Semirational Protein Engineering of CYP153AM.aq.‐CPRBM3 for Efficient Terminal Hydroxylation of Short‐ to Long‐Chain Fatty Acids

The regioselective terminal hydroxylation of alkanes and fatty acids is of great interest in a variety of industrial applications, such as in cosmetics, in fine chemicals, and in the fragrance industry. The chemically challenging activation and oxidation of non‐activated C?H bonds can be achieved with cytochrome P450 enzymes. CYP153A_M.aq.‐CPR_BM3 is an artificial fusion construct consisting of the heme domain from Marinobacter aquaeolei and the reductase domain of CYP102A1 from Bacillus megaterium. It has the ability to hydroxylate medium‐ and long‐chain fatty acids selectively at their terminal positions. However, the activity of this interesting P450 construct needs to be improved for applications in industrial processes. For this purpose, the design of mutant libraries including two consecutive steps of mutagenesis is demonstrated. Targeted positions and residues chosen for substitution were based on semi‐rational protein design after creation of a homology model of the heme domain of CYP153A_M.aq., sequence alignments, and docking studies. Site‐directed mutagenesis was the preferred method employed to address positions within the binding pocket, whereas diversity was created with the aid of a degenerate codon for amino acids located at the substrate entrance channel. Combining the successful variants led to the identification of a double variant—G307A/S233G—that showed alterations of one position within the binding pocket and one position located in the substrate access channel. This double variant showed twofold increased activity relative to the wild type for the terminal hydroxylation of medium‐chain‐length fatty acids. This variant furthermore showed improved activity towards short‐ and long‐chain fatty acids and enhanced stability in the presence of higher concentrations of fatty acids.