Binding of phage displayed Bacillus subtilis lipase A to a phosphonate suicide inhibitor

Phage display can be used as a protein engineering tool to select proteins with desirable binding properties from a library of randomly constructed mutants. Here, we describe the development of this method for the directed evolution of Bacillus subtilis lipase A, an enzyme that has marked properties for the preparation of pharmaceutically relevant chiral compounds. The lipase gene was cloned upstream of the phage g3p encoding sequence and downstream of a modified g3p signal sequence. Consequently, the enzyme was displayed at the surface of bacteriophage fd as a fusion to its minor coat protein g3p. The phage-bound lipase was correctly folded and fully enzymatically active as determined from the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenylcaprylate with K(m)-values of 0.38 and 0.33 mM for the phage displayed and soluble lipase, respectively. Both soluble lipase and lipase expressed on bacteriophages reacted covalently with a phosphonate suicide inhibitor. The phage does not hamper lipase binding, since both soluble and phage-bound lipase have a similar half-life of inactivation of approximately 5 min. Therefore, we conclude that the Bacillus lipase can be functionally expressed on bacteriophages as a fusion to the phage coat protein g3p. The specific interaction with the suicide inhibitor offers a fast and reproducible method for the future selection of mutant enzymes with an enantioselectivity towards new substrates.

Assembly of designed oligonucleotides as an efficient method for gene recombination: a new tool in directed evolution

A new and practical method for gene recombination with formation of libraries of mutant genes is presented. The method is based on the assembly of appropriately prepared oligonucleotides whose design is guided by sequence information. High recombination frequency with formation of full-length products is achieved by controlled overlapping of the designed oligomers. This process (ADO) minimizes self-hybridization of parental genes, which constitutes a significant advantage over conventional family shuffling as used in the directed evolution of functional enzymes. ADO was applied to the recombination of two lipase family genes from Bacillus subtilis (LipA and LipB). In a library of 3000 lipase variants created by this method, several were found that display increased enantioselectivity in a model reaction involving the hydrolysis of a meso-diacetate.

A screening system for enantioselective enzymes based on differential cell growth

The esterase-catalyzed enantioselective hydrolysis of the fluoroacetate of pantolactone leads to fluoroacetic acid, a toxic compound which inhibits the growth of esterase-producing yeast; this forms the basis of an ee-assay.

Second-generation MS-based high-throughput screening system for enantioselective catalysts and biocatalysts

A high-throughput method is described, where the enantioselectivity of approximately 10 000 catalysts or biocatalysts can be determined per day. The method is based on electrospray mass spectrometric techniques using an eight-channel multiplexed (MUX) sprayer system connected to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The inlet of the ion source is controlled by a stepping rotor that is continuously moving from one sprayer to the next with a recording time of 100 ms for each channel and a delay time of 50 ms, thus allowing a spectrum to be obtained from each channel every 1.2 s. One cycle, where eight samples are being sprayed in parallel, requires around 70 s, which allows a 96-well microtiter plate to be screened in 14 min. Integration of two pseudo-enantiomers (S)-glycidyl phenyl ether and (R)-D5-glycidyl phenyl ether is necessary to quantify the enantiomeric excess (ee-value), where one enantiomer is isotopically labeled to allow easy identification of the mass spectrometric signals. Errors of ~2% for the ee-values indicate that in addition to the significant improvement in sample throughput this is also a precise method for high-throughput screening. This second-generation assay is useful for combinatorial enantioselective transition-metal catalysis and in the directed evolution of enantioselective enzymes.

Biocatalysis in ionic liquids: batchwise and continuous flow processes using supercritical carbon dioxide as the mobile phase

A new and environmentally benign protocol for enzymatic reactions in ionic liquids is described using supercritical CO2 as the mobile phase; the products are obtained in solvent-free form and the enzyme/ionic liquid mixture can be recycled in batchwise or continuous flow operations.