Biosynthesis of selenosubtilisin: A novel way to target selenium into the active site of subtilisin

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx, EC1.11.1.9), an important anti-oxidative selenoenzyme, can catalyze the reduction of harmful hydroperoxides with concomitant glutathione, thereby protecting cells and other biological issues against oxidative damage. It captures considerable interest in redesign of its function for either the mechanism study or the pharmacological development as an antioxidant. In order to develop a general strategy for specifically targeting and operating selenium in active sites of enzymes, the catalytically essential residue selenocysteine (Sec) was first successfully bioincorporated into the catalytic center of subtilisin by using an auxotrophic expression system. The studies of the catalytic activity and the steady-state kinetics demonstrated that selenosubtilisin is an excellent GPx-like biocatalyst. In comparison with the chemically modified method, biosynthesis exhibits obvious advantages: Sec could be site-directly incorporated into active sites of enzymes to overcome the non-specificity generated by chemical modification. This study provides an important strategy for specifically targeting and operating selenium in the active site of an enzyme. © 2008 Science in China Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH.