| 1. |
- Al-Smadi, Derar, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Chemical and Biochemical Approaches for the Synthesis of Substituted Dihydroxybutanones and Di-, and Tri-Hydroxypentanones
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Organic Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0022-3263 .- 1520-6904. ; 84:11, s. 6982-6991
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polyhydroxylated compounds are building blocks for the synthesis of carbohydrates and other natural products. Their synthesis is mainly achieved by different synthetic versions of aldol-coupling reactions, catalyzed either by organocatalysts, enzymes or metal-organic catalysts. We have investigated the formation of 1,4-substituted 2,3-dihydroxybutan-1-one derivatives from para- and meta-substituted phenylacetaldehydes by three distinctly different strategies. The first involved a direct aldol reaction with hydroxyacetone, dihydroxyacetone or 2-hydroxyacetophenone, catalyzed by the cinchona derivative cinchonine. The second was reductive cross-coupling with methyl or phenyl glyoxal promoted by SmI2 resulting in either 5-substituted 3,4-dihydroxypentan-2-ones or 1,4 bis-phenyl substituted butanones, respectively. Finally, in the third case, aldolase catalysis was employed for synthesis of the corresponding 1,3,4-trihydroxylated pentan-2-one derivatives. The organocatalytic route with cinchonine generated distereomerically enriched syn products (de = 60−99 %), with moderate enantiomeric excesses (ee = 43−56%), but did not produce aldols with either hydroxyacetone or dihydroxyacetone as donor ketones. The SmI2-promoted reductive cross-coupling generated product mixtures with diastereomeric and enantiomeric ratios close to unity. This route allowed for the production of both 1-methyl- and 1-phenylsubstituted 2,3-dihydroxybutanones, at yields between 40−60%. Finally, the biocatalytic approach resulted in enantiopure syn (3R,4S) 1,3,4-trihydroxypentan-2-ones.
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| 2. |
- Amrein, Beat Anton, et al.
(författare)
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In Silico-Directed Evolution Using CADEE
- 2018
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Ingår i: Computational Methods in Protein Evolution. - New York, NY : Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. - 9781493987368 - 9781493987351 ; , s. 381-415
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 3. |
- Baier, Florian, et al.
(författare)
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Cryptic genetic variation shapes the adaptive evolutionary potential of enzymes
- 2019
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Ingår i: eLIFE. - : ELIFE SCIENCES PUBLICATIONS LTD. - 2050-084X. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic variation among orthologous proteins can cause cryptic phenotypic properties that only manifest in changing environments. Such variation may impact the evolvability of proteins, but the underlying molecular basis remains unclear. Here, we performed comparative directed evolution of four orthologous metallo-beta-lactamases toward a new function and found that different starting genotypes evolved to distinct evolutionary outcomes. Despite a low initial fitness, one ortholog reached a significantly higher fitness plateau than its counterparts, via increasing catalytic activity. By contrast, the ortholog with the highest initial activity evolved to a less-optimal and phenotypically distinct outcome through changes in expression, oligomerization and activity. We show how cryptic molecular properties and conformational variation of active site residues in the initial genotypes cause epistasis, that could lead to distinct evolutionary outcomes. Our work highlights the importance of understanding the molecular details that connect genetic variation to protein function to improve the prediction of protein evolution.
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| 4. |
- Barrozo, Alexandre, et al.
(författare)
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Computational Protein Engineering: Bridging the Gap between Rational Design and Laboratory Evolution
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-6596 .- 1422-0067. ; 13:10, s. 12428-12460
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Enzymes are tremendously proficient catalysts, which can be used as extracellular catalysts for a whole host of processes, from chemical synthesis to the generation of novel biofuels. For them to be more amenable to the needs of biotechnology, however, it is often necessary to be able to manipulate their physico-chemical properties in an efficient and streamlined manner, and, ideally, to be able to train them to catalyze completely new reactions. Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in different approaches to achieve this, both in the laboratory, and in silico. There remains, however, a gap between current approaches to computational enzyme design, which have primarily focused on the early stages of the design process, and laboratory evolution, which is an extremely powerful tool for enzyme redesign, but will always be limited by the vastness of sequence space combined with the low frequency for desirable mutations. This review discusses different approaches towards computational enzyme design and demonstrates how combining newly developed screening approaches that can rapidly predict potential mutation “hotspots” with approaches that can quantitatively and reliably dissect the catalytic step can bridge the gap that currently exists between computational enzyme design and laboratory evolution studies.
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| 5. |
- Barrozo, Alexandre, et al.
(författare)
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Computer simulations of the catalytic mechanism of wild-type and mutant beta-phosphoglucomutase
- 2018
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Ingår i: Organic and biomolecular chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1477-0520 .- 1477-0539. ; 16:12, s. 2060-2073
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- beta-Phosphoglucomutase (beta-PGM) has served as an important model system for understanding biological phosphoryl transfer. This enzyme catalyzes the isomerization of beta-glucose-1-phosphate to -glucose-6-phosphate in a two-step process proceeding via a bisphosphate intermediate. The conventionally accepted mechanism is that both steps are concerted processes involving acid-base catalysis from a nearby aspartate (D10) side chain. This argument is supported by the observation that mutation of D10 leaves the enzyme with no detectable activity. However, computational studies have suggested that a substrate-assisted mechanism is viable for many phosphotransferases. Therefore, we carried out empirical valence bond (EVB) simulations to address the plausibility of this mechanistic alternative, including its role in the abolished catalytic activity of the D10S, D10C and D10N point mutants of beta-PGM. In addition, we considered both of these mechanisms when performing EVB calculations of the catalysis of the wild type (WT), H20A, H20Q, T16P, K76A, D170A and E169A/D170A protein variants. Our calculated activation free energies confirm that D10 is likely to serve as the general base/acid for the reaction catalyzed by the WT enzyme and all its variants, in which D10 is not chemically altered. Our calculations also suggest that D10 plays a dual role in structural organization and maintaining electrostatic balance in the active site. The correct positioning of this residue in a catalytically competent conformation is provided by a functionally important conformational change in this enzyme and by the extensive network of H-bonding interactions that appear to be exquisitely preorganized for the transition state stabilization.
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| 6. |
- Barrozo, Alexandre, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of magnesium ions on triphosphate hydrolysis
- 2017
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Ingår i: Pure and Applied Chemistry. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 0033-4545 .- 1365-3075. ; 89:6, s. 715-727
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The role of metal ions in catalyzing phosphate ester hydrolysis has been the subject of much debate, both in terms of whether they change the transition state structure or mechanistic pathway. Understanding the impact of metal ions on these biologically critical reactions is central to improving our understanding of the role of metal ions in the numerous enzymes that facilitate them. In the present study, we have performed density functional theory studies of the mechanisms of methyl triphosphate and acetyl phosphate hydrolysis in aqueous solution to explore the competition between solvent-and substrate-assisted pathways, and examined the impact of Mg2+ on the energetics and transition state geometries. In both cases, we observe a clear preference for a more dissociative solvent-assisted transition state, which is not significantly changed by coordination of Mg2+. The effect of Mg2+ on the transition state geometries for the two pathways is minimal. While our calculations cannot rule out a substrate-assisted pathway as a possible solution for biological phosphate hydrolysis, they demonstrate that a significantly higher energy barrier needs to be overcome in the enzymatic reaction for this to be an energetically viable reaction pathway.
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| 7. |
- Bauer, Paul, et al.
(författare)
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Q6 : A comprehensive toolkit for empirical valence bond and related free energy calculations
- 2018
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Ingår i: SoftwareX. - : Elsevier. - 2352-7110. ; 7, s. 388-395
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Atomistic simulations have become one of the main approaches to study the chemistry and dynamicsof biomolecular systems in solution. Chemical modelling is a powerful way to understand biochemistry,with a number of different programs available to perform specialized calculations. We present here Q6, anew version of the Q software package, which is a generalized package for empirical valence bond, linearinteraction energy, and other free energy calculations. In addition to general technical improvements, Q6extends the reach of the EVB implementation to fast approximations of quantum effects, extended solventdescriptions and quick estimation of the contributions of individual residues to changes in the activationfree energy of reactions.
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| 8. |
- Ben-David, Moshe, et al.
(författare)
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Enzyme Evolution An Epistatic Ratchet versus a Smooth Reversible Transition
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 37:4, s. 1133-1147
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evolutionary trajectories are deemed largely irreversible. In a newly diverged protein, reversion of mutations that led to the functional switch typically results in loss of both the new and the ancestral functions. Nonetheless, evolutionary transitions where reversions are viable have also been described. The structural and mechanistic causes of reversion compatibility versus incompatibility therefore remain unclear. We examined two laboratory evolution trajectories of mammalian paraoxonase-1, a lactonase with promiscuous organophosphate hydrolase (OPH) activity. Both trajectories began with the same active-site mutant, His115Trp, which lost the native lactonase activity and acquired higher OPH activity. A neo-functionalization trajectory amplified the promiscuous OPH activity, whereas the re-functionalization trajectory restored the native activity, thus generating a new lactonase that lacks His115. The His115 revertants of these trajectories indicated opposite trends. Revertants of the neo-functionalization trajectory lost both the evolved OPH and the original lactonase activity. Revertants of the trajectory that restored the original lactonase function were, however, fully active. Crystal structures and molecular simulations show that in the newly diverged OPH, the reverted His115 and other catalytic residues are displaced, thus causing loss of both the original and the new activity. In contrast, in the re-functionalization trajectory, reversion compatibility of the original lactonase activity derives from mechanistic versatility whereby multiple residues can fulfill the same task. This versatility enables unique sequence-reversible compositions that are inaccessible when the active site was repurposed toward a new function.
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| 9. |
- Biler, Michal, et al.
(författare)
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Ground-State Destabilization by Active-Site Hydrophobicity Controls the Selectivity of a Cofactor-Free Decarboxylase
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 142:47, s. 20216-20231
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bacterial arylmalonate decarboxylase (AMDase) and evolved variants have become a valuable tool with which to access both enantiomers of a broad range of chiral arylaliphatic acids with high optical purity. Yet, the molecular principles responsible for the substrate scope, activity, and selectivity of this enzyme are only poorly understood to date, greatly hampering the predictability and design of improved enzyme variants for specific applications. In this work, empirical valence bond and metadynamics simulations were performed on wild-type AMDase and variants thereof to obtain a better understanding of the underlying molecular processes determining reaction outcome. Our results clearly reproduce the experimentally observed substrate scope and support a mechanism driven by ground-state destabilization of the carboxylate group being cleaved by the enzyme. In addition, our results indicate that, in the case of the nonconverted or poorly converted substrates studied in this work, increased solvent exposure of the active site upon binding of these substrates can disturb the vulnerable network of interactions responsible for facilitating the AMDase-catalyzed cleavage of CO2. Finally, our results indicate a switch from preferential cleavage of the pro-(R) to the pro-(S) carboxylate group in the CLG-IPL variant of AMDase for all substrates studied. This appears to be due to the emergence of a new hydrophobic pocket generated by the insertion of the six amino acid substitutions, into which the pro-(S) carboxylate binds. Our results allow insight into the tight interaction network determining AMDase selectivity, which in turn provides guidance for the identification of target residues for future enzyme engineering.
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| 10. |
- Braida, Benoit, et al.
(författare)
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Preface
- 2017
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Ingår i: Computational and Theoretical Chemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 2210-271X .- 2210-2728. ; 1116:SI, s. 1-1
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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