酶分子在试管内的定向进化及其在手性有机物合成中的应用

本文扼要介绍了当今改进酶分子性能的有效手段--分子定向进化技术的基本方法如易错PCR和DNA洗牌,以及派生的一些新技术的原理与进展,并列举了在手性有机物合成中一些成功的实例,为该领域的研究与应用提供了一些新的信息.     

酶分子在试管内的定向进化及其在手性有机物合成中的应用

本文扼要介绍了当今改进酶分子性能的有效手段———分子定向进化技术的基本方法如易错PCR和DNA洗牌,以及派生的一些新技术的原理与进展,并列举了在手性有机物合成中一些成功的实例,为该领域的研究与应用提供了一些新的信息。     

单分子导电性质的研究进展

介绍了测量单个有机分子导电性质的一些进展,包括分子的尺寸效应、官能团效应、分子与电极的接触效应等,以及分子逻辑器件的初步研究.     

一种改进的分子连接性指数

通过修正分子连接性指数中的点价,使分子轨道理论与分子拓扑理论有机地结合起来,将分子连接性指数改进成为一种量子拓扑指数．实际计算表明,改进后的指数不但保留了原分子连接性指数的优点,而且还弥补了量化指数和分子拓扑指数的一些缺陷。     

原子和简单分子失电子后的体积变化

本文在对比分析一些分子及其一价阳离子的键长的基础上,运用分子轨道理论和共振论成功地解释了实验数据,以及部分分子的阳离子比相应分子的键长大的原因。并对分子失电子后体积变化的规律作了一些有益的探讨     

几类重要的免疫抗原糖脂分子研究进展

近些年来随着化学生物学的兴起, 对糖脂类化合物, 尤其是一些与免疫应答相关的糖脂分子的研究, 取得了重大的进展, 得到了一些很有意义的研究成果. 着重就几类可作为免疫抗原的糖脂分子的研究进展以及它们的生物学功能进行综述.     

自组装分子电子器件

自组装技术是解决有机功能分子与电极连接问题最有希望的技术之一,近-来在构筑分子电子器件中得到了越来越多的应用,成为分子电子学发展的一个重要方向.本文介绍了自组装技术在制备分子器件中的应用.并讨论了自组装分子器件的前景和面临的一些问题.     

关于分子特征形状的理论--Ⅰ. 一种定义分子特征形状的新方法

以分子中电子运动的经典转折点为依据 ,提出了分子的特征边界轮廓模型 ,定义了分子的特征边界轮廓 .借助于MELD从头计算程序 ,同自编程序相结合 ,精密估算了分子中与电子运动有关的一些物理量 ,如分子中一个电子所受到的作用势等 ,从而按此模型和定义绘出了平衡几何构型时分子的特征边界轮廓 ,并且对化学键的形成过程有一个形象直观的描绘     

界面超分子聚合

超分子聚合物诞生于高分子化学与超分子化学的交叉融合,一般是指单体间通过非共价键作用连接形成的聚合物,并在溶液或体相中表现出类似聚合物的性质。目前超分子聚合物一般通过均相溶液聚合制备得到,但溶液中的超分子聚合是一个自发的组装过程,具有浓度依赖性,组装过程不易可控。为解决此问题,研究人员可以将超分子聚合从均相溶液转移到界面,在界面上可控地制备超分子聚合物。通过界面聚合制备超分子聚合物具有一些独特的优势,如可以制备得到分子量更高的超分子聚合物,易于制备一些缺陷少、面积大、有序的二维超分子聚合物等。本文基于在液-液、气-液和固-液三种界面上制备超分子聚合物的一些代表性工作,介绍了界面超分子聚合方法和应用,并展望其未来发展。     

导电高聚物的分子设计问题

本文综述了导电高聚物分子设计的一些实验事实和必需考虑的因素。文章涉及的内容有分子性质与固体性质,共轭长度和链的取向与高电导的关系,对离子和离子交换,材料设计——溶解性、加工性和分子复合材料。     

浅谈2018年诺贝尔化学奖:驾驭进化的力量

In living organisms, protein functions are constantly evolving over generations throughout the history. Through iterative rounds of genetic mutations and natural selection of fit phenotypes, protein functions have been gradually optimized. This process could be mimicked and even greatly accelerated in the laboratory, when the selection pressure is directly applied to biomolecules of interest, which forms the basis of a technique called directed evolution. The Nobel Prize in chemistry 2018 was awarded jointly to Frances Arnold, George Smith and Gregory P. Winter for their pioneering contributions to the development and applications of directed evolution. Here we briefly review the history of this technique and its impact on renewable energy and pharmaceutical industry.     

Recent advances in biocatalysis by directed enzyme evolution

Naturally occurring enzymes are remarkable biocatalysts with numerous potential applications in industry and medicine. However, many of their catalyst properties often need to be further tailored to meet the specific requirements of a given application. Within this context, directed evolution has emerged over the past decade as a powerful tool for engineering enzymes with new or improved functions. This review summarizes recent advances in applying directed evolution approaches to alter various enzyme properties such as activity, selectivity (enantio- and regio-), substrate specificity, stability, and solubility. Special attention will be paid to the creation of novel enzyme activities and products by directed evolution.     

Miniaturizing chemistry and biology in microdroplets

By compartmentalizing reactions in aqueous microdroplets of water-in-oil emulsions, reaction volumes can be reduced by factors of up to 10(9) compared to conventional microtitre-plate based systems. This allows massively parallel processing of as many as 10(10) reactions in a total volume of only 1 ml of emulsion. This review describes the use of emulsions for directed evolution of proteins and RNAs, and for performing polymerase chain reactions (PCRs). To illustrate these applications we describe certain specific experiments, each of which exemplifies a different facet of the technique, in some detail. These examples include directed evolution of Diels-Alderase and RNA ligase ribozymes and several classes of protein enzymes, including DNA polymerases, phosphotriesterases, beta-galactosidases and thiolactonases. We also describe the application of emulsion PCR to screen for rare mutations and for new ultra-high throughput sequencing technologies. Finally, we discuss the recent development of microfluidic tools for making and manipulating microdroplets and their likely impact on the future development of the field.     

A Photoclick-Based High-Throughput Screening for the Directed Evolution of Decarboxylase OleT

Enzymatic oxidative decarboxylation is an up-and-coming reaction yet lacking efficient screening methods for the directed evolution of decarboxylases. Here, we describe a simple photoclick assay for the detection of decarboxylation products and its application in a proof-of-principle directed evolution study on the decarboxylase OleT. The assay was compatible with two frequently used OleT operation modes (directly using hydrogen peroxide as the enzyme's co-substrate or using a reductase partner) and the screening of saturation mutagenesis libraries identified two enzyme variants shifting the enzyme's substrate preference from long chain fatty acids toward styrene derivatives. Overall, this photoclick assay holds promise to speed-up the directed evolution of OleT and other decarboxylases.     

Directed evolution of a gatekeeper domain in nonribosomal peptide synthesis

Modular natural products are biosynthesized by series of enzymes that activate, assemble, and process a nascent chain of building blocks. Adenylation domains are gatekeepers in nonribosomal peptide biosynthesis, providing the entry point for assembly of typical peptide-based natural products. We report the directed evolution of an adenylation domain based on a strategy of using a weak, promiscuous activity as a springboard for reprogramming the biosynthetic assembly line. Randomization of residues invoked in a "specificity-conferring code" and selection for a non-native substrate lead to mutant G2.1, favoring smaller amino acids with a specificity change of 10(5): a 170-fold improvement for L-alanine corresponds to a 10(3)-fold decrease for its original substrate (L-phenylalanine). These results establish directed evolution as a method to change gatekeeper domain specificity and suggest that adaptation of modules in combinatorial biosynthesis is achievable with few mutations during evolution.     

Directed evolution of enzymes for product chemistry

This review discusses the achievements of directed evolution of enzymes relevant to natural and unnatural product chemistry focusing on the period 1998-2004, citing 156 references. A few selected papers published before 1998 are also cited for their fundamental relevance, together with additional reviews covering other aspects of directed evolution applied to closely related topics. An overview of the latest methods applied in directed evolution is given in the introduction, together with a range of approaches for the selection of variants of enzymes with desired catalytic properties. All classes of enzymes are systematically covered.     

Directed evolution of oxygenases: screening systems, success stories and challenges

The field of directed evolution of oxygenases (mono-, di- and epoxygenases) is rapidly advancing as an increasing number of success stories indicate. A significant number of screening systems have been developed to specifically improve oxygenase properties. Oxygenases will become very valuable biocatalysts for synthetic applications in industry when stability, cofactor and activity properties match industrial demands. This review summarizes screening systems and principles of screening systems that have been used for directed evolution of oxygenases. Sections on mutagenic conditions, mutant library size and property improvements provide a comprehensive picture on performance and limitations of current directed evolution methodologies for oxygenases. A discussion of challenges in the directed evolution of oxygenases for industrial exploitation concludes this review.     

Forty years of in vitro evolution

It has been 40 years since Spiegelman and co-workers demonstrated how RNA molecules can be evolved in the test tube. This result established Darwinian evolution as a chemical process and paved the way for the many directed evolution experiments that followed. Chemists can benefit from reflecting on Spiegelman's studies and the subsequent advances, which have taken the field to the brink of the generation of life itself in the laboratory. This Review summarizes the concepts and methods for the directed evolution of RNA molecules in vitro.