Synthesis of Artificial Chitin: Irreversible Catalytic Behavior of a Glycosyl Hydrolase through a Transition State Analogue Substrate

The first report of enzymatic transglycosylation catalyzed by family GH84 N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase using a sugar oxazoline derivative as a glycosyl donor

O-Glycosylated N-acetyl-β-d-glucosamine-selective N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (O-GlcNAcase), belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 84 (GH84), is known as a retaining glycosidase with the possibility of enzymatic transglycosylation. However, no enzymatic transglycosylation catalyzed by GH84 O-GlcNAcase has been reported. Here, enzymatic transglycosylation catalyzed by GH84 O-GlcNAcase was first reported. The enzymatic transglycosylation catalyzed by the GH84 O-GlcNAcase from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (BtGH84 O-GlcNAcase) was attained using 1,2-oxazoline derivative of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc oxazoline) as a glycosyl donor substrate. The β-linked N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) derivative was enzymatically synthesized using N-(2-hydroxyethyl)acrylamide as an acceptor substrate. Interestingly, the β1,6-linked disaccharide derivative of GlcNAc was also obtained in the case of using the GlcNAc derivative with a triazole-linked acrylamide group as an acceptor substrate. Additionally, a one-pot chemo-enzymatic transglycosylation starting from unprotected GlcNAc through GlcNAc oxazoline successfully showed through the combination with the direct synthesis of GlcNAc oxazoline in water and the enzymatic transglycosylation.

Importance and Monitoring of Therapeutic Immunoglobulin G Glycosylation

The complex diantennary-type oligosaccharides at Asn297 residues of the IgG heavy chains have a profound impact on the safety and efficacy of therapeutic IgG monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Fc glycosylation of a mAb is an established critical quality attribute (CQA), and its oligosaccharide profile is required to be thoroughly characterized by state-of-the-art analytical methods. The Fc oligosaccharides are highly heterogeneous, and the differentially glycosylated species (glycoforms) of IgG express unique biological activities. Glycoengineering is a promising approach for the production of selected mAb glycoforms with improved effector functions, and non- and low-fucosylated mAbs exhibiting enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity have been approved or are under clinical evaluation for treatment of cancers, autoimmune/chronic inflammatory diseases, and infection. Recently, the chemoenzymatic glycoengineering method that allows for the transfer of structurally defined oligosaccharides to Asn-linked GlcNAc residues with glycosynthase has been developed for remodeling of IgG-Fc oligosaccharides with high efficiency and flexibility. Additionally, various glycoengineering methods have been developed that utilize the Fc oligosaccharides of IgG as reaction handles to conjugate cytotoxic agents by "click chemistry", providing new routes to the design of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with tightly controlled drug-antibody ratios (DARs) and homogeneity. This review focuses on current understanding of the biological relevance of individual IgG glycoforms and advances in the development of next-generation antibody therapeutics with improved efficacy and safety through glycoengineering.

Preparation of Defined Chitosan Oligosaccharides Using Chitin Deacetylases

During the past decade, detailed studies using well-defined 'second generation' chitosans have amply proved that both their material properties and their biological activities are dependent on their molecular structure, in particular on their degree of polymerisation (DP) and their fraction of acetylation (F_A). Recent evidence suggests that the pattern of acetylation (PA), i.e., the sequence of acetylated and non-acetylated residues along the linear polymer, is equally important, but chitosan polymers with defined, non-random PA are not yet available. One way in which the PA will influence the bioactivities of chitosan polymers is their enzymatic degradation by sequence-dependent chitosan hydrolases present in the target tissues. The PA of the polymer substrates in conjunction with the subsite preferences of the hydrolases determine the type of oligomeric products and the kinetics of their production and further degradation. Thus, the bioactivities of chitosan polymers will at least in part be carried by the chitosan oligomers produced from them, possibly through their interaction with pattern recognition receptors in target cells. In contrast to polymers, partially acetylated chitosan oligosaccharides (paCOS) can be fully characterised concerning their DP, F_A, and PA, and chitin deacetylases (CDAs) with different and known regio-selectivities are currently emerging as efficient tools to produce fully defined paCOS in quantities sufficient to probe their bioactivities. In this review, we describe the current state of the art on how CDAs can be used in forward and reverse mode to produce all of the possible paCOS dimers, trimers, and tetramers, most of the pentamers and many of the hexamers. In addition, we describe the biotechnological production of the required fully acetylated and fully deacetylated oligomer substrates, as well as the purification and characterisation of the paCOS products.

One-pot chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycopolymers from unprotected sugars via glycosidase-catalysed glycosylation using triazinyl glycosides

Glycopolymers were successfully synthesised from unprotected sugars in aqueous media via a one-pot chemoenzymatic process of three reactions; the direct synthesis of 4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl glycosides from unprotected sugars, a glycosidase-catalysed glycosylation using the triazinyl glycoside to afford glycomonomers and a radical polymerisation. The resulting glycopolymers exhibited specific interactions with the corresponding lectin as glycoclusters.

Lacto-N-tetraose synthesis by wild-type and glycosynthase variants of the β-N-hexosaminidase from Bifidobacterium bifidum

Lacto-N-biose 1,2-oxazoline was prepared chemo-enzymatically and shown to be a donor substrate for β-1,3-glycosylation of lactose by the wild-type and glycosynthase variants (D320E, D320A, Y419F) of Bifidobacterium bifidum β-N-hexosaminidase. Lacto-N-tetraose, a core structure of human milk oligosaccharides, was formed in 20-60% yield of donor substrate (up to 8 mM product titre), depending on the degree of selectivity control by the enzyme used.

Glycosynthase-type GH18 mutant chitinases at the assisting catalytic residue for polymerization of chitooligosaccharides

Chitooligosaccharides (COS), the depolymerization products of chitin, have many potential applications in agriculture and medicine since they induce immunostimulating effects and disease protective responses. Most of their biological activities require degrees of polymerization (DP) larger than the tetrasaccharide, but structurally well-defined COS with DP larger than six are difficult to produce due to their high insolubility and complex isolation from chitin hydrolysates. Enzymatic synthesis by exploiting the transglycosylation activity of chitinases offers a potential strategy for the assembly of oligomers in the range of bioactive DPs. We here explore the glycosynthase-like activity of six GH18 chitinases from bacterial and archaeal origin by mutating the catalytic assisting residue in the substrate-assisted mechanism of this enzyme family. The alanine mutants at the assisting residue have a significant, but not essential, effect on the hydrolase activity. We studied the ability of the alanine mutants at the assisting residue to catalyze the polymerization of an oxazoline derivative as donor substrate, selecting the oxazoline of pentaacetylchitopentaose (DP5ox) with the aim of obtaining larger oligomers/polymers that, being insoluble, might be resistant to further reactions by the hydrolytically compromised mutant enzymes. For all the enzymes, insoluble polymeric material was obtained, with DP10 as major component, but other COS with different DPs were also obtained, limiting the practical application to produce oligomers/polymers with a defined DP. The balance between the residual hydrolase activity of the mutant enzymes and the solubility/precipitation kinetics still lead to hydrolysis and/or transglycosylation reactions on the newly formed products. From the selected enzymes, the Thermococcus kodakaraensis ChiA D1022A mutant gave the best results, with the formation of insoluble polymers in 45% yield (w/w) and containing about 55% of the target DP10 product.

Chemoenzymatic Methods for the Synthesis of Glycoproteins

Glycosylation is one of the most prevalent posttranslational modifications that profoundly affects the structure and functions of proteins in a wide variety of biological recognition events. However, the structural complexity and heterogeneity of glycoproteins, usually resulting from the variations of glycan components and/or the sites of glycosylation, often complicates detailed structure-function relationship studies and hampers the therapeutic applications of glycoproteins. To address these challenges, various chemical and biological strategies have been developed for producing glycan-defined homogeneous glycoproteins. This review highlights recent advances in the development of chemoenzymatic methods for synthesizing homogeneous glycoproteins, including the generation of various glycosynthases for synthetic purposes, endoglycosidase-catalyzed glycoprotein synthesis and glycan remodeling, and direct enzymatic glycosylation of polypeptides and proteins. The scope, limitation, and future directions of each method are discussed.

Metabolic engineering for the production of chitooligosaccharides: advances and perspectives

Chitin oligosaccharides (CTOs) and its related compounds chitosan oligosaccharides (CSOs), collectively known as chitooligosaccharides (COs), exhibit numerous biological activities in applications in the nutraceutical, cosmetics, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries. COs are currently produced by acid hydrolysis of chitin or chitosan, or enzymatic techniques with uncontrollable polymerization. Microbial fermentation by recombinant Escherichia coli, as an alternative method for the production of COs, shows new potential because it can produce a well-defined COs mixture and is an environmentally friendly process. In addition, Bacillus subtilis, a nonpathogenic, endotoxin-free, GRAS status bacterium, presents a new opportunity as a platform to produce COs. Here, we review the applications of COs and differences between CTOs and CSOs, summarize the current preparation approaches of COs, and discuss the future research potentials and challenges in the production of well-defined COs in B. subtilis by metabolic engineering.

Glycosylation engineering of therapeutic IgG antibodies: challenges for the safety, functionality and efficacy

Glycosylation of the Fc region of IgG has a profound impact on the safety and clinical efficacy of therapeutic antibodies. While the biantennary complex-type oligosaccharide attached to Asn297 of the Fc is essential for antibody effector functions, fucose and outer-arm sugars attached to the core heptasaccharide that generate structural heterogeneity (glycoforms) exhibit unique biological activities. Hence, efficient and quantitative glycan analysis techniques have been increasingly important for the development and quality control of therapeutic antibodies, and glycan profiles of the Fc are recognized as critical quality attributes. In the past decade our understanding of the influence of glycosylation on the structure/function of IgG-Fc has grown rapidly through X-ray crystallographic and nuclear magnetic resonance studies, which provides possibilities for the design of novel antibody therapeutics. Furthermore, the chemoenzymatic glycoengineering approach using endoglycosidase-based glycosynthases may facilitate the development of homogeneous IgG glycoforms with desirable functionality as next-generation therapeutic antibodies. Thus, the Fc glycans are fertile ground for the improvement of the safety, functionality, and efficacy of therapeutic IgG antibodies in the era of precision medicine.

Development of chemical and chemo-enzymatic glycosylations

Glycosidic compounds are indispensable molecules in living systems. Biological phenomena such as cell wall formation, energy storage, and cell recognition strongly depend on the multi-functional characters of these substances. Development of highly regio- and stereoselective glycosylation reactions is necessary to provide sufficient amounts of specific compounds in basic research as well as for applications in industry. This review presents an overview of chemical and chemo-enzymatic glycosylations that have been developed during my forty-year academic career in the field of glyco-science. In the course of these studies, several new concepts such as "Direct Anomeric Activation", "Glyco-Process Chemistry" and "Glyco-Chemistry Cycles" have been established.

Encapsulation of active ingredients in polysaccharide-protein complex coacervates

Polysaccharide-protein complex coacervates are amongst the leading pair of biopolymer systems that has been used over the past decades for encapsulation of numerous active ingredients. Complex coacervation of polysaccharides and proteins has received increasing research interest for the practical application in encapsulation industry since the pioneering work of complex coacervation by Bungenburg de Jong and co-workers on the system of gelatin-acacia, a protein-polysaccharide system. Because of the versatility and numerous potential applications of these systems essentially in the fields of food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and agriculture, there has been intense interest in recent years for both fundamental and applied studies. Precisely, the designing of the micronscale and nanoscale capsules for encapsulation and control over their properties for practical applications garners renewed interest. This review discusses on the overview of polysaccharide-protein complex coacervates and their use for the encapsulation of diverse active ingredients, designing and controlling of the capsules for delivery systems and developments in the area.

Endoglycosidases for the Synthesis of Polysaccharides and Glycoconjugates

Recent advances in glycobiology have implicated essential roles of oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates in many important biological recognition processes, including intracellular signaling, cell adhesion, cell differentiation, cancer progression, host-pathogen interactions, and immune responses. A detailed understanding of the biological functions, as well as the development of carbohydrate-based therapeutics, often requires structurally well-defined oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates, which are usually difficult to isolate in pure form from natural sources. To meet with this urgent need, chemical and chemoenzymatic synthesis has become increasingly important as the major means to provide homogeneous compounds for functional glycocomics studies and for drug/vaccine development. Chemoenzymatic synthesis, an approach that combines chemical synthesis and enzymatic manipulations, is often the method of choice for constructing complex oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates that are otherwise difficult to achieve by purely chemical synthesis. Among these, endoglycosidases, a class of glycosidases that hydrolyze internal glycosidic bonds in glycoconjugates and polysaccharides, are emerging as a very attractive class of enzymes for synthetic purposes, due to their transglycosylation activity and their capability of transferring oligosaccharide units en bloc in a single step, in contrast to the limitation of monosaccharide transfers by common glycosyltransferases. In this chapter, we provide an overview on the application of endoglycosidases for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates, including oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, glycoproteins, glycolipids, proteoglycans, and other biologically relevant polysaccharides. The scope, limitation, and future directions of endoglycosidase-catalyzed synthesis are discussed.

Enzymes as Green Catalysts for Precision Macromolecular Synthesis

The present article comprehensively reviews the macromolecular synthesis using enzymes as catalysts. Among the six main classes of enzymes, the three classes, oxidoreductases, transferases, and hydrolases, have been employed as catalysts for the in vitro macromolecular synthesis and modification reactions. Appropriate design of reaction including monomer and enzyme catalyst produces macromolecules with precisely controlled structure, similarly as in vivo enzymatic reactions. The reaction controls the product structure with respect to substrate selectivity, chemo-selectivity, regio-selectivity, stereoselectivity, and choro-selectivity. Oxidoreductases catalyze various oxidation polymerizations of aromatic compounds as well as vinyl polymerizations. Transferases are effective catalysts for producing polysaccharide having a variety of structure and polyesters. Hydrolases catalyzing the bond-cleaving of macromolecules in vivo, catalyze the reverse reaction for bond forming in vitro to give various polysaccharides and functionalized polyesters. The enzymatic polymerizations allowed the first in vitro synthesis of natural polysaccharides having complicated structures like cellulose, amylose, xylan, chitin, hyaluronan, and chondroitin. These polymerizations are "green" with several respects; nontoxicity of enzyme, high catalyst efficiency, selective reactions under mild conditions using green solvents and renewable starting materials, and producing minimal byproducts. Thus, the enzymatic polymerization is desirable for the environment and contributes to "green polymer chemistry" for maintaining sustainable society.

A common glycan structure on immunoglobulin G for enhancement of effector functions

Antibodies have been developed as therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer, infection, and inflammation. In addition to binding activity toward the target, antibodies also exhibit effector-mediated activities through the interaction of the Fc glycan and the Fc receptors on immune cells. To identify the optimal glycan structures for individual antibodies with desired activity, we have developed an effective method to modify the Fc-glycan structures to a homogeneous glycoform. In this study, it was found that the biantennary N-glycan structure with two terminal alpha-2,6-linked sialic acids is a common and optimized structure for the enhancement of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, complement-dependent cytotoxicity, and antiinflammatory activities.

Electrochemical detection of azidothymidine on modified probes based on chitosan stabilised silver nanoparticles hybrid material

Silver nanoparticle stabilized by chitosan is synthesized for modification of sensing probe for AZT estimation in human plasma.

Bioproduction of chitooligosaccharides: present and perspectives

Chitin and chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) have been traditionally obtained by chemical digestion with strong acids. In light of the difficulties associated with these traditional production processes, environmentally compatible and reproducible production alternatives are desirable. Unlike chemical digestion, biodegradation of chitin and chitosan by enzymes or microorganisms does not require the use of toxic chemicals or excessive amounts of wastewater. Enzyme preparations with chitinase, chitosanase, and lysozymeare primarily used to hydrolyze chitin and chitosan. Commercial preparations of cellulase, protease, lipase, and pepsin provide another opportunity for oligosaccharide production. In addition to their hydrolytic activities, the transglycosylation activity of chitinolytic enzymes might be exploited for the synthesis of desired chitin oligomers and their derivatives. Chitin deacetylase is also potentially useful for the preparation of oligosaccharides. Recently, direct production of oligosaccharides from chitin and crab shells by a combination of mechanochemical grinding and enzymatic hydrolysis has been reported. Together with these, other emerging technologies such as direct degradation of chitin from crustacean shells and microbial cell walls, enzymatic synthesis of COS from small building blocks, and protein engineering technology for chitin-related enzymes have been discussed as the most significant challenge for industrial application.

Chitin-induced activation of immune signaling by the rice receptor CEBiP relies on a unique sandwich-type dimerization

Perception of microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) triggers various defense responses in plants. This MAMP-triggered immunity plays a major role in the plant resistance against various pathogens. To clarify the molecular basis of the specific recognition of chitin oligosaccharides by the rice PRR, CEBiP (chitin-elicitor binding protein), as well as the formation and activation of the receptor complex, biochemical, NMR spectroscopic, and computational studies were performed. Deletion and domain-swapping experiments showed that the central lysine motif in the ectodomain of CEBiP is essential for the binding of chitin oligosaccharides. Epitope mapping by NMR spectroscopy indicated the preferential binding of longer-chain chitin oligosaccharides, such as heptamer-octamer, to CEBiP, and also the importance of N-acetyl groups for the binding. Molecular modeling/docking studies clarified the molecular interaction between CEBiP and chitin oligosaccharides and indicated the importance of Ile122 in the central lysine motif region for ligand binding, a notion supported by site-directed mutagenesis. Based on these results, it was indicated that two CEBiP molecules simultaneously bind to one chitin oligosaccharide from the opposite side, resulting in the dimerization of CEBiP. The model was further supported by the observations that the addition of (GlcNAc)8 induced dimerization of the ectodomain of CEBiP in vitro, and the dimerization and (GlcNAc)8-induced reactive oxygen generation were also inhibited by a unique oligosaccharide, (GlcNβ1,4GlcNAc)4, which is supposed to have N-acetyl groups only on one side of the molecule. Based on these observations, we proposed a hypothetical model for the ligand-induced activation of a receptor complex, involving both CEBiP and Oryza sativa chitin-elicitor receptor kinase-1.

Chitinase A from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia shows transglycosylation and antifungal activities

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia chitinase (StmChiA and StmChiB) genes were cloned and expressed as soluble proteins of 70.5 and 41.6 kDa in Escherichia coli. Ni-NTA affinity purified StmChiA and StmChiB were optimally active at pH 5.0 and 7.0, respectively and exhibited broad range pH activity. StmChiA and StmChiB had an optimum temperature of 40°C and are stable up to 50 and 40°C, respectively. Hydrolytic activity on chitooligosaccharides indicated that StmChiA was an endo-acting enzyme releasing chitobiose and StmChiB was both exo/endo-acting enzyme with the release of GlcNAc as the final product. StmChiA showed higher preference to β-chitin and exhibited transglycosylation on even chain length tetra- and hexameric substrates. StmChiA, and not StmChiB, was active on chitinous polymers and showed antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum.

Determination of the degree of acetylation of chitin/chitosan by pyrolysis-gas chromatography in the presence of oxalic Acid

A new method to determine directly and rapidly the degree of acetylation of chitin/chitosan was developed based on reactive pyrolysis-gas chromatography in the presence of an oxalic acid aqueous solution. The degree of acetylation was precisely evaluated on the basis of peak intensities of the characteristic products such as acetonitrile, acetic acid, and acetamide originating from the N-acetyl group of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine units of chitin/chitosan. The observed values were in good agreement with those obtained by (1)H NMR and the other methods. Moreover, the proposed technique was applicable to any kinds of chitin/chitosan samples over the whole range of acetylation including insoluble chitin/chitosan and perfectly acetylated artificial chitin having higher crystallinity to which (1)H NMR had been inapplicable.

Chitin whiskers: an overview

Chitin is the second most abundant semicrystalline polysaccharide. Like cellulose, the amorphous domains of chitin can also be removed under certain conditions such as acidolysis to give rise to crystallites in nanoscale, which are the so-called chitin nanocrystals or chitin whiskers (CHWs). CHW together with other organic nanoparticles such as cellulose whisker (CW) and starch nanocrystal show many advantages over traditional inorganic nanoparticles such as easy availability, nontoxicity, biodegradability, low density, and easy modification. They have been widely used as substitutes for inorganic nanoparticles in reinforcing polymer nanocomposites. The research and development of CHW related areas are much slower than those of CW. However, CHWs are still of strategic importance in the resource scarcity periods because of their abundant availability and special properties. During the past decade, increasing studies have been done on preparation of CHWs and their application in reinforcing polymer nanocomposites. Some other applications such as being used as feedstock to prepare chitosan nanoscaffolds have also been investigated. This Article is to review the recent development on CHW related studies.

Enzymatic synthesis of an α-chitin-like substance via lysozyme-mediated transglycosylation

The enzymatic synthesis of an α-chitin-like substance via a non-biosynthetic pathway has been achieved by transglycosylation in an aqueous system of the corresponding substrate, tri-N-acetylchitotriose [(GlcNAc)(3)] for lysozyme. A significant amount of water-insoluble product precipitated out from the reaction system. MALDI-TOFMS analysis showed that the resulting precipitate had a degree of polymerization (DP) of up to 15 from (GlcNAc)(3). Solid-state (13)C NMR analysis revealed that the resulting water-insoluble product is a chitin-like substance consisting of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues joined exclusively in a β-(1→4)-linked chain with stringent regio-/stereoselection. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement as well as (13)C NMR analysis showed that the crystal structure of synthetic product corresponds to α-chitin with a high degree of crystallinity. We propose that the multiple oligomers form an α-chitin-like substance as a result of self-assembly via oligomer-oligomer interaction when they precipitate.

Regioselective esterification and etherification of cellulose: a review

Deep understanding of the structure-property relationships of polysaccharide derivatives depends on the ability to control the position of the substituents around the monosaccharide ring and along the chain. Equally important is the ability to analyze position of substitution. Historically, both synthetic control and analysis of regiochemistry have been very difficult for cellulose derivatives, as for most other polysaccharide derivatives. With the advent of cellulose solvents that are suitable for chemical transformations, it has become possible to carry out cellulose derivatization under conditions sufficiently mild to permit increasingly complete regiochemical control, particularly with regard to the position of the substituents around the anhydroglucose ring. In addition, new techniques for forming cellulose and its derivatives from monomers, either by enzyme-catalyzed processes or chemical polymerization, permit us to address new frontiers in regiochemical control. We review these exciting developments in regiocontrolled synthesis of cellulose derivatives and their implications for in-depth structure-property studies.