Production kinetics and stability properties of delta(L-alpha-aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine synthetase from Streptomyces clavuligerus

Glial and myeloid heterogeneity in the brain tumour microenvironment

Brain cancers carry bleak prognoses, with therapeutic advances helping only a minority of patients over the past decade. The brain tumour microenvironment (TME) is highly immunosuppressive and differs from that of other malignancies as a result of the glial, neural and immune cell populations that constitute it. Until recently, the study of the brain TME was limited by the lack of methods to de-convolute this complex system at the single-cell level. However, novel technical approaches have begun to reveal the immunosuppressive and tumour-promoting properties of distinct glial and myeloid cell populations in the TME, identifying new therapeutic opportunities. Here, we discuss the immune modulatory functions of microglia, monocyte-derived macrophages and astrocytes in brain metastases and glioma, highlighting their disease-associated heterogeneity and drawing from the insights gained by studying these malignancies and other neurological disorders. Lastly, we consider potential approaches for the therapeutic modulation of the brain TME.

Production of delta-(L-alpha-aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine by entrapped ACV-synthetase from Streptomyces clavuligerus

delta-(L-alpha-Aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine (ACV)-synthetase from Streptomyces clavuligerus was studied under conditions that enabled the reuse of the enzyme. Coupling of ACV-synthetase to DEAE-Trisacryl and aminopropyl-glass resulted in an immobilized enzyme product of little or no catalytic activity. However, an enzyme reactor was designed by physical confinement of partially-purified ACV-synthetase in an ultrafiltration cell. This system was stimulated by phosphoenolpyruvate at lower concentrations of ATP, an effect not observed with purified enzyme. Up to 30% conversion of the limiting substrate, cysteine, to ACV occurred under semi-continuous conditions. Reaction products were investigated as potential inhibitors: AMP was the most inhibitory, but only when used at concentrations in excess of those produced in reaction mixtures. Under a nitrogen atmosphere, both product and enzyme stabilities were greatly improved and the enzyme retained 45-65% of its initial activity after five uses at room temperature during a 24-h period. Extrapolations based on these data suggest that 1.3 g partially purified enzyme (0.13 U g-1) would be capable of producing 411 mg of ACV in a 1-L reaction mixture in this period.