Implication for buried polar contacts and ion pairs in hyperthermostable enzymes.

Understanding the structural basis of thermostability and thermoactivity, and their interdependence, is central to the successful future exploitation of extremophilic enzymes in biotechnology. However, the structural basis of thermostability is still not fully characterized. Ionizable residues play essential roles in proteins, modulating protein stability, folding and function. The dominant roles of the buried polar contacts and ion pairs have been reviewed by distinguishing between the inside polar contacts and the total intramolecular polar contacts, and by evaluating their contribution as molecular determinants for protein stability using various protein structures from hyperthermophiles, thermophiles and mesophilic organisms. The analysis revealed that the remarkably increased number of internal polar contacts in a monomeric structure probably play a central role in enhancing the melting temperature value up to 120 degrees C for hyperthermophilic enzymes from the genus Pyrococcus. These results provide a promising contribution for improving the thermostability of enzymes by modulating buried polar contacts and ion pairs.