Alpha helix

Cell penetrating peptides are proteins or peptides that typically consist of 5-30 amino acids. These peptides are unique in that they are able to cross cell membranes and other barriers throughout the body such as the blood brain barrier, intestinal and nasal mucosa, and even skin. Using CPPs, scientists are now able to explore their potential as a means of transporting cargo into cells and across bio barriers. With their ease of preparation and generally nontoxic nature, CPPs have gained a…

Alongside CRISPR-Cas9 in site specific genome editing are ZFNs and TALENs. ZFNs are a DNA-binding motif assembled as ββα that utilizes a roughly thirty amino acid protein with DNA recognizing amino acids at the alpha helix (Gaj, Gersbach, & Barbas, 2013). These groups of amino acids usually recognize DNA in segments of three. This does not present much specificity in a genome. Therefore multiple DNA-binding motifs need to be combined to create specificity and result in highly specific…