De novo design and creation of artificial proteins

An α/β-barrel protein was designed de novo and synthesized. Based upon the characteristic structural parameters extracted from the native proteins, a model structure composed of the typical parallel β-barrel with eight β-strands and eight α-helices was built, accompanying with the unique short turns between α and β structures. A unique amino acid sequence of the total 201 amino acid was designed. The associated gene was chemically synthesized and expressed in Eschericia coli as a fusion protein with human growth hormone. The protein obtained after cleaved and refolded was found to be stable and globular with a large amount of secondary structures.