Directed evolution is generally regarded as a useful approach in protein engineering. By subjecting members of a mutant library to the power of Darwinian evolution, desired protein properties are obtained. Numerous reports have appeared in the literature showing the success of tailoring proteins for various applications by this method. Is it a one-way track that protein practitioners can only learn from nature to enable more efficient protein engineering? A structure-and-mechanism-based approach, supplemented with the use of reduced amino acid alphabets, was proposed as a general means for semi-rational enzyme engineering. Using human GST A2-2*E, the most active human enzyme in the bioactivation of azathioprine, as a parental enzyme to test this approach, a L107G/L108D/F222H triple-point mutant of GST A2-2*E (thereafter designated as GDH) was discovered with 70-fold increased activity, approaching the upper limit of specific activity of the GST scaffold. The approach was further experimentally verified to be more successful than intuitively choosing active-site residues in proximity to the bound substrate for the improvement of enzyme performance. By constructing all intermediates along all putative mutational paths leading from GST A2-2*E to mutant GDH and assaying them with nine alternative substrates, the fitness landscapes were found to be “rugged” in differential fashions in substrate-activity space. The multidimensional fitness landscapes stemming from functional promiscuity can lead to alternative outcomes with enzymes optimized for other features than the selectable markers that were relevant at the origin of the evolutionary process. The results in this thesis suggest that in this manner an evolutionary response to changing environmental conditions can readily be mounted. In summary, the thesis demonstrates the attractive features of the structure-and-mechanism-based semi-rational directed evolution approach for optimizing enzyme performance. Moreover, the results gained from the studies show that laboratory evolution may refine our understanding of evolutionary process in nature.

Le docking moléculaire est une méthode permettant de prédire l'orientation d'une molécule donnée relativement à une autre lorsque celles-ci forment un complexe. Le premier algorithme de docking moléculaire a vu jour en 1990 afin de trouver de nouveaux candidats face à la protéase du VIH-1. Depuis, l'utilisation de protocoles de docking est devenue une pratique standard dans le domaine de la conception de nouveaux médicaments. Typiquement, un protocole de docking comporte plusieurs phases. Il requiert l'échantillonnage exhaustif du site d'interaction où les éléments impliqués sont considérées rigides. Des algorithmes de clustering sont utilisés afin de regrouper les candidats à l'appariement similaires. Des méthodes d'affinage sont appliquées pour prendre en compte la flexibilité au sein complexe moléculaire et afin d'éliminer de possibles artefacts de docking. Enfin, des algorithmes d'évaluation sont utilisés pour sélectionner les meilleurs candidats pour le docking. Cette thèse présente de nouveaux algorithmes de protocoles de docking qui facilitent la prédiction des structures de complexes protéinaires, une des cibles les plus importantes parmi les cibles visées par les méthodes de conception de médicaments. Une première contribution concerne l‘algorithme Docktrina qui permet de prédire les conformations de trimères protéinaires triangulaires. Celui-ci prend en entrée des prédictions de contacts paire-à-paire à partir d'hypothèse de corps rigides. Ensuite toutes les combinaisons possibles de paires de monomères sont évalués à l'aide d'un test de distance RMSD efficace. Cette méthode à la fois rapide et efficace améliore l'état de l'art sur les protéines trimères. Deuxièmement, nous présentons RigidRMSD une librairie C++ qui évalue en temps constant les distances RMSD entre conformations moléculaires correspondant à des transformations rigides. Cette librairie est en pratique utile lors du clustering de positions de docking, conduisant à des temps de calcul améliorés d'un facteur dix, comparé aux temps de calcul des algorithmes standards. Une troisième contribution concerne KSENIA, une fonction d'évaluation à base de connaissance pour l'étude des interactions protéine-protéine. Le problème de la reconstruction de fonction d'évaluation est alors formulé et résolu comme un problème d'optimisation convexe. Quatrièmement, CARBON, un nouvel algorithme pour l'affinage des candidats au docking basés sur des modèles corps-rigides est proposé. Le problème d'optimisation de corps-rigides est vu comme le calcul de trajectoires quasi-statiques de corps rigides influencés par la fonction énergie. CARBON fonctionne aussi bien avec un champ de force classique qu'avec une fonction d'évaluation à base de connaissance. CARBON est aussi utile pour l'affinage de complexes moléculaires qui comportent des clashes stériques modérés à importants. Finalement, une nouvelle méthode permet d'estimer les capacités de prédiction des fonctions d'évaluation. Celle-ci permet d‘évaluer de façon rigoureuse la performance de la fonction d'évaluation concernée sur des benchmarks de complexes moléculaires. La méthode manipule la distribution des scores attribués et non pas directement les scores de conformations particulières, ce qui la rend avantageuse au regard des critères standard basés sur le score le plus élevé. Les méthodes décrites au sein de la thèse sont testées et validées sur différents benchmarks protéines-protéines. Les algorithmes implémentés ont été utilisés avec succès pour la compétition CAPRI concernant la prédiction de complexes protéine-protéine. La méthodologie développée peut facilement être adaptée pour de la reconnaissance d'autres types d'interactions moléculaires impliquant par exemple des ligands, de l'ARN… Les implémentations en C++ des différents algorithmes présentés seront mises à disposition comme SAMSON Elements de la plateforme logicielle SAMSON sur http://www.samson-connect.net ou sur http://nano-d.inrialpes.fr/software. / Molecular docking is a method that predicts orientation of one molecule with respect to another one when forming a complex. The first computational method of molecular docking was applied to find new candidates against HIV-1 protease in 1990. Since then, using of docking pipelines has become a standard practice in drug discovery. Typically, a docking protocol comprises different phases. The exhaustive sampling of the binding site upon rigid-body approximation of the docking subunits is required. Clustering algorithms are used to group similar binding candidates. Refinement methods are applied to take into account flexibility of the molecular complex and to eliminate possible docking artefacts. Finally, scoring algorithms are employed to select the best binding candidates. The current thesis presents novel algorithms of docking protocols that facilitate structure prediction of protein complexes, which belong to one of the most important target classes in the structure-based drug design. First, DockTrina - a new algorithm to predict conformations of triangular protein trimers (i.e. trimers with pair-wise contacts between all three pairs of proteins) is presented. The method takes as input pair-wise contact predictions from a rigid-body docking program. It then scans and scores all possible combinations of pairs of monomers using a very fast root mean square deviation (RMSD) test. Being fast and efficient, DockTrina outperforms state-of-the-art computational methods dedicated to predict structure of protein oligomers on the collected benchmark of protein trimers. Second, RigidRMSD - a C++ library that in constant time computes RMSDs between molecular poses corresponding to rigid-body transformations is presented. The library is practically useful for clustering docking poses, resulting in ten times speed up compared to standard RMSD-based clustering algorithms. Third, KSENIA - a novel knowledge-based scoring function for protein-protein interactions is developed. The problem of scoring function reconstruction is formulated and solved as a convex optimization problem. As a result, KSENIA is a smooth function and, thus, is suitable for the gradient-base refinement of molecular structures. Remarkably, it is shown that native interfaces of protein complexes provide sufficient information to reconstruct a well-discriminative scoring function. Fourth, CARBON - a new algorithm for the rigid-body refinement of docking candidates is proposed. The rigid-body optimization problem is viewed as the calculation of quasi-static trajectories of rigid bodies influenced by the energy function. To circumvent the typical problem of incorrect stepsizes for rotation and translation movements of molecular complexes, the concept of controlled advancement is introduced. CARBON works well both in combination with a classical force-field and a knowledge-based scoring function. CARBON is also suitable for refinement of molecular complexes with moderate and large steric clashes between its subunits. Finally, a novel method to evaluate prediction capability of scoring functions is introduced. It allows to rigorously assess the performance of the scoring function of interest on benchmarks of molecular complexes. The method manipulates with the score distributions rather than with scores of particular conformations, which makes it advantageous compared to the standard hit-rate criteria. The methods described in the thesis are tested and validated on various protein-protein benchmarks. The implemented algorithms are successfully used in the CAPRI contest for structure prediction of protein-protein complexes. The developed methodology can be easily adapted to the recognition of other types of molecular interactions, involving ligands, polysaccharides, RNAs, etc. The C++ versions of the presented algorithms will be made available as SAMSON Elements for the SAMSON software platform at http://www.samson-connect.net or at http://nano-d.inrialpes.fr/software.

[pt] Por ser uma doença genética, resultado de uma mutação em um gene específico, que gera proteínas (CFTR) defeituosas, a Fibrose Cística é uma patologia difícil de ser tratada. Os custos para os tratamentos atualmente disponíveis são altos, sem os quais, porém, a gravidade da doença tende a crescer ainda mais. Por esse motivo, novos tratamentos farmacológicos vêm surgindo, como o Trikafta (marca registrada), uma combinação tripla de fármacos com ação sinérgica (elexacaftor, ivacaftor e tezacaftor). Porém, esse medicamento ainda não é disponível no Brasil e o acesso aos tratamentos, em geral, são onerosos. Sendo assim, este trabalho visa a síntese de compostos 1,2,3-triazóis, com possível atividade biológica frente a proteína CFTR, sugerida por ancoragem molecular. Este trabalho também visa selecionar as melhores moléculas quanto aos perfis farmacocinéticos e toxicológicos, avaliados por ferramentas computacionais como swissADME e VirtualToxLab, respectivamente. Dessa forma, a estratégia sintética para a obtenção dos compostos consiste em duas etapas sintéticas. A primeira, envolve a síntese da enaminona – (E)-3-(dimetilamino)acrilaldeido (3a-d) – por organocatálise, a partir de L-prolina e DMA-DMF (1,1-dimetoxi-N,N-dimetillmetanamina) (1). A segunda etapa inclui a reação de cicloadição 1,3-dipolar onpot entre as azidas (5a-h) e as enaminonas previamente obtidas. Assim, foi possível obter 1,2,3-triazóis 1,4-substituídos (6a-k), com rendimentos de 5 a 96 por cento. Dentre eles, a molécula 6k, N-(2-(1-(4-metoxifenil)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-carbonil)fenil)acetamida), destacou-se quanto aos perfis toxicológicos e também pelos resultados observados nos estudos de ancoragem molecular. Os espectros de RMN de 1H e 13C RMN confirmaram a obtenção das estruturas. / [en] Because it is a genetic disease, the result of a mutation in a specific gene, which generates defective proteins (CFTR), Cystic Fibrosis is a pathology that is difficult to be treated. The costs for currently available treatments are high, without which, however, the severity of the disease tends to increase even more. For this reason, new pharmacological treatments are emerging, such as Trikafta (trademark), a triple combination of drugs with synergistic action (elexacaftor, ivacaftor and tezacaftor). However, this drug is not yet available in Brazil and access to treatments, in general, is expensive. Therefore, this work aims at the synthesis of 1,2,3-triazole compounds, with possible biological activity against the CFTR protein, proposed by molecular anchoring. This work also aims to select the best molecules in terms of pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles, evaluated by computational tools such as swissADME and VirtualToxpot, respectively. Thus, the synthetic strategy for obtaining the compounds consists of two synthetic steps. The first involves the synthesis of enaminone - (E)-3-(dimethylamino) acrylaldehyde (3a-d) - by organocatalysis, starting from L- proline and DMA-DMF (1,1-dimethoxy-N, N-dimethylmethanamine) (1). The second stage includes the 1,3-dipolar onpot cycloaddition reaction between the azides (5a-h) and the previously obtained enaminones. Thus, it was possible to obtain 1,4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles (6a-k), with yields of 5 to 96 percent. Among them, the molecule 6k, N- (2- (1- (4-methoxyphenyl) -1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-carbonyl) phenyl) acetamide), stood out in terms of toxicological profiles and also by results observed in molecular anchorage studies. The 1H and 13C NMR NMR spectra confirmed the structures obtained.

La nature contient un grand nombre de molécules naturelles à visée thérapeutique. Depuis plusieurs années, la chimie médicinale ne cesse de s’en inspirer afin de développer de nouvelles thérapies pour améliorer le quotidien des personnes atteintes de certaines pathologies. Cette thèse traitera de la conception de molécules hétérocycliques comme inhibiteurs d’enzymes et médiateurs d’interactions protéine-protéine. Les molécules bioactives sont la pierre angulaire de la chimie thérapeutique. Depuis la découverte de l’Aspirine en 1899, elles n’ont cessé d’impacter la société à plusieurs niveaux et ont contribué à l’amélioration de la qualité de vie des patients. Il y a cependant, plusieurs pathologies pour lesquelles il n’existe à ce jour aucun remède, ce qui met en exergue les limitations de la chimie médicinale et implique le développement de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques. La stéato-hépatite non-alcoolique ou NASH (Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis) est une maladie caractérisée par une accumulation de graisses dans le foie, menant à la formation de tissus cicatriciels sur le foie. Ces derniers altèrent les fonctions hépatiques du foie et peuvent mener à la cirrhose si aucun traitement n’est administré. A ce jour, il existe aucun médicament pour guérir de NASH. La serine-thréonine kinase 25 (STK25) est une sérine-thréonine kinase, qui serait impliquée dans le développement de la maladie de NASH. Ainsi, le premier chapitre de cette thèse rapporte la synthèse de triazolo-oxazines comme inhibiteurs potentiels de STK25. Il s’agit de la première approche inhibitrice rapportée dans la littérature. Des tests biologiques ont été effectués et la modélisation moléculaire des triazolo-oxazines a été réalisée. Face au problème de pharmacorésistance et l’absence de remèdes pour certaines maladies, il y a un besoin urgent pour de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques est présent. Depuis quelques années, les dégradeurs ciblés de protéines suscitent un engouement. En effet, ces derniers induisent la dégradation de protéines défectueuses en recrutant les complexes de ligase E3. Cette stratégie vient pallier l’absence de sites de liaison, caractéristique de plusieurs protéines impliquées dans le développement de cancers. Parmi les dégradeurs de protéines, il y a les agrafes moléculaires et les PROTACs. Dans le second chapitre de cette thèse, la synthèse de molécules hétérocycliques comme ligand de la ligase E3 DCAF15 pour le développement éventuel de nouveaux PROTACS sera rapportée. L’outil de modélisation moléculaire a permis la sélection de molécules indoliques comportant le motif -lactame et pyrrolidine . Bien qu’ils aient été synthétisés comme un mélange racémique, des tests pour la synthèse asymétrique de ces derniers seront également discuter. Les maladies infectieuses ravagent les pays de l’Amérique latine et l’Afrique subsaharienne. Les ressources insuffisantes, les conditions sanitaires et l’instabilité des régimes politiques rendent difficile l’administration et l’acheminement de traitements. Parmi ces maladies infectieuses, il y a la leishmaniose, la trypanosomiase humaine africaine et la trypanosomiase humaine américaine lesquelles sont toutes causés par des protozoaires. Dans le troisième chapitre, des molécules hétérocycliques, comportant le motif imidazolo-oxazine seront synthétisés comme candidats potentiels pour le traitement de ces maladies infectieuses. / Nature has provided an infinite number of bioactive small molecules for therapeutic benefits. For many years, it has inspired medicinal chemistry to develop new therapies to improve the well-being of humankind. This thesis will be about the conception of heterocyclic small molecules as enzyme inhibitors and protein-protein interaction mediators. Small molecules are the cornerstone of therapeutic chemistry. Since the discovery of Aspirin in 1899, small molecules have had a significant impact on several levels and have contributed to the improvement of quality of life. Nonetheless, many diseases still have no remedy; hence there exists a need for new therapeutic strategies. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, (NASH) is a disease characterized by a buildup of fat in the liver, leading to the formation of scars on the liver. These scars will affect the different functions of the liver and can even lead to cirrhosis if not treated. Up until now, there is no drug for NASH. STK25 is a serine-threonine kinase, suspected to be involved in the mechanism of action of NASH. The first chapter in this thesis involves the synthesis of triazolo-oxazines as potential STK25 inhibitors for NASH treatment. It is the first example of an enzymatic approach for NASH treatment. The synthesis of potential inhibitors was designed based of molecular modeling of other inhibitors targeting CDK. In a second chapter, a new approach of small molecules degraders that recruits E3 ligases complexes for the degradation of protein is described. Among the small molecule degraders, there are molecular glues and PROTACs. This chapter will describe the design and the synthesis of heterocyclic molecules as DCAF15 ligands for the eventual development of new PROTACs. Molecular docking has been useful for the selection of the - lactams et pyrrolidines small molecules. Infectious diseases have tremendous consequences in Latin America and Africa. The lack of means, health hazards and the political instability of governments make difficult the supply and administration of treatments. Among the infectious diseases, there are Leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, human American trypanosomiasis, which are caused by bacteria. In the third chapter, imidazolo-oxazine small molecules will be synthesized as potential candidates for the treatment of these parasitic infections.

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L'enjeu des travaux effectués au cours de cette thèse est l'extraction in silico de molécules potentiellement intéressantes dans le processus d'inhibition du récepteur tyrosine kinase c-Met. La faculté de cette protéine à interagir dans les phénomènes d'embryogenèse et de réparation tissulaires rendent son inhibition cruciale dans les traitements contre les développements tumoraux où c-Met se trouve impliquée. Pour cela, la stratégie employée implique l'utilisation de méthodes in silico de conception rationnelle de médicaments. Nous avons utilisé comme support les multiples structures cristallographiques publiées sur la ProteinData Base. Un travail de modélisation par homologie fut tout d'abord nécessaire pour combler les lacunes des structures cristallographiques collectées. Afin d'échantillonner au mieux l'espace conformationnel de la kinase c-Met et de caractériser sa flexibilité, une longue campagne de simulation de Dynamique Moléculaire fut menée. Pour compléter ces simulations, nous avons également utilisé la méthode des modes normaux de vibration. De ces 2 approches, nous avons extrait un ensemble de 10 conformères considérés comme les plus représentatifs de l'espace conformationnel simulé pour la kinase c-Met et avons proposé un mode de fonctionnement de ce récepteur. Utilisant les conformations représentatives, nous avons ensuite mené une importante campagne de criblage virtuel sur plusieurs chimiothèques constituant environ 70.000 composés. L'analyse des résultats de l'arrimage moléculaire nous a conduits à la sélection de composés intéressants possédant théoriquement une bonne affinité pour la kinase c-Met. Ces molécules ont été soumises aux tests expérimentaux. / The challenge of this PhD work is the in silico identification of potentially interesting molecules concerning the inhibitory process of tyrosine kinase receptor c-Met. The faculty of this protein to interact in embryogenesis and tissue repair phenomena makes its inhibition crucial for treatments against tumor development in which c-Met is involved. For that purpose, the employed strategy involves the use of several in silico methods for rational drug design. As the basement of this work, we used the multiple crystal structures published in the ProteinData Base (PDB). A preliminary homology modeling work was needed to fill gaps in the crystal structures. To sample at best the c-Met kinase conformational space and to characterize its flexibility, a long Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation campaign was carried out both on apo and holo forms of available crystal structures. To complete these simulations, part of this work consisted to use normal modes of vibration (NM) method. From these two approaches (DM and NM), we extracted a set of 10 conformers considered as the most representative of the kinase simulated conformational space and we suggested a mode of operation of this kinase. Using extracted conformations from the conformational sampling has enabled us to conduct an extensive campaign on several virtual screening libraries constituting a total of approximately 70,000 compounds. Analysis of the molecular docking results has led us to the selection of several theoretically interesting molecules with good potential affinity for c-Met kinase. These molecules were submitted to experimental tests performed by the biologist team associated to our work.

Text in English / Specially prepared 2-amino-5-bromo-3-iodoacetophenone and 5-bromo-2-hydroxy-3 iodoacetophenone were subjected to Claisen-Schmidt aldol condensation with benzaldehyde derivatives followed by sequential and/or one-pot palladium catalyzed Sonogashira cross coupling and heteroannulation of the 3-alkynylated intermediates to afford indole-chalcones and benzofuran-chalcones, respectively. The indole-chalcones derivatives were, in turn, subjected to trifluoroacetic anhydride in tetrahydrofuran under reflux to afford the corresponding 3-trifluoroacetyl substituted indole-chalcone derivatives. The coupling constant values (Jtrans) of about 16.0 Hz for the chalcone derivatives corresponding to the vinylic protons confirmed the trans geometry of the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl framework in all the cases. Their trans geometry of the chalcone derivatives was further confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. Further structural elaboration of the ambident electrophilic α,β unsaturated carbonyl (chalcone) moiety of the indole-chalcones and the analogous benzofuran chalcones with 2-aminothiophenol afforded novel benzothiezapine-appended indole and benzofuran hybrids, respectively. Sonogashira cross-coupling of 5-bromo-2-hydroxy-3 iodoacetophenone with terminal acetylenes followed by heteroannulation of the intermediate 3-alkynylated 5-bromo-2-hydroxyacetophenones afforded the corresponding 7-acetyl-2-aryl-5-bromobenzofurans in a single-pot operation. The oximes derived from the 7-acetyl–substituted 2-aryl-5-bromobenzofurans were subjected to Beckmann rearrangement with triflic acid in acetonitrile under reflux. We isolated the corresponding 7-amino-2-aryl-5 bromobenzofuran derivatives formed from hydrolysis in situ of the intermediate 7-acetamide 2-aryl-5-bromobenzofurans. Amino-dechlorination of the 4-chloroquinazoline derivatives with the 7-aminobenzofurans afforded novel benzofuran 4-aminoquinazoline hybrids. The prepared compounds were characterized using a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR & 13C-NMR including 19F-NMR), infrared (IR) and mass spectroscopic techniques complemented with single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses and/or density functional (DFT) method. The benzofuran-chalcone 203a–y derivatives were evaluated for anti-growth effect against the breast cancer (MCF-7) cell line by the MTT cell viability assay. Their mode of cancer cell death (apoptosis versus necrosis) was detected by Annexin V-Cy3 SYTOX staining and caspase-3 activation. The most cytotoxic compounds 203i and 203o were also evaluated for potential to inhibit tubulin polymerization and/or epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) phosphorylation. The experimental results were complemented with theoretical data from molecular docking into ATP binding site of the EGFR and colchicine binding site of tubulin, respectively. The benzofuran–4-aminoquinazoline hybrids 215a–j, on the other hand, were evaluated for antiproliferative propeties in vitro against the human lung cancer (A549), epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) and hepatocellular carcinoma (C3A) cell lines. The benzofuran-aminoquinazoline hybrids were also evaluated for potential to induce apoptosis and for their capability to inhibit EGFR-TK phosphorylation complemented with molecular docking (in silico) into the ATP binding site of EGFR. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that the benzofuran-appended aminoquinazoline hybrids 215d and 215j induced apoptosis via activation of caspase-3 pathway. Moreover, compounds 215d and 215j exhibited significant and moderate inhibitory effects against EGFR (IC50 = 29.3 nM and 61.5 nM, respectively) when compared to Gefitinib (IC50 = 33.1 nM). Molecular docking of compounds 215 into EGFR-TK active site suggested that they bind to the region of EGFR like Gefitinib does. / Chemistry / D. Phil. (Chemistry)

Glutathione transferase (GST) A2-2 is the human enzyme most efficient in catalyzing azathioprine activation. Structure-function relationships were sought explaining the higher catalytic efficiency compared to other alpha class GSTs. By screening a DNA shuffling library, five recombined segments were identified that were conserved among the most active mutants. Mutational analysis confirmed the importance of these short segments as their insertion into low-active GSTs introduced higher azathioprine activity. Besides, H-site mutagenesis led to decreased azathioprine activity when the targeted positions belonged to these conserved segments and mainly enhanced activity when other positions were targeted. Hydrophobic residues were preferred in positions 208 and 213. The prodrug azathioprine is today primarily used for maintaining remission in inflammatory bowel disease. Therapy leads to adverse effects for 30 % of the patients and genotyping of the metabolic genes involved can explain some of these incidences. Five genotypes of human A2-2 were characterized and variant A2*E had 3–4-fold higher catalytic efficiency with azathioprine, due to a proline mutated close to the H-site. Faster activation might lead to different metabolite distributions and possibly more adverse effects. Genotyping of GSTs is recommended for further studies. Molecular docking of azathioprine into a modeled structure of A2*E suggested three positions for mutagenesis. The most active mutants had small or polar residues in the mutated positions. Mutant L107G/L108D/F222H displayed a 70-fold improved catalytic efficiency with azathioprine. Determination of its structure by X-ray crystallography showed a widened H-site, suggesting that the transition state could be accommodated in a mode better suited for catalysis. The mutational analysis increased our understanding of the azathioprine activation in alpha class GSTs and highlighted A2*E as one factor possibly behind the adverse drug-effects. A successfully redesigned GST, with 200-fold enhanced catalytic efficiency towards azathioprine compared to the starting point A2*C, might find use in targeted enzyme-prodrug therapies.