The substitution of cysteine 17 of recombinant human G-CSF with alanine greatly enhanced its stability.

Human recombinant granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) has one free cysteine at position 17 and has two disulfide bridges (Cys36-Cys42 and Cys64-Cys74). The Cys17 of rhG-CSF was substituted with Gly, Ala, Ser, Ile, Tyr, Arg, and Pro, or deleted using site-directed mutagenesis in order to improve its thermostability. With the exception of Pro17-rhG-CSF, all mutant proteins retained biological activity which promotes the growth of mouse bone marrow cells in vitro. Among these mutant proteins, Ala17-rhG-CSF had more than 5 times higher stability than rhG-CSF. But Ser17-rhG-CSF had almost same stability as rhG-CSF and other mutant proteins had only lower stability.     

Role of cysteine residues in esterase from Bacillus stearothermophilus and increasing its thermostability by the replacement of cysteines

Bacillus stearothermophilus esterase contains two free cysteine residues at positions of 45 and 115, which react with sulfhydryl reagents resulting in a significant decrease in the enzymatic activity. To understand the role of the cysteine residues in catalytic regions of the esterase, the residues were replaced with serine or alanine by site-directed mutagenesis to construct four single-mutated enzymes (C45A, C45S, C115A, C115S) and two double-mutated ones (C45/115A and C45/115S). Wild-type and mutant enzymes were produced in Escherichia coli cells and purified to homogeneity to examine their chemical and kinetic properties. These mutant enzymes had esterase activity, which suggested that none of the cysteines were required for its activity. Moreover, replacement of both two-cysteine residues made the enzyme insensitive to p-chloromercuribenzoic acid and extensively stabilized it at high temperatures of around 70°C. These results demonstrate that replacement of free cysteine residues by site-directed mutagenesis can improve the thermostability of thermophilic enzymes. Correspondence to: T. Yamane     

Chemical modification of enzymes for enhanced functionality.

The explosion in commercial and synthetic applications of enzymes has stimulated much of the interest in enhancing enzyme functionality and stability. Covalent chemical modification, the original method available for altering protein properties, has now re-emerged as a powerful complementary approach to site-directed mutagenesis and directed evolution for tailoring proteins and enzymes. Glutaraldehyde crosslinking of enzyme crystals and polyethylene glycol (PEG) modification of enzyme surface amino groups are practical methods to enhance biocatalyst stability. Whereas crosslinking of enzyme crystals generates easily recoverable insoluble biocatalysts, PEGylation increases solubility in organic solvents. Chemical modification has been exploited for the incorporation of cofactors onto protein templates and for atom replacement in order to generate new functionality, such as the conversion of a hydrolase into a peroxidase. Despite the breadth of applicability of chemically modified enzymes, a difficulty that has previously impeded their implementation is the lack of chemo- or regio-specificity of chemical modifications, which can yield heterogeneous and irreproducible product mixtures. This challenge has recently been addressed by the introduction of a unique position for modification by a site-directed mutation that can subsequently be chemically modified to introduce an unnatural amino acid sidechain in a highly chemo- and regio-specific manner.     

Rational protein design for thermostabilization of glycoside hydrolases based on structural analysis

Glycosidases are used in the food, chemical, and energy industries. These proteins are some of the most frequently used such enzymes, and their thermostability is essential for long-term and/or repeated use. In addition to thermostability, modification of the substrate selectivity and improvement of the glycosidase activities are also important. Thermostabilization of enzymes can be performed by directed evolution via random mutagenesis or by rational design via site-directed mutagenesis; each approach has advantages and disadvantages. In this paper, we introduce thermostabilization of glycoside hydrolases by rational protein design using site-directed mutagenesis along with X-ray crystallography and simulation modeling. We focus on the methods of thermostabilization of glycoside hydrolases by linking the N- and C-terminal ends, introducing disulfide bridges, and optimizing β-turn structures to promote hydrophobic interactions.

     

A combination of site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modification to improve diastereopreference of Pseudomonas alcaligenes lipase

A combination of site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modification was employed to alter protein structure with the objective of improving diastereopreference over that achieved by simple site-directed mutagenesis. Conformational analysis using molecular dynamic (MD) simulation of Pseudomonas alcaligenes lipase (PAL) indicated that stronger steric exclusion and structural rigidity facilitated diastereopreference. A cysteine (Cys) residue was introduced using site-directed mutagenesis to construct variant A272C. The modifier 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) was then reacted with the introduced Cys residue to provide stronger steric exclusion and structural rigidity. The modification was verified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Diastereopreference was improved significantly. The diastereomeric excess (de_p) of l-menthol increased from 35% with wild type PAL to 90% with A272C-DTNB modified PAL when the conversion ratio of l-menthyl propionate was nearly 100%. Conformation and kinetic parameter analysis showed that A272C-DTNB modified PAL exhibited stronger steric exclusion and increased structural rigidity around the modification site that inhibited the hydrolysis of non-targeted substrates. The combination of site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modification could be an effective method to alter protein properties and enhance diastereopreference through the combined effect of steric exclusion and structural rigidity.     

Regeneration of catalytic activity of glutamine synthetase mutants by chemical activation: exploration of the role of arginines 339 and 359 in activity.

In order to understand the nature of ATP and L-glutamate binding to glutamine synthetase, and the involvement of Arg 339 and Arg 359 in catalysis, these amino acids were changed to cysteine via site-directed mutagenesis. Individual mutations (Arg-->Cys) at positions 339 and 359 led to a sharp drop in catalytic activity. Additionally, the Km values for the substrates ATP and glutamate were elevated substantially above the values for wild-type (WT) enzyme. Each cysteine was in turn chemically modified to an arginine "analog" to attempt to "rescue" catalytic activity by covalent modification; 2-chloroacetamidine (CA) (producing a thioether) and 2,2'-dithiobis (acetamidine)(DTBA) (producing a disulfide) were the reagents used to effect these chemical transformations. Upon reaction with CA, both R339C and R359C mutants showed a significant regain of catalytic activity (50% and 70% of WT, respectively) and a drop in Km value for ATP close to that for WT enzyme. With DTBA, chemically modified R339C had a greater kcat than WT glutamine synthetase, but chemically modified R359C only regained a small amount of activity. Modification with DTBA was quantitative for each mutant and each modified enzyme had similar Km values for both ATP and glutamate. The high catalytic activity of DTBA-modified R339C could be reversed to that of unmodified R339C by treatment with dithiothreitol, as expected for a modified enzyme containing a disulfide bond. Modification of each cysteine-containing mutant to a lysine "analog" was accomplished using 3-bromopropylamine (BPA).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

人白细胞介素11的定点聚乙二醇修饰

利用人白细胞介素11（hIL-11）无半胱氨酸（Cys）残基这一特点,通过定点突变将一个Cys残基引入hIL-11的N末端。然后,利用与Cys 巯基特异性反应的mPEG-马来酰亚胺将mPEG偶联到预先选定的位点,经层析纯化得到hIL-11的定点PEG修饰物。利用依赖型细胞株7TD1测定其生物学活性,结果表明,其体外生物学活性保持原有hIL-11活性的30%左右。定点聚乙二醇修饰方法为定向改造hIL-11,提高其药效的应用研究打下基础。     

49P（del）点突变提高中性纤维素内切酶EGV热稳定性的初步研究

目的：探讨利用点突变方法改善EGV热稳定性的可能性和有效性。方法：对来源于Melanocarpus albomyces endoglucanase的耐热性纤维素酶maEG进行同源建模和序列比较,删除49位脯氨酸49P（del）进行定点突变,并将得到的突变体在毕氏酵母X33中表达,对表达产物进行酶活性和热稳定性检测。结果：突变酶49P（del）在70℃处理120min,热稳定性比EGV提高了21．6％,且突变酶其他性质与野生型酶基本相似。结论：通过对中性纤维素内切酶EGV的定点突变,提高了该酶的热稳定性,并为进一步研究其结构和功能提供了材料。结果同时表明利用生物信息学和分子模拟技术,缩短表面环区对于酶的热稳定性有一定的作用。     

Substitution of two histidine residues in YadA protein of Yersinia enterocolitica abrogates collagen binding, cell adherence and mouse virulence

The plasmid-encoded surface protein YadA of Yersinia enterocolitica mediates binding to diverse extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, adherence to epithelial cell lines, resistance to complement lysis, autoagglutination, and is required for mouse virulence. Using site-directed mutagenesis we attempted to analyse the relationship between structural domains and functions of YadA. In a first approach we could abrogate collagen binding by chemical modification of histidyl residues of YadA protein. This result prompted us to substitute histidyl residues (His) of conserved regions of YadA protein of Y. enterocolitica 08 by tyrosine residues using site-directed mutagenesis. Substitution of His-156 and His-159 (YadA-2 mutant) resulted in abrogation of binding to ECM proteins, of cell adherence, and in reduction of mouse virulence, whereas autoagglutination, serum complement resistance and oligomer formation remained unaffected. A striking result was obtained from the orogastric mouse-infection model: the YadA-2 mutant retained the ability to colonize the small intestine and to invade and multiply within the Peyer's patches but was impaired in colonizing mesenteric lymph nodes and spleen in comparison to the wild-type strain.     

Enhancement of the activity and alkaline pH stability of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thermobifida fusca</Emphasis> xylanase A by directed evolution

Directed evolution has been used to enhance the catalytic activity and alkaline pH stability of Thermobifida fusca xylanase A, which is one of the most thermostable xylanases. Under triple screened traits of activity, alkaline pH stability and thermostability, through two rounds of random mutagenesis using DNA shuffling, a mutant 2TfxA98 with approximately 12-fold increased k _cat/K _m and 4.5-fold decreased K _m compared with its parent was obtained. Moreover, the alkaline pH stability of 2TfxA98 is increased significantly, with a thermostability slightly lower than that of its parent. Five amino acid substitutions (T21A, G25P, V87P, I91T, and G217L), three of them are near the catalytic active site, were identified by sequencing the genes encoding this evolved enzyme. The activity and stabilizing effects of each amino acid mutation in the evolved enzyme were evaluated by site-directed mutagenesis. This study shows a useful approach to improve the catalytic activity and alkaline pH stability of T. fusca xylanase A toward the hydrolysis of xylan.     

Improving the Thermostability of Raw-Starch-Digesting Amylase from a Cytophaga sp. by Site-Directed Mutagenesis

A heat-stable raw-starch-digesting amylase (RSDA) was generated through PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis. At 65°C, the half-life of this mutant RSDA, which, compared with the wild-type RSDA, lacks amino acids R178 and G179, was increased 20-fold. While the wild type was inactivated completely at pH 3.0, the mutant RSDA still retained 41% of its enzymatic activity. The enhancement of RSDA thermostability was demonstrated to be via a Ca²⁺-independent mechanism.     

Improving the thermostability of raw-starch-digesting amylase from a Cytophaga sp. by site-directed mutagenesis

A heat-stable raw-starch-digesting amylase (RSDA) was generated through PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis. At 65 degrees C, the half-life of this mutant RSDA, which, compared with the wild-type RSDA, lacks amino acids R178 and G179, was increased 20-fold. While the wild type was inactivated completely at pH 3.0, the mutant RSDA still retained 41% of its enzymatic activity. The enhancement of RSDA thermostability was demonstrated to be via a Ca(2+)-independent mechanism.     

Identification of residues essential for human paraoxonase (PON1) arylesterase/organophosphatase activities

Human serum paraoxonase (PON1) is a calcium-dependent organophosphatase. To identify residues essential for PON1 activity, we adopted complementary approaches based on chemical modification and site-directed mutagenesis. To detect 45Ca2+ binding to native and chemically modified PON1, we performed nondenaturating gel electrophoresis. The environment of calcium-binding sites was probed using the Ca2+ analogue, terbium. Tb3+ binds to calcium-binding sites as shown by displacement of 45Ca2+ by Tb3+. Binding of Tb3+ is accompanied by a complete loss of enzyme activity. PON1 chemical modification with the Trp-selective reagent, N-bromosuccinimide, and the Asp/Glu-selective, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, established that Trp and Asp/Glu residues are components of the PON1 active center and calcium-binding sites. Additional evidence for the presence of a Trp residue in the PON1 calcium-binding sites was a characteristic fluorescence emission at 545 nm from the PON1-Tb3+ complex and abolishment of that fluorescence upon modification by N-bromosuccinimide. The importance of aromatic/hydrophobic character of the residue 280 was demonstrated by site-directed mutagenesis: the W280F mutant was fully active while the W280A and W280L mutants had markedly reduced activity. Twelve amino acids among conserved His and Asp/Glu residues were found essential for PON1 arylesterase and organophosphatase activities: H114, H133, H154, H242, H284, D53, D168, D182, D268, D278, E52, and E194. Finally, the cysteines constituting the PON1 disulfide bond (C41 and C352) were essential, but the glycan chains linked to Asn 252 and 323 were not essential for PON1 secretion and activity.     

Glutamic acid 219 is critical for the thermostability of a truncated α-amylase from alkaliphilic and thermophilic Bacillus sp. strain TS-23

The functional and structural significance of glutamic acid 219 of a N- and C-terminally truncated Bacillus sp. strain TS-23 α-amylase (BACΔNC) was explored by the approach of site-directed saturation mutagenesis. The expressed wild-type and mutant enzymes have been purified by nickel-chelate chromatography and their molecular mass was determined to be approximately 54 kDa by SDS/PAGE. Except E219F, E219P, and E219W, all other mutant enzymes exhibited a lower shift in their optimum temperatures with respect to the wild-type enzyme. A decreased thermostability was also found in all of the mutant enzymes when compared with the wild-type form of BACΔNC. Except E219F, E219P, and E219W mutant enzymes, greater than 2-fold decrease in k _cat and a similar substrate affinity relative to the wild-type BACΔNC were observed for the rest mutant enzymes. Based on these observations, it is suggested that Glu-219 apparently plays an important role in the thermostability of BACΔNC.     

Roles of Ile66 and Ala107 of d-psicose 3-epimerase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens in binding O6 of its substrate, d-fructose

Using site-directed mutagenesis, we investigated the roles of Ile66 and Ala107 of d-psicose 3-epimerase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens in binding O6 of its true substrate, d-fructose. When Ile66 was substituted with alanine, glycine, cysteine, leucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, tyrosine or valine, all the mutants dramatically increased the K _m for d-tagatose but slightly decreased the K _m for d-fructose, indicating that Ile66 is involved in substrate recognition. When Ala107 was substituted by either isoleucine or valine, the substituted mutants had lower thermostability than the wild-type enzyme whereas the proline-substituted mutant had higher thermostability. Thus, Ala107 is involved in enzyme stability.     

Modifications of cysteine residues in the solution and membrane-associated conformations of phosphatidylinositol transfer protein have differential effects on lipid transfer activity

The alpha isoforms of mammalian phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (PITP) contain four conserved Cys residues. In this investigation, a series of thiol-modifying reagents, both alkylating and mixed disulfide-forming, was employed to define the accessibility of these residues and to evaluate their role in protein-mediated intermembrane phospholipid transport. Isolation and analysis of chemically modified peptides and site-directed mutagenesis of each Cys residue to Ala were also performed. Soluble, membrane-associated, and denatured preparations of wild-type and mutant rat PITPs were studied. Under denaturing conditions, all four Cys residues could be detected spectrophotometrically by chemical reaction with 4,4'-dipyridyl disulfide or 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate). In the native protein, two of the four Cys residues were sensitive to some but not all thiol-modifying reagents, with discrimination based on the charge and hydrophobicity of the reagent and the conformation of the protein. With the soluble conformation of PITP, achieved in the absence of phospholipid vesicles, the surface-exposed Cys(188) was chemically modified without consequence to lipid transfer activity. Cys(188) exhibited an apparent pK(a) of 7.6. The buried Cys(95), which constitutes part of the phospholipid substrate binding site, was covalently modified upon transient association of PITP with a membrane surface. The Cys-to-Ala mutations showed that neither Cys(95) nor Cys(188) was essential for lipid transfer activity. However, chemical modification of Cys(95) resulted in the loss of lipid transfer activity. These results demonstrate that the Cys residues of PITP can be assigned to several different classes of chemical reactivity. Of particular interest is Cys(95), whose sulfhydryl group becomes exposed to modification in the membrane-associated conformation of PITP. Furthermore, the inhibition of PITP activity by thiol-modifying reagents is a result of steric hindrance of phospholipid substrate binding.     

The role of active site arginines of sorghum NADP-malate dehydrogenase in thioredoxin-dependent activation and activity

The activation of sorghum NADP-malate dehydrogenase is initiated by thiol/disulfide interchanges with reduced thioredoxin followed by the release of the C-terminal autoinhibitory extension and a structural modification shaping the active site into a high efficiency and high affinity for oxaloacetate conformation. In the present study, the role of the active site arginines in the activation and catalysis was investigated by site-directed mutagenesis and arginyl-specific chemical derivatization using butanedione. Sequence and mass spectrometry analysis were used to identify the chemically modified groups. Taken together, our data reveal the involvement of Arg-134 and Arg-204 in oxaloacetate coordination, suggest an indirect role for Arg-140 in substrate binding and catalysis, and clearly confirm that Arg-87 is implicated in cofactor binding. In contrast with NAD-malate dehydrogenase, no lactate dehydrogenase activity could be promoted by the R134Q mutation. The decreased susceptibility of the activation of the R204K mutant to NADP and its increased sensitivity to the histidine-specific reagent diethylpyrocarbonate indicated that Arg-204 is involved in the locking of the active site. These results are discussed in relation with the recently published NADP-MDH three-dimensional structures and the previously established three-dimensional structures of NAD-malate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase.     

ATP as effector of inorganic pyrophosphatase of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>. Identification of the binding site for ATP

The interaction of Escherichia coli inorganic pyrophosphatase (E-PPase) with effector ATP has been studied. The E-PPase has been chemically modified with the dialdehyde derivative of ATP. It has been established that in the experiment only one molecule of effector ATP is bound to each subunit of the hexameric enzyme. Tryptic digestion of the adenylated protein followed by isolation of a modified peptide by HPLC and its mass-spectrometric identification has showed that it is an amino group of Lys146 that undergoes modification. Molecular docking of ATP to E-PPase indicates that the binding site for effector ATP is located in a cluster of positively charged amino acid residues proposed earlier on the basis of site-directed mutagenesis to participate in binding of effector pyrophosphate. Molecular docking also reveals several other amino acid residues probably involved in the interaction with effectors. Published in Russian in Biokhimiya, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 110–117.     

Improvement of the Optimum Temperature of Penicillium expansum Lipase by Site-Directed Mutagenesis

In order to improve the optimum temperature of lipases, the Penicillum expansum lipase (PEL) gene was mutated by site-directed mutagenesis using overlap extension PCR technique. The recombinant plasmid containing mutant E83V pPIC3.5K-lip-E83V was expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115. Comparison experiments of the mutant PEL-E83V-GS and the wild-type PEL-GS showed that the optimum temperature (45°C) of the mutant was 5°C higher than that of the wild type. The thermostability of the mutant was similar to that of the wild type. The enzymatic activity of the mutant was 188 U/ml at 37°C, which was 80% that of the wild type in the same conditions. Hydrophobic interaction may be enhanced in the surface region by the hydrophilic amino acid Glu substituted with the hydrophobic amino acid Val, and may be responsible for the improvement of the optimum temperature. Translated from Microbiology, 2005, 32(1) (in Chinese)     

Cumulative effect of amino acid replacements results in enhanced thermostability of potato type L alpha-glucan phosphorylase

The thermostability of potato type L alpha-glucan phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) was enhanced by random and site-directed mutagenesis. We obtained three single-residue mutations-Phe39-->Leu (F39L), Asn135-->Ser (N135S), and Thr706-->Ile (T706I)-by random mutagenesis. Although the wild-type enzyme was completely inactivated, these mutant enzymes retained their activity even after heat treatment at 60 degrees C for 2 h. Combinations of these mutations were introduced by site-directed mutagenesis. The simultaneous mutation of two (F39L/N135S, F39L/T706I, and N135S/T706I) or three (F39L/N135S/T706I) residues further increased the thermostability of the enzyme, indicating that the effect of the replacement of the residues was cumulative. The triple-mutant enzyme, F39L/N135S/T706I, retained 50% of its original activity after heat treatment at 65 degrees C for 20 min. Further analysis indicated that enzymes with a F39L or T706I mutation were resistant to possible proteolytic degradation.