Protein Engineering of α/β-Hydrolase Fold Enzymes

The superfamily of α/β-hydrolase fold enzymes is one of the largest known protein families, including a broad range of synthetically useful enzymes such as lipases, esterases, amidases, hydroxynitrile lyases, epoxide hydrolases and dehalogenases. This minireview covers methods developed for efficient protein engineering of these enzymes. Special emphasis is placed on the alteration of enzyme properties such as substrate range, thermostability and enantioselectivity for their application in biocatalysis. In addition, concepts for the investigation of the evolutionary relationship between the different members of this protein superfamily are covered, together with successful examples.