Patent ID: 8030044

Claim:
A variant lipid acyltransferase encoded by and produced from in vitro expression of a nucleic acid molecule, wherein the nucleic acid has modification of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:8 and 95% identity to SEQ ID NO:8 whereby the variant lipid acyltransferase has an amino acid sequence which when aligned to SEQ ID NO:2 has modification at Asn80, wherein the modification at Asn80 is N80A, N80C, N80D, N80E, N80F, N80G, N80H, N80I, N80K, N80L, N80P, N80Q, N80R, N80S, N80T, N80V, N80W, or N80Y; and wherein the variant lipid acyltransferase when tested using a Transferase Assay in Buffered Substrate has at least 5% acyltransferase activity (relative acyltransferase activity), wherein the Transferase Assay in Buffered Substrate comprises: (a) heating a substrate solution comprising: phosphatidylcholine; cholesterol; water; and HEPES buffer; and wherein the substrate solution comprises approximately 95% water and has pH 7.0, (b) adding an enzyme to the substrate solution, and (c) determining acyltransferase activity of the enzyme based upon cholesterol and fatty acids formed.