Impact of ancestral sequence reconstruction on mechanistic and structural enzymology

NICOLL CR; MASSARI M; FRAAIJE MW; MASCOTTI ML; MATTEVI A

Current Opinion in Structural Biology

Elsevier Ltd

Año: 2023 vol. 82

Ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) provides insight into the changes within a protein sequence across evolution. More specifically, it can illustrate how specific amino acid changes give rise to different phenotypes within a protein family. Over the last few decades it has established itself as a powerful technique for revealing molecular common denominators that govern enzyme function. Here, we describe the strength of ASR in unveiling catalytic mechanisms and emerging phenotypes for a range of different proteins, also highlighting biotechnological applications the methodology can provide.