The Bacillus licheniformis BlaP beta-lactamase as a model protein scaffold to study the insertion of protein fragments.

Using genetic engineering technologies, the chitin-binding domain (ChBD) of the human macrophage chitotriosidase has been inserted into the host protein BlaP, a class A beta-lactamase produced by Bacillus licheniformis. The product of this construction behaved as a soluble chimeric protein that conserves both the capacity to bind chitin and to hydrolyze beta-lactam moiety. Here we describe the biochemical and biophysical properties of this protein (BlaPChBD). This work contributes to a better understanding of the reciprocal structural and functional effects of the insertion on the host protein scaffold and the heterologous structured protein fragments. The use of BlaP as a protein carrier represents an efficient approach to the functional study of heterologous protein fragments.