Team:Hong Kong HKU/surface decoration

There are 5 Eut Shell protein genes (S, M, N, L, K). EutS and EutM form the edges and facets of the shell. EutN cap the vertexes of the capsid. EutL facilitates fated transport into and out of the BMC. EutK’s role is at present unclear. Among all Eut Shell proteins, crystallographic data indicates the N-terminal of EutS are found on the exterior surface of the Eut MCP, making it our possible candidates for tag peptide fusion. Other 4 shell proteins bury both termini deeply and not suitable for peptide fusion. To our surprise, a study in 2012 showed that EutS alone is necessary and sufficient for the formation of shells in vivo. Hence, homogenous EutS shell proteins might offer a simplier strategy for engineering of cell-specific targeting capsid, and potentially having higher specificity and affinity. Hence, we will construct and compare two types of MCPs: (1) Single expression of homogenous Tagged EutS (2) Co-expression of Heterogenous Taggest EutS and EutMNLK