Geier M, Bachler T, Hanlon SP, Eggimann FK, Kittelmann M, Weber H, Lütz S, Wirz B, Winkler M. Human FMO2-based microbial whole-cell catalysts for drug metabolite synthesis.
Microb Cell Fact 2015;
14:82. [PMID:
26062974 PMCID:
PMC4464233 DOI:
10.1186/s12934-015-0262-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2015] [Accepted: 05/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Getting access to authentic human drug metabolites is an important issue during the drug discovery and development process. Employing recombinant microorganisms as whole-cell biocatalysts constitutes an elegant alternative to organic synthesis to produce these compounds. The present work aimed for the generation of an efficient whole-cell catalyst based on the flavin monooxygenase isoform 2 (FMO2), which is part of the human phase I metabolism.
RESULTS
We show for the first time the functional expression of human FMO2 in E. coli. Truncations of the C-terminal membrane anchor region did not result in soluble FMO2 protein, but had a significant effect on levels of recombinant protein. The FMO2 biocatalysts were employed for substrate screening purposes, revealing trifluoperazine and propranolol as FMO2 substrates. Biomass cultivation on the 100 L scale afforded active catalyst for biotransformations on preparative scale. The whole-cell conversion of trifluoperazine resulted in perfectly selective oxidation to 48 mg (46% yield) of the corresponding N (1)-oxide with a purity >98%.
CONCLUSIONS
The generated FMO2 whole-cell catalysts are not only useful as screening tool for human metabolites of drug molecules but more importantly also for their chemo- and regioselective preparation on the multi-milligram scale.
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