We have developed a general and simple method for directing specific sequence changes in a plasmid using primed amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The method is based on the amplification of the entire plasmid using primers that include the desired changes. The method is rapid, simple in its execution, and requires only minute amounts of plasmid template DNA. It is significant that there are no special requirements for appropriately placed restriction sites in the sequence to be manipulated. In our system the yield of transformants was high and the fraction of them harboring plasmids with only the desired change was consistently about 80%. The generality of the method should make it useful for the direct alteration of most cloned genes. The only limitation may be the total length of the plasmid to be manipulated. During the study we found that the Taq DNA polymerase used for PCR adds on a single extra base (usually an A) at the end of a large fraction of the newly synthesized chains. These had to be removed by the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase to insure restoration of the gene sequence.

A true Brønsted analysis of proton transfer in an enzyme mechanism is made possible by the chemical rescue of an inactive mutant of aspartate aminotransferase, where the endogenous general base, Lys258, is replaced with Ala by site-directed mutagenesis. Catalytic activity is restored to this inactive mutant by exogenous amines. The eleven amines studied generate a Brønsted correlation with beta of 0.4 for the transamination of cysteine sulfinate, when steric effects are included in the regression analysis. Localized mutagenesis thus allows the classical Brønsted analysis of transition-state structure to be applied to enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

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D-Serine is a D-amino acid that occurs at high levels in the mammalian brain and is an endogenous ligand of the "glycine site" of N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) 1 receptors (1-4). NMDA receptors play key roles in excitatory synaptic transmission, plasticity, and learning and memory (5). Overactivation of the NMDA receptor and the resultant influx of calcium into cells is a major culprit in the cell death that occurs following stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. Blockers of the "glycine site" of the receptor are neuroprotective in animal models of stroke (5). Endogenous D-serine is required for NMDA receptor activation, and its removal markedly decreases NMDA receptor activity (3). In the vertebrate retina, endogenous D-serine may also mediate the light-dependent increase in neuronal activity by activating NMDA receptors (6). More recently, D-serine was suggested to play a role in the long term potentiation of synaptic transmission in the hippocampus, indicating a role of endogenous D-serine in long term synaptic plasticity (7).D-Serine is synthesized by serine racemase, a pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme enriched in the mammalian brain (8, 9). Serine racemase has high sequence homology with the fold-type II group of PLP enzymes, such as serine/threonine dehydratase and D-serine dehydratase (10, 11). In addition to converting L-to D-serine, serine racemase catalyzes the ␣,␤-elimination of water from L-serine to form pyruvate and ammonia (12). The initial rates of racemization and ␣,␤-elimination of L-serine by serine racemase are strongly stimulated by magnesium and ATP, indicating that the complex Mg⅐ATP is a physiological ligand of the enzyme (12).In accordance with accepted mechanisms of PLP-catalyzed reactions (13-16), a mechanism for racemization and ␣,␤-elimination catalyzed by serine racemase is depicted in Scheme 1. PLP, bound to the enzyme through an internal aldimine with The termination of signaling by a neurotransmitter in the brain normally requires its re-uptake and metabolism. D-Serine signaling is thought to involve its release from cells to

PPTases have recently been re-classified on a structural basis into two subfamilies: ACPS-type and Sfp-type. The development of a PCR method for cloning Sfp-type PPTases from actinomycetes, the recognition of the Sfp-type PPTases to be associated with secondary metabolism with a relaxed carrier protein specificity, and the availability of Svp, in addition to Sfp, should facilitate future endeavors in engineered biosynthesis of peptide, polyketide, and, in particular, hybrid peptide-polyketide natural products.