A chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid lyase with poor activity to glucuronyl 4,6-O-disulfated N-acetylgalactosamine (E-type)-containing structures

Cloning and characterization of a hyaluronate lyase EsHyl8 from Escherichia sp. A99

Hyaluronidase, an enzyme that degrades hyaluronic acid (HA), is utilized in clinical settings to facilitate drug diffusion, manage extravasation, and address injection-related complications linked to HA-based fillers. In this study, a novel hyaluronate lyase EsHyl8 was cloned, expressed, and characterized from Escherichia sp. A99 of human intestinal origin. This lyase belongs to polysaccharide lyase (PL) family 8, and showed specific activity towards HA. EsHyl8 exhibited optimal degradation at 40 °C and pH 6.0. EsHyl8 exhibited a high activity of 376.32 U/mg among hyaluronidases of human gut microorganisms. EsHyl8 was stable at 37 °C and remained about 70 % of activity after incubation at 37 °C for 24 h, demonstrating excellent thermostability. The activity of EsHyl8 was inhibited by Zn2+, Cu2+, Fe3+, and SDS. EsHyl8 was an endo-type enzyme whose end-product was unsaturated disaccharide. This study enhances our understanding of hyaluronidases from human gut microorganisms.

Discovery of a class of glycosaminoglycan lyases with ultrabroad substrate spectrum and their substrate structure preferences

Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) lyases are often strictly substrate specific, and it is especially difficult to simultaneously degrade GAGs with different types of glycosidic bonds. Herein, we found a new class of GAG lyases (GAGases) from different bacteria. These GAGases belong to polysaccharide lyase 35 family and share quite low homology with the identified GAG lyases. The most surprising thing is that GAGases can not only degrade three types of GAGs: hyaluronan, chondroitin sulfate, and heparan sulfate but also even one of them can also degrade alginate. Further investigation of structural preferences revealed that GAGases selectively act on GAG domains composed of non/6-O-/N-sulfated hexosamines and d-glucoronic acids as well as on alginate domains composed of d-mannuronic acids. In addition, GAG lyases were once speculated to have evolved from alginate lyases, but no transitional enzymes have been found. The discovery of GAGases not only broadens the category of GAG lyases, provides new enzymatic tools for the structural and functional studies of GAGs with specific structures, but also provides candidates for the evolution of GAG lyases.

Enzymatic comparison of two homologous enzymes reveals N-terminal domain of chondroitinase ABC I regulates substrate selection and product generation

Chondroitinase ABC-type I (CSase ABC I), which can digest both chondroitin sulfate (CS) and dermatan sulfate (DS) in an endolytic manner, is an essential tool in structural and functional studies of CS/DS. Although a few CSase ABC I have been identified from bacteria, the substrate-degrading pattern and regulatory mechanisms of them have rarely been investigated. Herein, two CSase ABC I, IM3796 and IM1634, were identified from the intestinal metagenome of CS-fed mice. They show high sequence homology (query coverage: 88.00%, percent identity: 90.10%) except for an extra peptide (Met¹-His¹⁰⁹) at the N-terminus in IM1634, but their enzymatic properties are very different. IM3796 prefers to degrade 6-O-sulfated GalNAc residue-enriched CS into tetra- and disaccharides. In contrast, IM1634 exhibits nearly a thousand times more activity than IM3796, and can completely digest CS/DS with various sulfation patterns to produce disaccharides, unlike most CSase ABC I. Structure modeling showed that IM3796 did not contain an N-terminal domain composed of two β-sheets, which is found in IM1634 and other CSase ABC I. Furthermore, deletion of the N-terminal domain (Met¹-His¹⁰⁹) from IM1634 caused the enzymatic properties of the variant IM1634-T109 to be similar to those of IM3796, and conversely, grafting this domain to IM3796 increased the similarity of the variant IM3796-A109 to IM1634. In conclusion, the comparative study of the new CSase ABC I provides two unique tools for CS/DS-related studies and applications and, more importantly, reveals the critical role of the N-terminal domain in regulating the substrate binding and degradation of these enzymes.

A novel 4-O-endosulfatase with high potential for the structure-function studies of chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate

The sulfation patterns of chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS), which encode unique biological information, play critical roles in the various biological functions of CS/DS chains. CS/DS sulfatases, which can specifically hydrolyze sulfate groups, could potentially be essential tools for deciphering and changing the biological information encoded by these sulfation patterns. However, endosulfatase with high activity to efficiently hydrolyze the sulfate groups inside CS/DS polysaccharides have rarely been identified, which hinders the practical applications of CS/DS sulfatases. Herein, a novel CS/DS 4-O-endosulfatase (endoBI4SF) with a strong ability to completely remove 4-O-sulfated groups inside various CS/DS polysaccharides was identified and successfully used to investigate the biological roles of 4-O-sulfated CS/DS in vitro and in vivo. This study provides a much-needed tool to tailor the sulfation patterns and explore the related functions of 4-O-sulfated CS/DS chains in vitro and in vivo.

Identification and Action Patterns of Two Chondroitin Sulfate Sulfatases From a Marine Bacterium Photobacterium sp. QA16

Chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS) is a kind of sulfated polyanionic, linear polysaccharide belonging to glycosaminoglycan. CS/DS sulfatases, which specifically hydrolyze sulfate groups from CS/DS oligo-/polysaccharides, are potential tools for structural and functional studies of CD/DS. However, only a few sulfatases have been reported and characterized in detail to date. In this study, two CS/DS sulfatases, PB_3262 and PB_3285, were identified from the marine bacterium Photobacterium sp. QA16 and their action patterns were studied in detail. PB_3262 was characterized as a novel 4-O-endosulfatase that can effectively and specifically hydrolyze the 4-O-sulfate group of disaccharide GlcUAβ1–3GalNAc(4-O-sulfate) but not GlcUAβ1–3GalNAc(4,6-O-sulfate) and IdoUAα1–3GalNAc(4-O-sulfate) in CS/DS oligo-/polysaccharides, which is very different from the identified 4-O-endosulfatases in the substrate profile. In contrast, PB_3285 specifically hydrolyzes the 6-O-sulfate groups of GalNAc(6-O-sulfate) residues located at the reducing ends of the CS chains and is the first recombinantly expressed 6-O-exosulfatase to effectively act on CS oligosaccharides.

A novel chondroitin sulfate E from Dosidicus gigas cartilage and its antitumor metastatic activity

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) chains containing GlcUAβ1-3GalNAc(4S,6S) (E unit) have been shown to be involved in various physiological and pathological processes. However, commercial E unit-rich CS (CS-E) is difficult to produce on a large scale due to expensive and limited squid cartilage resources. In this study, a novel CS-E (CS-nE) was isolated from the cheap and abundant cartilage of the giant squid Dosidicus gigas. The CS-nE has a surprisingly large molecular mass of 696 kDa and a relatively high E unit proportion (44.5 %). It can interact with various growth factors, including HGF, bFGF, pleiotrophin, and HB-EGF, with high affinity, and exhibits dose-dependent anti-metastatic activity. Furthermore, the E unit-rich decasaccharide selectively prepared from CS-nE has been shown to be the minimal functional domain with the strongest antitumor metastatic activity. Taken together, CS-nE will be a very promising candidate for the development of CS-E-based pharmaceutical products.

Characterization of a Hyaluronic Acid Utilization Locus and Identification of Two Hyaluronate Lyases in a Marine Bacterium Vibrio alginolyticus LWW-9

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a negatively charged and linear polysaccharide existing in the tissues and body fluids of all vertebrates. Some pathogenic bacteria target hyaluronic acid for adhesion and/or infection to host cells. Vibrio alginolyticus is an opportunistic pathogen related to infections of humans and marine animals, and the hyaluronic acid-degrading potential of Vibrio spp. has been well-demonstrated. However, little is known about how Vibrio spp. utilize hyaluronic acid. In this study, a marine bacterium V. alginolyticus LWW-9 capable of degrading hyaluronic acid has been isolated. Genetic and bioinformatic analysis showed that V. alginolyticus LWW-9 harbors a gene cluster involved in the degradation, transport, and metabolism of hyaluronic acid. Two novel PL8 family hyaluronate lyases, VaHly8A and VaHly8B, are the key enzymes for the degradation of hyaluronic acid. VaHly8A and VaHly8B have distinct biochemical properties, reflecting the adaptation of the strain to the changing parameters of the aquatic habitats and hosts. Based on genomic and functional analysis, we propose a model for the complete degradation of hyaluronic acid by V. alginolyticus LWW-9. Overall, our study expands our knowledge of the HA utilization paradigm within the Proteobacteria, and the two novel hyaluronate lyases are excellent candidates for industrial applications.

A Technical System for the Large-Scale Application of Metabolites From Paecilomyces variotii SJ1 in Agriculture

Compared with endophytes, metabolites from endophytes (MEs) have great potential in agriculture. However, a technique for industrializing the production of MEs is still scarce. Moreover, the establishment of effective methods for evaluating the quality of MEs is hampered by the fact that some compounds with beneficial effects on crops have not been clearly identified. Herein, a system was established for the production, quality control and application of MEs by using the extract from Paecilomyces variotii SJ1 (ZNC). First, the extraction conditions of ZNC were optimized through response surface methodology, after which each batch (500 L) met the consumption requirements of crops in 7,467 hectares. Then, chromatographic fingerprinting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were applied to evaluate the similarity and specificity of unknown effective components in ZNC, ensuring a similarity of more than 90% and a quantitative accuracy of greater than 99.9% for the products from different batches. Finally, the bioactivity of industrially produced ZNC was evaluated in the field, and it significantly increased the potato yields by 4.4–10.8%. Overall, we have established a practical technical system for the large-scale application of ZNC in agriculture.

Expression and characterization of a thermotolerant and pH-stable hyaluronate lyase from Thermasporomyces composti DSM22891

Hyaluronate lyases have received extensive attention due to their applications in medical science, drug and biochemical engineering. However, few thermotolerant and pH-stable hyaluronate lyases have been found. In this study, hyaluronate lyase TcHly8B from Thermasporomyces composti DSM22891 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), purified, and characterized. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that TcHly8B belonged to a new subfamily in PL8. The molecular mass of recombinant TcHly8B determined by SDS-PAGE was approximately 86 kDa. The optimal temperature of TcHly8B was 70 °C, which was higher than that of previously reported hyaluronate lyases. TcHly8B was very stable at temperatures from 0 to 60 °C. The optimal pH of TcHly8B was 6.6. It could retain more than 80% of its original enzyme activity after incubation for 12 h in the pH range of 3.0-10.6. TcHly8B degraded hyaluronic acid into unsaturated disaccharides as the end products. The amino acid sequence and structure analysis of TcHly8B demonstrated that the amino acid composition and salt bridges might contribute to the thermostability of TcHly8B. Overall, this study provides an excellent example for the discovery of thermotolerant hyaluronate lyases and can be applied to the industrialized production and basic research of hyaluronate oligosaccharides.

Research and Application of Chondroitin Sulfate/Dermatan Sulfate-Degrading Enzymes

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) and dermatan sulfate (DS) are widely distributed on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix in the form of proteoglycan, where they participate in various biological processes. The diverse functions of CS/DS can be mainly attributed to their high structural variability. However, their structural complexity creates a big challenge for structural and functional studies of CS/DS. CS/DS-degrading enzymes with different specific activities are irreplaceable tools that could be used to solve this problem. Depending on the site of action, CS/DS-degrading enzymes can be classified as glycosidic bond-cleaving enzymes and sulfatases from animals and microorganisms. As discussed in this review, a few of the identified enzymes, particularly those from bacteria, have wildly applied to the basic studies and applications of CS/DS, such as disaccharide composition analysis, the preparation of bioactive oligosaccharides, oligosaccharide sequencing, and potential medical application, but these do not fulfill all of the needs in terms of the structural complexity of CS/DS.

Identification and biochemical characterization of a novel chondroitin sulfate/dermantan sulfate lyase from Photobacterium sp

Chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS) lyases play important roles in structural and functional studies of CS/DS. In this study, a novel CS/DS lyase (enCSase) was identified from the genome of the marine bacterium Photobacterium sp. QA16. This enzyme is easily heterologously expressed and purified as highly active form against various CS, DS and hyaluronic acid (HA). Under the optimal conditions, the specific activities of this enzyme towards CSA, CSC, CSD, CSE, DS and HA were 373, 474, 171, 172, 141 and 97 U/mg of proteins, respectively. As an endolytic enzyme, enCSase degrades HA to unsaturated hexa- and tetrasaccharides but CS/DS to unsaturated tetra- and disaccharides as the final products. Sequencing analysis showed that the structures of tetrasaccharides in the final products of CS variants were not unique but were highly variable, indicating the randomness of substrate degradation by this enzyme. Further studies showed that the smallest substrate of enCSase was octasaccharide for HA but hexasaccharide for CS/DS, which could explain why this enzyme cannot degrade HA hexa- and tetrasaccharides and CS/DS tetrasaccharides further. It is believed that enCSase may be a very useful tool for structural and functional studies and related applications of CS/DS and HA.

Screening and enzymatic activity of high-efficiency gellan lyase producing bacteria Pseudoalteromonas hodoensis PE1

Gellan is a widely used microbial polysaccharide and one of the more effective ways to expand its application value would be to investigate the mechanism of gellan lyase and to produce gellan oligosaccharide. In this study, efficient gellan degrading bacteria were screened. One of the strains with high efficient gellan degradation capacity was labeled PE1. Through physiological and biochemical analysis of 16S rDNA, the species was identified as Pseudoalteromonas hodoensis. The optimum conditions for enzymatic activity and how it was affected by metal ions were determined, and the results showed that the lyase activities were much higher than those of previously reported (about 20 times). The gellan degradation products were determined by thin-layer chromatography and the oligosaccharides were determined by high-efficiency liquid chromatography to analyze the action site of lyase. This study laid a solid foundation which elucidates the production and application of gellan oligosaccharides. Research highlights ● High efficiency gellan lyase producing bacteria ● Optimization of reaction conditions for gellan degradation ● Oligosaccharides were detected by TLC and HPLC to speculate the lyase action sites.

Chondroitin Sulfate-Degrading Enzymes as Tools for the Development of New Pharmaceuticals

Chondroitin sulfates are linear anionic sulfated polysaccharides found in biological tissues, mainly within the extracellular matrix, which are degraded and altered by specific lyases depending on specific time points. These polysaccharides have recently acquired relevance in the pharmaceutical industry due to their interesting therapeutic applications. As a consequence, chondroitin sulfate (CS) lyases have been widely investigated as tools for the development of new pharmaceuticals based on these polysaccharides. This review focuses on the major breakthrough represented by chondroitin sulfate-degrading enzymes and their structures and mechanisms of function in addition to their major applications.