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D M Blow

Publications and source records attributed to D M Blow.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

A large increase in enzyme-substrate affinity by protein engineering.

A single point mutation has been engineered in the tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase that improves its affinity (KM) for its substrate ATP by a factor of 100. In the crystal structure of the tyrosyl tRNA synthetase (of Bacillus stearothermophilus), the side-chain hydroxyl of Thr 51 appears to make a weak hydrogen bond with the AMP moiety of the substrate intermediate, tyrosyl adenylate. In the absence of substrate, however, the hydroxyl group should make a strong hydrogen bond with water which would favour dissociation of the enzyme-substrate complex. We have used oligodeoxynucleotide-directed mutagenesis to construct two point mutants at this site: one to remove the hydroxyl group (Thr 51 leads to Ala 51) and the other, in addition, to distort the local polypeptide backbone (Thr 51 leads to Pro 51). We report here that both mutants have increased activity (kcat/KM for ATP) but one mutant (Pro 51) shows a massive 25-fold increase due mainly to a lowered KM for ATP. This demonstrates dramatically the potential of in vitro mutagenesis for improving the affinity of an enzyme for its substrate.

Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hydrogen bonding and biological specificity analysed by protein engineering.

The role of complementary hydrogen bonding as a determinant of biological specificity has been examined by protein engineering of the tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase. Deletion of a side chain between enzyme and substrate to leave an unpaired, uncharged hydrogen-bond donor or acceptor weakens binding energy by only 0.5-1.5 kcal mol-1. But the presence of an unpaired and charged donor or acceptor weakens binding by a further approximately 3 kcal mol-1.

Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Structure of a mutant of tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase with enhanced catalytic properties.

One surprising outcome of applying the techniques of protein engineering to the enzyme tyrosyl-transfer RNA synthetase was that the enzyme's activity could actually be increased by a specific sequence change. In particular, altering residue threonine 51 to a proline (mutant TP51) increased the enzyme's affinity for tyrosyl adenylate complexes. The non-additive effect of combining the TP51 mutation with a second sequence alteration (histidine 48 to a glycine) suggested that the effect of the TP51 change might be mediated by a structural change involving the peptide backbone. To address the question of the mechanism by which the TP51 change increases the activity of tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase we have determined the structure of the mutant enzyme. We find the change has a purely local effect on the structure of the enzyme, and conclude that the increased activity of the TP51 mutant probably results from the replacement of the polar threonine residue by a non-polar group: in the wild-type enzyme substrate binding is disfavoured by the displacement of solvent from the vicinity of threonine 51. This unfavourable effect is absent in the TP51 mutant.

Adenosine Monophosphate↗