Protein-Origami für Fortgeschrittene: Wie DnaK besser falten lernte

The molecular chaperone DnaK was optimized by directed evolution for better refolding activity toward two substrates and the identified DnaK variants were analyzed for characteristic changes in their mechanism. Remarkably, none of the variants was modified in or in close proximity to the substrate binding pocket, although their substrate affinity was increased. These results indicate that improvement in chaperone activity for specific substrates does not necessarily decrease substrate promiscuity.