GoKawiilResearchers design synthetic cysteine proteases from scratch using AI
Scientists reported designing new enzymes capable of cleaving peptide bonds using an activated cysteine nucleophile, achieving success in 13 of 69 designs. The engineered proteases, whose structures differ substantially from natural proteases, accelerated the cutting reaction by up to 30 million times over background rates, and six crystal structures closely matched computational design models. The enzymes also functioned effectively when tested inside mammalian cells.