Ribosomal Synthesis of Peptides with Multiple β-Amino Acids

The compatibility of β-amino acids with ribosomal translation was studied for decades, but it has been still unclear whether the ribosome can accept various β-amino acids, and whether the ribosome can introduce multiple β-amino acids in a peptide. In the present study, by using the Escherichia coli reconstituted cell-free translation system with a reprogramed genetic code, we screened β-amino acids that give high single incorporation efficiency and used them to synthesize peptides containing multiple β-amino acids. The experiments of single β-amino acid incorporation into a peptide revealed that 13 β-amino acids are compatible with ribosomal translation. Six of the tested β-amino acids (βhGly, l-βhAla, l-βhGln, l-βhPhg, l-βhMet, and d-βhPhg) showed high incorporation efficiencies, and seven (l-βhLeu, l-βhIle, l-βhAsn, l-βhPhe, l-βhLys, d-βhAla, and d-βhLeu) showed moderate incorporation efficiencies; whereas no full-length peptide was produced using other β-amino acids (l-βhPro, l-βhTrp, and l-βhGlu). Subsequent double-incorporation experiments using β-amino acids with high single incorporation efficiency revealed that elongation of peptides with successive β-amino acids is prohibited. Efficiency of the double-incorporation of the β-amino acids was restored by the insertion of Tyr or Ile between the two β-amino acids. On the basis of these experiments, we also designed mRNA sequences of peptides, and demonstrated the ribosomal synthesis of peptides containing different types of β-amino acids at multiple positions.