Most life-forms on Earth live at temperatures of less than 50 °C, commonly from 15 to 50 °C. Within these organisms are macromolecules (proteins and nucleic acids) which form the three-dimensional structures essential to their enzymatic activity. Above the native temperature of the organism, thermal energy may cause the unfolding and denaturation, as the heat can disrupt the intramolecular bonds in the tertiary and quaternary structure. This unfolding will result in loss in enzymatic activity, which is understandably deleterious to continuing life-functions. An example of such is the denaturing of proteins in albumen from a clear, nearly colourless liquid to an opaque white, insoluble gel.
Proteins capable of withstanding such high temperatures compared to proteins that cannot, are generally from microorganisms that are hyperthermophiles. Such organisms can withstand above 50 °C temperatures as they usually live within environments of 85 °C and above. Certain thermophilic life-forms exist which can withstand temperatures above this, and have corresponding adaptations to preserve protein function at these temperatures. These can include altered bulk properties of the cell to stabilize all proteins, and specific changes to individual proteins. Comparing homologous proteins present in these thermophiles and other organisms reveal some differences in the protein structure. One notable difference is the presence of extra hydrogen bonds in the thermophile's proteins—meaning that the protein structure is more resistant to unfolding. Similarly, thermostable proteins are rich in salt bridges or/and extra disulfide bridges stabilizing the structure. Other factors of protein thermostability are compactness of protein structure, oligomerization, and strength interaction between subunits.
Enzymes are often added to animal feed to improve the health and growth of farmed animals, particularly chickens and pigs. The feed is typically treated with high pressure steam to kill bacteria such as Salmonella. Therefore the added enzymes (e.g. phytase and xylanase) must be able to withstand this thermal challenge without being irreversibly inactivated.
Knowledge of an enzyme's resistance to high temperatures is especially beneficial in protein purification. In the procedure of heat denaturation, one can subject a mixture of proteins to high temperatures, which will result in the denaturation of proteins that are not thermostable, and the isolation of the protein that is thermodynamically stable. One notable example of this is found in the purification of alkaline phosphatase from the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus abyssi. This enzyme is known for being heat stable at temperatures greater than 95 °C, and therefore can be partially purified by heating when heterologously expressed in E. coli. The increase in temperature causes the E. coli proteins to precipitate, while the P. abyssi alkaline phosphatase remains stably in solution.
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