Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Protein editing

A transposon-like strategy for proteins

Nature Chemical Biology volume 21, pages 980–982 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Transposition is normally considered a DNA-based process. Now, scientists have devised a means to carry out a similar transformation — this time using proteins. The approach enables protein semisynthesis and site-specific modification of folded substrates in vitro and in live cells, opening up new ways to probe and manipulate biological systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Transposition at the protein level achieved via split intein-mediated protein trans-splicing.

References

  1. Wood, D. W., Belfort, M. & Lennon, C. W. Front. Microbiol. 14, 1305848 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Hua, Y. et al. Science 388, 68–74 (2025).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Conibear, A. C., Watson, E. E., Payne, R. J. & Becker, C. F. W. Chem. Soc. Rev. 47, 9046–9068 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Giriat, I. & Muir, T. W. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 7180–7181 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Jillette, N., Du, M., Zhu, J. J., Cardoz, P. & Cheng, A. W. Nat. Commun. 10, 4968 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Khoo, K. K. et al. Nat. Commun. 11, 2284 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Jumper, J. et al. Nature 596, 583–589 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Krishna, R. et al. Science 384, eadl2528 (2024).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Varadi, M., Tsenkov, M. & Velankar, S. Proteins 93, 400–410 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Dagliyan, O. et al. Nat. Commun. 9, 4042 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Schmitz, M. et al. Protein Sci. 33, e4985 (2024).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

B.D.V. is supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 101002044).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BIOSS and CIBSS Signaling Research Centers and Institute of Biology II, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Frieburg, Germany

    Barbara Di Ventura

Authors
  1. Barbara Di Ventura
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Di Ventura.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Di Ventura, B. A transposon-like strategy for proteins. Nat Chem Biol 21, 980–982 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-025-01947-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-025-01947-8

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing