Rational Design of K173A Substitution Enhances Thermostability Coupled with Catalytic Activity of Enterobacter sp Bn12 Lipase

ELBn12 is a lipase isolated from Enterobacter sp. Bn12 with potential application in biotechnology. Homology modeling and rational design were applied to improve thermal stability of the lipase. K173A substitution introduced an AXXXA motif on the lipase model and it may have role in dimerization and thermostability of the protein. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed to construct the lipase variant. The mutated lipase was expressed in Escherichia coli pLysS and partially purified. Thermostability of the mutated lipase after 1 h of incubation at 70 degrees C was twice that of wild-type lipase under the same conditions. Catalytic activity of the variant was about 1.5-fold towards tricaprylin at 60 degrees C and pH 8.0; moreover, the lipase variant preserved its stability within the pH range of 7.0-11.0. Substitution of superficial hydrophilic Lys with hydrophobic Ala residue increased stability of the mutated lipase in the presence of nonionic surfactants, but this substitution caused lower stability towards polar solvents. Analysis of circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that the K173A mutation altered the secondary structure of the lipase into a more helical one. In conclusion, results of this study demonstrate the positive role of generation of a stabilizing protein motif through rational protein engineering that improves the enzyme characteristics. (C) 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel