Structure and dynamics of a primordial catalytic fold generated by in vitro evolution.
Chao, F.A., Morelli, A., Iii, J.C., Churchfield, L., Hagmann, L.N., Shi, L., Masterson, L.R., Sarangi, R., Veglia, G., Seelig, B.(2013) Nat Chem Biol 9: 81-83
- PubMed: 23222886 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1138
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
2LZE - PubMed Abstract: 
Engineering functional protein scaffolds capable of carrying out chemical catalysis is a major challenge in enzyme design. Starting from a noncatalytic protein scaffold, we recently generated a new RNA ligase by in vitro directed evolution. This artificial enzyme lost its original fold and adopted an entirely new structure with substantially enhanced conformational dynamics, demonstrating that a primordial fold with suitable flexibility is sufficient to carry out enzymatic function.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.