Site specific incorporation of phosphoserine into polypeptides using phosphoseryl-trna synthetase

Abstract

Nucleic acids encoding genes with SepRS and tRNASep activity for site specific incorporation of phosphoserine into a protein or polypeptide and methods of use thereof are described. Typically, SepRS preferentially aminoacylates tRNASep with O-phosphoserine and the tRNASep recognizes at least one codon such as a stop codon. In a preferred embodiment the nucleic acids are on vectors. In one embodiment, the vectors are expressed in cells such as bacterial cells, archeaebacterial cells, and eukaryotic cells. In an alternative embodiment, the vectors are expressed in an in vitro transcription/translation system. Proteins or polypeptides containing phosphoserine produced by the methods described herein can be used for a variety of applications such as research, antibody production, protein array manufacture and development of cell-based screens for new drug discovery.