Enzymatic synthesis of theanine from glutamic acid γ-methyl ester and ethylamine by immobilized Escherichia coli cells with γ-glutamyltranspeptidase activity

Biochemical characterization of l-asparagine synthetase from Streptococcus thermophilus and its application in the enzymatic synthesis of β-aspartyl compounds

β-Aspartyl compounds, such as β-aspartyl hydroxamate (serine racemase inhibitor), β-aspartyl-l-lysine (moisture retention), and β-aspartyl-l-tryptophan (immunomodulator) are physiologically active compounds. There is limited literature on the development of effective methods of production of β-aspartyl compounds. In this study, we describe the biochemical characterization of asparagine synthetase (AS) from Streptococcus thermophilus NBRC 13957 (StAS) and the enzymatic synthesis of β-aspartyl compounds using StAS. Recombinant StAS was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and it displayed activity towards hydroxylamine, methylamine, ethylamine, and ammonia, as acceptors of the β-aspartyl moiety. StAS exhibited higher activity toward hydroxylamine and ethylamine as acceptor substrates compared with the enzymes from Lactobacillus delbrueckii NBRC 13953, Lactobacillus reuteri NBRC 15892, and E. coli. The coupling of the synthesis of β-aspartyl compounds by StAS with an ATP-regeneration system using polyphosphate kinase from Deinococcus proteoliticus NBRC 101906 displayed an approximately 2.5-fold increase in the production of β-aspartylhydroxamate from 1.06 mM to 2.53 mM after a 76-h reaction.

Enhanced theanine production with reduced ATP supply by alginate entrapped Escherichia coli co-expressing γ-glutamylmethylamide synthetase and polyphosphate kinase

L-theanine is an amino acid with a unique flavor and many therapeutic effects. Its enzymatic synthesis has been actively studied and γ-Glutamylmethylamide synthetase (GMAS) is one of the promising enzymes in the biological synthesis of theanine. However, the theanine biosynthetic pathway with GMAS is highly ATP-dependent and the supply of external ATP was needed to achieve high concentration of theanine production. As a result, this study aimed to investigate polyphosphate kinase 2 (PPK2) as ATP regeneration system with hexametaphosphate. Furthermore, the alginate entrapment method was employed to immobilize whole cells containing both gmas and ppk2 together resulting in enhanced reusability of the theanine production system with reduced supply of ATP. After immobilization, theanine production was increased to 239 mM (41.6 g/L) with a conversion rate of 79.7% using 15 mM ATP and the reusability was enhanced, maintaining a 100% conversion rate up to the fifth cycles and 60% of conversion up to eighth cycles. It could increase long-term storage property for future uses up to 35 days with 75% activity of initial activity. Overall, immobilization of both production and cofactor regeneration system could increase the stability and reusability of theanine production system.

Biochemical Characterization of γ-Glutamyl Transpeptidase from Bacillus altitudinis IHB B1644 and Its Application in the Synthesis of l-Theanine

An extracellular γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) produced from Bacillus altitudinis IHB B1644 was purified to homogeneity employing ion-exchange chromatography. GGT comprised two subunits of 40 and 22 kDa determined by SDS-PAGE. The maximum enzyme activity was optimal at pH 9 and 37 °C. The purified enzyme was stable from pH 5-10 and <50 °C. Steady-state kinetic studies revealed a K_m value of 0.538 mM against γ-GpNA. For substrate specificity, GGT showed highest affinity for l-methionine. The inhibitors' effect demonstrated that serine or threonine and tryptophan residues are essential for enzyme activity. l-Theanine production was optimized by employing a one-variable-at-a-time approach with 60-65% conversion rate. The final reaction consisted of 20 mM l-glutamine, 200 mM ethylamine hydrochloride, and 10 U mL^-1 enzyme concentration at 37 °C in Tris-Cl (50 mM, pH 9) for 5 h. l-Theanine was purified using a Dowex 50W X 8 hydrogen form resin and confirmed by HPLC and ¹H NMR spectroscopies.

Immobilization of E. coli expressing γ-glutamyltranspeptidase on its surface for γ-glutamyl compound production

An Escherichia coli strain expressing γ-glutamyltranspeptidase on its extracellular surface using the Met1 to Arg232 fragment of YiaT of E. coli as an anchor protein was immobilized with alginate for repeated use. Measurement of γ-glutamyltranspeptidase activity of the immobilized cells was performed repeatedly at pH 8.73 and 37 °C for 10 days using γ-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide in the presence of 100 mM CaCl₂ and 3% NaCl with and without glycylglycine. Even after the 10th day, the enzyme activity did not decrease from the initial levels. The production of γ-glutamylglutamine from glutamine using the immobilized cells was performed repeatedly at pH 10.5 and 37 °C for 10 days in the presence of 250 mM glutamine, 100 mM CaCl₂, and 3% NaCl. Sixty-four % of glutamine was converted to γ-glutamylglutamine in the first cycle. While repeating the production 10 times, the surface of the beads gradually became covered with white precipitate, and the conversion efficiency gradually decreased, but 72% of the initial value still remained even at the 10th measurement.

Bacterial Gamma-Glutamyl Transpeptidase, an Emerging Biocatalyst: Insights Into Structure-Function Relationship and Its Biotechnological Applications

Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) enzyme is ubiquitously present in all life forms and plays a variety of roles in diverse organisms. Higher eukaryotes mainly utilize GGT for glutathione degradation, and mammalian GGTs have implications in many physiological disorders also. GGTs from unicellular prokaryotes serve different physiological functions in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In the present review, the physiological significance of bacterial GGTs has been discussed categorizing GGTs from Gram-negative bacteria like Escherichia coli as glutathione degraders and from pathogenic species like Helicobacter pylori as virulence factors. Gram-positive bacilli, however, are considered separately as poly-γ-glutamic acid (PGA) degraders. The structure-function relationship of the GGT is also discussed mainly focusing on the crystallization of bacterial GGTs along with functional characterization of conserved regions by site-directed mutagenesis that unravels molecular aspects of autoprocessing and catalysis. Only a few crystal structures have been deciphered so far. Further, different reports on heterologous expression of bacterial GGTs in E. coli and Bacillus subtilis as hosts have been presented in a table pointing toward the lack of fermentation studies for large-scale production. Physicochemical properties of bacterial GGTs have also been described, followed by a detailed discussion on various applications of bacterial GGTs in different biotechnological sectors. This review emphasizes the potential of bacterial GGTs as an industrial biocatalyst relevant to the current switch toward green chemistry.

Semi-quantitative activity assays for high-throughput screening of higher activity gamma glutamyl transferase and enzyme immobilization to efficiently synthesize L-theanine

The bio-production of theanine is currently of significant interest due to its wide applications in food and healthcare products. Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) has been widely applied in L-theanine synthesis, but L-theanine yields remain prohibitively low for commercial production. In this study, a robust high-throughput screening process for isolating GGT mutants was developed through a combination of error-prone PCR techniques and a colorimetric reaction. The co-expression of PrsA lipoprotein enhances the secretion of GGT, thus GGT could be obtained quickly and easily without crushing cells. Random mutations on ggt genes were introduced by using error-prone PCR kits to build a large mutant library. A colorless compound generated by the reaction between NH⁴⁺ (released from L-theanine synthesis) and OPA was measured quantitatively by UV/visible spectroscopy when mixed with TCA and DMSO. Approximately 30 positive clones with improved color formation on the 96-well plates were identified, and mutants T413P and T463S with more than by 30 % higher transpeptidation activity versus the original GGT were isolated. To improve the operational stability and economical use, mutant GGT was immobilized on a prepared oxidized cellulose nanofiber membrane. The remaining activity of immobilized GGT was 88 % versus 72 % of free enzyme over 15 h. A fed-batch conversion was performed with the immobilized GGT, and over 70 g/L L-theanine could be accumulated within 18 h after feeding twice. Versus other studies, this is one of the best L-theanine synthesis systems using immobilized GGT.

From Tea Leaves to Factories: A Review of Research Progress in l-Theanine Biosynthesis and Production

l-Theanine is the most popular nonprotein amino acid contained in tea leaves. It is one of the umami components of green tea, contributing to the unique flavor of tea. Because of its various health functions, l-theanine has been commercially developed as a valuable ingredient easily used for various applications in food and pharmaceutical industries. Nowadays, l-theanine is mass-produced by plant extraction, chemical synthesis, or enzymatic transformation in factories. This review embodies the available up to date information on the l-theanine synthesis metabolism in the tea plant as well as approaches to produce it, placing emphasis on the biotransformation of l-theanine. It also gives insight into the challenges of l-theanine production on a large scale, as well as directions for future research. This review comprehensively summarizes information on l-theanine to provide an approach for an in-depth study of l-theanine production.

γ-Glutamyltranspeptidase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens: transpeptidation activity enhancement and L-theanine production

L-theanine, a unique amino acid in green tea with health benefits, can be enzymatically synthesized by γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (γ-GT; EC 2.3.2.2). Here, a salt-tolerant γ-glutamyltranspeptidase from a marine bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was expressed in Escherichia. coli BL21 (DE3) and was shown to be optimally active at 55 °C, pH 8.5 and alkali stable. A mutant, with higher transpeptidation activity, was obtained following two rounds of directed evolution using error-prone PCR and site-saturation mutagenesis. The mutation increased the ratio of transpeptidation to hydrolysis from 1.6 to 35.6. Additionally, Kinetic analysis exhibited 17.5% decrease of K_m, 13.0-fold increase of K_cat, and 16.3-fold increase of K_cat/K_m in mutant V319A/S437 G versus the wild-type. The 3-D modelling analysis revealed a tighter binding pocket in mutant V319A/S437 G. The frequency of hydrogen bond between donor substrate and two residues in the catalytic pocket (Gly437 and Thr375) was enhanced, which stabilized the ligand binding and thus improved the catalytic efficiency. The optimal conditions for the biocatalytic synthesis were determined as pH 10.0, 20 μg mL^-1BaGT, 200 mM L-glutamine, 2 M ethylamine, and a reaction time of 5 h. The V319A/S437 G mutant was shown to increase the percentage yield of L-theanine from 58% to 83%. These results indicate the great potential of V319A/S437 G in L-theanine production after further study.

Ultrasound enhanced biosynthesis of L-theanine from L-glutamine and ethylamine by recombinant γ-glutamyltranspeptidase

A mutant library of the key amino acid residue site E387 in γ-glutamyltranspeptidase was constructed to screen the mutant enzymes with significantly improved thermal stability (E387Q). The reaction temperature of the mutant enzyme (E387Q) was 10℃ higher than that of the parent enzyme. Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of L-theanine by γ-glutamyltranspeptidase was investigated. The effects of ultrasonic power, reaction pH and substrate concentration on the enzymatic synthesis of L-theanine were studied by the response surface method. The results showed that the optimal process conditions are ultrasonic power of 100 W, reaction pH of 9, substrate L-glutamine concentration of 120 mmol/L, reaction temperature of 45℃, and L-theanine yield of 89.1%. The yield of L-theanine is 2.61 times higher than that obtained without ultrasound. Ultrasound can significantly promote the synthesis of L-theanine by γ-glutamyltranspeptidase.

Statistical optimization of culture conditions of mesophillic gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase from Bacillus altitudinis IHB B1644

Microbial gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a key enzyme in production of several γ-glutamyl compounds with food and pharmaceutical applications. Bacterial GGTs are not commercially available in the market owing to their low production from various sources. Thus, the study was focused on achieving the higher GGT production from B. altitudinis IHB B1644 by optimizing the culture conditions using one-variable-at-a-time (OVAT) strategy. A mesophillic temperature of 28 °C, agitation 200 rpm and neutral pH 7 were found to be optimal for higher GGT titre. Among the medium components, the monosaccharide glucose served as the best carbon source over disaccharides, and yeast extract was the preferred organic nitrogen source over inorganic nitrogen sources. The statistical approaches (Plakett-Burman and response surface methodology) were further employed for the optimization of medium components. Medium composition: 0.1% w/v glucose, 0.3% w/v yeast extract, 0.03% w/v magnesium sulphate, 0.20% w/v potassium dihydrogen phosphate and 2.5% w/v sodium chloride with inoculum size (1% v/v) was suitable for higher GGT titres (449 U ml^-1). Time kinetics showed the stability of enzyme up to 96 h of incubation suggesting its application in the industrial use. The proposed strategy resulted in 2.6-fold increase in the GGT production compared to that obtained in the unoptimized medium. The results demonstrated that RSM was fitting to identify the optimum production conditions and this finding should be of great importance for commercial GGT production.

Effect of the inserted active-site-covering lid loop on the catalytic activity of a mutant B. subtilis γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT)

γ-Glutamylpeptides are compounds derived from the acylation of an amino acid or a short peptide by the γ-carboxyl carbon of the side chain of glutamic acid. Due to their altered chemico-physical and organoleptic properties, they may be interesting substitutes or precursors of parent compounds used in pharmaceutical, dietetic and cosmetic formulations. Some of them are naturally occurring flavor enhancers or are endowed with biological activities. Enzymatic approaches to the synthesis of γ-glutamyl derivatives based on the use of γ-glutamyltransferases (GGTs, EC 2.3.2.2) have been proposed, which should be able to alleviate the problems connected with the troublesome and low-yielding extraction from natural sources or the non-economical chemical synthesis, which requires protection/deprotection steps. With the aim of overcoming the current limitations in the use of GGTs as biocatalysts, a mutant GGT was investigated. The mutant GGT was obtained by inserting the active-site-covering lid loop of the E. coli GGT onto the structure of B. subtilis GGT. With respect to the wild-type enzyme, the mutant showed a more demanding substrate specificity and a low hydrolase activity. These results represent an attempt to correlate the structural features of a GGT to its different activities. However, the ability of the mutant enzyme to catalyze the subsequent addition of several γ-glutamyl units, inherited by the parent B. subtilis GGT, still represents a limitation to its full application as a biocatalyst for preparative purposes.

A mutant γ-glutamyltransferase with improve transpeptidase activity was obtained by inserting the active site-covering lid loop on an enzyme naturally lacking it.

Characterization of l-Theanine Excitatory Actions on Hippocampal Neurons: Toward the Generation of Novel N-Methyl-d-aspartate Receptor Modulators Based on Its Backbone

l-Theanine (or l-γ-N-ethyl-glutamine) is the major amino acid found in Camellia sinensis. It has received much attention because of its pleiotropic physiological and pharmacological activities leading to health benefits in humans, especially. We describe here a new, easy, efficient, and environmentally friendly chemical synthesis of l-theanine and l-γ-N-propyl-Gln and their corresponding d-isomers. l-Theanine, and its derivatives obtained so far, exhibited partial coagonistic action at N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, with no detectable agonist effect at other glutamate receptors, on cultured hippocampal neurons. This activity was retained on NMDA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. In addition, both GluN2A and GluN2B containing NMDA receptors were equally modulated by l-theanine. The stereochemical change from l-theanine to d-theanine along with the substitution of the ethyl for a propyl moiety in the γ-N position of l- and d-theanine significantly enhanced the biological efficacy, as measured on cultured hippocampal neurons. l-Theanine structure thus represents an interesting backbone to develop novel NMDA receptor modulators.

L-theanine synthesis using γ-glutamyl transpeptidase from Bacillus licheniformis ER-15

Recombinant γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (rBLGGT) from Bacillus licheniformis ER-15 was purified to homogeneity by ion-exchange chromatography. Molecular masses of large and small subunits were 42 and 22 kDa, respectively. The enzyme was optimally active at pH 9.0 and 60 °C and was alkali stable. K(m) and V(max) for γ-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide hydrochloride were 45 μM and 0.34 mM/min, respectively. L-Theanine synthesis was standardized using a one variable at a time approach followed by response surface methodology, which resulted in approximately 85-87% conversion of L-glutamine to L-theanine within 4 h. The standardized reaction contained 80 mM L-glutamine, 600 mM ethylamine, and 1.0 U/mL rBLGGTin 50 mM Tris-Cl (pH 9.0) at 37 °C. Similar conversions were also obtained with the enzyme immobilized in calcium alginate. Using immobilized enzyme, 35.2 g of L-theanine was obtained in three cycles of 1 L each. The product was purified by Dowex 50W X 8 hydrogen form resin and was confirmed by HPLC and proton NMR spectroscopy.

Synthesis of amino acid using a flow-type microreactor containing enzyme–mesoporous silica microsphere composites

A flow-type microreactor containing composites of the enzyme (glutaminase) and mesoporous silica microspheres with a 23.6 nm pore diameter (SBA23.6) exhibited precise, efficient, and continuous synthesis of theanine.

Physiological effects of L-theanine on Drosophila melanogaster

Green tea has been consumed as the most popular drink in East Asia for centuries, and is believed to have a wide range of health benefits. l-Theanine, the major component of the free amino acids in green tea, has been reported to display neuronal protection and tumor inhibition in vitro, but its physiological effects on animal development and behavior remain elusive. In this report, we used Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, as a model organism to investigate the physiological effects of l-theanine. Flies were fed with three different concentrations of theanine as a dietary supplement after eclosion, and were examined for a variety of physiological parameters at different time points. We found theanine treatment results in significantly increased locomotion and courtship ability, and decreased resistance against wet and dry starvation in males, but not in females. Furthermore, theanine application diminished UV tolerance in females, but not in males. However, we did not perceive distinguishable effect of theanine on animal development, life span, weight, and tolerance of heat and anoxia. This work represents the first comprehensive physiological investigation of l-theanine at the whole animal level, and shall shed light on the mechanistic study of theanine in the future.

An enzyme-encapsulated microreactor for efficient theanine synthesis

A flow-type microreactor containing glutaminase-mesoporous silica composites with 10.6 nm pore diameter (TMPS10.6) was developed for the continuous synthesis of theanine, a unique amino acid. High enzymatic activity was exhibited by the local control of the reaction temperature.

L-Theanine: properties, synthesis and isolation from tea

Theanine is a non-protein amino acid that occurs naturally in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and contributes to the favourable taste of tea. It is also associated with effects such as the enhancement of relaxation and the improvement of concentration and learning ability. It is also linked with health benefits including the prevention of certain cancers and cardiovascular disease, the promotion of weight loss and enhanced performance of the immune system. Thus, there has been a significant rise in the demand for theanine. While theanine has been chemically and biologically synthesised, techniques to isolate theanine from natural sources remain an important area of research. In this review article, the properties and health benefits of theanine are summarised and the synthesis and isolation of theanine are reviewed and discussed. Future perspectives for the isolation of theanine from natural sources are also outlined.

Enzymatic synthesis of L-tryptophan from hair acid hydrolysis industries wastewater with tryptophan synthase

An effective method for production of L-tryptophan from hair acid hydrolysis wastewater (HHW) containing L-serine was developed by recombinant tryptophan synthase. This study provides us with an alternative HHW utilization strategy. Tryptophan synthase could efficiently convert L-serine contained in HHW to L-tryptophan at pH 8.0, 40°C and Tween-80 of 0.04%. The enzyme also showed high tolerance to ammonium chloride, a component in HHW. In a scale up study, L-serine conversion rate reach 95.1% with a final L-tryptophan concentration of 33.2 g l(-1).