What are the applications of protein engineering? Discuss in brief.
Protein engineering is used to create engineered proteins with additional or extended properties, such as greater stability when exposed to elevated temperature, changes in pH, or organic solvents. It is applied to develop novel reagents, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
A key application is improving the cleansing action of detergents. For instance, the enzyme subtilisin is engineered by replacing Met 222 with Ala through site-directed mutagenesis to prevent oxidation by bleach. In medicine, it aids in producing humanised monoclonal antibodies, single chain antibodies, and recombinant immunotoxins for targeted therapy.
Additionally, protein engineering facilitates research by developing recombinant proteins with 6-His-tags for ease of purification and fluorescent proteins to track cellular localisation.
Explanation
The answer is derived from Section 5.6 and 5.6.1 of the textbook. It covers the general ability to enhance protein stability and create novel reagents. It specifically details the engineering of subtilisin for detergents (a primary example in the text) and lists medical applications like humanised monoclonal antibodies and immunotoxins. Finally, it includes research applications like 6-His-tags and fluorescent proteins mentioned in the context.