The goal of this project is to develop a general method of improving the stability and durability of enzymes used in DNA and RNA amplification, sequencing, restriction analysis and ligation. The enzymes to be improved include DNA polymerases, topoisomerases, reverse transcriptases and ligases. In the event this goal can be achieved, broad impacts may result in the areas of clinical, forensic and basic science that rely on DNA sequencing, amplification and RT-PCR processes. To do this, extrinsic stabilization and refolding of proteins mediated by chaperones from hyperthermophiles will be adapted for incorporation into reaction mixtures with DNA modifying enzymes.
Thesaurus Terms: DNA, DNA directed DNA polymerase, molecular chaperone, nucleic acid amplification technique, nucleic acid sequence, protein engineering, synthetic enzyme, thermostability DNA topoisomerase, RNA directed DNA polymerase, chemical reaction, enzyme activity, enzyme structure, ligase, nucleic acid denaturation, protein folding biotechnology, high throughput technology, polymerase chain reaction
