Subtilisin stability

Subtilisins are a group of serine proteinases that are produced by different species of bacilli. These enzymes are of considerable commercial interest because they are added to the detergents in washing powder to facilitate removal of proteinaceous stains. Numerous attempts have therefore recently been made to change by protein engineering such properties of the subtilisin molecule as its thermal stability, pH optimum, and specificity. In fact, in 1988 subtilisin mutants were the subject of the first US patent granted for an engineered protein. 

Transition-state stabilization in subtilisin is dissected by protein engineering... 

The single mutation Asp 32-Ala reduces the catalytic reaction rate by a factor of about lO compared with wild type. This rate reduction reflects the role of Asp 32 in stabilizing the positive charge that His 64 acquires in the transition state. A similar reduction of kcat and kcat/ m (2.5 x 10 ) is obtained for the single mutant Asn 155-Thr. Asn 155 provides one of the two hydrogen bonds to the substrate transition state in the oxyanion hole of subtilisin. 

The oxyanion binding site stabilizes the transition state by forming two hydrogen bonds to a negatively charged oxygen atom of the substrate. Mutations that prevent formation of one of these bonds in subtilisin decrease the rate by a factor of about 10. ... 

Cunningham, B.C., Wells, J.A. Improvement in the alkaline stability of subtilisin using an efficient random mutagenesis and screening procedure. Prot. Eng. 

A structural anomaly in subtilisin has functional consequences Transition-state stabilization in subtilisin is dissected by protein engineering Catalysis occurs without a catalytic triad Substrate molecules provide catalytic groups in substrate-assisted catalysis Conclusion Selected readings... 

The family of serine proteases has been subjected to intensive studies of site-directed mutagenesis. These experiments provide unique information about the contributions of individual amino acids to kcat and KM. Some of the clearest conclusions have emerged from studies in subtilisin (Ref. 9), where the oxyanion intermediate is stabilized by t>e main-chain hydrogen bond of Ser 221 and an hydrogen bond from Asn 155 (Ref. 2). Replacement of Asn 155 (e.g., the Asn 155— Ala 155 described in Fig. 7.9) allows for a quantitative assessment of the effect of the protein dipoles on Ag. ... 

Initially, the sol gel compositions were optimized using Congo red dye as the dopant because of its optical properties. This facilitates monitoring of the release process by optical spectroscopy. Next, the gels were evaluated for their stabilization and release of subtilisin. These sol gel matrices bring about controlled release of the encapsulated enzyme molecules as a response to a change in the water content of the medium (Figure 2.20).15... 

Unlike many other enzymes, the subtilisins are fairly stable towards e.g. organic solvents, anionic surfactants, high temperatures and high pH. This makes the subtilisins very suitable as detergent proteases. But despite this fact, stabilization of these protease enzymes in liquid detergents remains a major issue. 

A practical enzymatic procedure using alcalase as biocatalyst has been developed for the synthesis of hydrophilic peptides.Alcalase is an industrial alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis produced by Novozymes that has been used as a detergent and for silk degumming. The major enzyme component of alcalase is the serine protease subtilisin Carlsberg, which is one of the fully characterized bacterial proteases. Alcalase has better stability and activity in polar organic solvents, such as alcohols, acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, etc., than other proteases. In addition, alcalase has wide specificity and both l- and o-amino acids that are accepted as nucleophiles at the p-1 subsite. Therefore, alcalase is a suitable biocatalyst to catalyse peptide bond formation in organic solvents under kinetic control without any racemization of the amino acids (Scheme 5.1). 

Despite their lack of stabilizing disulfide bridges Potl inhibitors feature a common, stable fold. The N-terminus is coiled, although in some structures a small /3-strand has been identified. After a turn the structure adopts an a-helical structure, followed by a turn and an other /3-strand. The sequence then features an extended turn or loop motif that contains the reactive site of the inhibitor before it proceeds with a /3-strand running almost parallel to the /3-strand after the a-helix. After another turn and coiled motif a short /3-strand antiparallel to the other /3-strands precedes the coiled C-terminus. Usually the N-terminal residue in the reactive site is an acidic residue followed by an aromatic amino acid, that is, tyrosine or phenylalanine. Figure 11 shows the complex of chymotrypsin inhibitor (Cl) 2 with subtilisin, the hexamer of Cl 2 from H. vulgare and a structural comparison with a trypsin inhibitor from Linum usitatissimum ... 

Figure 4. Oxidative stability of subtilisins. Purified wild type or variant subtilisin was mixed with 0.3% H2O2 in O.IM Tris buffer (pH 8.6). At the times indicated aliquots were removed and tested for remaining enzymatic activity (2).

ISOTOPE EXCHANGE AT EQUILIBRIUM SUBSTRATE PURITY SUBSTRATE STABILITY HANDLING SUBSTRATE SYNERGISM SUBTILISIN... 

Lipase, which is highly useful for kinetic resolution, however, has a limitation for use in DKR in that it carmot be used for (S)-configuration products. For this purpose, subtiHsin, a protease from Bacillus licheniformis, can replace lipase since it provides complementary enantioselectivity (Scheme 1.4). Subtilisin, however, has been much less frequently employed in resolution compared to lipase because it displays poor catalytic performance in organic media. Subtilisin is inferior to lipase in several properties such as activity, enantioselectivity and stability. Accordingly, the use of the enzyme usually requires some special treatments for activation and stabilization before use. For example, the treatment of subtilisin with surfactants has enhanced substantially its activity and stability up to a synthetically useful level. 

The high activity of 6 at room temperature allowed us for the first time to combine it with thermally weak subtilisin for the (S)-selective DKR. A commercially available form of subtilisin is not practical due to its low activity and instability. However, we succeeded in enhancing its activity and stability by treating it with a surfactant before use. Room temperature DKRs with subtilisin and ruthenium catalyst 6 were performed in the presence of trifluoroethyl butanoate as an acylating agent, and the (S)-products were obtained in good yields and high optical purities (Scheme 1.20) [27]. 

Subtilisin Novo 2SNI 2.1 0.154 2 Stabilizing McPhalen and James (1988)... 

Members of both structural families of serine proteinases, the trypsinlike and the subtilisin-like, have been found to bind Ca " (references in Tables 1 and II). The role of Ca " in all of these proteolytic enzymes appears to be one of stabilization of structure and/or maintenance of... 

Tween 85 is used extensively for RME [84]. Russell and coworkers [234] used Tween 85/isopropanol microemulsions in hexane to solubilize proteins and not only showed >80% solubilization of cytochrome C at optimum conditions, but also proved that Tween 85 does not have a detrimental effect on the structure, function, and stability of subtilisin and cytochrome C. There are other reports available on the extraction and purification of proteins using Tween 85-RMs and also on the stability of protein activity in these systems [234]. It has also been shown that Tween 85-RMs can solubilize larger amounts of protein and water than AOT. Tween 85 has an HLB of 11, which indicates that it is soluble in organic solvents. In addition, it is biodegradable and can be successfully used as an additive in fertihzers [235,236]. Pfammatter et al. [35] have demonstrated that RMs made of Tween 85 and Span 80 can be successfully used for the solubilization and growth of whole cells. Recently, Hossain et al. [84] showed an enhanced enzymatic activity of Chromobacterium viscosum Hpase in AOT/Tween 85 mixed reverse micellar systems when compared to that in classical AOT-RMs. This is due to the modification of the interface in AOT-RMs caused by the co-adsorption of Tween 85, and increased availability of the oHve oil molecules (substrate) to the enzyme. 

MW 27,500) with no cofactors or metal ions reqnirement for its function, it displays Michaelis-Menten kinetics and it is secreted in large amounts by a wide variety of Bacillus species. Subtilisin is also among the most important industrial enzymes due to its use in laundry detergents. Protein engineering strategies for subtilisin have focused on a number of aspects, namely catalysis, substrate specificity, thermal and oxidative stability and pH profile. We will describe briefly each of these aspects. 

Narhi et al. (1991) recently reported an enhancement in the thermal stability of aprA-subtilisin by three point mutations. The mutations were ASNi. SER and ASN. SER to prevent cyclisation with the adjacent glycines and ASN . ASP in the Ca binding loop. The mutant form also exhibits improved stability to detergent denaturation with little dependence on calcium concentration. Subtilisin 8350 (derived from subtilisin BPN via six site-specific mutations) was found to be 100 times more stable than the wild type enzyme in aqueous solution and 50 times more stable than the wild type in anhydrous dimethylformamide (Wong et al, 1990)... 

The oxidative stability of subtilisin has been extensively studied and improved stability has been engineered. In subtilisin BPN two methionines, MET " and MET are especially susceptible to oxidation. To prevent the negative influenee eaused by the formation of methioiune sulfoxide the MET can be substituted with ALA, SER or LEU, without loosing more than 12-53% of the activity. One such mutant MET222. ALA is currently in use as a commercial detergent enzyme Durazyme (Riisgard, 1990). 

Narhi, L.O., Stabinsky, Y., Levitt, M., Miller, L., Sachdev, R., Finley, S. etal. (1991) Enhanced stability of subtilisin by three point mutations. Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem., 13, 12-24. 

Alternatively, the enzyme can be modified such that it dissolves in a hydrophobic ionic liquid with retention of activity. This approach was demonstrated with cyt c, which, when covalently modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG), dissolved in [EMIm][ Tf2N] with retention of activity. The best results were obtained when the molecular weight of the polymer chain was >2000 [88]. Similarly, a copolymer of PEG and maleic anhydride solubilized subtilisin in [EMIm][NTf2] and a range of similar ionic liquids with good retention of activity and operational stability [89, 90]. 

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