Enzymatic conversions of polar lipids. Principles, problems and solutions

Quantitative monitoring of galactolipid hydrolysis by pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 using thin layer chromatography and thymol-sulfuric acid derivatization

Galactolipids are the most abundant lipids on earth where they are mainly found in photosynthetic membranes of plant, algae, and cyanobacteria. Pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 (PLRP2) is an enzyme with galactolipase activity allowing mammals, especially herbivores, to digest this important source of fatty acids. We present a method for the quantitative analysis of galactolipids and galactosylated products resulting from their digestion by guinea pig PLRP2 (GPLRP2), using thin-layer-chromatography (TLC), thymol-sulfuric acid as derivatization reagent and scanning densitometry for detection. Thymol-sulfuric acid reagent has been used for the colorimetric detection of carbohydrates. It is shown here that the derivatization of galactosyl group from galactolipids by this reagent is not affected by the bound acyl glycerol, acyl chains length and number of galactose residues in the polar head. This allowed quantifying simultaneously the initial substrate and all galactosylated products generated upon the hydrolysis of monogalactosyl di-octanoylglycerol (C8-MGDG) by GPLRP2 using a single calibration with C8-MGDG as reference standard. The reaction products, monogalactosyl monooctanoyl glycerol (C8-MGMG) and monogalactosyl glycerol (MGG), were identified and quantified, MGG being recovered from the aqueous phase and analyzed by a separate TLC analysis. This method is therefore suitable to quantify the products resulting from the release of both fatty acids present in MGDG and thereby shows that PLRP2 can contribute to the complete digestion of galactolipids and further intestinal absorption of their fatty acids.

Polar Head Modified Phospholipids by Phospholipase D-Catalyzed Transformations of Natural Phosphatidylcholine for Targeted Applications: An Overview

This review describes the use of phospholipase D (PLD) to perform the transphosphatidylation of the most common natural phospholipid (PL), phosphatidylcholine (PC) to obtain polar head modified phospholipids with real targeted applications. The introduction of different polar heads with distinctive physical and chemical properties such as charge, polarity and dimensions allows the obtainment of very different PLs, which can be exploited in very diverse fields of application. Moreover, the inclusions of a bioactive moiety in the PL polar head constitutes a powerful tool for the stabilization and administration of active ingredients. The use of this biocatalytic approach allows the preparation of compounds which cannot be easily obtained by classical chemical methods, by using mild and green reaction conditions. PLD is a very versatile enzyme, able to catalyze both the hydrolysis of PC to choline and phosphatidic acid (PA), and the transphosphatidylation reaction in the presence of an appropriate alcohol. The yield of production of the desired product and the ratio with the collateral PA formation is highly dependent on parameters such as the nature and concentration of the alcohol and the enzymatic source. The application of PLD catalyzed transformations for the production of a great number of PLs with important uses in medical, nutraceutical and cosmetic sectors will be discussed in this work.

Lipase Catalyzed Acidolysis for Efficient Synthesis of Phospholipids Enriched with Isomerically Pure cis-9,trans-11 and trans-10,cis-12 Conjugated Linoleic Acid

The production of phospholipid (PL) conjugates with biologically active compounds is nowadays an extensively employed approach. This type of phospholipids conjugates could improve bioavailability of many poorly absorbed active compounds such as isomers of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which exhibit versatile biological effects. The studies were carried out to elaborate an efficient enzymatic method for the synthesis of phospholipids with pure (>90%) cis-9,trans-11 and trans-10,cis-12 CLA isomers. For this purpose, three commercially available immobilized lipases were examined in respect to specificity towards CLA isomers in acidolysis of egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine (PC). Different incorporation rates were observed for the individual CLA isomers. Under optimal conditions: PC/CLA molar ratio 1:6; Rhizomucor miehei lipase loading 24% wt. based on substrates; heptane; DMF, 5% (v/v); water activity (aw), 0.11; 45 °C; magnetic stirring, 300 rpm; 48 h., effective incorporation (EINC) of CLA isomers into PC reached ca. 50%. The EINC of CLA isomers was elevated for 25–30% only by adding a water mimic (DMF) and reducing aw to 0.11 comparing to the reaction system performed at aw = 0.23. The developed method of phosphatidylcholine acidolysis is the first described in the literature dealing with isometrically pure CLA and allow to obtain very high effective incorporation.

Enzymatic modification of phospholipids for functional applications and human nutrition

Rapid progress in biochemistry of phospholipids and evolution of modern bioengineering has brought forth a number of novel concepts and technical advancements in the modification of phospholipids for industrial applications and human nutrition. Highlights cover preparation of novel phospholipid analogs based on the latest understanding of pivotal role of phospholipids in manifold biological processes, exploration of remarkable application potentials of phospholipids in meliorating human health, as well as development of new chemical and biotechnological approaches applied to the modification of phospholipids. This work reviews the natural occurrence and structural characteristics of phospholipids, their updated knowledge on manifold biological and nutritional functions, traditional and novel physical and chemical approaches to modify phospholipids as well as their applications to obtain novel phospholipids, and brief introduction of the efforts focusing on de novo syntheses of phospholipids. Special attention is given to the summary of molecular structural characteristics and catalytic properties of multiple phospholipases, which helps to interpret experimental phenomena and to improve reaction design. This will of course provide fundamental bases also for the development of enzymatic technology to produce structured or modified phospholipids.