Characterization of xenobiotic reductase A (XenA): study of active site residues, substrate spectrum and stability

Applications of Ene-Reductases in the Synthesis of Flavors and Fragrances

Flavors and fragrances (F&F) are interesting organic compounds in chemistry. These compounds are widely used in the food, cosmetic, and medical industries. Enzymatic synthesis exhibits several advantages over natural extraction and chemical preparation, including a high yield, stable quality, mildness, and environmental friendliness. To date, many oxidoreductases and hydrolases have been used to biosynthesize F&F. Ene-reductases (ERs) are a class of biocatalysts that can catalyze the asymmetric reduction of α,β-unsaturated compounds and offer superior specificity and selectivity; therefore, ERs have been increasingly considered an ideal alternative to their chemical counterparts. This review summarizes the research progress on the use of ERs in F&F synthesis over the past 20 years, including the achievements of various scholars, the differences and similarities among the findings, and the discussions of future research trends related to ERs. We hope this review can inspire researchers to promote the development of biotechnology in the F&F industry.

Solvent concentration at 50% protein unfolding may reform enzyme stability ranking and process window identification

As water miscible organic co-solvents are often required for enzyme reactions to improve e.g., the solubility of the substrate in the aqueous medium, an enzyme is required which displays high stability in the presence of this co-solvent. Consequently, it is of utmost importance to identify the most suitable enzyme or the appropriate reaction conditions. Until now, the melting temperature is used in general as a measure for stability of enzymes. The experiments here show, that the melting temperature does not correlate to the activity observed in the presence of the solvent. As an alternative parameter, the concentration of the co-solvent at the point of 50% protein unfolding at a specific temperature T in shortc U 50 T is introduced. Analyzing a set of ene reductases,c U 50 T is shown to indicate the concentration of the co-solvent where also the activity of the enzyme drops fastest. Comparing possible rankings of enzymes according to melting temperature andc U 50 T reveals a clearly diverging outcome also depending on the specific solvent used. Additionally, plots ofc U 50 versus temperature enable a fast identification of possible reaction windows to deduce tolerated solvent concentrations and temperature.

N-terminal truncation (N-) and directional proton transfer in an old yellow enzyme enables tunable efficient producing (R)- or (S)-citronellal

(R)-Citronellal is a valuable molecule as the precursor for the industrial synthesis of (-)-menthol, one of the worldwide best-selling compounds in the flavors and fragrances field. However, its biocatalytic production, even from the optically pure substrate (E)-citral, is inherently limited by the activity of Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE). Herein, we rationally designed a different approach to increase the activity of OYE in biocatalytic production. The activity of OYE from Corynebacterium glutamicum (CgOYE) is increased, as well as superior thermal stability and pH tolerance via truncating the different lengths of regions at N-terminal of CgOYE. Next, we converted the truncation mutant N31-CgOYE, a protein involved in proton transfer for the asymmetric hydrogenation of CC bonds, into highly (R)- and (S)-stereoselective enzymes using only three mutations. The mixture of racemic (E/Z)-citral is reduced into the (R)-citronellal with ee and conversion up to 99 % by the mutant of CgOYE, overcoming the problem of the reduction for the mixtures of (E/Z)-citral in biocatalytic reaction. The present work provides a general and effective strategy for improving the activity of OYE, in which the partially conserved histidine residues provide "tunable gating" for the enantioselectivity for both the (R)- and (S)-isomerases.

Design and engineering of whole-cell biocatalyst for efficient synthesis of (R)-citronellal

Bioproduction of optical pure (R)‐citronellal from (E/Z)‐citral at high substrate loading remains challenging. Low catalytic efficiency of (R)‐stereoselective ene reductases towards crude citral mixture is one of the major bottlenecks. Herein, a structure‐based engineering strategy was adopted to enhance the catalytic efficiency and stereoselectivity of an ene reductase (OYE2p) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae YJM1341 towards (E/Z)‐citral. On basis of homologous modelling, molecular docking analysis and alanine scanning at the binding pocket of OYE2p, a mutant Y84A was obtained with simultaneous increase in catalytic efficiency and stereoselectivity. Furthermore, site‐saturation mutagenesis of Y84 yielded seven mutants with improved activity and stereoselectivity in the (E/Z)‐citral reduction. Among them, the variant Y84V exhibited an 18.3% and 71.3% rise in catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) for (Z)‐citral and (E)‐citral respectively. Meanwhile, the stereoselectivity of Y84V was improved from 89.2% to 98.0% in the reduction in (E/Z)‐citral. The docking analysis and molecular dynamics simulation of OYE2p and its variants revealed that the substitution Y84V enabled (E)‐citral and (Z)‐citral to bind with a smaller distance to the key hydrogen donors at a modified (R)‐selective binding mode. The variant Y84V was then co‐expressed with glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus megaterium in E. coli D4, in which competing prim‐alcohol dehydrogenase genes were deleted to prevent the undesired reduction in the aldehyde moiety of citral and citronellal. Employing this biocatalyst, 106 g l⁻¹ (E/Z)‐citral was completely converted into (R)‐citronellal with 95.4% ee value and a high space‐time yield of 121.6 g l⁻¹ day⁻¹. The work highlights the synthetic potential of Y84V, which enabled the highest productivity of (R)‐citronellal from (E/Z)‐citral in high enantiopurity so far.

Evaluation of two xenobiotic reductases from Pseudomonas putida for their suitability for magnetic nanoparticle-directed enzyme prodrug therapy as a novel approach to cancer treatment

Directed enzyme prodrug therapy (DEPT) is a cancer chemotherapy strategy in which bacterial enzymes are delivered to a cancer site before prodrug administration, resulting in prodrug activation at the cancer site and more localized treatment. A major limitation to DEPT is the poor effectiveness of the most studied enzyme for the CB1954 prodrug, NfnB from Escherichia coli, at concentrations suitable for human use. Much research into finding alternative enzymes to NfnB has resulted in the identification of the Xenobiotic reductases, XenA and XenB, which have been shown in the literature to reduce environmentally polluting nitro‐compounds. In this study, they were assessed for their potential use in cancer prodrug therapy strategies. Both proteins were cloned into the pET28a+ expression vector to give the genetically modified proteins XenA‐his and XenB‐his, of which only XenB‐his was active when tested with CB1954. XenB‐his was further modified to include a cysteine‐tag to facilitate direct immobilization on to a gold surface for future magnetic nanoparticle DEPT (MNDEPT) treatments and was named XenB‐cys. When tested using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), XenB‐his and XenB‐cys both demonstrated a preference for reducing CB1954 at the 4‐nitro position. Furthermore, XenB‐his and XenB‐cys successfully induced cell death in SK‐OV‐3 cells when combined with CB1954. This led to XenB‐cys being identified as a promising candidate for use in future MNDEPT treatments.

Novel polycondensed biopolyamide generated from biomass-derived 4-aminohydrocinnamic acid

Biomass plastics are expected to contribute to the establishment of a carbon-neutral society by replacing conventional plastics derived from petroleum. The biomass-derived aromatic amine 4-aminocinnamic acid (4ACA) produced by recombinant bacteria is applied to the synthesis of high-performance biopolymers such as polyamides and polyimides. Here, we developed a microbial catalyst that hydrogenates the α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid of 4ACA to generate 4-aminohydrocinnamic acid (4AHCA). The ability of 10 microbial genes for enoate and xenobiotic reductases expressed in Escherichia coli to convert 4ACA to 4AHCA was assessed. A strain producing 2-enoate reductase from Clostridium acetobutylicum (ca2ENR) reduced 4ACA to 4AHCA with a yield of > 95% mol mol^-1 and reaction rates of 3.4 ± 0.4 and 4.4 ± 0.6 mM h^-1 OD₆₀₀^-1 at the optimum pH of 7.0 under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively. This recombinant strain reduced caffeic, cinnamic, coumaric, and 4-nitrocinnamic acids to their corresponding propanoic acid derivatives. We polycondensed 4AHCA generated from biomass-derived 4ACA by dehydration under a catalyst to form high-molecular-weight poly(4AHCA) with a molecular weight of M _n = 1.94 MDa. This polyamide had high thermal properties as indicated by a 10% reduction in weight at a temperature of T _d10 = 394 °C and a glass transition temperature of T _g = 240 °C. Poly(4AHCA) derived from biomass is stable at high temperatures and could be applicable to the production of high-performance engineering plastics.

Structural insights into the ene-reductase synthesis of profens

Reduction of double bonds of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids and esters by ene-reductases remains challenging and it typically requires activation by a second electron-withdrawing moiety, such as a halide or second carboxylate group. We showed that profen precursors, 2-arylpropenoic acids and their esters, were efficiently reduced by Old Yellow Enzymes (OYEs). The XenA and GYE enzymes showed activity towards acids, while a wider range of enzymes were active towards the equivalent methyl esters. Comparative co-crystal structural analysis of profen-bound OYEs highlighted key interactions important in determining substrate binding in a catalytically active conformation. The general utility of ene reductases for the synthesis of (R)-profens was established and this work will now drive future mutagenesis studies to screen for the production of pharmaceutically-active (S)-profens.

Revealing Additional Stereocomplementary Pairs of Old Yellow Enzymes by Rational Transfer of Engineered Residues

Every year numerous protein engineering and directed evolution studies are published, increasing the knowledge that could be used by protein engineers. Here we test a protein engineering strategy that allows quick access to improved biocatalysts with very little screening effort. Conceptually it is assumed that engineered residues previously identified by rational and random methods induce similar improvements when transferred to family members. In an application to ene-reductases from the Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE) family, the newly created variants were tested with three compounds, revealing more stereocomplementary OYE pairs with potent turnover frequencies (up to 660 h^-1 ) and excellent stereoselectivities (up to >99 %). Although systematic prediction of absolute enantioselectivity of OYE variants remains a challenge, "scaffold sampling" was confirmed as a promising addition to protein engineers' collection of strategies.

Aerobic biosynthesis of hydrocinnamic acids in Escherichia coli with a strictly oxygen-sensitive enoate reductase

3-Phenylpropionic acid (3PPA) and 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid (HPPA) are important commodity aromatic acids widely used in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Currently, 3PPA and HPPA are mainly manufactured through chemical synthesis, which contains multiple steps involving toxic solvents and catalysts harmful to environment. Therefore, replacement of such existing petroleum-derived approaches with simple and environmentally friendly biological processes is highly desirable for manufacture of these chemicals. Here, for the first time we demonstrated the de novo biosynthesis of 3PPA and HPPA using simple carbon sources in E. coli by extending the cinnamic acids biosynthesis pathways through biological hydrogenation. We first screened 11 2-enoate reductases (ER) from nine microorganisms, leading to efficient conversion of cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid to 3PPA and HPPA, respectively. Surprisingly, we found a strictly oxygen-sensitive Clostridia ER capable of functioning efficiently in E. coli even under aerobic conditions. On this basis, reconstitution of the full pathways led to the de novo production of 3PPA and HPPA and the accumulation of the intermediates (cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid) with cell toxicity. To address this problem, different expression strategies were attempted to optimize individual enzyme׳s expression level and minimize intermediates accumulation. Finally, the titers of 3PPA and HPPA reached 366.77mg/L and 225.10mg/L in shake flasks, respectively. This study not only demonstrated the potential of microbial approach as an alternative to chemical process, but also proved the possibility of using oxygen-sensitive enzymes under aerobic conditions.

Better than Nature: Nicotinamide Biomimetics That Outperform Natural Coenzymes

The search for affordable, green biocatalytic processes is a challenge for chemicals manufacture. Redox biotransformations are potentially attractive, but they rely on unstable and expensive nicotinamide coenzymes that have prevented their widespread exploitation. Stoichiometric use of natural coenzymes is not viable economically, and the instability of these molecules hinders catalytic processes that employ coenzyme recycling. Here, we investigate the efficiency of man-made synthetic biomimetics of the natural coenzymes NAD(P)H in redox biocatalysis. Extensive studies with a range of oxidoreductases belonging to the “ene” reductase family show that these biomimetics are excellent analogues of the natural coenzymes, revealed also in crystal structures of the ene reductase XenA with selected biomimetics. In selected cases, these biomimetics outperform the natural coenzymes. “Better-than-Nature” biomimetics should find widespread application in fine and specialty chemicals production by harnessing the power of high stereo-, regio-, and chemoselective redox biocatalysts and enabling reactions under mild conditions at low cost.

Functional characterization and stability improvement of a 'thermophilic-like' ene-reductase from Rhodococcus opacus 1CP

Ene-reductases (ERs) are widely applied for the asymmetric synthesis of relevant industrial chemicals. A novel ER OYERo2 was found within a set of 14 putative old yellow enzymes (OYEs) obtained by genome mining of the actinobacterium Rhodococcus opacus 1CP. Multiple sequence alignment suggested that the enzyme belongs to the group of 'thermophilic-like' OYEs. OYERo2 was produced in Escherichia coli and biochemically characterized. The enzyme is strongly NADPH dependent and uses non-covalently bound FMNH2 for the reduction of activated α,β-unsaturated alkenes. In the active form OYERo2 is a dimer. Optimal catalysis occurs at pH 7.3 and 37°C. OYERo2 showed highest specific activities (45-50 U mg(-1)) on maleimides, which are efficiently converted to the corresponding succinimides. The OYERo2-mediated reduction of prochiral alkenes afforded the (R)-products with excellent optical purity (ee > 99%). OYERo2 is not as thermo-resistant as related OYEs. Introduction of a characteristic intermolecular salt bridge by site-specific mutagenesis raised the half-life of enzyme inactivation at 32°C from 28 to 87 min and improved the tolerance toward organic co-solvents. The suitability of OYERo2 for application in industrial biocatalysis is discussed.

Systematic methodology for the development of biocatalytic hydrogen-borrowing cascades: application to the synthesis of chiral α-substituted carboxylic acids from α-substituted α,β-unsaturated aldehydes

Ene-reductases (ERs) are flavin dependent enzymes that catalyze the asymmetric reduction of activated carbon-carbon double bonds. In particular, α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (e.g. enals and enones) as well as nitroalkenes are rapidly reduced. Conversely, α,β-unsaturated esters are poorly accepted substrates whereas free carboxylic acids are not converted at all. The only exceptions are α,β-unsaturated diacids, diesters as well as esters bearing an electron-withdrawing group in α- or β-position. Here, we present an alternative approach that has a general applicability for directly obtaining diverse chiral α-substituted carboxylic acids. This approach combines two enzyme classes, namely ERs and aldehyde dehydrogenases (Ald-DHs), in a concurrent reductive-oxidative biocatalytic cascade. This strategy has several advantages as the starting material is an α-substituted α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, a class of compounds extremely reactive for the reduction of the alkene moiety. Furthermore no external hydride source from a sacrificial substrate (e.g. glucose, formate) is required since the hydride for the first reductive step is liberated in the second oxidative step. Such a process is defined as a hydrogen-borrowing cascade. This methodology has wide applicability as it was successfully applied to the synthesis of chiral substituted hydrocinnamic acids, aliphatic acids, heterocycles and even acetylated amino acids with elevated yield, chemo- and stereo-selectivity. A systematic methodology for optimizing the hydrogen-borrowing two-enzyme synthesis of α-chiral substituted carboxylic acids was developed. This systematic methodology has general applicability for the development of diverse hydrogen-borrowing processes that possess the highest atom efficiency and the lowest environmental impact.

Chemoselective biocatalytic reduction of conjugated nitroalkenes: new application for an Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) expression strain

Chemoselective reduction of activated carbon-carbon double bond in conjugated nitroalkenes was achieved using Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) whole cells. Nine different substrates have been used furnishing the reduced products in moderate to good yields. 1-Nitro-4-phenyl-1,3-butadiene and (2-nitro-1-propenyl)benzene were successfully biotransformed with corresponding product yields of 54% and 45% respectively. Using this simple and environmentally friendly system 2-(2-nitropropyl)pyridine and 2-(2-nitropropyl)naphthalene were synthesized and characterized for the first time. High substrate conversion efficiency was coupled with low enantioselectivity, however 29% enantiomeric excess was detected in the case of 2-(2-nitropropyl)pyridine. It was shown that electronic properties of the aromatic ring, which affected polarity of the double bond, were not highly influential factors in the reduction process, but the presence of the nitro functionality was essential for the reaction to proceed. 1-Phenyl-4-nitro-1,3-butadiene could not be biotransformed by whole cells of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 or Bacillus subtilis 168 while it was successfully reduced by E. coli DH5α but with lower efficiency in comparison to E. coli BL21(DE3). Knockout mutant affected in nemA gene coding for N-ethylmaleimide reductase (BL21ΔnemA) could still catalyze bioreductions suggesting multiple active reductases within E. coli BL21(DE3) biocatalyst. The described biocatalytic reduction of substituted nitroalkenes provides an efficient route for the preparation of the corresponding nitroalkanes and introduces the new application of the strain traditionally utilized for recombinant protein expression.

An ene reductase from Clavispora lusitaniae for asymmetric reduction of activated alkenes

A putative ene reductase gene from Clavispora lusitaniae was heterologously overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and the encoded protein (ClER) was purified and characterized for its biocatalytic properties. This NADPH-dependent flavoprotein was identified with reduction activities toward a diverse range of activated alkenes including conjugated enones, enals, maleimide derivative and α,β-unsaturated carboxylic esters. The purified ClER exhibited a relatively high activity of 7.3 U mg(prot)⁻¹ for ketoisophorone while a remarkable catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m)=810 s⁻¹ mM⁻¹) was obtained for 2-methyl-cinnamaldehyde due to the high affinity. A series of prochiral activated alkenes were stereoselectively reduced by ClER furnishing the corresponding saturated products in up to 99% ee. The practical applicability of ClER was further evaluated for the production of (R)-levodione, a valuable chiral compound, from ketoisophorone. Using the crude enzyme of ClER and glucose dehydrogenase (GDH), 500 mM of ketoisophorone was efficiently converted to (R)-levodione with excellent stereoselectivity (98% ee) within 1h. All these positive features demonstrate a high synthetic potential of ClER in the asymmetric reduction of activated alkenes.

Overcoming co-product inhibition in the nicotinamide independent asymmetric bioreduction of activated C=C-bonds using flavin-dependent ene-reductases

Eleven flavoproteins from the old yellow enzyme family were found to catalyze the disproportionation (“dismutation”) of conjugated enones. Incomplete conversions, which were attributed to enzyme inhibition by the co-product phenol could be circumvented via in situ co-product removal by scavenging the phenol using the polymeric adsorbent MP-carbonate. The optimized system allowed to reduce an alkene activated by ester groups in a “coupled-substrate” approach via nicotinamide-free hydrogen transfer with >90% conversion and complete stereoselectivity.

Asymmetric bioreduction of activated alkenes to industrially relevant optically active compounds

Ene-reductases from the ‘Old Yellow Enzyme’ family of flavoproteins catalyze the asymmetric reduction of various α,β-unsaturated compounds at the expense of a nicotinamide cofactor. They have been applied to the synthesis of valuable enantiopure products, including chiral building blocks with broad industrial applications, terpenoids, amino acid derivatives and fragrances. The combination of these highly stereoselective biocatalysts with a cofactor recycling system has allowed the development of cost-effective methods for the generation of optically active molecules, which is strengthened by the availability of stereo-complementary enzyme homologues.