Molecular basis of cold adaptation
Molecular basis of cold adaptation
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2002.1105
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发表时间：
2002-07-29
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
Gerday, C
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
D'Amico, S;Claverie, P;Gerday, C
适应寒冷或嗜冷的生物能够在永久寒冷的环境中在低温下茁壮成长，这实际上是我们星球上最大比例的特征。嗜冷生物包括原核生物和真核生物，因此在生物世界中占很大比例。这些生物产生冷进化的酶，这些酶部分能够科普低温引起的化学反应速率降低。通常，冷活性酶显示出高催化效率，然而，与低的热稳定性相关。在大多数情况下，对寒冷的适应是通过降低活化能来实现的，这可能源于所选区域或整个蛋白质结构的柔性增加。这种增强的可塑性似乎反过来是由嗜冷酶的弱热稳定性引起的。适应策略开始被理解感谢最近的进展，在阐明的分子特征的冷适应酶来自X射线晶体学，蛋白质工程和生物物理方法。近年来，嗜冷生物及其酶越来越引起科学界的关注，因为它们的特殊性质使它们在研究稳定性、灵活性和比活性之间存在的可能关系方面特别有用，并且作为生物技术目的的有价值的工具。
Cold-adapted, or psychrophilic, organisms are able to thrive at low temperatures in permanently cold environments, which in fact characterize the greatest proportion of our planet. Psychrophiles include both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and thus represent a significant proportion of the living world. These organisms produce cold-evolved enzymes that are partially able to cope with the reduction in chemical reaction rates induced by low temperatures. As a rule, cold-active enzymes display a high catalytic efficiency, associated however, with a low thermal stability. In most cases, the adaptation to cold is achieved through a reduction in the activation energy that possibly originates from an increased flexibility of either a selected area or of the overall protein structure. This enhanced plasticity seems in turn to be induced by the weak thermal stability of psychrophilic enzymes. The adaptation strategies are beginning to be understood thanks to recent advances in the elucidation of the molecular characteristics of cold-adapted enzymes derived from X-ray crystallography, protein engineering and biophysical methods. Psychrophilic organisms and their enzymes have, in recent years, increasingly attracted the attention of the scientific community due to their peculiar properties that render them particularly useful in investigating the possible relationship existing between stability, flexibility and specific activity and as valuable tools for biotechnological purposes.