Esterases with an Introduced Amidase‐Like Hydrogen Bond in the Transition State Have Increased Amidase Specificity

Abstract

By using rational design an amidase-like hydrogen bond (indicated by the arrow) was introduced into the transition states of Candida antarctica lipase B and Humicola insolens cutinase. The best mutant displayed a 50-fold increase in amide over ester bond hydrolysis compared to the wild type.