Mutational libraries

Sequential protocols in which one starts with a range of multivalent banks, and works towards higher affinities with monovalent libraries, mutational libraries or extension libraries, derived from the enriched clones, have been shown to be highly effective (e g. Refs. 33, 85 and 94). This and the evolutionary approach in highly mutagenic E. coli hosts over many selection rounds (e.g. Ref. 41) will surely influence further experimental design. 

If the sequence of a protein has more than 90% identity to a protein with known experimental 3D-stmcture, then it is an optimal case to build a homologous structural model based on that structural template. The margins of error for the model and for the experimental method are in similar ranges. The different amino acids have to be mutated virtually. The conformations of the new side chains can be derived either from residues of structurally characterized amino acids in a similar spatial environment or from side chain rotamer libraries for each amino acid type which are stored for different structural environments like beta-strands or alpha-helices. 

In the private and the public sectors, projects are ongoing in which random mutations are generated in murine embryonic stem cells on a large scale (ES cell libraries). Tagged and presumably inactivated genes are easily identified by sequencing. These stem cells can be used to generate the respective knockout mice. 

In each cycle, the library of mutated genes is first inserted in a standard bacterial host such as Escherichia coli or Bacillus subtilis. Subsequently, bacterial colonies are plated out on agar plates and harvested individually by a colony picker. Each colony is placed in a separate well of a microtiter plate containing nutrient broth, so that the bacteria grow and produce the protein of interest. Because each colony originates... 

Esterases have a catalytic function and mechanism similar to those of lipases, but some structural aspects and the nature of substrates differ [4]. One can expect that the lessons learned from the directed evolution of lipases also apply to esterases. However, few efforts have been made in the directed evolution of enantioselective esterases, although previous work by Arnold had shown that the activity of esterases as catalysts in the hydrolysis of achiral esters can be enhanced [49]. An example regarding enantioselectivity involves the hydrolytic kinetic resolution of racemic esters catalyzed by Pseudomonasfluorescens esterase (PFE) [50]. Using a mutator strain and by screening very small libraries, low improvement in enantioselectivity was... 

Several libraries of mutant ANEHs were prepared by applying epPCR at various mutation rates and transforming into E. coli BL21 (DE3). About 20 000 clones were screened, the most selective ANEH variant showing a selectivity factor of only E= 10.8 in the kinetic resolution of rac-19 [58]. Thus, this enzyme appeared to be difficult to evolve. 

The choice of the particular upward pathway in the kinetic resolution of rac-19, that is, the specific order of choosing the sites in ISM, appeared arbitrary. Indeed, the pathway B C D F E, without utilizing A, was the first one that was chosen, and it led to a spectacular increase in enantioselectivity (Figure 2.15). The final mutant, characterized by nine mutations, displays a selectivity factor of E=115 in the model reaction [23]. This result is all the more remarkable in that only 20000 clones were screened, which means that no attempt was made to fully cover the defined protein sequence space. Indeed, relatively small libraries were screened. The results indicate the efficiency of iterative CASTing and its superiority over other strategies such as repeating cycles of epPCR. 

Following several cycles of mutagenesis using the E. coli XLl-Red mutator strain and transformation of the plasmid library into E. coli, a total of about 150 000 bacterial colonies were assayed for activity using a colorimetric prescreen [100]. The best mutant Asn336Ser showed a 47-fold increase in activity and a 5.8-fold enhancement... 

Figure 3.1 Overview of DNA library creation strategies. Random mutagenesis introduces mutations at positions throughout the gene sequence. Semi-rational design randomizes only the specific position(s) of interest. Gene shuffling brings existing sequence diversity from different parental DNA sequences together to form a chimeric library...

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