Asymmetric Self- and Cross-Aldol Reactions of Glycolaldehyde Catalyzed by D-Fructose-6-phosphate Aldolase

Biocatalytic Transamination of Aldolase-Derived 3-Hydroxy Ketones

Although optical pure amino alcohols are in high demand due to their widespread applicability, they still remain challenging to synthesize, since commonly elaborated protection strategies are required. Here, a multi-enzymatic methodology is presented that circumvents this obstacle furnishing enantioenriched 1,3-amino alcohols out of commodity chemicals. A Type I aldolase forged the carbon backbone with an enantioenriched aldol motif, which was subsequently subjected to enzymatic transamination. A panel of 194 TAs was tested on diverse nine aldol products prepared through different nucleophiles and electrophiles. Due to the availability of (R)- and (S)-selective TAs, both diastereomers of the 1,3-amino alcohol motif were accessible. A two-step process enabled the synthesis of the desired amino alcohols with up to three chiral centers with de up to >97 in the final products.

Silica Jar-with-Lid as Chemo-Enzymatic Nano-Compartment for Enantioselective Synthesis inside Living Cells

Nanodevices, harvesting the power of synthetic catalysts and enzymes to perform enantioselective synthesis inside cell, have never been reported. Here, we synthesized round bottom jar-like silica nanostructures (SiJARs) with a chemo-responsive metal-silicate lid. This was isolated as an intermediate structure during highly controlled solid-state nanocrystal-conversion at the arc-section of silica shell. Different catalytic noble metals (Pt, Pd, Ru) were selectively modified on the lid-section through galvanic reactions. And, lid aperture-opening was regulated by mild acidic conditions or intracellular environment which accommodated the metal nanocrystals and enzymes, and in turn created an open-mouth nanoreactor. Distinct from the free enzymes, SiJARs performed asymmetric aldol reactions with high activity and enantioselectivity (yield >99 %, ee=95 %) and also functioned as the artificial catalytic organelles inside living cells. This work bridges the enormous potential of sophisticated nanocrystal-conversion chemistry and advanced platforms for new-to-nature catalysis.

Opening a Novel Biosynthetic Pathway to Dihydroxyacetone and Glycerol in Escherichia coli Mutants through Expression of a Gene Variant (fsaAA129S) for Fructose 6-Phosphate Aldolase

Phosphofructokinase (PFK) plays a pivotal role in glycolysis. By deletion of the genes pfkA, pfkB (encoding the two PFK isoenzymes), and zwf (glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase) in Escherichia coli K-12, a mutant strain (GL3) with a complete block in glucose catabolism was created. Introduction of plasmid-borne copies of the fsaA wild type gene (encoding E. coli fructose 6-phosphate aldolase, FSAA) did not allow a bypass by splitting fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) into dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P). Although FSAA enzyme activity was detected, growth on glucose was not reestablished. A mutant allele encoding for FSAA with an amino acid exchange (Ala129Ser) which showed increased catalytic efficiency for F6P, allowed growth on glucose with a µ of about 0.12 h⁻¹. A GL3 derivative with a chromosomally integrated copy of fsaA^A129S (GL4) grew with 0.05 h⁻¹ on glucose. A mutant strain from GL4 where dhaKLM genes were deleted (GL5) excreted DHA. By deletion of the gene glpK (glycerol kinase) and overexpression of gldA (of glycerol dehydrogenase), a strain (GL7) was created which showed glycerol formation (21.8 mM; yield approximately 70% of the theoretically maximal value) as main end product when grown on glucose. A new-to-nature pathway from glucose to glycerol was created.

2-Deoxy-D-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA): applications and modifications

2-Deoxy-D-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA) is a class I aldolase that offers access to several building blocks for organic synthesis. It catalyzes the stereoselective C-C bond formation between acetaldehyde and numerous other aldehydes. However, the practical application of DERA as a biocatalyst is limited by its poor tolerance towards industrially relevant concentrations of aldehydes, in particular acetaldehyde. Therefore, the development of proper experimental conditions, including protein engineering and/or immobilization on appropriate supports, is required. The present review is aimed to provide a brief overview of DERA, its history, and progress made in understanding the functioning of the enzyme. Furthermore, the current understanding regarding aldehyde resistance of DERA and the various optimizations carried out to modify this property are discussed.

Complete Switch of Reaction Specificity of an Aldolase by Directed Evolution In Vitro: Synthesis of Generic Aliphatic Aldol Products

A structure-guided engineering of fructose-6-phosphate aldolase was performed to expand its substrate promiscuity toward aliphatic nucleophiles, that is, unsubstituted alkanones and alkanals. A "smart" combinatorial library was created targeting residues D6, T26, and N28, which form a binding pocket around the nucleophilic carbon atom. Double-selectivity screening was executed by high-performance TLC that allowed simultaneous determination of total activity as well as a preference for acetone versus propanal as competing nucleophiles. D6 turned out to be the key residue that enabled activity with non-hydroxylated nucleophiles. Altogether 25 single- and double-site variants (D6X and D6X/T26X) were discovered that show useful synthetic activity and a varying preference for ketone or aldehyde as the aldol nucleophiles. Remarkably, all of the novel variants had completely lost their native activity for cleavage of fructose 6-phosphate.

Cell Factory Design and Optimization for the Stereoselective Synthesis of Polyhydroxylated Compounds

A synthetic cascade for the transformation of primary alcohols into polyhydroxylated compounds in Escherichia coli, through the in situ preparation of cytotoxic aldehyde intermediates and subsequent aldolase-mediated C-C bond formation, has been investigated. An enzymatic toolbox consisting of alcohol dehydrogenase AlkJ from Pseudomonas putida and the dihydroxyacetone-/hydroxyacetone-accepting aldolase variant Fsa1-A129S was applied. Pathway optimization was performed at the genetic and process levels. Three different arrangements of the alkJ and fsa1-A129S genes in operon, monocistronic, and pseudo-operon configuration were tested. The last of these proved to be most beneficial with regard to bacterial growth and protein expression levels. The optimized whole-cell catalyst, combined with a refined solid-phase extraction downstream purification protocol, provides diastereomerically pure carbohydrate derivatives that can be isolated in up to 91 % yield over two reaction steps.

Engineering a Promiscuous Tautomerase into a More Efficient Aldolase for Self-Condensations of Linear Aliphatic Aldehydes

The enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT) from Pseudomonas putida mt-2 takes part in a catabolic pathway for aromatic hydrocarbons, where it catalyzes the conversion of 2hydroxyhexa-2,4-dienedioate into 2-oxohexa-3-enedioate. This tautomerase can also promiscuously catalyze carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, including various types of aldol reactions, by using its amino-terminal proline as a key catalytic residue. Here, we used systematic mutagenesis to identify two hotspots in 4-OT (Met45 and Phe50) at which single mutations give marked improvements in aldolase activity for the self-condensation of propanal. Activity screening of a focused library in which these two hotspots were varied led to the discovery of a 4-OT variant (M45Y/F50V) with strongly enhanced aldolase activity in the self-condensation of linear aliphatic aldehydes, such as acetaldehyde, propanal, and butanal, to yield α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. With both propanal and benzaldehyde, this double mutant, unlike the previously constructed single mutant F50A, mainly catalyzes the self-condensation of propanal rather than the cross-condensation of propanal and benzaldehyde, thus indicating that it indeed has altered substrate specificity. This variant could serve as a template to create new biocatalysts that lack dehydration activity and possess further enhanced aldolase activity, thus enabling the efficient enzymatic self-coupling of aliphatic aldehydes.

Transformation of formaldehyde into functional sugars via multi-enzyme stepwise cascade catalysis

Artificial multi-enzyme systems for the transformation of the prebiotic compound formaldehyde into stereodefined functional sugars by stepwise cascade biocatalysis.

A Microplate Format Assay for Real-Time Screening for New Aldolases that Accept Aryl-Substituted Acceptor Substrates

Aldolases are potentially important biocatalysts for asymmetric synthesis of polyhydroxylated compounds. Fructose 6-phosphate aldolase (FSA) is of particular interest by virtue of its unusually relaxed dependency on phosphorylated substrates. FSA has been reported to be a promising catalyst of aldol addition involving aryl-substituted acceptors such as phenylacetaldehyde that can react with donor ketones such as hydroxyacetone. Improvement of the low intrinsic activity with bulky acceptor substrates of this type is of great interest but has been hampered by the lack of powerful screening protocols applicable in directed evolution strategies. Here we present a new screen allowing for direct spectrophotometric recording of retro-aldol cleavage. The assay utilizes an aldehyde reductase produced in vitro by directed evolution; it reduces the aldehyde product formed after cleavage of the aldol by FSA. The assay is suitable both for steady-state enzyme kinetics and for real-time activity screening in a 96-well format.

The transaldolase family: new synthetic opportunities from an ancient enzyme scaffold

Aldol reactions constitute a powerful methodology for carbon-carbon bond formation in synthetic organic chemistry. Biocatalytic carboligation by aldolases offers a green, uniquely regio- and stereoselective tool with which to perform these transformations. Recent advances in the field, fueled by both discovery and protein engineering, have greatly improved the synthetic opportunities for the atom-economic asymmetric synthesis of chiral molecules with potential pharmaceutical relevance. New aldolases derived from the transaldolase scaffold (based on transaldolase B and fructose-6-phosphate aldolase from Escherichia coli) have been shown to be unusually flexible in their substrate scope; this makes them particularly valuable for addressing an expanded molecular range of complex polyfunctional targets. Extensive knowledge arising from structural and molecular biochemical studies makes it possible to address the remaining limitations of the methodology by engineering tailored biocatalysts.

Broadening deoxysugar glycodiversity: natural and engineered transaldolases unlock a complementary substrate space

The majority of prokaryotic drugs are produced in glycosylated form, with the deoxygenation level in the sugar moiety having a profound influence on the drug's bioprofile. Chemical deoxygenation is challenging due to the need for tedious protective group manipulations. For a direct biocatalytic de novo generation of deoxysugars by carboligation, with regiocontrol over deoxygenation sites determined by the choice of enzyme and aldol components, we have investigated the substrate scope of the F178Y mutant of transaldolase B, TalB(F178Y), and fructose 6-phosphate aldolase, FSA, from E. coli against a panel of variously deoxygenated aldehydes and ketones as aldol acceptors and donors, respectively. Independent of substrate structure, both enzymes catalyze a stereospecific carboligation resulting in the D-threo configuration. In combination, these enzymes have allowed the preparation of a total of 22 out of 24 deoxygenated ketose-type products, many of which are inaccessible by available enzymes, from a [3×8] substrate matrix. Although aliphatic and hydroxylated aliphatic aldehydes were good substrates, D-lactaldehyde was found to be an inhibitor possibly as a consequence of inactive substrate binding to the catalytic Lys residue. A 1-hydroxy-2-alkanone moiety was identified as a common requirement for the donor substrate, whereas propanone and butanone were inactive. For reactions involving dihydroxypropanone, TalB(F178Y) proved to be the superior catalyst, whereas for reactions involving 1-hydroxybutanone, FSA is the only choice; for conversions using hydroxypropanone, both TalB(F178Y) and FSA are suitable. Structure-guided mutagenesis of Ser176 to Ala in the distant binding pocket of TalB(F178Y), in analogy with the FSA active site, further improved the acceptance of hydroxypropanone. Together, these catalysts are valuable new entries to an expanding toolbox of biocatalytic carboligation and complement each other well in their addressable constitutional space for the stereospecific preparation of deoxysugars.

Redesigning the active site of transaldolase TalB from Escherichia coli: new variants with improved affinity towards nonphosphorylated substrates

Recently, we reported on a transaldolase B variant (TalB F178Y) that is able to use dihydroxyacetone (DHA) as donor in aldol reactions. In a second round of protein engineering, we aimed at improving the affinity of this variant towards nonphosphorylated acceptor aldehydes, that is, glyceraldehyde (GA). The anion binding site was identified in the X-ray structure of TalB F178Y where a sulfate ion from the buffer was bound in the active site. Therefore, we performed site-directed saturation mutagenesis at three residues forming the putative phosphate binding site, Arg181, Ser226 and Arg228. The focused libraries were screened for the formation of D-fructose from DHA and d,l-GA by using an adjusted colour assay. The best results with respect to the synthesis of D-fructose were achieved with the TalB F178Y/R181E variant, which exhibited an at least fivefold increase in affinity towards d,l-GA (K(M)=24 mM). We demonstrated that this double mutant can use D-GA, glycolaldehyde and the L-isomer, L-GA, as acceptor substrates. This resulted in preparative synthesis of D-fructose, D-xylulose and L-sorbose when DHA was used as donor. Hence, we engineered a DHA-dependent aldolase that can synthesise the formation of polyhydroxylated compounds from simple and cheap substrates at preparative scale.

Asymmetric Reduction of Activated Alkenes by Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate Reductase: Specificity and Control of Stereochemical Outcome by Reaction Optimisation

We show that pentaerythritol tetranitrate reductase (PETNR), a member of the 'ene' reductase old yellow enzyme family, catalyses the asymmetric reduction of a variety of industrially relevant activated alpha,beta-unsaturated alkenes including enones, enals, maleimides and nitroalkenes. We have rationalised the broad substrate specificity and stereochemical outcome of these reductions by reference to molecular models of enzyme-substrate complexes based on the crystal complex of the PETNR with 2-cyclohexenone 4a. The optical purity of products is variable (49-99% ee), depending on the substrate type and nature of substituents. Generally, high enantioselectivity was observed for reaction products with stereogenic centres at Cbeta (>99% ee). However, for the substrates existing in two isomeric forms (e.g., citral 11a or nitroalkenes 18-19a), an enantiodivergent course of the reduction of E/Z-forms may lead to lower enantiopurities of the products. We also demonstrate that the poor optical purity obtained for products with stereogenic centres at Calpha is due to non-enzymatic racemisation. In reactions with ketoisophorone 3a we show that product racemisation is prevented through reaction optimisation, specifically by shortening reaction time and through control of solution pH. We suggest this as a general strategy for improved recovery of optically pure products with other biocatalytic conversions where there is potential for product racemisation.