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Jansen S, Mayer C. A Robust Growth-Based Selection Platform to Evolve an Enzyme via Dependency on Noncanonical Tyrosine Analogues. JACS AU 2024; 4:1583-1590. [PMID: 38665651 PMCID: PMC11040555 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.4c00070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Growth-based selections evaluate the fitness of individual organisms at a population level. In enzyme engineering, such growth selections allow for the rapid and straightforward identification of highly efficient biocatalysts from extensive libraries. However, selection-based improvement of (synthetically useful) biocatalysts is challenging, as they require highly dependable strategies that artificially link their activities to host survival. Here, we showcase a robust and scalable growth-based selection platform centered around the complementation of noncanonical amino acid-dependent bacteria. Specifically, we demonstrate how serial passaging of populations featuring millions of carbamoylase variants autonomously selects biocatalysts with up to 90,000-fold higher initial rates. Notably, selection of replicate populations enriched diverse biocatalysts, which feature distinct amino acid motifs that drastically boost carbamoylase activity. As beneficial substitutions also originated from unintended copying errors during library preparation or cell division, we anticipate that our growth-based selection platform will be applicable to the continuous, autonomous evolution of diverse biocatalysts in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne
C. Jansen
- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747
AG Groningen, The
Netherlands
| | - Clemens Mayer
- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747
AG Groningen, The
Netherlands
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2
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Canales CSC, Pavan AR, Dos Santos JL, Pavan FR. In silico drug design strategies for discovering novel tuberculosis therapeutics. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2024; 19:471-491. [PMID: 38374606 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2024.2319042] [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: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis remains a significant concern in global public health due to its intricate biology and propensity for developing antibiotic resistance. Discovering new drugs is a protracted and expensive endeavor, often spanning over a decade and incurring costs in the billions. However, computer-aided drug design (CADD) has surfaced as a nimbler and more cost-effective alternative. CADD tools enable us to decipher the interactions between therapeutic targets and novel drugs, making them invaluable in the quest for new tuberculosis treatments. AREAS COVERED In this review, the authors explore recent advancements in tuberculosis drug discovery enabled by in silico tools. The main objectives of this review article are to highlight emerging drug candidates identified through in silico methods and to provide an update on the therapeutic targets associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. EXPERT OPINION These in silico methods have not only streamlined the drug discovery process but also opened up new horizons for finding novel drug candidates and repositioning existing ones. The continued advancements in these fields hold great promise for more efficient, ethical, and successful drug development in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian S Carnero Canales
- School of Pharmaceutical Science, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, Brazil
- School of Pharmacy, biochemistry and biotechnology, Santa Maria Catholic University, Arequipa, Perú
| | - Aline Renata Pavan
- School of Pharmaceutical Science, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, Brazil
| | | | - Fernando Rogério Pavan
- School of Pharmaceutical Science, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, Brazil
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3
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Tamang A, Swarnkar M, Kumar P, Kumar D, Pandey SS, Hallan V. Endomicrobiome of in vitro and natural plants deciphering the endophytes-associated secondary metabolite biosynthesis in Picrorhiza kurrooa, a Himalayan medicinal herb. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0227923. [PMID: 37811959 PMCID: PMC10715050 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02279-23] [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: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Picrorhiza kurrooa is a major source of picrosides, potent hepatoprotective molecules. Due to the ever-increasing demands, overexploitation has caused an extensive decline in its population in the wild and placed it in the endangered plants' category. At present plant in-vitro systems are widely used for the sustainable generation of P. kurrooa plants, and also for the conservation of other commercially important, rare, endangered, and threatened plant species. Furthermore, the in-vitro-generated plants had reduced content of therapeutic secondary metabolites compared to their wild counterparts, and the reason behind, not well-explored. Here, we revealed the loss of plant-associated endophytic communities during in-vitro propagation of P. kurrooa plants which also correlated to in-planta secondary metabolite biosynthesis. Therefore, this study emphasized to consider the essential role of plant-associated endophytic communities in in-vitro practices which may be the possible reason for reduced secondary metabolites in in-vitro plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anish Tamang
- Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad- 201002, India
| | - Mohit Swarnkar
- Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Pawan Kumar
- Chemical Technology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Dinesh Kumar
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad- 201002, India
- Chemical Technology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Shiv Shanker Pandey
- Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad- 201002, India
| | - Vipin Hallan
- Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad- 201002, India
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4
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Oliveira-Filho ER, Voiniciuc C, Hanson AD. Adapting enzymes to improve their functionality in plants: why and how. Biochem Soc Trans 2023; 51:1957-1966. [PMID: 37787016 PMCID: PMC10657173 DOI: 10.1042/bst20230532] [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: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic biology creates new metabolic processes and improves existing ones using engineered or natural enzymes. These enzymes are often sourced from cells that differ from those in the target plant organ with respect to, e.g. redox potential, effector levels, or proteostasis machinery. Non-native enzymes may thus need to be adapted to work well in their new plant context ('plantized') even if their specificity and kinetics in vitro are adequate. Hence there are two distinct ways in which an enzyme destined for use in plants can require improvement: In catalytic properties such as substrate and product specificity, kcat, and KM; and in general compatibility with the milieu of cells that express the enzyme. Continuous directed evolution systems can deliver both types of improvement and are so far the most broadly effective way to deliver the second type. Accordingly, in this review we provide a short account of continuous evolution methods, emphasizing the yeast OrthoRep system because of its suitability for plant applications. We then cover the down-to-earth and increasingly urgent issues of which enzymes and enzyme properties can - or cannot - be improved in theory, and which in practice are the best to target for crop improvement, i.e. those that are realistically improvable and important enough to warrant deploying continuous directed evolution. We take horticultural crops as examples because of the opportunities they present and to sharpen the focus.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cătălin Voiniciuc
- Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, U.S.A
| | - Andrew D. Hanson
- Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, U.S.A
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5
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Summers TJ, Hemmati R, Miller JE, Agbaglo DA, Cheng Q, DeYonker NJ. Evaluating the active site-substrate interplay between x-ray crystal structure and molecular dynamics in chorismate mutase. J Chem Phys 2023; 158:065101. [PMID: 36792523 DOI: 10.1063/5.0127106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Designing realistic quantum mechanical (QM) models of enzymes is dependent on reliably discerning and modeling residues, solvents, and cofactors important in crafting the active site microenvironment. Interatomic van der Waals contacts have previously demonstrated usefulness toward designing QM-models, but their measured values (and subsequent residue importance rankings) are expected to be influenceable by subtle changes in protein structure. Using chorismate mutase as a case study, this work examines the differences in ligand-residue interatomic contacts between an x-ray crystal structure and structures from a molecular dynamics simulation. Select structures are further analyzed using symmetry adapted perturbation theory to compute ab initio ligand-residue interaction energies. The findings of this study show that ligand-residue interatomic contacts measured for an x-ray crystal structure are not predictive of active site contacts from a sampling of molecular dynamics frames. In addition, the variability in interatomic contacts among structures is not correlated with variability in interaction energies. However, the results spotlight using interaction energies to characterize and rank residue importance in future computational enzymology workflows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Summers
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, 213 Smith Chemistry Building, Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3550, USA
| | - Reza Hemmati
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, 213 Smith Chemistry Building, Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3550, USA
| | - Justin E Miller
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, 213 Smith Chemistry Building, Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3550, USA
| | - Donatus A Agbaglo
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, 213 Smith Chemistry Building, Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3550, USA
| | - Qianyi Cheng
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, 213 Smith Chemistry Building, Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3550, USA
| | - Nathan J DeYonker
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, 213 Smith Chemistry Building, Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3550, USA
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Thorbjørnsrud H, Bressan L, Khatanbaatar T, Carrer M, Würth-Roderer K, Cordara G, Kast P, Cascella M, Krengel U. What Drives Chorismate Mutase to Top Performance? Insights from a Combined In Silico and In Vitro Study. Biochemistry 2023; 62:782-796. [PMID: 36705397 PMCID: PMC9910054 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Unlike typical chorismate mutases, the enzyme from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtCM) has only low activity on its own. Remarkably, its catalytic efficiency kcat/Km can be boosted more than 100-fold by complex formation with a partner enzyme. Recently, an autonomously fully active MtCM variant was generated using directed evolution, and its structure was solved by X-ray crystallography. However, key residues were involved in crystal contacts, challenging the functional interpretation of the structural changes. Here, we address these challenges by microsecond molecular dynamics simulations, followed up by additional kinetic and structural analyses of selected sets of specifically engineered enzyme variants. A comparison of wild-type MtCM with naturally and artificially activated MtCMs revealed the overall dynamic profiles of these enzymes as well as key interactions between the C-terminus and the active site loop. In the artificially evolved variant of this model enzyme, this loop is preorganized and stabilized by Pro52 and Asp55, two highly conserved residues in typical, highly active chorismate mutases. Asp55 stretches across the active site and helps to appropriately position active site residues Arg18 and Arg46 for catalysis. The role of Asp55 can be taken over by another acidic residue, if introduced at position 88 close to the C-terminus of MtCM, as suggested by molecular dynamics simulations and confirmed by kinetic investigations of engineered variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen
V. Thorbjørnsrud
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,Hylleraas
Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University
of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway
| | - Luca Bressan
- Laboratory
of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Tamjidmaa Khatanbaatar
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,Hylleraas
Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University
of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway
| | - Manuel Carrer
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,Hylleraas
Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University
of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway
| | | | - Gabriele Cordara
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,Hylleraas
Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University
of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway
| | - Peter Kast
- Laboratory
of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland,
| | - Michele Cascella
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,Hylleraas
Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University
of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,
| | - Ute Krengel
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,Hylleraas
Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University
of Oslo, Oslo 0315, NO, Norway,
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Yang Y, Xu Y, Yue Y, Wang H, Cui Y, Pan M, Zhang X, Zhang L, Li H, Xu M, Tang Y, Chen S. Investigate Natural Product Indolmycin and the Synthetically Improved Analogue Toward Antimycobacterial Agents. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:39-53. [PMID: 34908399 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Indolmycin (IND) is a microbial natural product that selectively inhibits bacterial tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (TrpRS). The tryptophan biosynthesis pathway was recently shown to be an important target for developing new antibacterial agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). We investigated the antibacterial activity of IND against several mycobacterial model strains. A TrpRS biochemical assay was developed to analyze a library of synthetic IND analogues. The 4″-methylated IND compound, Y-13, showed improved anti-Mtb activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.88 μM (∼0.5 μg/mL). The MIC increased significantly when overexpression of TrpRS was induced in the genetically engineered surrogate M. bovis BCG. The cocrystal structure of Mtb TrpRS complexed with IND and ATP has revealed that the amino acid pocket is in a state between the open form of apo protein and the closed complex with the reaction intermediate. In whole-cell-based experiments, we studied the combination effect of Y-13 paired with different antibacterial agents. We evaluated the killing kinetics, the frequency of resistance to INDs, and the mode of resistance of IND-resistant mycobacteria by genome sequencing. The synergistic interaction of Y-13 with the TrpE allosteric inhibitor, indole propionic acid, suggests that prospective IND analogues could shut down tryptophan biosynthesis and protein biosynthesis in pathogens, leading to a new class of antibiotics. Finally, we discuss a strategy to expand the genome mining of antibiotic-producing microbes specifically for antimycobacterial development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhong Yang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yuanyuan Xu
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Yuan Yue
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Heng Wang
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Yumeng Cui
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Miaomiao Pan
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Xi Zhang
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Haitao Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Min Xu
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
| | - Yefeng Tang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Shawn Chen
- Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, Haidian, Beijing 100192, China
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