Protein engineering of conger eel galectins by tracing of molecular evolution using probable ancestral mutants.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Conger eel galectins, congerin I (ConI) and congerin II (ConII), show the different molecular characteristics resulting from accelerating evolution. We recently reconstructed a probable ancestral form of congerins, Con-anc. It showed properties similar to those of ConII in terms of thermostability and carbohydrate recognition specificity, although it shares a higher sequence similarity with ConI than ConII.

Results

In this study, we have focused on the different amino acid residues between Con-anc and ConI, and have performed the protein engineering of Con-anc through site-directed mutagenesis, followed by the molecular evolution analysis of the mutants. This approach revealed the functional importance of loop structures of congerins: (1) N- and C-terminal and loo

SUBMITTER: Konno A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2843614 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature