Stabilizing and destabilizing proteins

摘要

The invention described herein is a method of identifying and changing amino acid residues that affect the stability of a protein and thereby to "adjust" the stability of a protein under particular conditions, e.g., to function at lower or higher temperatures. The residues modified in the method are chosen such that they are not in or interact with an active site or binding site of the protein, and therefore the mode of action or interaction of the protein on substrates remains unchanged. The method has wide applicability to any situation where a protein would be a better match to a pre-existing or new process if the functional optimum of the protein under particular conditions were different. Among others, the method is useful to produce proteins for bioremediation, food technology and enzymes for detergents.