ArticleNature structural & molecular biology2011
Single-molecule paleoenzymology probes the chemistry of resurrected enzymes.
Article in Nature structural & molecular biology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers.
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Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed.
- Ancient enzymes, new biotechnology applications.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026Article
- Thermostable ancestors enabled evolutionary diversification of promiscuous chemical defence enzymes.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
- Resurrection and characterization of ancestral xylose transporters enhance the capability of xylose uptake in the mixed sugar co-fermentation of Recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae.Bioresources and bioprocessing · 2026Article
- A resurrected ancestor of Cas12a expands target access and substrate recognition for nucleic acid editing and detection.Nature biotechnology · 2025Article
- Is synuclein aggregation a derived or ancestral trait? Ancestral sequence reconstruction uncovers stepwise evolution of synuclein aggregation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Enrichable cross-linkers for mapping direct protein interactions.Genome biology · 2025Article
- Multiple transitions to high l-DOPA 4,5-dioxygenase activity reveal molecular pathways to convergent betalain pigmentation in Caryophyllales.The New phytologist · 2025Article
- How enzyme functions evolve: genetic, structural, and kinetic perspectives.Biophysical reviews · 2025Review
- Functional recoding ofFrontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- The Characterization of Ancient Methanococcales Malate Dehydrogenases Reveals That Strong Thermal Stability Prevents Unfolding Under Intense γ-Irradiation.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Substitution Models of Protein Evolution with Selection on Enzymatic Activity.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Accessing microbial natural products of the past.microLife · 2024Review
- Distinct or Overlapping Areas of Mitochondrial Thioredoxin 2 May Be Used for Its Covalent and Strong Non-Covalent Interactions with Protein Ligands.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Ion-Powered Rotary Motors: Where Did They Come from and Where They Are Going?International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Immunoanalytical Approach for Detecting and Identifying Ancestral Peptide Biomarkers in Early Earth Analogue Environments.Analytical chemistry · 2023Article
- Evolution of CRISPR-associated endonucleases as inferred from resurrected proteins.Nature microbiology · 2023Article
- Article
- Engineering functional thermostable proteins using ancestral sequence reconstruction.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2022Review
- Active site center redesign increases protein stability preserving catalysis in thioredoxin.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2022Article
- Consequences of Substitution Model Selection on Protein Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
It is possible to travel back in time at the molecular level by reconstructing proteins from extinct organisms. Here we report the reconstruction, based on sequence predicted by phylogenetic analysis, of seven Precambrian thioredoxin enzymes (Trx) dating back between ~1.4 and ~4 billion years (Gyr). The reconstructed enzymes are up to 32 °C more stable than modern enzymes, and the oldest show markedly higher activity than extant ones at pH 5. We probed the mechanisms of reduction of these enzymes using single-molecule force spectroscopy. From the force dependency of the rate of reduction of an engineered substrate, we conclude that ancient Trxs use chemical mechanisms of reduction similar to those of modern enzymes. Although Trx enzymes have maintained their reductase chemistry unchanged, they have adapted over 4 Gyr to the changes in temperature and ocean acidity that characterize the evolution of the global environment from ancient to modern Earth.
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