Abstract
The efficiency and accuracy of the synthesis of structural lipids are closely related to the regiospecificity of lipases. Understanding the structural mechanism of their regiospecificity contributes to the regiospecific redesign of lipases for meeting the technological innovation needs. Here, we used a thermostable lipase from Streptomyces sp. W007 (MAS1), which has been recently reported to show great potential in industry, to gain an insight into the structural basis of its regiospecificity by molecular modelling and mutagenesis experiments. The results indicated that increasing the steric hindrance of the site for binding a non-reactive carbonyl group of TAGs could transform the non-specific MAS1 to a α-specific lipase, such as the mutants G40E, G40F, G40Q, G40R, G40W, G40Y, N45Y, H108W and T237Y (PSI > 80). In addition, altering the local polarity of the site as well as the conformational stability of its composing residues could also impact the regiospecificity. Our present study could not only aid the rational design of the regiospecificity of lipases, but open avenues of exploration for further industrial applications of lipases.