Team:Heidelberg/ProjectDescription

“Take this ring, master,” he said, “[...] it will support you in the weariness that you have taken upon yourself. For this is The Ring of Fire, and with it you may rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill.”

The Ring of Fire was given to the elves in order to keep its bearer from external forces when fulfilling his duty and to aid him withstand the weariness of time. As in Tolkien’s saga nature established the idea of rings by evolving highly resistant but otherwise functional circular peptides and proteins. Head-to-tail circularisation of peptides occurs naturally in all kingdoms of life and generates increased stability towards high temperature, pH-shifts and exopeptidases. Meanwhile proteins often lose their functionality when circularised artificially, structural changes may be designed to allow for full circularisation and therefore enhanced stability. The ring-closure can be accomplished in vivo and in vitro by protein splicing or using transpeptidases.

We, the iGEM team Heidelberg 2014, will utilise both these techniques to not only circularise peptides but also introduce a wide range of other post-translational modifications. These mechanisms of alteration can be applied in research, medicine and industrial production.
We will provide the research community with a standardised and easy-to-use toolbox for efficiently changing specific protein properties. Featuring a variety of ways to optimise and perfect peptides and enzymes our project virtually represents the tool for forging the ring of fire.