Subtilisins, calcium binding

The subtilisins are a large family of serine proteases that have been extensively studied because of their importance in the detergent industry. The retain a common conserved fold and identical active site residues (Fig. 10). Two conserved calcium-binding sites are present in all subtilisins, and additional sites may be present in subtilisins from different organisms (Siezen and Leunissen, 1997). 

Fig. 3.13. Proportionality of the loss of accessible surface area to the molecular weight of proteins (from Janin, 1976). Different proteins insulin, rubredoxin, pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, HIPIP, calcium binding protein, ribonuclease S, lysozyme, staphylococcal nuclease, papain, chymotrypsin, concanavalin A, subtilisin, thermolysin, carboxypeptidase A.

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)... 

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