Engineering Clostridium absonum 7α-hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase for Enhancing Thermostability Based on Flexible Site and ΔΔG Prediction

BACKGROUND: Enhancing thermostability of the 7α-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (7α-HSDHs) is beneficial to its industrial application broadly. For protein engineering to enhance thermostability the nonrational strategy, directed evolution, has been applied in obtaining more stable proteins through error-prone PCR or DNA rearrangement generating random mutations. However, the successful application of directed evolution needs to build a large mutant library. Site-directed mutations of CA 7α-HSDH had been performed to probe the relationship between the compactness increasing and thermostability enhancing. Although most of the mutations in β-sheet core predicted by MAESTRO became more stable than wild type, unfortunately, all the mutations suffered dramatic activity loss. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to verify effects of the mutations in helices selected from the predicting results through MAESTRO on thermostability improving of CA 7α-HSDH. METHODS: Seven mutants, S22L, P124L, A125L, N171L, A195Q, L197E and Y259E were synthesized and verified through DNA sequencing in Sangon Biotech (Sangon, Shanghai, China). The two mutants, A104P and G105P were prepared by over-lapping PCR. The GST-fusion expression vector, pGEX-6p-1 (GE Healthcare), was used for protein expression with restriction sites BamH I and Not I. Thermostability was measured by circular dichroism (CD) spectrometer (MOS-450, BioLogic Inc). All the enzymes were diluted in PBS (pH 7.3, 10 mM) to OD222 value between 0.8 and 1, and temperature varied from 20°C to 95°C. Activity of enzyme was assayed by measuring the production of NADPH by UV-visible spectrophotometer at 340 nm. The activity assay was performed in 2 mL reaction mixture which contained PBS (pH 7.3, 10 mM), NADP+ (0.5 mM) and taurocholic acid (TCA) at 25°C. RESULTS: Based on unfolding free energy changes (ΔΔG) prediction seven mutations of Clostridium absonum (CA) 7α-HSDH were selected and experimentally verified, and these mutants fitted three-state denaturation model well, among which S22L located in the αA possessed the greatest Tm N→I increase (> 8°C). Mutants P124L, L197E, N171L and Y259E also became more stable than wild type CA 7α-HSDH with different ranges. Meanwhile, thermostability of the two mutants, A104P and G105P (in the coil between βD and αD) resulting from the proline substitution method decreased significantly. Enzyme activity assays indicated that mutant L197E located in αF maximally maintained 28.7% of catalytic efficiency, and activity of the five mutants, P124L, A125L, N171L, A104P and G105P cannot be detected. CONCLUSION: Although all the mutants' activities decreased, the mutant L197E with the maximum activity retain suggested that the loop structure (residues 194 to 211) may be the favored candidate sites to enhance thermostability. In addition, CA 7α-HSDH may suffer structural destruction resulting from the proline substitution in A104 and G105.