We seek to develop a novel, direct, and generally applicable selection strategy for identifying enzymatic activity and specificity towards small-molecule, drug-like compounds. Both site-directed mutagenesis and combinatorial protein engineering (directed evolution) have successfully improved biocatalysts, however, full utilization of directed evolution is hampered by the lack of a general selection strategy to identify variants with improved properties. Our method comprises two steps: i) a nuclear receptor is engineered to activate transcription in response to a small-molecule reaction product, coupling the presence of the small molecule to survival of a microbe (i.e. genetic selection); ii) an enzyme is engineered through genetic selection to catalyze formation of the desired product. While applicable to any small molecule-enzyme pair, in this project we develop the method on the enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of beta-lactam antibiotics. This proposal seeks to improve ligand-activated growth (Aim 1), to develop enzyme-activated growth (Aim 2), to enhance enzyme substrate specificity to include beta-lactamase-resistant structures (Aim 3), and to synthesize biocatalytically a synthetic antibiotic currently not accessible through enzymatic synthesis (Aim 4). Our long-range goal is the application of this method to any drug-like target molecule, including non-lactam-based antibiotics and other drug classes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI064817-05
Application #
7738881
Study Section
Synthetic and Biological Chemistry A Study Section (SBCA)
Program Officer
Huntley, Clayton C
Project Start
2005-12-01
Project End
2010-11-30
Budget Start
2009-12-01
Budget End
2010-11-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$314,517
Indirect Cost
Name
Georgia Institute of Technology
Department
Chemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
097394084
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30332
Gryder, Berkley E; Rood, Michael K; Johnson, Kenyetta A et al. (2013) Histone deacetylase inhibitors equipped with estrogen receptor modulation activity. J Med Chem 56:5782-96
Blum, Janna K; Ricketts, M Daniel; Bommarius, Andreas S (2012) Improved thermostability of AEH by combining B-FIT analysis and structure-guided consensus method. J Biotechnol 160:214-21
Shaffer, Hally Anne; Rood, Michael Kenneth; Kashlan, Badar et al. (2012) BAPJ69-4A: a yeast two-hybrid strain for both positive and negative genetic selection. J Microbiol Methods 91:22-9
Ousley, Amanda M; Castillo, Hilda S; Duraj-Thatte, Anna et al. (2011) A human vitamin D receptor mutant activated by cholecalciferol. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 125:202-10
Bommarius, Andreas S; Blum, Janna K; Abrahamson, Michael J (2011) Status of protein engineering for biocatalysts: how to design an industrially useful biocatalyst. Curr Opin Chem Biol 15:194-200
Rogers, Thomas A; Bommarius, Andreas S (2010) Utilizing Simple Biochemical Measurements to Predict Lifetime Output of Biocatalysts in Continuous Isothermal Processes. Chem Eng Sci 65:2118-2124
Blum, Janna K; Deaguero, Andria L; Perez, Carolina V et al. (2010) Ampicillin Synthesis Using a Two-Enzyme Cascade with Both ?-Amino Ester Hydrolase and Penicillin G Acylase. ChemCatChem 2:987-991
Blum, Janna K; Bommarius, Andreas S (2010) Amino ester hydrolase from Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, ATCC 33913 for enzymatic synthesis of ampicillin. J Mol Catal B Enzym 67:21-28
Rogers, Thomas A; Daniel, Roy M; Bommarius, Andreas S (2009) Deactivation of TEM-1 ?-Lactamase Investigated by Isothermal Batch and Non-Isothermal Continuous Enzyme Membrane Reactor Methods. ChemCatChem 1:131-137
Polizzi, Karen M; Chaparro-Riggers, Javier F; Vazquez-Figueroa, Eduardo et al. (2006) Structure-guided consensus approach to create a more thermostable penicillin G acylase. Biotechnol J 1:531-6