Just an additional hydrogen bond can dramatically reduce the catalytic activity of Bacillus subtilis lipase A I12T mutant: An integration of computational modeling and experimental analysis

Isothermal Compressibility Perturbation as a Protein Design Principle for T1 Lipase Stability-Activity Trade-Off Counteracting

Given the widely existing stability-activity trade-off in enzyme evolution, it is still a goal to obtain enzymes embracing both high activity and stability. Herein, we employed an isothermal compressibility (β_T) perturbation engineering (ICPE) strategy to comprehensively understand the stability-activity seesaw-like mechanism. The stability and activity of mutants derived from ICPE uncovered a high Pearson correlation (r = 0.93) in a prototypical enzyme T1 lipase. The best variant A186L/L188M/A190Y exhibited a high T_m value up to 78.70 °C, catalytic activity of 474.04 U/mg, and a 73.33% increase in dimethyl sulfoxide resistance compared to the wild type, one of the highest comprehensive performances reported to date. The elastic activation mechanism mediated by conformational change with a Δβ_T range of -6.81 × 10^-6 to -1.90 × 10^-6 bar^-1 may account for the balancing of stability and activity to achieve better performing enzymes. The ICPE strategy deepens our understanding of stability-activity trade-off and boosts its applications in enzyme engineering.

Engineering lipases for temperature adaptation: Structure function correlation

Bacillus lipases are industrially attractive enzymes due to their broad substrate specificity and optimum alkaline pH. However, narrow temperature range of action and low thermostability restrain their optimal use and thus, necessitate attention. Several laboratories are engaged in protein engineering of Bacillus lipases to generate variants with improved attributes for decades using techniques such as directed evolution or rational design. This review summarizes the effect of mutations on the conformational changes through in silico modeling and their manifestation with respect to various biochemical parameters. Various studies have been put together to develop a perspective on the molecular basis of biocatalysis of lipases holding industrial importance.

Changes of Thermostability, Organic Solvent, and pH Stability in Geobacillus zalihae HT1 and Its Mutant by Calcium Ion

Thermostable T1 lipase from Geobacillus zalihae has been crystallized using counter-diffusion method under space and Earth conditions. The comparison of the three-dimensional structures from both crystallized proteins show differences in the formation of hydrogen bond and ion interactions. Hydrogen bond and ion interaction are important in the stabilization of protein structure towards extreme temperature and organic solvents. In this study, the differences of hydrogen bond interactions at position Asp43, Thr118, Glu250, and Asn304 and ion interaction at position Glu226 was chosen to imitate space-grown crystal structure, and the impact of these combined interactions in T1 lipase-mutated structure was studied. Using space-grown T1 lipase structure as a reference, subsequent simultaneous mutation D43E, T118N, E226D, E250L, and N304E was performed on recombinant wild-type T1 lipase (wt-HT1) to generate a quintuple mutant term as 5M mutant lipase. This mutant lipase shared similar characteristics to its wild-type in terms of optimal pH and temperature. The stability of mutant 5M lipase improved significantly in acidic and alkaline pH as compared to wt-HT1. 5M lipase was highly stable in organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), methanol, and n-hexane compared to wt-HT1. Both wild-type and mutant lipases were found highly activated in calcium as compared to other metal ions due to the presence of calcium-binding site for thermostability. The presence of calcium prolonged the half-life of mutant 5M and wt-HT1, and at the same time increased their melting temperature (T_m). The melting temperature of 5M and wt-HT1 lipases increased at 8.4 and 12.1 °C, respectively, in the presence of calcium as compared to those without. Calcium enhanced the stability of mutant 5M in 25% (v/v) DMSO, n-hexane, and n-heptane. The lipase activity of wt-HT1 also increased in 25% (v/v) ethanol, methanol, acetonitrile, n-hexane, and n-heptane in the presence of calcium. The current study showed that the accumulation of amino acid substitutions D43E, T118N, E226D, E250L, and N304E produced highly stable T1 mutant when hydrolyzing oil in selected organic solvents such as DMSO, n-hexane, and n-heptane. It is also believed that calcium ion plays important role in regulating lipase thermostability.

Spectroscopic studies on the inhibitory effects of ionic liquids on lipase activity

The effects of ionic liquids (ILs) on the lipase activity were studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy and the IL-lipase interaction mechanism at the molecular level was investigated by fluorescence technique. Experimental results indicated that the lipase activity was inhibited by ILs and the degree of inhibition highly depended on the chemical structures of ILs. The inhibitory ability of the Cl(-)- and Br(-)-based ILs increased with increasing the alkyl chain length in the IL cation. Thermodynamic parameters, enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) were obtained by analyzing the fluorescence behavior of lipase with the addition of ILs. Both ΔH and ΔS were positive suggesting hydrophobicity was the major driven force for the Cl(-)- and Br(-)-based ILs. For the BF4(-)-, CF3SO3(-)-, ClO4(-)- and N(CN)2(-)-based ILs, hydrogen bonding was the main driven force. For a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of ILs on lipase activity, the roles of hydrophobicity and hydrogen bonding must be considered simultaneously. A regression-based equation was developed to describe the relationship of the inhibitory ability of ILs and their hydrophobicity and hydrogen bonding ability.