Functional studies and engineering of family 1 carbohydrate-binding modules

Abstract: The family 1 cellulose-binding modules (CBM1) form a groupof small, stable carbohydrate-binding proteins. These modulesare essential for fungal cellulosedegradation. This thesisdescribes both functional studies of the CBM1s as well asprotein engineering of the modules for several objectives.The characteristics and specificity of CBM1s from theTrichoderma reeseiCel7A and Cel6A, along with severalother wild type and mutated CBMs, were studied using bindingexperiments and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Datafrom the binding studies confirmed that the presence of onetryptophan residue on the CBM1 binding face enhances itsbinding to crystalline cellulose. The twoT. reeseiCBM1s as well as the CBM3 from theClostridium thermocellumCipA were investigated by TEMexperiments. All three CBMs were found to bind in lineararrangements along the sides of the fibrils. Further analysesof the bound CBMs indicated that the CBMs bind to the exposedhydrophobic surfaces, the so called (200) crystalline face ofValoniacellulose crystals.The function and specificity of CBM1s as a part of an intactenzyme were studied by replacing the CBM from the exo-actingCel7A by the CBM1 from the endoglucanase Cel7B. Apart fromslightly improved affinity of the hybrid enzyme, the moduleexchange did not significantly influence the function of theCel7A. This indicates that the two CBM1s are analogous in theirbinding properties and function during cellulosehydrolysis.The CBM1 was also used for immobilization studies. Toimprove heterologous expression of a CBM1-lipase fusionprotein, a linker stability study was carried out inPichia pastoris. A proline/threonine rich linker peptidewas found to be stable for protein production in this host. Forwhole bacterial cell immobilization, theT. reeseiCel6A CBM1 was expressed on the surface of thegram-positive bacteria,Staphylococcus carnosus. The engineeredS. carnosuscells were shown to bind cellulosefibers.To exploit the stable CBM1 fold as a starting point forgenerating novel binders, a phage display library wasconstructed. Binding proteins against an amylase as well asagainst a metal ion were selected from the library. Theamylase-binding proteins were found to bind and inhibit thetarget enzyme. The metal binding proteins selected from thelibrary were cloned on the surface of theS. carnosusand clearly enhanced the metal bindingability of the engineered bacteria.Keywords: cellulose-binding, family 1carbohydrate-binding module, phage display, bacterial surfacedisplay, combinatorial protein library, metal binding, proteinengineering,Trichoderma reesei, Staphyloccus carnosus.