Engineering serpin stability and function

Protein engineering was performed to create an a1-antitrypsin-like serpin that is thermostable while remaining functional. The base molecule for this engineering is a consensus-designed serpin, conserpin, which exhibits extreme thermostability while also being functional as a protease inhibitor. Engineering was performed in two ways: conserpin was engineered to function like a1-antitrypsin while remaining thermostable, and regions of the conserpin were grafted onto a1-antitrypsin to increase thermostability without compromising function. The folding pathway of conserpin was also investigated to provide insight into how thermostable serpins fold under extreme temperatures.