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Krishna NB, Roopa L, Pravin Kumar R, S GT. Computational studies on the catalytic potential of the double active site for enzyme engineering. Sci Rep 2024; 14:17892. [PMID: 39095391 PMCID: PMC11297320 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60824-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Proteins possessing double active sites have the potential to revolutionise enzyme design strategies. This study extensively explored an enzyme that contains both a natural active site (NAS) and an engineered active site (EAS), focusing on understanding its structural and functional properties. Metadynamics simulations were employed to investigate how substrates interacted with their respective active sites. The results revealed that both the NAS and EAS exhibited similar minimum energy states, indicating comparable binding affinities. However, it became apparent that the EAS had a weaker binding site for the substrate due to its smaller pocket and constrained conformation. Interestingly, the EAS also displayed dynamic behaviour, with the substrate observed to move outside the pocket, suggesting the possibility of substrate translocation. To gain further insights, steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations were conducted to study the conformational changes of the substrate and its interactions with catalytic residues. Notably, the substrate adopted distinct conformations, including near-attack conformations, in both the EAS and NAS. Nevertheless, the NAS demonstrated superior binding minima for the substrate compared to the EAS, reinforcing the observation that the engineered active site was less favourable for substrate binding due to its limitations. The QM/MM (Quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics) analyses highlight the energy disparity between NAS and EAS. Specifically, EAS exhibited elevated energy levels due to its engineered active site being located on the surface. This positioning exposes the substrate to solvents and water molecules, adding to the energy challenge. Consequently, the engineered enzyme did not provide a significant advantage in substrate binding over the single active site protein. Further, the investigation of internal channels and tunnels within the protein shed light on the pathways facilitating transport between the two active sites. By unravelling the complex dynamics and functional characteristics of this double-active site protein, this study offers valuable insights into novel strategies of enzyme engineering. These findings establish a solid foundation for future research endeavours aimed at harnessing the potential of double-active site proteins in diverse biotechnological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naveen Banchallihundi Krishna
- Department of Computational Biology and AI, Kcat Enzymatic Private Limited, #16, Ramakrishnappa Road, Cox Town, Bangalore, 560005, India
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, 570015, India
| | - Lalitha Roopa
- Department of Computational Biology and AI, Kcat Enzymatic Private Limited, #16, Ramakrishnappa Road, Cox Town, Bangalore, 560005, India
| | - R Pravin Kumar
- Department of Computational Biology and AI, Kcat Enzymatic Private Limited, #16, Ramakrishnappa Road, Cox Town, Bangalore, 560005, India.
| | - Gopenath T S
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, 570015, India
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2
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Buslov I, Desmons S, Duhoo Y, Hu X. Engineered Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyases for the Enantioselective Synthesis of Aspartic Acid Derivatives. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202406008. [PMID: 38713131 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202406008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Biocatalytic hydroamination of alkenes is an efficient and selective method to synthesize natural and unnatural amino acids. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyases (PALs) have been previously engineered to access a range of substituted phenylalanines and heteroarylalanines, but their substrate scope remains limited, typically including only arylacrylic acids. Moreover, the enantioselectivity in the hydroamination of electron-deficient substrates is often poor. Here, we report the structure-based engineering of PAL from Planctomyces brasiliensis (PbPAL), enabling preparative-scale enantioselective hydroaminations of previously inaccessible yet synthetically useful substrates, such as amide- and ester-containing fumaric acid derivatives. Through the elucidation of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) PbPAL structure and screening of the structure-based mutagenesis library, we identified the key active site residue L205 as pivotal for dramatically enhancing the enantioselectivity of hydroamination reactions involving electron-deficient substrates. Our engineered PALs demonstrated exclusive α-regioselectivity, high enantioselectivity, and broad substrate scope. The potential utility of the developed biocatalysts was further demonstrated by a preparative-scale hydroamination yielding tert-butyl protected l-aspartic acid, widely used as intermediate in peptide solid-phase synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Buslov
- Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ISIC-LSCI, BCH 3305, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sarah Desmons
- Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ISIC-LSCI, BCH 3305, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Yoan Duhoo
- Protein Production and Structure Core Facility (PTPSP), School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Xile Hu
- Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ISIC-LSCI, BCH 3305, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
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3
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Guan ZB, Deng XT, Zhang ZH, Xu GC, Cheng WL, Liao XR, Cai YJ. Engineering Glucosamine-6-Phosphate Synthase to Achieve Efficient One-Step Biosynthesis of Glucosamine. ACS Chem Biol 2024; 19:1237-1242. [PMID: 38723147 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.4c00144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
As an important functional monosaccharide, glucosamine (GlcN) is widely used in fields such as medicine, food nutrition, and health care. Here, we report a distinct GlcN biosynthesis method that utilizes engineered Bacillus subtilis glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase (BsGlmS) to convert D-fructose to directly generate GlcN. The best variant obtained by using a combinatorial active-site saturation test/iterative saturation mutagenesis (CAST/ISM) strategy was a quadruple mutant S596D/V597G/S347H/G299Q (BsGlmS-BK19), which has a catalytic activity 1736-fold that of the wild type toward D-fructose. Upon using mutant BK19 as a whole-cell catalyst, D-fructose was converted into GlcN with 65.32% conversion in 6 h, whereas the wild type only attained a conversion rate of 0.31% under the same conditions. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations were implemented to provide insights into the mechanism underlying the enhanced activity of BK19. Importantly, the BsGlmS-BK19 variant specifically catalyzes D-fructose without the need for phosphorylated substrates, representing a significant advancement in GlcN biosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng-Bing Guan
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue-Ting Deng
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Zi-Hao Zhang
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Guo-Chao Xu
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Wan-Li Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiang-Ru Liao
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu-Jie Cai
- The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
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4
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Tomoiaga RB, Ágoston G, Boros K, Nagy LC, Toşa MI, Paizs C, Bencze LC. The Biocatalytic Potential of Aromatic Ammonia-Lyase from Loktanella atrilutea. Chembiochem 2024; 25:e202400011. [PMID: 38415939 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202400011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Characterization of the aromatic ammonia-lyase from Loktanella atrilutea (LaAAL) revealed reduced activity towards canonical AAL substrates: l-Phe, l-Tyr, and l-His, contrasted by its pronounced efficiency towards 3,4-dimethoxy-l-phenylalanine. Assessing the optimal conditions, LaAAL exhibited maximal activity at pH 9.5 in the ammonia elimination reaction route, distinct from the typical pH ranges of most PALs and TALs. Within the exploration of the ammonia source for the opposite, synthetically valuable ammonia addition reaction, the stability of LaAAL exhibited a positive correlation with the ammonia concentration, with the highest stability in 4 M ammonium carbamate of unadjusted pH of ~9.5. While the enzyme activity increased with rising temperatures yet, the highest operational stability and highest stationary conversions of LaAAL were observed at 30 °C. The substrate scope analysis highlighted the catalytic adaptability of LaAAL in the hydroamination of diverse cinnamic acids, especially of meta-substituted and di-/multi-substituted analogues, with structural modelling exposing steric clashes between the substrates' ortho-substituents and catalytic site residues. LaAAL showed a predilection for ammonia elimination, while classifying as a tyrosine ammonia-lyase (TAL) among the natural AAL classes. However, its distinctive attributes, such as genomic context, unique substrate specificity and catalytic fingerprint, suggest a potential natural role beyond those of known AAL classes.
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Affiliation(s)
- R B Tomoiaga
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş Bolyai University, Arany János Str. 11, RO-400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - G Ágoston
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş Bolyai University, Arany János Str. 11, RO-400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - K Boros
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş Bolyai University, Arany János Str. 11, RO-400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - L C Nagy
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş Bolyai University, Arany János Str. 11, RO-400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - M I Toşa
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş Bolyai University, Arany János Str. 11, RO-400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - C Paizs
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş Bolyai University, Arany János Str. 11, RO-400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - L C Bencze
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş Bolyai University, Arany János Str. 11, RO-400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Zheng J, Sun R, Wu D, Chen P, Zheng P. Engineered Zea mays phenylalanine ammonia-lyase for improve the catalytic efficiency of biosynthesis trans-cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid. Enzyme Microb Technol 2024; 176:110423. [PMID: 38442476 DOI: 10.1016/j.enzmictec.2024.110423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) plays a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of phenylalanine. PAL from Zea mays (ZmPAL2) exhibits a bi-function of direct deamination of L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) or L-tyrosine(-L-Tyr) to form trans-cinnamic acid or p-coumaric acid. trans-Cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid are mainly used in flavors and fragrances, food additives, pharmaceutical and other fields. Here, the Activity of ZmPAL2 toward L-Phe or L-Tyr was improved by using semi-rational and rational designs. The catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) of mutant PT10 (V258I/I459V/Q484N) against L-Phe was 30.8 μM-1 s-1, a 4.5-fold increase compared to the parent, and the catalytic efficiency of mutant PA1 (F135H/I459L) to L-tyrosine exhibited 8.6 μM-1 s-1, which was 1.6-fold of the parent. The yield of trans-cinnamic acid in PT10 reached 30.75 g/L with a conversion rate of 98%. Meanwhile, PA1 converted L-Tyr to yield 3.12 g/L of p-coumaric acid with a conversion rate of 95%. Suggesting these two engineered ZmPAL2 to be valuable biocatalysts for the synthesis of trans-cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid. In addition, MD simulations revealed that the underlying mechanisms of the increased catalytic efficiency of both mutant PT10 and PA1 are attributed to the substrate remaining stable within the pocket and closer to the catalytically active site. This also provides a new perspective on engineered PAL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiangmei Zheng
- Key laboratory of industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China
| | - Ruobin Sun
- Key laboratory of industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China
| | - Dan Wu
- Key laboratory of industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China
| | - Pengcheng Chen
- Key laboratory of industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China
| | - Pu Zheng
- Key laboratory of industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China.
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Fan S, Wei X, Lü R, Feng C, Zhang Q, Lü X, Jin Y, Yan M, Yang Z. Roles of the N-terminal motif in improving the activity and soluble expression of phenylalanine ammonia lyases in Escherichia coli. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 262:130248. [PMID: 38367782 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.130248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024]
Abstract
Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) has various applications in fine chemical manufacturing and the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, PAL derived from Anabaena variabilis (AvPAL) is used as a therapeutic agent to the treat phenylketonuria in clinical settings. In this study, we aligned the amino acid sequences of AvPAL and PAL derived from Nostoc punctiforme (NpPAL) to obtain several mutants with enhanced activity, expression yield, and thermal stability via amino acid substitution and saturation mutagenesis at the N-terminal position. Enzyme kinetic experiments revealed that the kcat values of NpPAL-N2K, NpPAL-I3T, and NpPAL-T4L mutants were increased to 3.2-, 2.8-, and 3.3-fold that of the wild-type, respectively. Saturation mutagenesis of the fourth amino acid in AvPAL revealed that the kcat values of AvPAL-L4N, AvPAL-L4P, AvPAL-L4Q and AvPAL-L4S increased to 4.0-, 3.7-, 3.6-, and 3.2-fold, respectively. Additionally, the soluble protein yield of AvPAL-L4K increased to approximately 14 mg/L, which is approximately 3.5-fold that of AvPAL. Molecular dynamics studies further revealed that maintaining the attacking state of the reaction and N-terminal structure increased the rate of catalytic reaction and improved the solubility of proteins. These findings provide new insights for the rational design of PAL in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuai Fan
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Xiyu Wei
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Ruijie Lü
- School of Pharmacy, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan 063210, Hebei, China
| | - Cuiyue Feng
- School of Pharmacy, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan 063210, Hebei, China
| | - Qian Zhang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Xudong Lü
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Yuanyuan Jin
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Maocai Yan
- School of Pharmacy, Jining Medical University, Rizhao 276800, Shandong, China.
| | - Zhaoyong Yang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
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Pavale S, Dalei SK, Sokhal P, Biswas B, Meena K, Adlakha N. Engineering phenylalanine ammonia lyase to limit feedback inhibition by cinnamate and enhance biotransformation. Biotechnol J 2024; 19:e2300275. [PMID: 37861236 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202300275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) is a crucial enzyme for various biotechnology applications, such as producing phenols, antioxidants, and nutraceuticals. However, feedback inhibition from its product, cinnamic acid, limits its forward reaction rate. Therefore, this study aims to address the feedback inhibition in PAL using enzyme engineering strategies. Random and site-directed mutagenesis approaches were utilized to screen mutant enzymes with ameliorated tolerance against cinnamic acid. A thermotolerant and cinnamate-tolerant mutant was rationally identified using a high throughput screening method and subsequent biochemical characterization. We evaluated cinnamate affinity among the seven rationally selected mutations, and the T102E mutation was identified as the most promising mutant. This mutant showed a six-fold reduction in the affinity of PAL for cinnamic acid and a two-fold increase in operational stability compared with native PAL. Furthermore, the enzyme was immobilized on carbon nanotubes to increase its robustness and reusability. The immobilized mutant PAL showed greater efficiency in the deamination of phenylalanine present in protein hydrolysate than its free form. The rationale behind the enhancement of cinnamate tolerance was validated using molecular dynamic simulations. Overall, the knowledge of the sequence-function relationship of PAL was applied to drive enzyme engineering to develop highly tolerant PAL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siddhi Pavale
- Synthetic Biology and Bioprocessing group, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR-Biotech Cluster, Faridabad, India
| | - Sudipt Kumar Dalei
- Synthetic Biology and Bioprocessing group, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR-Biotech Cluster, Faridabad, India
| | - Preeti Sokhal
- Synthetic Biology and Bioprocessing group, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR-Biotech Cluster, Faridabad, India
| | - Biswambhar Biswas
- Synthetic Biology and Bioprocessing group, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR-Biotech Cluster, Faridabad, India
| | - Kunal Meena
- Synthetic Biology and Bioprocessing group, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR-Biotech Cluster, Faridabad, India
| | - Nidhi Adlakha
- Synthetic Biology and Bioprocessing group, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR-Biotech Cluster, Faridabad, India
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Trivedi VD, Sullivan SF, Choudhury D, Endalur Gopinarayanan V, Hart T, Nair NU. Integration of metabolism and regulation reveals rapid adaptability to growth on non-native substrates. Cell Chem Biol 2023; 30:1135-1143.e5. [PMID: 37421944 PMCID: PMC10529486 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Engineering synthetic heterotrophy is a key to the efficient bio-based valorization of renewable and waste substrates. Among these, engineering hemicellulosic pentose utilization has been well-explored in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) over several decades-yet the answer to what makes their utilization inherently recalcitrant remains elusive. Through implementation of a semi-synthetic regulon, we find that harmonizing cellular and engineering objectives are a key to obtaining highest growth rates and yields with minimal metabolic engineering effort. Concurrently, results indicate that "extrinsic" factors-specifically, upstream genes that direct flux of pentoses into central carbon metabolism-are rate-limiting. We also reveal that yeast metabolism is innately highly adaptable to rapid growth on non-native substrates and that systems metabolic engineering (i.e., functional genomics, network modeling, etc.) is largely unnecessary. Overall, this work provides an alternate, novel, holistic (and yet minimalistic) approach based on integrating non-native metabolic genes with a native regulon system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vikas D Trivedi
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Sean F Sullivan
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Debika Choudhury
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | | | - Taylor Hart
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Nikhil U Nair
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.
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Tomoiagă RB, Tork SD, Filip A, Nagy LC, Bencze LC. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyases: combining protein engineering and natural diversity. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 107:1243-1256. [PMID: 36662259 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12374-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
In this study, rational design and saturation mutagenesis efforts for engineering phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from Petroselinum crispum (PcPAL) provided tailored PALs active towards challenging, highly valuable di-substituted substrates, such as the L-DOPA precursor 3,4-dimethoxy-L-phenylalanine or the 3-bromo-4-methoxy-phenylalanine. The rational design approach and saturation mutagenesis strategy unveiled identical PcPAL variants of improved activity, highlighting the limited mutational variety of the substrate specificity-modulator residues, L134, F137, I460 of PcPAL. Due to the restricted catalytic efficiency of the best performing L134A/I460V and F137V/I460V PcPAL variants, we imprinted these beneficial mutations to PALs of different origins. The variants of PALs from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtPAL) and Anabaena variabilis (AvPAL) showed higher catalytic efficiency than their PcPAL homologues. Further, the engineered PALs were also compared in terms of catalytic efficiency with a novel aromatic ammonia-lyase from Loktanella atrilutea (LaAAL), close relative of the metagenome-derived aromatic ammonia-lyase AL-11, reported recently to possess atypically high activity towards substrates with electron-donor aromatic substituents. Indeed, LaAAL outperformed the engineered Pc/At/AvPALs in the production of 3,4-dimethoxy-L-phenylalanine; however, in case of 3-bromo-4-methoxy derivatives it showed no activity, with computational results supporting the occurrence of steric hindrance. Transferring the unique array of selectivity modulator residues from LaAAL to the well-characterized PALs did not enhance their activity towards the targeted substrates. Moreover, applying the rational design strategy valid for these well-characterized PALs to LaAAL decreased its activity. These results suggest that distinct tailoring rationale is required for LaAAL/AL-11-like aromatic ammonia-lyases, which might represent a distinct PAL subclass, with natural reaction and substrate scope modified through evolutionary processes. KEY POINTS: • PAL-activity for challenging substrates generated by protein engineering • Rational/semi-rational protein engineering reveals constrained mutational variability • Engineered PALs are outperformed by novel ALs of distinct catalytic site signature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raluca Bianca Tomoiagă
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, 400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Souad Diana Tork
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, 400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Alina Filip
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, 400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Levente Csaba Nagy
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, 400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - László Csaba Bencze
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, 400028, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
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10
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Lei M, Trivedi VD, Nair NU, Lee K, Van Deventer JA. Flow cytometric evaluation of yeast-bacterial cell-cell interactions. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:399-408. [PMID: 36259110 PMCID: PMC10072783 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic cell-cell interaction systems can be useful for understanding multicellular communities or for screening binding molecules. We adapt a previously characterized set of synthetic cognate nanobody-antigen pairs to a yeast-bacteria coincubation format and use flow cytometry to evaluate cell-cell interactions mediated by binding between surface-displayed molecules. We further use fluorescence-activated cell sorting to enrich a specific yeast-displayed nanobody within a mixed yeast-display population. Finally, we demonstrate that this system supports the characterization of a therapeutically relevant nanobody-antigen interaction: a previously discovered nanobody that binds to the intimin protein expressed on the surface of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Overall, our findings indicate that the yeast-bacteria format supports efficient evaluation of ligand-target interactions. With further development, this format may facilitate systematic characterization and high-throughput discovery of bacterial surface-binding molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Lei
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
| | - Vikas D. Trivedi
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
| | - Nikhil U. Nair
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
| | - Kyongbum Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
| | - James A. Van Deventer
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
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Ninkuu V, Yan J, Fu Z, Yang T, Ziemah J, Ullrich MS, Kuhnert N, Zeng H. Lignin and Its Pathway-Associated Phytoalexins Modulate Plant Defense against Fungi. J Fungi (Basel) 2022; 9:jof9010052. [PMID: 36675873 PMCID: PMC9865837 DOI: 10.3390/jof9010052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Revised: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Fungi infections cause approximately 60-70% yield loss through diseases such as rice blast, powdery mildew, Fusarium rot, downy mildew, etc. Plants naturally respond to these infections by eliciting an array of protective metabolites to confer physical or chemical protection. Among plant metabolites, lignin, a phenolic compound, thickens the middle lamella and the secondary cell walls of plants to curtail fungi infection. The biosynthesis of monolignols (lignin monomers) is regulated by genes whose transcript abundance significantly improves plant defense against fungi. The catalytic activities of lignin biosynthetic enzymes also contribute to the accumulation of other defense compounds. Recent advances focus on modifying the lignin pathway to enhance plant growth and defense against pathogens. This review presents an overview of monolignol regulatory genes and their contributions to fungi immunity, as reported over the last five years. This review expands the frontiers in lignin pathway engineering to enhance plant defense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Ninkuu
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 100193, China
| | - Jianpei Yan
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 100193, China
| | - Zenchao Fu
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 100193, China
| | - Tengfeng Yang
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 100193, China
| | - James Ziemah
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, College Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany
| | - Matthias S. Ullrich
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, College Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany
| | - Nikolai Kuhnert
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University, College Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany
| | - Hongmei Zeng
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 100193, China
- Correspondence:
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12
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d'Amone L, Trivedi VD, Nair NU, Omenetto FG. A Silk-Based Platform to Stabilize Phenylalanine Ammonia-lyase for Orally Administered Enzyme Replacement Therapy. Mol Pharm 2022; 19:4625-4630. [PMID: 35862031 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) has gained attention in recent years for the treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU), a genetic disorder that affects ∼1 in 15 000 individuals globally. However, the enzyme is easily degraded by proteases, unstable at room temperature, and currently administered in PKU patients as daily subcutaneous injections. We report here the stabilization of the PAL from Anabaena variabilis, which is currently used to formulate pegvaliase, through incorporation in a silk fibroin matrix. The combination with silk stabilizes PAL at 37 °C. In addition, in vitro studies showed that inclusion in a silk matrix preserves the biological activity of the enzyme in simulated intestinal fluid, which will enable oral administration of PAL to treat PKU.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciana d'Amone
- Silklab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Vikas D Trivedi
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.,Department of Structural Biology and Center for Data Driven Discovery, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105-3678, United States
| | - Nikhil U Nair
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Fiorenzo G Omenetto
- Silklab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.,Department of Physics, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.,Laboratory for Living Devices, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
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13
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Liu H, Huang C, Li Q, Wang M, Xiao S, Shi J, He Y, Wen W, Li L, Xu D. Genome-Wide Identification of Genes Related to Biosynthesis of Phenolic Acid Derivatives in Bletilla striata at Different Suspension Culture Stages. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:875404. [PMID: 35783981 PMCID: PMC9247868 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.875404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
To screen the genes regulating the biosynthesis of phenolic acid derivatives from the genome of Bletilla striata, we designed a suspension culture system to sample the cells for the following experiments. The contents of four phenolic acid derivatives were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and several full-length transcriptome sequencings of RNA samples at 10 time points were performed for bioinformatics analysis. The correlation analysis was used to identify and verify the key DEGs involved in the biosynthesis of the four phenolic acid derivatives. The results showed that the contents of p-hydroxybenzylalcohol (HBA), Dactylorhin A, Militarine, and Coelonin peaked at 33 days postinoculation (Dpi), 18 Dpi, 39 Dpi, and 39 Dpi of the culture system, respectively. Based on transcriptome data, 80 DEGs involved in the biosynthesis of phenolic acid derivatives were obtained. The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis classified them mostly into five metabolic pathways: phenylpropane biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolic, cyanoamino acid metabolism, gluconeogenesis and glycolysis, and phenylalanine metabolism. qPCR analysis revealed that the relative gene expression levels were consistent with the overall trend of transcriptome sequencing results. Among them, 14, 18, 23, and 41 unigenes were found to be involved in the synthesis of HBA, Dactylorhin A, Coelonin, and Militarine, respectively. These unigenes laid a solid foundation for elucidating the biosynthesis mechanism of phenolic acid derivatives in suspension cells of B. striata.
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Affiliation(s)
- Houbo Liu
- Department of Cell Biology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
- Department of Dermatology, Chengdu Second People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
| | - Ceyin Huang
- Department of Cell Biology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Qingqing Li
- Department of Cell Biology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Mufei Wang
- Department of Cell Biology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Shiji Xiao
- School of Pharmacy Chemistry, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Junhua Shi
- Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Yihuai He
- Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Weie Wen
- Department of Cell Biology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Lin Li
- Department of Cell Biology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
| | - Delin Xu
- Department of Cell Biology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
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