Chemical synthesis and cell-based expression methods can afford incorporation of non-natural entities into proteins. New structures are obtained, and new functions gained, by attachment of amino acids with non-native side-chains, [1,2] modified backbones such as b-and g-amino acids, [3][4][5] or peptide bond analogues such as peptoids, esters, and thioesters. [6][7][8][9] Backbone modification with longer and flexible amino acids allows expansion of the conformational space occupied by proteins, while introduction of ester (depsipeptide) and thioester (thiodepsipeptide) bonds enhances their reactivity towards hydrolysis and other nucleophilic attacks. The durability of thioester bonds in neutral aqueous solutions and their reactivity in thiol-thioester exchange reactions make them a relevant choice for performing dynamic chemistry in water. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Particularly interesting is the possibility of utilizing such transformations for exchanging domains between different protein molecules, owing to sequence mutations or in response to chemical and physical changes.Self-organization of molecular networks has been extensively studied by scientists interested in systems chemistry. [16,17] When studying protein-based networks, it was demonstrated that the network connectivity and overall topology can be dictated by the sequence-specific information embedded in coiled-coil architectures, [18][19][20] and that careful design of the interhelical recognition interface can be used to affect the network in a predictable manner. [14,20,21] It is suggested here that the adaptive behavior of such networks, namely their rewiring in response to external triggers, can be greatly expanded if the coiled-coil proteins are formed within dynamic networks in which domain exchange readily takes place. Towards this end, we utilize coiled-coil protein analogues that contain thioester bonds within their sequences. We predict that to be mechanistically relevant for domain exchange, the thioester bond should be isostructural with the peptide bonds to maintain the 3D structure, and it should also be kept exposed and reactive towards small-molecule thiols and/or thiol-containing proteins. To highlight these characteristics, we provide here the first high-resolution structure (1.35 ) of a thioester coiled-coil protein, and compare it to the structure of the native and depsipeptide analogue proteins. The integrity of the thioester bonds and their accessibility to other molecules are revealed by analysis of the crystal structure, as well as from complementary thiolexchange assays. We then show using a set of mutants that the thioester stability can be correlated with the backbone regularity and the coiled-coil unfolding stability. Finally, a small library formed of these thioester mutants is screened for domain exchange in the absence and presence of an external template molecule, revealing significant template effect and exchange-product amplification.The sequence of the key thioester peptide (1 t ) was designed by replacing a glycin...