High-throughput screening methodology for the directed evolution of glycosyltransferases.

Engineering of glycosyltransferases (GTs) with desired substrate specificity for the synthesis of new oligosaccharides holds great potential for the development of the field of glycobiology. However, engineering of GTs by directed evolution methodologies is hampered by the lack of efficient screening systems for sugar-transfer activity. We report here the development of a new fluorescence-based high-throughput screening (HTS) methodology for the directed evolution of sialyltransferases (STs). Using this methodology, we detected the formation of sialosides in intact Escherichia coli cells by selectively trapping the fluorescently labeled transfer products in the cell and analyzing and sorting the resulting cell population using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). We screened a library of >10(6) ST mutants using this methodology and found a variant with up to 400-fold higher catalytic efficiency for transfer to a variety of fluorescently labeled acceptor sugars, including a thiosugar, yielding a metabolically stable product.

Determination of long-range distances and dynamic order parameters by dipolar recoupling in high-resolution magic-angle spinning NMR spectroscopy.

By introducing dipolar recoupling methods to high-resolution magic-angle spinning (HRMAS) NMR spectroscopy, a class of experiments has been delevoped that allows the measurement of residual dipole-dipole couplings of approximately 1 Hz in weakly immobilized molecules. Using homonuclear 1H-1H recoupling, distances of up to approximately 8 A can be selectively determined, while heteronuclear 1H-13C recoupling provides access to dynamic order parameters of individual molecular segments on the order of approximately 10-3. The experiments are demonstrated on functionalized oligopeptides that are attached to polymer resins.

PFG-assisted selection and suppression of 1H NMR signals in the solid state under fast MAS.

Under fast MAS conditions, techniques for 1H signal selection and suppression, which have originally been developed for solution-state NMR, become applicable to solids. In this work, we describe how WATERGATE and DANTE pulse sequences can be used under MAS to selectively excite or suppress peaks in 1H solid-state spectra. As known from the liquid-state analogues, signal selection and/or suppression is supported by pulsed-field gradients which selectively dephase and rephase transverse magnetisation. Under MAS, the required field gradients are provided by a simple pair of coils which have been built into a standard fast-MAS probe. PFG-assisted techniques enable efficient selection or suppression of 1H peaks in a single transient of the pulse sequence without the need for phase cycles. Therefore, these tools can readily be incorporated into solid-state MAS NMR experiments, which is demonstrated here for 1H-1H double-quantum NMR spectra of supramolecular systems. In the examples presented here, the 1H signals of interest are relatively weak and need to be observed despite the presence of the strong 1H signal of long alkyl sidechains. PFG-assisted suppression of this strong perturbing signal is shown to be particularly useful for obtaining unambiguous results.

Dipolar recoupling in NOESY-type 1H-1H NMR experiments under HRMAS conditions.

[structure: see text]. The concept of dipolar recoupling is introduced to 1H-1H NOESY experiments performed under HRMAS conditions. Dipole-dipole couplings are selectively recoupled during the mixing period, while MAS ensures high resolution in the spectral dimensions. Incoherent dipolar exchange is replaced by amplified coherent processes, such that time scales for polarization transfer are shortened, and dipolar double-quantum techniques become applicable. In this way, dipole-dipole couplings, as well as J-couplings, can be individually measured.