Pseudozyma (Candida) antarctica lipase B (PalB) was expressed in Escherichia coli facilitating protein engineering. The lack of glycosylation was evaluated for a deeper understanding of the difficulties in expressing PalB in E. coli. Different systems were tested: periplasmic expression in Rosetta (DE3), cytosolic expression in Rosetta-gami 2(DE3), Origami 2(DE3), and coexpression of groES and groEL. Periplasmic expression resulted 5.2 mg/L active PalB at 16 °C in shake flasks. This expression level was improved by using the EnBase technology, enabling fed-batch cultivation in 24-deep well scale. The feed rate was titrated with the addition of α-amylase, which slowly releases glucose as energy source. Different media were evaluated where the EnBase mineral salt medium resulted in 7.0 mg/L of active PalB. Protein secreted directly into the media was obtained using the constitutive glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAP) promoter for screening and production of PalB in P. pastoris. A protease sensitive fusion protein CBM-PalB (cellulose-binding module) was used as a model system. When optimised, the expression system resulted in 46 mg/L lipase in 72 hours in shake flask, 37 mg/L lipase in 28 hours in 96-deep-well plate format, and 2.9 g PalB per 10 L bioreactor cultivation. The E. coli expression system was used to express a small focused library of PalB variants, designed to prevent water from entering the active site through a hypothesised tunnel. Screening of the library was performed with a developed assay, allowing for simultaneous detection of both transacylation and hydrolytic activity. From the library a mutant S47L, in which the inner part of the tunnel was blocked, was found to catalyse transacylation of vinyl butyrate in 20 mM butanol 14 times faster than hydrolysis. Water tunnels, assisting water in reaching the active sites, were furthermore found by molecular modelling in many hydrolases. Molecular modelling showed a specific water tunnel in PalB. This was supported by experimental data, where the double mutant Q46A S47L catalysed transacylation faster than hydrolysis compared to the wild type PalB. / <p>QC 20100818</p>

I denna avhandling presenteras arbete utfört med enzymet humant karboanhydras II (HCAII). Enzymer är en typ av proteiner som accelererar (katalyserar) kemiska reaktioner, vilket är nödvändigt för allt levande. Den naturliga funktionen för HCAII är att katalysera omvandlingen av gasen koldioxid till vätekarbonat, som är löslig i vätska. Detta är viktigt bl.a. för att koldioxid som bildas i kroppen, och fraktas i blodet i form av vätekarbonat, skall hinna över till utandningsluften under den korta tid blodet är i lungorna. Proteiner består av aminosyror som länkats samman i en lång kedja, där varje aminosyra är en av de 20 naturliga aminosyratyperna. Ett proteins struktur och egenskaper bestäms av aminosyrasekvensen, som i sin tur bestäms av genen för just det proteinet. Med genteknik kan ett proteins gen ändras (muteras), så att aminosyrasekvensen ändras, och det har här utnyttjats för att förändra HCAIIs katalytiska egenskaper. Förutom dess naturliga funktion kan HCAII även klyva (hydrolysera) vissa estrar. Mutationer gjordes så att en ’ficka’ i HCAIIs struktur, där molekylerna (substraten) som skall klyvas binder, fick en större volym. På så sätt skapades varianter med en kraftigt ökad kapacitet för att hydrolysera långa estersubstrat jämfört med icke-muterat HCAII. Som en utveckling av detta projekt skapades en mutant av HCAII, som kan hydrolysera ett än mer skrymmande substrat. I ett annat projekt har en ny katalytisk aktivitet skapats i HCAII, som inte utnyttjar enzymets naturliga katalytiska förmåga. Ett nytt estersubstrat konstruerades, med en del som binder kraftigt till HCAII, så att en stark substratbindning erhölls. Sedan muterades vissa aminosyror till en reaktiv aminosyra som heter histidin. Valet av positioner för mutation baserades på en datormodell av enzymet med bundet substrat. Eftersom histidin kan delta i hydrolysreaktioner, får det muterade enzymet möjlighet att klyva substratet. Flera olika mutanter testades, och den effektivaste innehöll ett nära kopplat par av histidiner. Denna mutant undersöktes mer noggrannt, vilket gav viss information om den katalytiska mekanismen. Det långsiktiga målet med detta arbete är att konstruera muterade enzymer som kan klyva giftiga ämnen, eller användas vid framställning av kemikalier. Det finns behov av nya enzymer för olika typer av substrat, och att med rationella metoder skapa nya katalytiska aktiviteter i proteiner är ett svårt vetenskapligt problem som ännu är i ett tidigt utvecklingsskede. / The main part of this thesis describes results from protein engineering experiments, in which the catalytic activity of the enzyme human carbonic anhydrase II (HCAII) is engineered by mutagenesis. This enzyme, which catalyzes the interconversion between CO2 and HCO3- in the body, also has the ability to hydrolyze ester bonds. In one project, the specificity of HCAII towards a panel of para-nitrophenyl ester substrates, with acyl chain lengths ranging from one to five carbon atoms, was changed by enlarging the substrate binding hydrophobic pocket. A variant was identified that has highly increased specificity towards substrates with long acyl chains. The mutant V121A/V143A hydrolyzes pNPV, which has four carbon atoms in the acyl chain, with an efficiency that is increased by a factor of 3000 compared to HCAII. Further, transition state analogues (TSAs) were docked to HCAII and mutant variants, and the results were correlated to the results from kinetic measurements. This indicated that automated docking could be used to some extent to construct HCAII variants with a designed specificity. Using this approach, a HCAII mutant that can hydrolyze a model benzoate ester was created. Interestingly, the resulting variant V121A/V143A/T200A was found to be highly active with other ester substrates as well. For pNPA, a kcat/KM of 1*105 M-1s-1 was achieved, which is the highest efficiency for hydrolysis of carboxylic acid esters reported for any HCAII variant. In another project, the strong affinity between the active site zinc ion and sulfonamide was used to achieve binding of a designed substrate. Thus, the natural Zn-OH- site of HCAII was not used for catalysis, but for substrate binding. The substrate contains a benzenesulfonamide part in one end, with a para-nitrophenyl ester connected via a linker. The linker was chosen to ensure that the scissile bond is positioned close to His-64 and histidine residues introduced by mutagenesis in other positions. Using this approach, an enzyme was designed with a distinctly new two-histidine catalytic site for ester hydrolysis. The mutant, F131H/V135H, has a kcat/KM of approximately 14000 M-1s-1, which corresponds to a rate enhancement of 107 compared to a histidine mimic. Finally, results are reported on a project aimed at cloning and producing a putative carbonic anhydrase from the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The gene was cloned by PCR and the construct was overexpressed in E. coli. However, the resulting protein was not soluble, and initial attempts to refold it are also reported.

La découverte des Protéines Fluorescentes Phototransformables (PTFPs) issuesd’espèces anthozoaires a ouvert, grâce à leurs propriétés photophysiques particulières, unvaste champ d’investigation pour l'imagerie biologique de fluorescence. L'un des sousgroupesdes PTFPs est formé des protéines fluorescentes réversiblement photocommutables(RSFPs), qui peuvent être commutées réversiblement entre des états non-fluorescent etfluorescent. Le photoblanchiment est la perte définitive d’émission de fluorescence sousexcitation et est un phénomène commun à toutes les molécules fluorescentes. Lephotoblanchiment a un impact important sur la qualité des images de microscopie, notammenten imagerie de super-résolution. Les RSFPs ont tendance à perdre de leur performance àchaque cycle de commutation, un processus dénommé “photofatigue”. Notre intérêt est centrésur l'étude des mécanismes de photofatigue des RSFPs.Nous avons rapporté les structures cristallographiques d’IrisFP photoblanchie par uneforte et une basse intensité d’illumination à température ambiante ainsi que les modificationsspectroscopiques associées. Nos résultats démontrent que différentes intensités d'excitationpeuvent donner lieu à différentes voies de photoblanchiment. Sous faible intensité d'excitation,une voie de photoblanchiment dépendante de l'oxygène a été mise en évidence. Lesmodifications structurales induites par la production d'oxygène singulet à l'intérieur de lapoche du chromophore ont révélé l'oxydation de deux résidus soufrés, Met159 et Cys171,piégeant le chromophore dans un état protoné non-fluorescent. Sous haute intensitéd'excitation, une voie de photoblanchiment oxygène-indépendante totalement différente a ététrouvée. Le Glu212, strictement conservé, subit une décarboxylation associée à un importantréarrangement du réseau de liaisons hydrogènes autour du chromophore, et un changementd’hybridation sp2 vers sp3 du carbone reliant les cycles du chromophore est observé. En tantque résidu clé impliqué dans le photoblanchiment induit par faible intensité d'excitation, nousavons muté Met159 en alanine afin d'éviter une sulfoxydation. Nous avons trouvé que lemutant IrisFP-M159A démontre une photostabilité améliorée en solution, en gel PVA et dansdes cellules E. coli. / The discovery of phototransformable FPs (PTFPs) from Anthozoa species, thanks totheir photophysical properties, has opened a large field in biological fluorescence imaging.One of the PTFPs’ sub-groups consists of Reversible Photoswitchable Fluorescent Proteins(RSFPs), which can be reversibly switched between nonfluorescent and fluorescent states.Photobleaching is the permanent loss of the fluorescence-emitting capacity under excitation,which is a common phenomenon among all the fluorescent molecules. Photobleaching has alarge impact on the microscopy image quality, notably on super-resolution imaging.Photoswitchable fluorescent proteins have a tendency to lose performance within everyswitching cycle, a process referred to as “photofatigue”. Our interest of study is focused onthe photobleaching mechanisms of RSFPs.We have reported the crystallographic structure of photobleached IrisFP under highand low illumination intensity at room temperature as well as its spectroscopic modifications.We found that different illumination intensities can result in different photobleachingpathways. Under low illumination intensity, an oxygen-dependent photobleaching pathwaywas evidenced. Structural modifications induced by singlet-oxygen production within thechromophore pocket revealed the oxidation of two sulfur-containing residues, Met159 andCys171, locking the chromophore in a nonfluorescent protonated state. Under highillumination intensity, a completely different, oxygen-independent photobleaching pathwaywas found. The conserved Glu212 underwent decarboxylation concomitantly with anextensive rearrangement of the H-bond network around the chromophore, and an sp2-to-sp3hybridization change of the carbon atom bridging the chromophore cyclic moieties wasobserved. As Met159 is the key residue involved in low-intensity illumination photobleaching,we have then mutated Met159 into Alanine in order to avoid sulfoxidation. We found that theIrisFP-M159A mutant display an enhanced photostability in solution, in PVA gel and inE.coli cells.

Monomeric red fluorescent proteins (RFPs) are used extensively for applications in molecular biology research, and are especially suited for whole body imaging applications due to their longer excitation and emission wavelengths, which are less damaging and penetrate deeper into animal tissue. However, these proteins suffer from reduced brightness compared to other fluorescent proteins, and require further engineering, which is often achieved through random methods, incurring large time and resource costs. Here we propose a rational design approach to improve the quantum yield of RFPs by reducing conformational variability of the chromophore. We engineered mRojoA, a mutant containing a π-stack involving Tyr197 and the chromophore phenolate, to include the P63F/H/Y mutations on its other side, by simultaneously mutating neighbouring positions 16, 143, and 163. The brightest mutants that we found in each library, mRojo-VYGV, mRojo-VFAV, and mRojo-VHSV, exhibited 1.8- to 2.4-fold increases in brightness, and quantum yield increases of up to 2.1-fold. In all three mutants, the increases in brightness were predominantly due to improvements in the quantum yield and not the extinction coefficient. Solving the crystal structures of two of these mutants along with a dim variant allowed us to strongly infer a link between rigidity of the chromophore and increased quantum yield. In addition, back-mutating position 63 in the highest quantum yield mutant, mRojo-VYGV, reversed the improvement in quantum yield, indicating that Y63 was the primary residue responsible for the improved brightness of the protein. Unfortunately, the mCherry-VYGV mutant did not achieve a similar increase in quantum yield or brightness. This is likely due to the lack of a second bulky aromatic residue at position 197, which is present in mRojoA. Nevertheless, this rational approach could be applied to some other RFPs whose chromophores exhibit increased conformational variability in order to further improve their brightness.

Red fluorescent proteins (RFPs) are used extensively in biological research because their longer emission wavelengths are less phototoxic and allow deeper imaging of animal tissue. However, far-red RFPs generally display low brightness, emphasizing the need to develop brighter variants. Here, we investigate three approaches to rigidify the RFP chromophore to increase the quantum yield, and thereby brightness. We first used computational protein design on a maturation-efficient mRojo-VHSV variant previously engineered in our lab to introduce a Superdecker motif, a parallel pi-stack comprising aromatic residue side chains and the phenolate moiety of the chromophore, which we hypothesized would enhance chromophore packing and reduce non-radiative decay. The best mutants identified showed up to 1.7-fold higher quantum yield at pH 9, relative to their parent protein. We next postulated that brightness could be further increased by rigidifying the chromophore via branched aliphatic residues. Computational protein design was performed on a dim mCherry variant, mRojoA, followed by directed evolution on the brightest mutant. The combination of these methodologies yielded mSandy2, the brightest Discosoma-derived monomeric RFP with an emission maximum above 600 nm. Finally, we aimed to increase brightness by focusing on positions where residue rigidity correlated to quantum yield in mCherry-related RFPs according to NMR data that had been previously acquired in our lab. Combinatorial site-saturation mutagenesis was performed on two different surface patches of mCherry at positions 144/145/198 and 194/196/220. Our results demonstrated that surface residues may not be adequate targets for this approach. Altogether, the work herein presents unique rational design methodologies that can be used to increase brightness in RFPs.

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a type 1 transmembrane protein that has been reported to play a vital role in mediating suppressed immunity. The interaction between PD-L1 and PD-1 delivers a negative signal that reduces the proliferation of these T cells and induces apoptosis at the same time. Antibodies that can block the Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor cells have been shown to alleviate cancer-induced immunosuppression. While antibodies have a great potential in various therapeutic uses, many drawbacks such as the high cost of production, huge molecular size, and poor permeability impose restrictions on the extensive use of full-length antibodies. These limitations have necessitated research for finding alternatives to antibodies, such as peptides, that have lower molecular weight and similar properties as antibodies but do not have the lengthy and complicated approach of producing antibodies. In this study, a novel approach based on molecular interactions of the PD1-PD-L1 complex was developed to design peptides against PD-L1 using Knob-Socket model as basis. Three generations of peptides, α-helix, over-packed and salt bridge function peptides, were designed. All designed peptides were docked in the Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) and the AutoDock Vina software for the docking energy and the detail interaction information. Synthesis and characterization of selected peptides were performed after simulation studies. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) studies showed that α-helix and over-packed peptides can’t bind to the PD-L1 protein with no response on sensorgrams, while peptides with salt bridge function had a higher binding response than those two generations of peptides. In confocal microscopic studies, PD-L1 positive breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was used to determine the binding specificity of the salt bridge function peptides to PD-L1 in vitro, while another breast cancer cell line (MCF-7, without PD-L1) was used as a control. After incubation with peptides, significant fluorescence intensities were detected on the MDA-MB-231 cells, while only background fluorescence was observed on MCF-7 cells. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that peptides against PD-L1 designed using the Knob-Socket model and molecular interaction between PD-L1-PD1 complex showed feasibility to bind specifically with PD-L1 receptors.

Just twenty years after its entry into the World Bank and IMF, China had joined over 50 international organizations (IO) and had become involved with 1,275 international non-governmental organizations (INGOS). Previously one of the least connected states in the world, China is now one of the most connected on the measure of IO membership. Importantly, China’s behavior within IOs has “varied from symbolic to substantive” at various stages in its global participation. Consequently, China has exhibited a dichotomy of puzzling behavior in its interaction in IOs. Sometimes it complies when doing so appeared counter to internal interests, while other times it has undermined organizations it has greatly benefited from. These patterns have not always been consistent either since its participation has varied over time within different organizations. Why does China’s behavior within these organizations vary? Why does China join or create new IOs when it is already a member of a similar organization? I build upon a diverse body of political science research arguing that China looks beyond the satisficing aspect of whether the IO is good enough, and more to how its behavior can optimize achieving its desired interests. My theory posits that in the context of relative shifts in power, variation in China’s IO behaviors is predicated by the extent to which IOs conform to China’s national interests. This rational behavior approach (RBA) outlines four strategies: rule-taking, rule-breaking, rule-changing, and rulemaking. Furthermore, I argue that as an emerging state’s relative power increases over time, so does its bargaining power, leading to a more assertive rule-changing behavior as it attempts to adapt the organization to allow its ascendancy as a rule-maker. My research explores 40 years of the PRC’s participation within the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund drawing from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with WB China directors, IMF China directors, the Chief Counsel for AIIB’s establishment, a WB president, Department of Treasury and State representatives, and Chinese nationals who have held key positions in both WB and IMF staff. This research also includes reviews of secondary literature exploring China’s interaction within these organizations and analysis of 40 years of annual reports, consultations, and transcripts obtained from archived organizational records. / Political Science

Catechol 1,2-Dioxygenase from Rhodococcus opacus is a type of intradiol dioxygenase enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of catechol to cis, cis muconic acid. This enzymatic conversion has the potential to be useful in a number of different applications such as treating wastewater contaminated with aromatic compounds to creating a greener method to produce cis, cis muconic acid which can be used to make a number of industrially important base chemicals. However, for enzymes to be used in industrial conditions, they must be highly stable. The experimental chapters in this thesis explore whether this enzyme can be stabilized to meet industrial requirements while minimizing any loss in catalytic activity. Through the studies described in Chapter 2, a mutant enzyme was generated through disulfide bond engineering with significantly improved thermostability. However overall catalytic activity was reduced. Toward addressing this loss of catalytic activity, in Chapter 3, attempts were made to implement state-of-the-art genetic code expansion strategies to increase catalytic activity of the enzymes. However, these attempts were unsuccessful. Finally, Chapter 4 describes how future stability engineering could be optimized using design pipelines similar to the one developed in this study. Additionally, it describes possible additional optimizations toward making the application of these enzymes cost effective in the near future.

The goals of this research were 1) to produce hydrogen in high yields from cellulosic materials and water by synthetic pathway biotranformation (SyPaB), and 2) to increase the hydrogen production rate to a level comparable to microbe-based methods (~ 5 mmol H2/L/h). Cell-free SyPaB is a new biocatalysis technology that integrates a number of enzymatic reactions from four different metabolic pathways, e.g. glucan phosphorylation, pentose phosphate pathway, gluconeogenesis, and hydrogenase-catalyzed hydrogen production, so as to release 12 mol hydrogen per mol glucose equivalent. To ensure the artificial enzymatic pathway would work for hydrogen production, thermodynamic analysis was firstly conducted, suggesting that the artificial enzymatic pathway would spontaneously release hydrogen from cellulosic materials. A kinetic model was constructed to assess the rate-limited step(s) through metabolic control analysis. Three phosphorylases, i.e. α-glucan phosphorylase, cellobiose phosphorylase, and cellodextrin phosphorylase, were cloned from a thermophile Clostridium thermocellum, and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and characterized in detail. Finally, up to 93% of hydrogen was produced from cellulosic materials (11.2 mol H2/mol glucose equivalent). A nearly 20-fold enhancement in hydrogen production rates has been achieved by increasing the rate-limiting hydrogenase concentration, increasing the substrate loading, and elevating the reaction temperature slightly from 30 to 32°C. The hydrogen production rates were higher than those of photobiological systems and comparable to the rates reported in dark fermentations. Now the hydrogen production is limited by the low stabilities and low activities of various phosphorylases. Therefore, non-biologically based methods have been applied to prolong the stability of α-glucan phosphorylases. The catalytic potential of cellodextrin phosphorylase has been improved to degrade insoluble cellulose by fusion of a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) family 9 from Thermotoga maritima Xyn10A. The inactivation halftime of C. thermocellum cellobiose phosphorylase has been enhanced by three-fold at 70°C via a combination of rational design and directed evolution. The phosphorylases with improved properties would work as building blocks for SyPaB and enabled large-scale enzymatic production of cellulosic hydrogen. / Ph. D.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an essential enzyme with an evolutionary conserved function: to terminate nerve signaling by rapid hydrolysis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. AChE is an important target for insecticides. Vector control by the use of insecticide-based interventions is today the main strategy for controlling mosquito-borne diseases that affect millions of people each year. However, the efficiency of many insecticides is challenged by resistant mosquito populations, lack of selectivity and off-target toxicity of currently used compounds. New selective and resistance-breaking insecticides are needed for an efficient vector control also in the future. In the work presented in this thesis, we have combined structural biology, biochemistry and medicinal chemistry to characterize mosquito AChEs and to develop selective and resistance-breaking inhibitors of this essential enzyme from two disease-transmitting mosquitoes.We have identified small but important structural and functional differences between AChE from mosquitoes and AChE from vertebrates. The significance of these differences was emphasized by a high throughput screening campaign, which made it evident that the evolutionary distant AChEs display significant differences in their molecular recognition. These findings were exploited in the design of new inhibitors. Rationally designed and developed thiourea- and phenoxyacetamide-based non-covalent inhibitors displayed high potency on both wild type and insecticide insensitive AChE from mosquitoes. The best inhibitors showed over 100-fold stronger inhibition of mosquito than human AChE, and proved insecticide potential as they killed both adult and larvae mosquitoes.We show that mosquito and human AChE have different molecular recognition and that non-covalent selective inhibition of AChE from mosquitoes is possible. We also demonstrate that inhibitors can combine selectivity with sub-micromolar potency for insecticide resistant AChE.