Exploring a Dehydrating/condensation enzyme Domain for a Diversified Antimicrobial Peptide Library

Peptides found in nature, such as penicillin, are a vital source of the antibiotics used to combat infections. While many of these peptides possess useful antimicrobial properties, scientists often need to enhance their effectiveness by replacing some of their amino acid components with special, non-natural ones. This modification aims to identify superior antibiotic candidates with improved traits such as solubility, selectivity, and reduced toxicity. One such building block in this process is dehydroamino acids (dhAAs), which not only enable the creation of new functionalities beyond what natural peptides offer but also streamline customization during the design phase. Despite the potential benefits, incorporating these special building blocks into peptides using chemical synthesis presents challenges and inefficiencies due to harsh reaction conditions. In my research project, I am exploring a novel approach for incorporating dhAAs into peptides by studying a unique dehydrating enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of a recently discovered antimicrobial tripeptide. This enzyme plays a crucial role in producing dhAAs-containing peptides with minimal energy input by facilitating a specific arrangement of atoms during the dehydration reaction.By understanding this process better, I aim to develop a more general and efficient method to incorporate dhAAs into peptide structures under mild conditions. The ultimate goal is to produce antimicrobial peptides with enhanced properties, which can be further modified to create a diverse library of peptides with varying structures. This research not only expands our biocatalytic toolkit but also aims to environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable methods for producing a broader range of antimicrobial peptides.