A population of thermostable reverse transcriptases evolved from Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase I by phage display.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Jean-Luc Jestin.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Degeneracy in the genetic code is known to minimise the deleterious effects of the most frequent base substitutions: transitions at the third base of codons are generally synonymous substitutions. Transversions that alter degeneracy were reported by Rumer. Here the other transversions are shown to leave invariant degeneracy when applied to the first base of codons. As a summary, degeneracy is considered with respect to all three types of base substitutions, the transitions and the two types of transversions. The symmetries of degeneracy by base substitutions are independent of the representation of the genetic code and discussed with respect to the quasi-universality of the genetic code.
For identification of mutations associated with the broadening of enzyme substrate specificity, three strategies, including directed enzyme evolution, are described for selected examples. Implications concerning enzyme models are highlighted. Applications to the field of biocatalysis are discussed. A bidimensional map for the classification of enzyme activities is suggested so as to improve genome annotations.
Enzyme engineering by molecular modelling and site-directed mutagenesis can be remarkably efficient. Directed enzyme evolution appears as a more general strategy for the isolation of catalysts as it can be applied to most chemical reactions in aqueous solutions. Selections, as opposed to screening, allow the simultaneous analysis of protein properties for sets of up to about 10(14) different proteins. These approaches for the parallel processing of molecular information 'Is the protein a catalyst?' are reviewed here in the case of selections based on the formation of a specific reaction product. Several questions are addressed about in vivo and in vitro selections for catalysis reported in the literature. Can the selection system be extended to other types of enzymes? Does the selection control regio- and stereo-selectivity? Does the selection allow the isolation of enzymes with an efficient turnover? How should substrates be substituted or mimicked for the design of efficient selections while minimising the number of chemical synthesis steps? Engineering sections provide also some clues to design selections or to circumvent selection biases. A special emphasis is put on the comparison of in vivo and in vitro selections for catalysis.
An in vitro enzyme selection that can, in principle, be generalised to most chemical reactions, is described. It makes use of filamentous phage display and of a tailor-made antibody fragment directed against the reaction product. The conversion of ATP into 3',5'-cyclic AMP catalysed by Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase is taken as an example.
Directed protein-evolution strategies generally make use of a link between a protein and the encoding DNA. In phage-display technology, this link is provided by fusion of the protein with a coat protein that is incorporated into the phage particle containing the DNA. Optimization of this link can be achieved by adjusting the signal sequence of the fusion. In a previous study, directed evolution of signal sequences for optimal display of the Taq DNA polymerase I Stoffel fragment on phage yielded signal peptides with a 50- fold higher incorporation of fusion proteins in phage particles. In this article, we show that for one of the selected signal sequences, improved display on phage can be generalized to other proteins, such as adenylate cyclases from Escherichia coli and Bordetella pertussis, and that this is highly dependent on short sequences at the C-terminus of the signal peptide. Further, the display of two enzymes on phage has been achieved and may provide a strategy for directing coevolution of the two proteins. These findings should be useful for display of large and cytoplasmic proteins on filamentous phage.
In vitro selections for catalytic activity have been designed for the isolation of genes encoding enzymes from libraries of proteins displayed on filamentous phages. The proteins are generally expressed as C-terminal fusions with the N-terminus of the minor coat protein p3 for display on phages. As full-length cDNAs generally contain several stop codons near their 3' end, this approach cannot be used for their expression on the surface of phages. Here we show that in vitro selection for catalytic activity is compatible with a system for expression of proteins as N-terminal fusions on the surface of bacteriophages. It is highlighted for the Stoffel fragment of Taq DNA polymerase I and makes use of (p3-Jun/Fos-Stoffel fragment) fusions. The efficiency of the selection is measured by an enrichment factor found to be about 55 for a phage polymerase versus a phage not expressing a polymerase. This approach could provide a method for the functional cloning of nucleotidyl transferases from cDNA libraries using filamentous phage display.