Discovery of amino acid amides as new substrates for α-amino-ɛ-caprolactam racemase from Achromobacter obae

Overview on Multienzymatic Cascades for the Production of Non-canonical α-Amino Acids

The 22 genetically encoded amino acids (AAs) present in proteins (the 20 standard AAs together with selenocysteine and pyrrolysine), are commonly referred as proteinogenic AAs in the literature due to their appearance in ribosome-synthetized polypeptides. Beyond the borders of this key set of compounds, the rest of AAs are generally named imprecisely as non-proteinogenic AAs, even when they can also appear in polypeptide chains as a result of post-transductional machinery. Besides their importance as metabolites in life, many of D-α- and L-α-"non-canonical" amino acids (NcAAs) are of interest in the biotechnological and biomedical fields. They have found numerous applications in the discovery of new medicines and antibiotics, drug synthesis, cosmetic, and nutritional compounds, or in the improvement of protein and peptide pharmaceuticals. In addition to the numerous studies dealing with the asymmetric synthesis of NcAAs, many different enzymatic pathways have been reported in the literature allowing for the biosynthesis of NcAAs. Due to the huge heterogeneity of this group of molecules, this review is devoted to provide an overview on different established multienzymatic cascades for the production of non-canonical D-α- and L-α-AAs, supplying neophyte and experienced professionals in this field with different illustrative examples in the literature. Whereas the discovery of new or newly designed enzymes is of great interest, dusting off previous enzymatic methodologies by a "back and to the future" strategy might accelerate the implementation of new or improved multienzymatic cascades.

PLP-dependent enzymes as important biocatalysts for the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries: a structural and mechanistic perspective

PLP-dependent enzymes described on this review are attractive targets for enzyme engineering towards their application in an industrial biotechnology framework.

Isolation and characterization of racemase from Ensifer sp. 23-3 that acts on α-aminolactams and α-amino acid amides

Limited information is available on α-amino-ε-caprolactam (ACL) racemase (ACLR), a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme that acts on ACL and α-amino acid amides. In the present study, eight bacterial strains with the ability to racemize α-amino-ε-caprolactam were isolated and one of them was identified as Ensifer sp. strain 23-3. The gene for ACLR from Ensifer sp. 23-3 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant ACLR was then purified to homogeneity from the E. coli transformant harboring the ACLR gene from Ensifer sp. 23-3, and its properties were characterized. This enzyme acted not only on ACL but also on α-amino-δ-valerolactam, α-amino-ω-octalactam, α-aminobutyric acid amide, and alanine amide.

Structural Basis for Phospholyase Activity of a Class III Transaminase Homologue

Pyridoxal-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes catalyse a remarkable diversity of chemical reactions in nature. A1RDF1 from Arthrobacter aurescens TC1 is a fold type I, PLP-dependent enzyme in the class III transaminase (TA) subgroup. Despite sharing 28 % sequence identity with its closest structural homologues, including β-alanine:pyruvate and γ-aminobutyrate:α-ketoglutarate TAs, A1RDF1 displayed no TA activity. Activity screening revealed that the enzyme possesses phospholyase (E.C. 4.2.3.2) activity towards O-phosphoethanolamine (PEtN), an activity described previously for vertebrate enzymes such as human AGXT2L1, enzymes for which no structure has yet been reported. In order to shed light on the distinctive features of PLP-dependent phospholyases, structures of A1RDF1 in complex with PLP (internal aldimine) and PLP⋅PEtN (external aldimine) were determined, revealing the basis of substrate binding and the structural factors that distinguish the enzyme from class III homologues that display TA activity.

Characterization of an α-amino-ɛ-caprolactam racemase with broad substrate specificity from Citreicella sp. SE45

α-Amino-ε-caprolactam (ACL) racemizing activity was detected in a putative dialkylglycine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.64) from Citreicella sp. SE45. The encoding gene of the enzyme was cloned and transformed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The molecular mass of the enzyme was shown to be 47.4 kDa on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzymatic properties including pH and thermal optimum and stabilities were determined. This enzyme acted on a broad range of amino acid amides, particularly unbranched amino acid amides including L-alanine amide and L-serine amide with a specific activity of 17.5 and 21.6 U/mg, respectively. The K _m and V _max values for D- and L-ACL were 5.3 and 2.17 mM, and 769 and 558 μmol/min.mg protein, respectively. Moreover, the turn over number (K _cat) and catalytic efficiency (K _cat/K _m ) of purified ACL racemase from Citreicella sp. SE45 using L-ACL as a substrate were 465 S^-1 and 214 S^-1mM^-1, respectively. The new ACL racemase from Citreicella sp. SE45 has a potential to be used as the biocatalytic application.

Bioinformatic analysis of a PLP-dependent enzyme superfamily suitable for biocatalytic applications

In this review we analyse structure/sequence-function relationships for the superfamily of PLP-dependent enzymes with special emphasis on class III transaminases. Amine transaminases are highly important for applications in biocatalysis in the synthesis of chiral amines. In addition, other enzyme activities such as racemases or decarboxylases are also discussed. The substrate scope and the ability to accept chemically different types of substrates are shown to be reflected in conserved patterns of amino acids around the active site. These findings are condensed in a sequence-function matrix, which facilitates annotation and identification of biocatalytically relevant enzymes and protein engineering thereof.

Strategies for discovery and improvement of enzyme function: state of the art and opportunities

Developments in biocatalysis have been largely fuelled by consumer demands for new products, industrial attempts to improving existing process and minimizing waste, coupled with governmental measures to regulate consumer safety along with scientific advancements. One of the major hurdles to application of biocatalysis to chemical synthesis is unavailability of the desired enzyme to catalyse the reaction to allow for a viable process development. Even when the desired enzyme is available it often forces the process engineers to alter process parameters due to inadequacies of the enzyme, such as instability, inhibition, low yield or selectivity, etc. Developments in the field of enzyme or reaction engineering have allowed access to means to achieve the ends, such as directed evolution, de novo protein design, use of non‐conventional media, using new substrates for old enzymes, active‐site imprinting, altering temperature, etc. Utilization of enzyme discovery and improvement tools therefore provides a feasible means to overcome this problem. Judicious employment of these tools has resulted in significant advancements that have leveraged the research from laboratory to market thus impacting economic growth; however, there are further opportunities that have not yet been explored. The present review attempts to highlight some of these achievements and potential opportunities.

New enzymatic method of chiral amino acid synthesis by dynamic kinetic resolution of amino acid amides: use of stereoselective amino acid amidases in the presence of alpha-amino-epsilon-caprolactam racemase

D- and L-amino acids were produced from L- and D-amino acid amides by D-aminopeptidase from Ochrobactrum anthropi C1-38 and L-amino acid amidase from Pseudomonas azotoformans IAM 1603, respectively, in the presence of alpha-amino-epsilon-caprolactam racemase from Achromobacter obae as the catalyst by dynamic kinetic resolution of amino acid amides.