Database Commons

a catalog of worldwide biological databases

BACKGROUND: The Lipase Engineering Database (LED) integrates information on sequence, structure and function of lipases, esterases and related proteins with the alpha/beta hydrolase fold. A new superfamily for Candida antarctica lipase A (CALA) was introduced including the recently published crystal structure of CALA. Since CALA has a highly divergent sequence in comparison to other alpha/beta hydrolases, the Lipase Engineering Database was used to classify CALA in the frame of the already established classification system. This involved the comparison of CALA to similar structures as well as sequence-based comparisons against the content of the LED.
RESULTS: The new release 3.0 (December 2009) of the Lipase Engineering Database contains 24783 sequence entries for 18585 proteins as well as 656 experimentally determined protein structures, including the structure of CALA. In comparison to the previous release 1 with 4322 protein and 167 structure entries this update represents a significant increase in data volume. By comparing CALA to representative structures from all superfamilies, a structure from the deacetylase superfamily was found to be most similar to the structure of CALA. While the alpha/beta hydrolase fold is conserved in both proteins, the major difference is found in the cap region. Sequence alignments between both proteins show a sequence similarity of only 15%. A multisequence alignment of both protein families was used to create hidden Markov models for the cap region of CALA and showed that the cap region of CALA is unique among all other proteins of the alpha/beta hydrolase fold. By specifically comparing the substrate binding pocket of CALA to other binding pockets of alpha/beta hydrolases, the binding pocket of Candida rugosa lipase was identified as being highly similar. This similarity also applied to the lid of Candida rugosa lipase in comparison to the potential lid of CALA.
CONCLUSION: The LED serves as a valuable tool for the systematic analysis of single proteins or protein families. The updated release 3.0 was used for the evaluation of alpha/beta hydrolases. The HTML version of the database with new features is available at http://www.led.uni-stuttgart.de and provides sequences, structures and a set of analysis tools including phylogenetic trees and HMM profiles.

Aspergillus niger lipase (ANL) is an important biocatalyst in the food processing industry. However, there is no report of its detailed three-dimensional structure because of difficulties in crystallization. In this article, based on experimental data and bioinformational analysis results, the structural features of ANL were simulated. Firstly, two recombinant ANLs expressed in Pichia pastoris were purified to homogeneity and their corresponding secondary structure compositions were determined by circular dichroism spectra. Secondly, the primary structure, the secondary structure and the three-dimensional structure of ANL were modeled by comparison with homologous lipases with known three-dimensional structures using the BioEdit software, lipase engineering database (http://www.led.uni-stuttgart.de/), PSIPRED server and SwissModel server. The predicted molecular structure of ANL presented typical features of the alpha/beta hydrolase fold including positioning of the putative catalytic triad residues and the GXSXG signature motif. Comparison of the predicted three-dimensional structure of ANL with the X-ray three-dimensional structure of A. niger feruloyl esterase showed that the functional difference of interfacial activation between lipase and esterase was concerned with the difference in position of the lid. Our three-dimensional model of ANL helps to modify lipase structure by protein engineering, which will further expand the scope of application of ANL.

Epoxide hydrolases (EC 3.3.2.3) are ubiquitous enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of epoxides to the corresponding vicinal diols. More than 100 epoxide hydrolases (EH) have been identified or predicted, and 3 structures are available. Although they catalyze the same chemical reaction, sequence similarity is low. To identify conserved regions, all EHs were aligned. Phylogenetic analysis identified 12 homologous families, which were grouped into 2 major superfamilies: the microsomal EH superfamily, which includes the homologous families of Mammalian, Insect, Fungal, and Bacterial EHs, and the cytosolic EH superfamily, which includes Mammalian, Plant, and Bacterial EHs. Bacterial EHs show a high sequence diversity. Based on structure comparison of three known structures from Agrobacterium radiobacter AD1 (cytosolic EH), Aspergillus niger (microsomal EH), Mus musculus (cytosolic EH), and multisequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of 95 EHs, the modular architecture of this enzyme family was analyzed. Although core and cap domain are highly conserved, the structural differences between the EHs are restricted to only two loops: the NC-loop connecting the core and the cap and the cap-loop, which is inserted into the cap domain. EHs were assigned to either of three clusters based on loop length. By using this classification, core and cap region of all EHs, NC-loops and cap-loops of 78% and 89% of all EHs, respectively, could be modeled. Representative models are available from the Lipase Engineering Database, http://www.led.uni-stuttgart.de.

The epoxide hydrolases and haloalkane dehalogenases database (EH/HD) integrates sequence and structure of a highly diverse protein family, including mainly the Asp-hydrolases of EHs and HDs but also proteins, such as Ser-hydrolases non-heme peroxidases, prolyl iminopetidases and 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde hydrolases. These proteins have a highly conserved structure, but display a remarkable diversity in sequence and function. A total of 305 protein entries were assigned to 14 homologous families, forming two superfamilies. Annotated multisequence alignments and phylogenetic trees are provided for each homologous family and superfamily. Experimentally derived structures of 19 proteins are superposed and consistently annotated. Sequence and structure of all 305 proteins were systematically analysed. Thus, deeper insight is gained into the role of a highly conserved sequence motifs and structural elements.
AVAILABILITY: The EH/HD database is available at http://www.led.uni-stuttgart.de

The Lipase Engineering Database (LED) (http://www.led.uni-stuttgart.de) integrates information on sequence, structure, and function of lipases, esterases, and related proteins. Sequence data on 806 protein entries are assigned to 38 homologous families, which are grouped into 16 superfamilies with no global sequence similarity between each other. For each family, multisequence alignments are provided with functionally relevant residues annotated. Pre-calculated phylogenetic trees allow navigation inside superfamilies. Experimental structures of 45 proteins are superposed and consistently annotated. The LED has been applied to systematically analyze sequence-structure-function relationships of this vast and diverse enzyme class. It is a useful tool to identify functionally relevant residues apart from the active site residues, and to design mutants with desired substrate specificity.