To identify the desired hyperthermophilic variants within a mutant esterase library for the resolution of (R,S)-2-octanol acetate, a simple, reliable, and versatile method was developed in this study. We built a screening strategy including two steps, first we selected agar plate with substrate to screen the enzymatic activity; secondly we used a pH indicator to screen the enantioselectivity. This method could rapidly detect favorable mutants with high activity and enantioselectivity. A total of 96.2% of tedious screening work can be precluded using this screening strategy. It is an effective screening for alkyl ester and can be applied to relative screening researches. The four improved mutants were screened from the mutant esterase library. Their enantioselectivities, activities, and structures were investigated at different temperatures.
ZHANG Gui-rong GAO Ren-jun ZHANG Ai-jun RAO Lang CAO Shu-gui
The gene of enzyme(Ape1547) was cloned from hyperthermophilic archaeon Aeropyrum pernix K1 and expressed in Escherichia coil.The effect of calcium cation on the properties of Ape1547 was studied.Ape1547 exhibits both peptidase activity and esterase activity.The fluorescence spectrum shows that calcium cation quenches the fluorescence of the enzyme through static quenching mechanism,indicating that calcium cation was bound to the enzyme.Based on the study of calcium cation on CD ellipticity of Ape1547 by circular dichroism,we concluded that the change of enzyme structure induced by calcium cation may be responsible for the change of enzyme activity.Calcium cation has dual effects on Ape1547:it could activate the enzyme activity when its concentration was 0.1 mol/L,and the enzyme had the highest activity;however,when its concentration was higher than 0.2 mol/L,the enzyme activity was inhibited.The results indicate that the activity center of peptidase activity might involve more amino acid residues than that of esterase activity.
Hyperthermophilic enzyme APE1547 is an extremely thermostable recombinant protein from thermophilic archaeon Aeropyrum pernix K1. The Tyr444 located in the catalytic domain adjacent to the catalytic amino acid Ser445 and formed hydrogen bond with Ile567. To study the effect of Tyr444 on the activity of APE1547,site-directed mutagenesis was applied. Two mutant enzymes T444S and T444G were created. Comparison of the mutant enzymes with wide enzyme,the thermostability of mutants T444S and T444G decreased by 10%―20%,but the catalytic efficiency of mutants toward pNPC8 and Ac-Leu-pNA increased 1.33 and 1.75 fold respectively. Molecular modeling shows that the elimination of hydrogen bond between Tyr444 and Ile567 is the cause of the decrease in thermostability and increase in catalytic efficiency. These observations suggest that Tyr444 plays an important role in the catalytic ability and thermostability of this enzyme.
The changes in the activity and the conformation of the hyperthermophilic esterase derived from aerobic thermophilic Aeropyrum pernix K1(APE1547) were studied during denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride(GdnHCl) and urea. The denaturation course of APE1547 was followed by the steady-state and time resolved fluorescence methods. An increase in the denaturant concentration in the denatured system can significantly enhance the inactivation and unfolding of APE1547. The enzyme can be completely inactivated with a urea concentration of 2.7 mol/L or a GdnHCl concentration of 7.5 mol/L. The fluorescence emission maximum of the enzyme protein red shifts in magnitude to a maximum value(355 nm) when the concentration of GdnHCl is 5.1 mol/L. The experimental results indicate that APE1547 has a high resistance to urea. Unfolding of APE1547 in GdnHCl(4.2—6.0 mol/L) was shown to be an irreversible process. The present results indicate that the ion pairs in this protein may be a key factor for the stability of this esterase.
