Journal:Molecular Cell:1

Automated computational design of human enzymes for high bacterial expression and stability

Adi Goldenzweig, Moshe Goldsmith, Shannon E Hill, Or Gertman, Paola Laurino, Yacov Ashani, Orly Dym, Tamar Unger, Shira Albeck, Jaime Prilusky, Raquel L Lieberman, Amir Aharoni, Israel Silman, Joel L Sussman, Dan S Tawfik and Sarel J Fleishman ^[1]

Molecular Tour
Upon heterologous overexpression, many proteins misfold or aggregate, thus resulting in low functional yields. Human acetylcholinesterase (hAChE), an enzyme mediating synaptic transmission, is a typical case of a human protein that necessitates mammalian systems to obtain functional expression. Using a novel computational strategy, we designed an AChE variant bearing 51 mutations that improved core packing, surface polarity, and backbone rigidity. This variant expressed at ~2,000-fold higher levels in E. coli compared to wild-type hAChE, and exhibited 20°C higher thermostability with no change in enzymatic properties or in the active-site configuration as determined by crystallography. To demonstrate broad utility, we similarly designed four other human and bacterial proteins. Testing at most three designs per protein, we obtained enhanced stability and/or higher yields of soluble protein in E. coli. Our algorithm requires only a 3D structure and several dozen sequences of naturally occurring homologues, and is available at http://pross.weizmann.ac.il.