Science Advances Publishes ECUST New Breakthroughs in Computational Protein Design 

Recently, the research group of Professor Xu Jianhe from the National Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, ECUST, in collaboration with Professor Yu Huilei, leveraged AI-powered rational protein design technology to remodel the active center of carboxylic acid reductase, significantly enhancing its activity and substrate specificity. The study successfully applied this redesigned enzyme to the biosynthesis of monomers for Nylon 6 and Nylon 66 (1,6-hexanediamine and 6-aminocaproic acid). The research article was published in Science Advances, a subsidiary journal of Science, under the title “Computation-driven redesign of an NRPS-like carboxylic acid reductase improves activity and selectivity”.

The article was co-first authored by postdoctoral researcher Shi Kun and PhD student Li Jiumou, and corresponding authored by Professor Yu Huilei, with East China University of Science and Technology as the only academic affiliation. The research received substantial guidance from Professor Xu Jianhe and was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program “Design and Construction of New Biochemical Reaction Systems”, the Shanghai Major Special Project on Synthetic Biology “Development of AI-powered Directed Enzyme Evolution and Design Technology”, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Frontiers Science Center.