In Silico-Assisted Evolution of Transaminases and Chiral Amine Scale-Up
Chiral amines are important building blocks for a large range of industrially valuable compounds. An increasing number of chiral amines are prepared using enzymatic methods to avoid complex chemical synthesis [1].
Among several enzymatic approaches employed for the synthesis of optically active amines, transaminase (TAm) enzymes offer an attractive route to R and S chiral amines starting from readily available pro-chiral ketones. Rational protein engineering is a promising approach for achieving significant increase in the efficiency of biocatalysts tailored for specific industrial applications [2].
The present poster highlights in silico rational design as a rapid method to increase TAm activity towards hindered ketones. A significant improvement over wild type activity was achieved by screening small mutant libraries using high throughput UHPLC and colorimetric assays with ~30-fold increase in activity.
