Microcin J25 (MccJ25) is a lasso peptide antibiotic with a unique structure that resembles the lariat knot. It has been a topic of intense interest since its discovery in 1992. Unfortunately, there is only limited information regarding the structural and molecular intricacies of MccJ25 production due to the fact that its biosynthetic enzymes are extremely difficult to handle. To close this knowledge gap, we used AlphaFold2 to predict the structure of the precursor (McjA) in complex with its biosynthetic enzymes (McjB and McjC) and queried critical predicted features by protein engineering. The prediction-validation workflow presented herein combined artificial intelligence and laboratory experiments constructively to gain new insights. Check out our new publication at ACS Chemical Biology (doi: 10.1021/acschembio.4c00251)
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