Abstract
Improving the thermostability of the luciferase from firefly (Photinus pyralis) needs to be solved to broaden its industrial applications. In this paper, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were used to identify 4 amino acid substitutions (P183V, E325K, Q338V, and E354K) which might have a significant influence on the thermostability of luciferase. Root-mean-square deviation values were calculated to further evaluate the effect of these mutations on thermostability of the enzyme and demonstrated that the thermostability of the corresponding protein variants was in the order E354K > E325K > WT > P183V > Q338V. Following the MD simulation, the enzyme variants were expressed in a recombinant host, and the results showed that the t1/2, T50, and Tm of mutant E354K were increased 2.32-fold, and 4.5 and 3.3°C more compared with the wild type, respectively. MD simulations, as well as circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy were further applied to elucidate the conformational differences between the wild-type and E354K luciferases. The results indicated that a possible explanation for the improved thermostability of E354K enzyme lies in the formation of a salt bridge between Lys354 and Glu311 and alteration of protein conformation.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Fraga, H., Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2008, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 146–158.
Niwa, K., Ichino, Y., Kumata, S., Nakajima, Y., Hiraishi, Y., Kato, D., et al., Photochem Photobiol., 2010, vol. 86, no. 5, pp. 1046–1049.
Yamakawa, Y., Ueda, H., Kitayama, A., and Nagamune, T., J. Biosci. Bioeng., 2002, vol. 93, no. 6, pp. 537–642.
Kim, H.K., Cho, E.J., Jo, S., M., Sung, B.R., Lee, S., and Yun, S., Curr. Genet., 2012, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 179–189.
Brogan, J., Li, F., Li, W., He, Z., Huang, Q., and Li, C.Y., Radiat. Res., 2012, vol. 177, no. 4, pp. 508–513.
Mollania, N., Khajeh, K., Ranjbar, B., and Hosseinkhani, S., Enzyme Microb. Tech., 2011, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 446–452.
Madan, B. and Mishra, P., Biochem. Eng. J., 2014, vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 276–282.
Liu, J., Yu, H., and Shen, Z., J. Mol. Graph. Model., 2009, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 529–535.
Pikkemaat, M.G., Linssen, A.B., Berendsen, H.J., and Janssen, D.B., Protein Eng., 2002, vol. 15, no. 3, pp: 185–192.
Bayram Akcapinar, G., Venturini, A., Martelli, P.L., Casadio, R., and Sezerman, U.O., Protein. Eng. Des. Sel., 2015, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 127–135.
Tian, J., Wang, P., Gao, S., Chu, X., Wu, N., and Fan, Y., FEBS J., 2010, vol. 277, no. 23, pp. 4901–4908.
Zhu, F., Zhuang, Y., Wu, B., Li, J., and He, B., Appl. Biochem. Biotech., 2015, vol. 178, no. 4, pp. 725–738.
Van der Spoel, D., Lindahl, E., Hess, B., Groenhof, G., Mark, A.E., and Berendsen, H.J., J. Comput. Chem., 2005, vol., 26, no. 16, pp. 1701–1718.
Franks, N.P., Jenkins, A., Conti, E., Lieb, W.R., and Brick, P., Biophys. J, 1998, vol. 75, no. 5, pp. 2205–2211.
Essmann, U., Perera, L., and Berkowitz, M.L., J. Chem. Phys., 1995, vol. 103, no. 19, pp. 8577–8593.
Koksharov, M.I. and Ugarova, N.N., Protein. Eng. Des. Sel., 2011, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 835–844.
Yu, H., Zhao, Y., Guo, C., Gan, Y., and Huang, H., Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 2015, vol. 1854, no. 1, pp. 65–72.
Jia, R., Hu, Y., Liu, L., Jiang, L., Zou, B., and Huang, H., ACS. Catal., 2013, vol. 3, no. 9, pp. 1976–1983.
Modestova, Y., Koksharov, M.I., and Ugarova, N.N., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 2014, vol. 1844, no. 9, pp. 1463–1471.
Yang, J.T., Wu, C.S.C., and Martinez, H.M., Method. Enzymol., 1986, vol. 130, no. 4, pp. 208–269.
Amini-Bayat, Z., Hosseinkhani, S., Jafari, R. and Khajeh, K., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 2012, vol. 1824, no. 2, pp. 350–358.
Duan, X., Cheng, S., Ai, Y., and Wu, J., PLoS One, 2016, vol. 11, no. 2. e0149208.
Lee, C.F., Makhatadze, G.I., and Wong, K.B., Biochemistry, 2005, vol. 44, no. 51, pp. 16817–16825.
Karimzadeh, S., Moradi, M., and Hosseinkhani, S., Int. J. Biol. Macromol., 2012, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 837–844.
Yang, X., Jiang, L., Jia, Y., Hu, Y., Xu Q., Xu X., and Huang, H., PLoS One, 2016, vol. 11, no. 3. e0152275.
Chen, J., Yu, H., Liu, C., Liu, J., and Shen, Z., J. Biotechnol., 2012, vol. 164, no. 2, pp. 354–362.
Roseata, Z., Khajeh, K., Monajjemi, M., and Ghaemi, N., J. Microbiol. Biotech., 2013, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 7–14.
Chen, Z., Fu, Y., Xu, W., and Li, M., Math. Probl. Eng., 2013, vol. 2013, pp. 1–12.
Alipour, B.S., Hosseinkhani, S., Ardestanib, S.K., and Moradia, A., Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2009, vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 847–855.
Tafreshi, N.Kh., Sadeqhizadeh, M., Emamzadeh, R., Ranjbar, B., Naderi-Manesh, H., and Hosseinkhani, S., Biochem. J., 2008, vol. 412, no. 1, pp. 27–33.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
The article is published in the original.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, Q., Si, M., Zhang, Z. et al. Rational Side-Chain Amino Acid Substitution in Firefly Luciferase for Improved Thermostability. Appl Biochem Microbiol 54, 584–590 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0003683819010204
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0003683819010204