Stabilizing and catalytic roles of six secondary active site residues in E. coli chorismate mutase and implications for computational enzyme design

BIOL 268

Jonathan Kyle Lassila, lassila@caltech.edu, Jennifer R. Keeffe, and Stephen L. Mayo, steve@mayo.caltech.edu. Divisions of Biology and Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, MC 114-96, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA, CA 91125
The energetic contributions of active site side chains to enzyme activity can be complex and difficult to recreate in computational protein design calculations. To evaluate the sequence-space landscape for stability and catalysis in the E. coli monofunctional P-protein chorismate mutase, we used site-saturation mutagenesis to place all 20 amino acids in six non-critical active site positions. The ability of each mutant to promote viability in a chorismate mutase deletion strain was assessed, and active variants were purified and evaluated with respect to in vitro enzyme activity, far-UV circular dichroism, and thermal denaturation profiles. The results were compared to computational energies from enzyme design calculations. In some positions, complex factors remain elusive to a molecular mechanics and rotamer library-based approach. In other positions, however, enzyme design calculations are able to predict mutations that actually increase activity or stability relative to the wild-type enzyme.
 

Enzymes
4:30 PM-6:30 PM, Wednesday, 13 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Hall D, Poster

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, 11 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Hall D, Sci-Mix

Division of Biological Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006