstrate that ClpXP is an attractive protease for the future use in bacterial targeted protein degradation.

molecular biology↗