P. Laurino

Engineered Oxalate decarboxylase boosts activity and stability for biological applications

This study engineers Oxalate decarboxylase to improve its activity and stability for medical applications in hyperoxaluria treatment.

Non-consecutive enzyme interactions within TCA cycle supramolecular assembly regulate carbon-nitrogen metabolism

The paper shows that non-consecutive TCA cycle enzymes MDH and ICD interact in droplets, enhancing ICD activity and affecting carbon-nitrogen metabolism in B. subtilis.

SUPREM: an engineered non-site-specific m6A RNA methyltransferase with highly improved efficiency

This paper engineers a non-site-specific m6A RNA methyltransferase, SUPREM, with improved efficiency, thermostability, and methylation activity compared to M.EcoGII.

Chemotactic interactions drive migration of membraneless active droplets

The paper demonstrates that chemotactic interactions drive the migration of membraneless active droplets by generating pH gradients, enabling collective behavior and potential applications in synthetic biology.

Beyond the Active Site: The addition of a remote loop reveals a new complex biological function for chitinase enzymes.

This study identifies a remote loop in GH19 chitinase that enables antifungal activity through a defined structure, revealing a new mechanism for enzyme function evolution.

Ultrahigh-affinity transport proteins from ubiquitous marine bacteria reveal mechanisms and global patterns of nutrient uptake

The paper identifies ultrahigh-affinity transport proteins in SAR11 bacteria, revealing their molecular mechanisms and global patterns of nutrient uptake in the ocean.

Nucleoside-driven specificity of DNA Methyltransferase

The paper studies the adenosine binding specificities of two bacterial DNA methyltransferases, showing differences in cofactor recognition and suggesting a new approach for designing unnatural cofactor analogs.

Insertions and deletions mediated functional divergence of Rossmann fold enzymes

The paper identifies how insertions and deletions in Rossmann fold enzymes drove coenzyme specificity shifts from NAD(P) to SAM, revealing evolutionary mechanisms for functional divergence.

Evolutionary repair reveals an unexpected role of the tRNA modification m1G37 in aminoacylation

This study uses experimental evolution to show that loss of the tRNA modification m1G37 in E. coli is tolerated via compensatory mutations in the proline-tRNA ligase gene proS, revealing ProRS as a gatekeeper of translational accuracy.

Cryptic genetic variations of alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase shape its fitness and dynamics

The paper investigates how genetic variations in AGT1 affect its conformational flexibility and fitness, revealing cryptic functions related to protein-protein interactions.

Sustained Enzymatic Activity and Flow in Crowded Protein Droplets

This paper demonstrates a system of protein droplets that sustain enzymatic activity and flow, mimicking cellular environments and metabolic processes.

Substrate dynamics contribute to enzymatic specificity in human and bacterial methionine adenosyltransferases

This study investigates how substrate conformational dynamics influence enzymatic specificity in human and bacterial methionine adenosyltransferases, revealing differences in catalytic promiscuity and identifying a new metabolite in cancer cells.

Consequences of the divergence of Methionine AdenosylTransferase

This study investigates the structural and functional consequences of sequence divergence in archaeal Methionine AdenosylTransferase (MAT) compared to bacterial and eukaryotic MATs.