What if protein function could be triggered only when the right cell cues are present? With SMART, we combine split inteins and logic gating to create a programmable system for cell-specific protein ligation, thus opening new doors for synthetic biology and cell targeting.

RT @PrincetonChem: Congratulations @MuirLab postdoc Jason Johansen-Leete on his Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship, sponsored by….

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Congratulations to Tom for receiving the Ralph Hirschmann award in Peptide Chemistry! @PrincetonChem .

RT @Nature: Nature research paper: Programmable protein ligation on cell surfaces.

RT @PrincetonChem: The @MuirLab introduces a groundbreaking protein activation platform that allows “exquisite precision,” in @Nature last….

RT @Yael_David__: Very happy to share this preview in @TrendsinBiotech two cool intein papers just out in @ScienceMagazine by @GMBurslem, @….

Congratulations to Christian, Girum, Nick, Xuanjia, and Yutong!. Link: @PrincetonChem @PrincetonInnov.

We anticipate that this technology will enable targeted formation of biomolecules with reduced off-target toxicity. This paper is the start of many applications for SMART and stay tuned for more!.

While our prior applications of SMART involve a splice-and-retain mechanism, we also show that we can engineer SMART to perform a novel AND-gated splice-and-release operation. This is applied to the reconstitution of an active interleukin 1B from inactive fragments.

We are also able to show that SMART works with a range of targeting vectors, ranging from scFvs to peptides to small molecules. We also show that we can perform AND-gated enzymatic proximity labeling using APEX2 and photocatalytic proximity labeling using micro-Map

However, given the widespread applications of AND-gated logic, we chose to focus on efforts on this front, and showed that we can do targeted cell depletion with exquisite selectivity for cells displaying the right combination of epitopes

We are also able to develop other logic gated operations using this system. By engineering split-intein cages and SpyCatcher, we show that our system is able to operate a 3-input AND/NOT gate.

This project started with the development of a split-SpyCatcher that is faithfully reconstituted when two distinct epitopes on cell surfaces is targeted.

SMART relies on the fundamental AND-gated nature of split-inteins. When caged appropriately, we can use epitopes on the cell surface to drive the ligation of two inactive protein fragments to reconstitute a functional protein.

RT @SpliceBioHQ: Yesterday, we announced the close of a $135M Series B financing to support clinical development of SB-007 for #StargardtDi….

RT @PrincetonInnov: The @SpliceBio platform is based on technology developed in @MuirLab at @Princeton.

RT @NatureBiotech: Employing engineered split inteins to replace the internal regions of target proteins in a single reaction. https://t.co….

Congratulations to our trailblazing leader!.

Congratulations to our second years Alan and Chuqi for passing their general exams and officially becoming PhD candidates!

That’s a wrap for our 3rd year seminars, who all did a fantastic job presenting updates on their research progress!