[DBS seminar] Ana Crnković, "Engineering protein nanopores with genetically encoded noncanonical amino acids"

Thursday 26 Mar 2026, 14:15 → 15:15 Europe/Ljubljana

Seminar room of physics (106) (IJS)

Genetic code expansion enables site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins, facilitating the introduction of spectroscopic probes, fluorescent labels, photoreactive groups, enhanced stability, and novel chemical reactivity. Despite the successful incorporation of over 150 ncAAs, the broader application of ncAAs has largely remained limited to proof-of-principle studies. In this lecture, I will discuss key factors that govern the efficient incorporation of ncAAs to achieve high yields of target proteins, with particular emphasis on challenging systems such as phosphoproteins and selenoproteins. In the second part, I will highlight how selected ncAAs are utilized in our group to engineer protein nanopores for biosensing applications – a technique that detects analytes by monitoring changes in ionic current as molecules translocate through a nanopore under an applied voltage. Overall, this lecture aims to highlight the potential of ncAAs to unlock new functionalities in various protein targets and to inspire their broader use in emerging techniques.