ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the authors discuss the research undertaken in our laboratory on the use of genetic engineering techniques to refine the structure-function relationship of food-related proteins (particularly aspartic proteinases) at a fundamental, molecular level. In this light, we have focused on four areas: the role of prosegment residues to the structure-function relationship of the zymogen and activated enzyme; the role of residues in the flap loop region to the structure-function relationship of the active enzyme; the role of various residues/regions and posttranslational modification to functional stability; and the universality of structure-function relationships among the aspartic proteinases.