Scientists developed a new method for improvement of the functional characteristics of enzymes
International team of scientists from Czech Republic, Germany and Japan developed a new method for improvement of the qualities of enzymes. The method has a wide scope of use in the chemical industry, medicine or food industry. The procedure has been published in the August issue of prestigious scientific magazine Nature Chemical Biology.
The modified enzymes can be used for example for disposal of highly harmful chemical substances which get into the environment by human activity and have very negative influence on health of humans and animals. The nature can not cope with these chemicals and the scientists found the way how to remove them efficiently out of the environment.
The principle of the discovery is based on genetic manipulation of the enzyme which is starting and accelerating chemical reaction. „Now we can use genetic modifications for changing the qualities of the enzymes so they can faster and more easily dispose harmful substances in the environment,” told Jiri Damborsky, the leader of the team of Institute of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University. So far the scientists had focused during the modification of the enzyme qualities on the site in its structure where the chemical reaction happens. The new method is based on the modification of so called access tunnels. Using this way the decomposed substance gets inside to the active site.
The scientists verified the procedure by constructing the enzyme decomposing highly toxic substance TCP (Trichloropropane). This colourless liquid is a secondary product of chemical production. It can resist in the soil or underground waters more than 100 years, it is highly toxic for water organisms and contributes to genesis of human cancer. Using the new method the protein engineers developed an enzyme capable to decompose this substance 32times faster.
But the method has much wider scope of use then just in the fight with harmful substances and in the environmental protection. The targeted modification of enzymatic structure in the sites important for its function can change the qualities of enzymes utilized in different areas. The method can be used for improving of the qualities of the enzymes used in biomedicine, chemical industry and food industry. Scientific teams from Institute Pasteur in France, University of Vienna in Austria or Weizmann Institute in Israel have already evinced the interests in the method.