Stabilization of Chloroperoxidase by Polyethylene Glycols in Aqueous Media: Kinetic Studies and Synthetic Applications

A Comparative Review on the Catalytic Mechanism of Nonheme Iron Hydroxylases and Halogenases

Enzymatic halogenation and haloperoxidation are unusual processes in biology; however, a range of halogenases and haloperoxidases exist that are able to transfer an aliphatic or aromatic C–H bond into C–Cl/C–Br. Haloperoxidases utilize hydrogen peroxide, and in a reaction with halides (Cl−/Br−), they react to form hypohalides (OCl−/OBr−) that subsequently react with substrate by halide transfer. There are three types of haloperoxidases, namely the iron-heme, nonheme vanadium, and flavin-dependent haloperoxidases that are reviewed here. In addition, there are the nonheme iron halogenases that show structural and functional similarity to the nonheme iron hydroxylases and form an iron(IV)-oxo active species from a reaction of molecular oxygen with α-ketoglutarate on an iron(II) center. They subsequently transfer a halide (Cl−/Br−) to an aliphatic C–H bond. We review the mechanism and function of nonheme iron halogenases and hydroxylases and show recent computational modelling studies of our group on the hectochlorin biosynthesis enzyme and prolyl-4-hydroxylase as examples of nonheme iron halogenases and hydroxylases. These studies have established the catalytic mechanism of these enzymes and show the importance of substrate and oxidant positioning on the stereo-, chemo- and regioselectivity of the reaction that takes place.

Enzymatic Halogenases and Haloperoxidases: Computational Studies on Mechanism and Function

Despite the fact that halogenated compounds are rare in biology, a number of organisms have developed processes to utilize halogens and in recent years, a string of enzymes have been identified that selectively insert halogen atoms into, for instance, a CH aliphatic bond. Thus, a number of natural products, including antibiotics, contain halogenated functional groups. This unusual process has great relevance to the chemical industry for stereoselective and regiospecific synthesis of haloalkanes. Currently, however, industry utilizes few applications of biological haloperoxidases and halogenases, but efforts are being worked on to understand their catalytic mechanism, so that their catalytic function can be upscaled. In this review, we summarize experimental and computational studies on the catalytic mechanism of a range of haloperoxidases and halogenases with structurally very different catalytic features and cofactors. This chapter gives an overview of heme-dependent haloperoxidases, nonheme vanadium-dependent haloperoxidases, and flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent haloperoxidases. In addition, we discuss the S-adenosyl-l-methionine fluoridase and nonheme iron/α-ketoglutarate-dependent halogenases. In particular, computational efforts have been applied extensively for several of these haloperoxidases and halogenases and have given insight into the essential structural features that enable these enzymes to perform the unusual halogen atom transfer to substrates.

Silica Sol-Gel Entrapment of the Enzyme Chloroperoxidase

The enzyme chloroperoxidase (CPO) was immobilized in silica sol-gel beads prepared from tetramethoxysilane. The average pore diameter of the silica host structure (~3 nm) was smaller than the globular CPO diameter (~6 nm) and the enzyme remained entrapped after sol-gel maturation. The catalytic performance of the entrapped enzyme was assessed via the pyrogallol peroxidation reaction. Sol-gel beads loaded with 4 μg CPO per mL sol solution reached 9–12% relative activity compared to free CPO in solution. Enzyme kinetic analysis revealed a decrease inkcatbut no changes inKMorKI. Product release or enzyme damage might thus limit catalytic performance. Yet circular dichroism and visible absorption spectra of transparent CPO sol-gel sheets did not indicate enzyme damage. Activity decline due to methanol exposure was shown to be reversible in solution. To improve catalytic performance the sol-gel protocol was modified. The incorporation of 5, 20, or 40% methyltrimethoxysilane resulted in more brittle sol-gel beads but the catalytic performance increased to 14% relative to free CPO in solution. The use of more acidic casting buffers (pH 4.5 or 5.5 instead of 6.5) resulted in a more porous silica host reaching up to 18% relative activity.

From amino alcohol to aminopolyol: one-pot multienzyme oxidation and aldol addition

In this work, the successful coupling of enzymatic oxidation and aldol addition reactions for the synthesis of a Cbz-aminopolyol from a Cbz-amino alcohol was achieved for the first time in a multienzymatic one-pot system. The two-step cascade reaction consisted of the oxidation of Cbz-ethanolamine to Cbz-glycinal catalyzed by chloroperoxidase from the fungus Caldariomyces fumago and aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone phosphate to Cbz-glycinal catalyzed by rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase expressed as a recombinant enzyme in Escherichia coli, yielding (3R,4S)-5-{[(benzyloxy)carbonyl]amino}-5-deoxy-1-O-phosphonopent-2-ulose. Tools of enzymatic immobilization, reactor configurations, and modification of the reaction medium were applied to highly increase the production of the target compound. While the use of soluble enzymes yielded only 23.6 % of Cbz-aminopolyol due to rapid enzyme inactivation, the use of immobilized ones permitted an almost complete consumption of Cbz-ethanolamine, reaching Cbz-aminopolyol yields of 69.1 and 71.9 % in the stirred-tank and packed-bed reactor, respectively. Furthermore, the reaction production was 18-fold improved when it was catalyzed by immobilized enzymes in the presence of 5 % (v/v) dioxane, reaching a value of 86.6 mM of Cbz-aminopoliol (31 g/L).

Analysis of phosphorothionate pesticides using a chloroperoxidase pretreatment and acetylcholinesterase biosensor detection

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is responsible for the hydrolysis of acetylcholine in the nervous system. It is inhibited by organophosphate and carbamate pesticides. However, this enzyme is only slightly inhibited by organophosphorothionates, which makes the detection of these pesticides analytically very difficult. A new enzymatic method for the activation and detection of phosphorothionates was developed with the capability to be used directly in food samples without the need of laborious solvent extraction steps. Chloroperoxidase (CPO) from Caldariomyces fumago was combined with tert-butyl hydroperoxide and two halides. Chlorpyrifos and triazophos were completely oxidized. Fenitrothion, methidathion and parathion methyl showed conversion rates between 54 and 61%. Furthermore, the oxidized solution was submitted to an AChE biosensor assay. Chlorpyrifos spiked in organic orange juice was oxidized, where its oxon product was detected in concentrations down to 5 microg/L (final concentration food sample: 25 microg/L). The complete duration of the method takes about 2 h.

Biohalogenation: nature's way to synthesize halogenated metabolites

Halogenated natural products are widely distributed in nature, some of them showing potent biological activities. Incorporation of halogen atoms in drug leads is a common strategy to modify molecules in order to vary their bioactivities and specificities. Chemical halogenation, however, often requires harsh reaction conditions and results in unwanted byproduct formation. It is thus of great interest to investigate the biosynthesis of halogenated natural products and the biotechnological potential of halogenating enzymes. This review aims to give a comprehensive overview on the current knowledge concerning biological halogenations.

Effects of Additives on the Thermostability of Chloroperoxidase

The effects of several polyhydroxy compounds (glucose, fructose, gumsugar, galactose, trehalose, dextran, xylose, PEG200, glycerin) and surfactant (dioctyl sulfosuccinate sodium salt, AOT) on the catalytic activity and thermal stability of chloroperoxidase (CPO) in aqueous systems were investigated at various temperatures. A 25% superactivity was found in AOT solutions at 25 degrees C, and it could be maintained during the 882 h. PEG200 and glycerin were proven to be the most efficient stabilizer for CPO in temperatures ranging from 25 to 60 degrees C. Trehalose is more helpful than other sugars for extended storage of CPO. These results are promising in view of industrial applications of this versatile biological catalyst. The protective mechanism of various additives on CPO was discussed.

Improvement of activity and stability of chloroperoxidase by chemical modification

Background

Enzymes show relative instability in solvents or at elevated temperature and lower activity in organic solvent than in water. These limit the industrial applications of enzymes.

Results

In order to improve the activity and stability of chloroperoxidase, chloroperoxidase was modified by citraconic anhydride, maleic anhydride or phthalic anhydride. The catalytic activities, thermostabilities and organic solvent tolerances of native and modified enzymes were compared. In aqueous buffer, modified chloroperoxidases showed similar K_m values and greater catalytic efficiencies k_cat/K_m for both sulfoxidation and oxidation of phenol compared to native chloroperoxidase. Of these modified chloroperoxidases, citraconic anhydride-modified chloroperoxidase showed the greatest catalytic efficiency in aqueous buffer. These modifications of chloroperoxidase increased their catalytic efficiencies for sulfoxidation by 12%~26% and catalytic efficiencies for phenol oxidation by 7%~53% in aqueous buffer. However, in organic solvent (DMF), modified chloroperoxidases had lower K_m values and higher catalytic efficiencies k_cat/K_m than native chloroperoxidase. These modifications also improved their thermostabilities by 1~2-fold and solvent tolerances of DMF. CD studies show that these modifications did not change the secondary structure of chloroperoxidase. Fluorescence spectra proved that these modifications changed the environment of tryptophan.

Conclusion

Chemical modification of epsilon-amino groups of lysine residues of chloroperoxidase using citraconic anhydride, maleic anhydride or phthalic anhydride is a simple and powerful method to enhance catalytic properties of enzyme. The improvements of the activity and stability of chloroperoxidase are related to side chain reorientations of aromatics upon both modifications.

Stability and decolourization ability of Trametes villosa laccase in liquid ultrasonic fields

We report in this study that the sonication of laccase from Trametes villosa and bovine serum albumin promotes the formation of protein aggregates with high molecular weight. The formation of aggregates leads to the deactivation of the enzyme, fact that was confirmed by the analysis of the enzyme stability (half-life time) upon ultrasound treatment. This inactivation was mainly caused by the radicals formed by the cavitation phenomenon. It was verified that the addition of polyvinyl alcohol to laccase had a protecting effect against enzyme inactivation. The performance of laccase in the decolourization of indigo carmine was studied. It was observed that the best results were attained when the dye solution was treated with ultrasound and enzyme stabilized with polyvinyl alcohol, where more than 65% of decolourization was achieved. This value is remarkably higher than that attained for the enzyme alone, which was only able to decolourize 20% of the dye solution within 1h of treatment. These results have important implications for the exploitation of sonication in textile industry, where the pollution caused by the release of dyes into effluents is one of the major concerns.

Monoterpenes as novel substrates for oxidation and halo-hydroxylation with chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago

Chloroperoxidase (CPO) from Caldariomyces fumago was analysed for its ability to oxidize ten different monoterpenes with hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. In the absence of halide ions geraniol and, to a lesser extent, citronellol and nerol were converted into the corresponding aldehydes, whereas terpene hydrocarbons did not serve as substrates under these conditions. In the presence of chloride, bromide and iodide ions, every terpene tested was converted into one or more products. (1S)-(+)-3-carene was chosen as a model substrate for the CPO-catalysed conversion of terpenes in the presence of sodium halides. With chloride, bromide and iodide, the reaction products were the respective (1S,3R,4R,6R)-4-halo-3,7,7-trimethyl-bicyclo[4.1.0]-heptane-3-ols, as identified by 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance. These product formations turned out to be strictly regio- and stereoselective and proceeded very rapidly and almost quantitatively. Initial specific activities of halohydrin formation increased from 4.22 U mg-1 with chloride to 12.22 U mg-1 with bromide and 37.11 U mg-1 with iodide as the respective halide ion. These results represent the first examples of the application of CPO as a highly efficient biocatalyst for monoterpene functionalization. This is a promising strategy for 'green' terpene chemistry overcoming drawbacks usually associated with cofactor-dependent oxygenases, whole-cell biocatalysts and conventional chemical methods used for terpene conversions.

Heme-thiolate haloperoxidases: versatile biocatalysts with biotechnological and environmental significance

Heme-thiolate haloperoxidases are undoubtedly the most versatile biocatalysts of the hemeprotein family and share catalytic properties with at least three further classes of heme-containing oxidoreductases, namely, classic plant and fungal peroxidases, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, and catalases. For a long time, only one enzyme of this type--the chloroperoxidase (CPO) of the ascomycete Caldariomyces fumago--has been known. The enzyme is commercially available as a fine chemical and catalyzes the unspecific chlorination, bromination, and iodation (but no fluorination) of a variety of electrophilic organic substrates via hypohalous acid as actual halogenating agent. In the absence of halide, CPO resembles cytochrome P450s and epoxidizes and hydroxylates activated substrates such as organic sulfides and olefins; aromatic rings, however, are not susceptible to CPO-catalyzed oxygen-transfer. Recently, a second fungal haloperoxidase of the heme-thiolate type has been discovered in the agaric mushroom Agrocybe aegerita. The UV-Vis adsorption spectrum of the isolated enzyme shows little similarity to that of CPO but is almost identical to a resting-state P450. The Agrocybe aegerita peroxidase (AaP) has strong brominating as well as weak chlorinating and iodating activities, and catalyzes both benzylic and aromatic hydroxylations (e.g., of toluene and naphthalene). AaP and related fungal peroxidases could become promising biocatalysts in biotechnological applications because they seemingly fill the gap between CPO and P450 enzymes and act as "self-sufficient" peroxygenases. From the environmental point of view, the existence of a halogenating mushroom enzyme is interesting because it could be linked to the multitude of halogenated compounds known from these organisms.

New reaction system for hydrocarbon oxidation by chloroperoxidase

A novel reaction system was developed to maximize the catalytic efficiency of chloroperoxidase (CPO, from Caldariomyces fumago) toward the oxidation of hydrocarbons. The reaction system consisted of an organic/aqueous emulsion comprising pure substrate and aqueous buffer supplemented with the surfactant dioctyl sulfosuccinate. The emulsion system attenuated not only the destabilizing effects of the substrate and product on the enzyme by emulsifying the compounds, but also oxidant toxicity (oxidative stress) by increasing substrate availability. As a result, CPO exhibited total turnover numbers (TTNs, defined as the amount of product produced over the catalytic lifetime of the enzyme) of ca. 20,000 mol product/mol enzyme for the oxidation of styrene, toluene, and o-, m-, p-xylenes. The TTNs are over 10-fold higher than those previously reported for the oxidation of benzylic hydrocarbons by CPO. This study represents a significant step toward the development of CPO as a practical catalyst for large-scale organic syntheses.