Mar 1
Chemistry Department Seminar: Visiting Assistant Professor Candidate
"Enzymatic synthesis of non-standard amino acids: Bringing enzymes to the chemist’s toolbox!"
Amino acids are vital biological building blocks with many diverse functions in living
systems. The twenty canonical amino acids are used to make proteins and enzymes which
perform critical functions in biology. Beyond the canonical amino acids, there are hundreds of
modified or non-standard amino acids (nsAA) found in Nature that have many bioactive
properties. One such nsAA with biological relevance is the -hydroxy amino acid which is
difficult to synthesize synthetically. Turning to Nature, the PLP dependent enzyme, UstD, was
studied as a potential catalyst for practical and stereoselective synthesis of -hydroxy amino
acids. The activity of the enzyme was explored and enhanced using directed evolution and
protein engineering techniques to create a catalyst capable of catalyzing reactions beyond its
native function.