Biocatalytic production of compound K in a deep eutectic solvent based on choline chloride using a substrate fed-batch strategy

How Can Deep Eutectic Systems Promote Greener Processes in Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery?

Chemists in the medicinal chemistry field are constantly searching for alternatives towards more sustainable and eco-friendly processes for the design and synthesis of drug candidates. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most polluting industries, having a high E-factor, which is driving the adoption of more sustainable processes not only for new drug candidates, but also in the production of well-established active pharmaceutical ingredients. Deep eutectic systems (DESs) have emerged as a greener alternative to ionic liquids, and their potential to substitute traditional organic solvents in drug discovery has raised interest among scientists. With the use of DESs as alternative solvents, the processes become more attractive in terms of eco-friendliness and recyclability. Furthermore, they might be more effective through making the process simpler, faster, and with maximum efficiency. This review will be focused on the role and application of deep eutectic systems in drug discovery, using biocatalytic processes and traditional organic chemical reactions, as new environmentally benign alternative solvents. Furthermore, herein we also show that DESs, if used in the pharmaceutical industry, may have a significant effect on lowering production costs and decreasing the impact of this industry on the quality of the environment.

Engineering and transcriptome study of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce ginsenoside compound K by glycerol

Synthetic biology-based engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce terpenoid natural products is an effective strategy for their industrial application. Previously, we observed that glycerol addition was beneficial for ginsenoside compound K (CK) production in a S. cerevisiae when it was fermented using the YPD medium. Here, we reconstructed the CK synthesis and glycerol catabolic pathway in a high-yield protopanaxadiol (PPD) S. cerevisiae strain. Remarkably, our engineered strain exhibited the ability to utilize glycerol as the sole carbon source, resulting in a significantly enhanced production of 433.1 ± 8.3 mg L-1 of CK, which was 2.4 times higher compared to that obtained in glucose medium. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the transcript levels of several key genes involved in the mevalonate (MVA) pathway and the uridine diphosphate glucose (UDPG) synthesis pathway were up-regulated in response to glycerol. The addition of glycerol enhanced CK titers by augmenting the flux of the terpene synthesis pathway and facilitating the production of glycosyl donors. These results suggest that glycerol is a promising carbon source in S. cerevisiae, especially for the production of triterpenoid saponins.

Rare ginsenosides: A unique perspective of ginseng research

BACKGROUND

Rare ginsenosides (Rg3, Rh2, C-K, etc.) refer to a group of dammarane triterpenoids that exist in low natural abundance, mostly produced by deglycosylation or side chain modification via physicochemical processing or metabolic transformation in gut, and last but not least, exhibited potent biological activity comparing to the primary ginsenosides, which lead to a high concern in both the research and development of ginseng and ginsenoside-related nutraceutical and natural products. Nevertheless, a comprehensive review on these promising compounds is not available yet.

AIM OF REVIEW

In this review, recent advances of Rare ginsenosides (RGs) were summarized dealing with the structurally diverse characteristics, traditional usage, drug discovery situation, clinical application, pharmacological effects and the underlying mechanisms, structure-activity relationship, toxicity, the stereochemistry properties, and production strategies.

KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW

A total of 144 RGs with diverse skeletons and bioactivities were isolated from Panax species. RGs acted as natural ligands on some specific receptors, such as bile acid receptors, steroid hormone receptors, and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptors. The RGs showed promising bioactivities including immunoregulatory and adaptogen-like effect, anti-aging effect, anti-tumor effect, as well as their effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular system, central nervous system, obesity and diabetes, and interaction with gut microbiota. Clinical trials indicated the potential of RGs, while high quality data remains inadequate, and no obvious side effects was found. The stereochemistry properties induced by deglycosylation at C (20) were also addressed including pharmacodynamics behaviors, together with the state-of-art analytical strategies for the identification of saponin stereoisomers. Finally, the batch preparation of targeted RGs by designated strategies including heating or acid/ alkaline-assisted processes, and enzymatic biotransformation and biosynthesis were discussed. Hopefully, the present review can provide more clues for the extensive understanding and future in-depth research and development of RGs, originated from the worldwide well recognized ginseng plants.

Efficient asymmetric synthesis of ethyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate by recombinant Escherichia coli cells under high substrate loading using eco-friendly ionic liquids as cosolvent

Ionic liquids (ILs) which synthesized from bio-renewable materials have recently attracted much attention for their applications in biocatalysis. Ethyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate ((R)-EHB) as a versatile chiral intermediate is of great interest in pharmaceutical synthesis. This study focuses on evaluating the performances of choline chloride (ChCl)-based and tetramethylammonium (TMA)-based neoteric ILs in the efficient synthesis of (R)-EHB via the bioreduction of ethyl acetoacetate (EAA) at high substrate loading by recombinant Escherichia coli cells. It was found that choline chloride/glutathione (ChCl/GSH, molar ratio 1:1) and tetramethylammonium/cysteine ([TMA][Cys], molar ratio 1:1) as eco-friendly ILs not only enhanced the solubility of water-insoluble EAA in the aqueous buffer system, but also appropriately improved the membrane permeability of recombinant E. coli cells, thus boosting catalytic reduction efficiency of EAA to (R)-EHB. In the developed ChCl/GSH- or [TMA][Cys]-buffer systems, the space-time yields of (R)-EHB achieved 754.9 g/L/d and 726.3 g/L/d, respectively, which are much higher than neat aqueous buffer system (537.2 g/L/d space-time yield). Meanwhile, positive results have also been demonstrated in the bioreduction of other prochiral ketones in the established IL-buffer systems. This work exhibits an efficient bioprocess for (R)-EHB synthesis under 325 g/L (2.5 M) substrate loading, and provides promising ChCl/GSH- and [TMA][Cys]-buffer systems employed in the biocatalysis for hydrophobic substrate.

Biotransformation of High Concentrations of Ginsenoside Substrate into Compound K by β-glycosidase from Sulfolobus solfataricus

The rare ginsenoside Compound K (CK) is an attractive ingredient in traditional medicines, cosmetics, and the food industry because of its various biological activities. However, it does not exist in nature. The commonly used method for the production of CK is enzymatic conversion. In order to further improve the catalytic efficiency and increase the CK content, a thermostable β-glycosidase from Sulfolobus solfataricus was successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris and secreted into fermentation broth. The recombinant SS-bgly in the supernatant showed enzyme activity of 93.96 U/mg at 120 h when using pNPG as substrate. The biotransformation conditions were optimized at pH 6.0 and 80 °C, and its activity was significantly enhanced in the presence of 3 mM Li⁺. When the substrate concentration was 10 mg/mL, the recombinant SS-bgly completely converted the ginsenoside substrate to CK with a productivity of 507.06 μM/h. Moreover, the recombinant SS-bgly exhibited extraordinary tolerance against high substrate concentrations. When the ginsenoside substrate concentration was increased to 30 mg/mL, the conversion could still reach 82.5% with a productivity of 314.07 μM/h. Thus, the high temperature tolerance, resistance to a variety of metals, and strong substrate tolerance make the recombinant SS-bgly expressed in P. pastoris a potential candidate for the industrial production of the rare ginsenoside CK.

Combinatorial Enzymatic Catalysis for Bioproduction of Ginsenoside Compound K

Ginsenoside compound K (CK) is an emerging functional food or pharmaceutical product. To date, there are still challenges to exploring effective catalytic enzymes for enzyme-catalyzed manufacturing processes and establishing enzyme-catalyzed processes. Herein, we identified three ginsenoside hydrolases BG07 (glucoamylase), BG19 (β-glucosidase), and BG23 (β-glucosidase) from Aspergillus tubingensis JE0609 by transcriptome analysis and peptide mass fingerprinting. Among them, BG23 was expressed in Komagataella phaffii with a high volumetric activity of 235.73 U mL-1 (pNPG). Enzymatic property studies have shown that BG23 is an acidic (pH adaptation range of 4.5-7.0) and mesophilic (thermostable < 50 °C) enzyme. Moreover, a one-pot combinatorial enzyme-catalyzed strategy based on BG23 and BGA35 (β-galactosidase from Aspergillus oryzae) was established, with a high CK yield of 396.7 mg L-1 h-1. This study explored the ginsenoside hydrolases derived from A. tubingensis at the molecular level and provided a reference for the efficient production of CK.

Combination of Enzymes and Deep Eutectic Solvents as Powerful Toolbox for Organic Synthesis

During the last decade, a wide spectrum of applications and advantages in the use of deep eutectic solvents for promoting organic reactions has been well established among the scientific community. Among these synthetic methodologies, in recent years, various examples of biocatalyzed processes have been reported, making use of eutectic mixtures as reaction media, as an improvement in terms of selectivity and sustainability. This review aims to show the newly reported protocols in the field, subdivided by reaction class as a 'toolbox' guide for organic synthesis.

Efficient biosynthesis of (S)-1-[2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ethanol by a novel isolate Geotrichum silvicola ZJPH1811 in deep eutectic solvent/cyclodextrin-containing system

This study aimed to develop a biotransformation process for the production of (S)-1-[2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ethanol, a key chiral intermediate of Plk1 inhibitor, and increase its productivity through medium engineering strategy. A fungus isolate Geotrichum silvicola ZJPH1811 was adopted as biocatalyst for 2'-(trifluoromethyl)acetophenone reduction, and gave the best performance with > 99.2% product ee. To improve the yield, choline acetate/cysteine (ChAc/Cys) was introduced as co-solvent in reaction system, which accelerated mass transfer and protected cells from substrate inhibition. Moreover, a synergistic effect of methylated-β-cyclodextrin (MCD) and ChAc/Cys was found in the bioreduction, with further enhancement in substrate concentration and cell membrane permeability. Compared with buffer system, in the developed ChAc/Cys-MCD-containing system, substrate loading and product yield were increased by 6.7-fold and 2.4-fold respectively. This is the first report on (S)-1-[2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ethanol production with G. silvicola, and provides valuable insight into the synergistic effect of DES and CDs in biocatalysis.