A few amino acid substitutions are responsible for the higher thermostability of a novel NAD(+)-dependent bacillar alcohol dehydrogenase

Multienzymatic Cascades and Nanomaterial Scaffolding-A Potential Way Forward for the Efficient Biosynthesis of Novel Chemical Products

Synthetic biology is touted as the next industrial revolution as it promises access to greener biocatalytic syntheses to replace many industrial organic chemistries. Here, it is shown to what synthetic biology can offer in the form of multienzyme cascades for the synthesis of the most basic of new materials-chemicals, including especially designer chemical products and their analogs. Since achieving this is predicated on dramatically expanding the chemical space that enzymes access, such chemistry will probably be undertaken in cell-free or minimalist formats to overcome the inherent toxicity of non-natural substrates to living cells. Laying out relevant aspects that need to be considered in the design of multi-enzymatic cascades for these purposes is begun. Representative multienzymatic cascades are critically reviewed, which have been specifically developed for the synthesis of compounds that have either been made only by traditional organic synthesis along with those cascades utilized for novel compound syntheses. Lastly, an overview of strategies that look toward exploiting bio/nanomaterials for accessing channeling and other nanoscale materials phenomena in vitro to direct novel enzymatic biosynthesis and improve catalytic efficiency is provided. Finally, a perspective on what is needed for this field to develop in the short and long term is presented.

High-Yield Synthesis of Enantiopure 1,2-Amino Alcohols from l-Phenylalanine via Linear and Divergent Enzymatic Cascades

Enantiomerically pure 1,2-amino alcohols are important compounds due to their biological activities and wide applications in chemical synthesis. In this work, we present two multienzyme pathways for the conversion of l-phenylalanine into either 2-phenylglycinol or phenylethanolamine in the enantiomerically pure form. Both pathways start with the two-pot sequential four-step conversion of l-phenylalanine into styrene via subsequent deamination, decarboxylation, enantioselective epoxidation, and enantioselective hydrolysis. For instance, after optimization, the multienzyme process could convert 507 mg of l-phenylalanine into (R)-1-phenyl-1,2-diol in an overall isolated yield of 75% and >99% ee. The opposite enantiomer, (S)-1-phenyl-1,2-diol, was also obtained in a 70% yield and 98–99% ee following the same approach. At this stage, two divergent routes were developed to convert the chiral diols into either 2-phenylglycinol or phenylethanolamine. The former route consisted of a one-pot concurrent interconnected two-step cascade in which the diol intermediate was oxidized to 2-hydroxy-acetophenone by an alcohol dehydrogenase and then aminated by a transaminase to give enantiomerically pure 2-phenylglycinol. Notably, the addition of an alanine dehydrogenase enabled the connection of the two steps and made the overall process redox-self-sufficient. Thus, (S)-phenylglycinol was isolated in an 81% yield and >99.4% ee starting from ca. 100 mg of the diol intermediate. The second route consisted of a one-pot concurrent two-step cascade in which the oxidative and reductive steps were not interconnected. In this case, the diol intermediate was oxidized to either (S)- or (R)-2-hydroxy-2-phenylacetaldehyde by an alcohol oxidase and then aminated by an amine dehydrogenase to give the enantiomerically pure phenylethanolamine. The addition of a formate dehydrogenase and sodium formate was required to provide the reducing equivalents for the reductive amination step. Thus, (R)-phenylethanolamine was isolated in a 92% yield and >99.9% ee starting from ca. 100 mg of the diol intermediate. In summary, l-phenylalanine was converted into enantiomerically pure 2-phenylglycinol and phenylethanolamine in overall yields of 61% and 69%, respectively. This work exemplifies how linear and divergent enzyme cascades can enable the synthesis of high-value chiral molecules such as amino alcohols from a renewable material such as l-phenylalanine with high atom economy and improved sustainability.

Responsive Emulsions for Sequential Multienzyme Cascades

Multienzyme cascade biocatalysis is an efficient synthetic process, avoiding the isolation/purification of intermediates and shifting the reaction equilibrium to the product side.. However, multienzyme systems are often limited by their incompatibility and cross-reactivity. Herein, we report a multi-responsive emulsion to proceed multienzyme reactions sequentially for high reactivity. The emulsion is achieved using a CO2 , pH, and thermo-responsive block copolymer as a stabilizer, allowing the on-demand control of emulsion morphology and phase composition. Applying this system to a three-step cascade reaction enables the individual optimal condition for each enzyme, and a high overall conversion (ca. 97 % of the calculated limit) is thereby obtained. Moreover, the multi-responsiveness of the emulsion allows the facile and separate yielding/recycling of products, polymers and active enzymes. Besides, the system could be scaled up with a good yield.

Generation of Oxidoreductases with Dual Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Amine Dehydrogenase Activity

The l-lysine-ϵ-dehydrogenase (LysEDH) from Geobacillus stearothermophilus naturally catalyzes the oxidative deamination of the ϵ-amino group of l-lysine. We previously engineered this enzyme to create amine dehydrogenase (AmDH) variants that possess a new hydrophobic cavity in their active site such that aromatic ketones can bind and be converted into α-chiral amines with excellent enantioselectivity. We also recently observed that LysEDH was capable of reducing aromatic aldehydes into primary alcohols. Herein, we harnessed the promiscuous alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity of LysEDH to create new variants that exhibited enhanced catalytic activity for the reduction of substituted benzaldehydes and arylaliphatic aldehydes to primary alcohols. Notably, these novel engineered dehydrogenases also catalyzed the reductive amination of a variety of aldehydes and ketones with excellent enantioselectivity, thus exhibiting a dual AmDH/ADH activity. We envisioned that the catalytic bi-functionality of these enzymes could be applied for the direct conversion of alcohols into amines. As a proof-of-principle, we performed an unprecedented one-pot "hydrogen-borrowing" cascade to convert benzyl alcohol to benzylamine using a single enzyme. Conducting the same biocatalytic cascade in the presence of cofactor recycling enzymes (i.e., NADH-oxidase and formate dehydrogenase) increased the reaction yields. In summary, this work provides the first examples of enzymes showing "alcohol aminase" activity.

Kinetic Isotope Effects as Probes for Hydrogen Tunneling, Coupled Motion and Dynamics Contributions to Enzyme Catalysis

Since the early days of enzymology attempts have been made to deconvolute the various contributions of physical phenomena to enzyme catalysis. Here we present experimental and theoretical studies that examine the possible role of hydrogen tunneling, coupled motion, and enzyme dynamics in catalysis. In this review, we first introduce basic concepts of enzyme catalysis from a physical chemistry point of view. Then, we present several recent developments in the application of experimental tools that can probe tunneling, coupled motion, dynamic effects and other possible physical phenomena that may contribute to catalysis. These tools include kinetic isotope effects (KIEs), their temperature dependency and H/D/T mutual relations (the Swain–Schaad relationship). Several theories and models that assist in understanding those phenomena are also described. The possibility that these models invoke a direct role for the enzyme's dynamics (environmental fluctuations and rearrangements) is discussed. Finally, the need to compare the enzymatic reaction to the uncatalyzed one while investigating contributions to catalysis is emphasised.

Extreme makeover: Engineering the activity of a thermostable alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhD) from Pyrococcus furiosus

Alcohol dehydrogenase D (AdhD) is a monomeric thermostable alcohol dehydrogenase from the aldo-keto reductase (AKR) superfamily of proteins. We have been exploring various strategies of engineering the activity of AdhD so that it could be employed in future biotechnology applications. Driven by insights made in other AKRs, we have made mutations in the cofactor-binding pocket of the enzyme and broadened its cofactor specificity. A pre-steady state kinetic analysis yielded new insights into the conformational behavior of this enzyme. The most active mutant enzyme concomitantly gained activity with a non-native cofactor, nicotinamide mononucleotide, NMN(H), and an enzymatic biofuel cell was demonstrated with this enzyme/cofactor pair. Substrate specificity was altered by grafting loop regions near the active site pocket from a mesostable human aldose reductase (hAR) onto the thermostable AdhD. These moves not only transferred the substrate specificity of hAR but also the cofactor specificity of hAR. We have added alpha-helical appendages to AdhD to enable it to self-assemble into a thermostable catalytic proteinaceous hydrogel. As our understanding of the structure/function relationship in AdhD and other AKRs advances, this ubiquitous protein scaffold could be engineered for a variety of catalytic activities that will be useful for many future applications.

Conversion of alcohols to enantiopure amines through dual-enzyme hydrogen-borrowing cascades

α-Chiral amines are key intermediates for the synthesis of a plethora of chemical compounds at industrial scale. We present a biocatalytic hydrogen-borrowing amination of primary and secondary alcohols that allows for the efficient and environmentally benign production of enantiopure amines. The method relies on a combination of two enzymes: an alcohol dehydrogenase (from Aromatoleum sp., Lactobacillus sp., or Bacillus sp.) operating in tandem with an amine dehydrogenase (engineered from Bacillus sp.) to aminate a structurally diverse range of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols, yielding up to 96% conversion and 99% enantiomeric excess. Primary alcohols were aminated with high conversion (up to 99%). This redox self-sufficient cascade possesses high atom efficiency, sourcing nitrogen from ammonium and generating water as the sole by-product.

Stability engineering of the Geobacillus stearothermophilus alcohol dehydrogenase and application for the synthesis of a polyamide 12 precursor

The thermostable NAD(+)-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus (BsADH) was exploited with regard to the biocatalytic synthesis of ω-oxo lauric acid methyl ester (OLAMe), a key intermediate for biobased polyamide 12 production, from the corresponding long-chain alcohol. Recombinant BsADH was produced in Escherichia coli as a homogeneous tetrameric enzyme and showed high activity towards the industrially relevant substrate ω-hydroxy lauric acid methyl ester (HLAMe) with K M = 86 μM and 44 U mg(-1). The equilibrium constant for HLAMe oxidation to the aldehyde (OLAMe) with NAD(+) was determined as 2.16 × 10(-3) from the kinetic parameters of the BsADH-catalyzed forward and reverse reactions. Since BsADH displayed limited stability under oxidizing conditions, the predominant oxidation-prone residue Cys257 was mutated to Leu based on sequence homology with related enzymes and computational simulation. This substitution resulted in an improved BsADH variant exhibiting prolonged stability and an elevated inactivation temperature. Semi-preparative biocatalysis at 60 °C using the stabilized enzyme, employing butyraldehyde for in situ cofactor regeneration with only catalytic amounts of NAD(+), yielded up to 23 % conversion of HLAMe to OLAMe after 30 min. In contrast to other oxidoreductases, no overoxidation to the dodecanoic diacid monomethyl ester was detected. Thus, the mutated BsADH offers a promising biocatalyst for the selective oxidation of fatty alcohols to yield intermediates for industrial polymer production.

Selective biomineralization of Co3(PO4)2-sponges triggered by His-tagged proteins: efficient heterogeneous biocatalysts for redox processes

Heterogeneous redox biocatalyts fabricated by mineralization of cobalt phosphate triggered by His-tag enzymes.

Redox self-sufficient whole cell biotransformation for amination of alcohols

Whole cell biotransformation is an upcoming tool to replace common chemical routes for functionalization and modification of desired molecules. In the approach presented here the production of various non-natural (di)amines was realized using the designed whole cell biocatalyst Escherichia coli W3110/pTrc99A-ald-adh-ta with plasmid-borne overexpression of genes for an l-alanine dehydrogenase, an alcohol dehydrogenase and a transaminase. Cascading alcohol oxidation with l-alanine dependent transamination and l-alanine dehydrogenase allowed for redox self-sufficient conversion of alcohols to the corresponding amines. The supplementation of the corresponding (di)alcohol precursors as well as amino group donor l-alanine and ammonium chloride were sufficient for amination and redox cofactor recycling in a resting buffer system. The addition of the transaminase cofactor pyridoxal-phosphate and the alcohol dehydrogenase cofactor NAD(+) was not necessary to obtain complete conversion. Secondary and cyclic alcohols, for example, 2-hexanol and cyclohexanol were not aminated. However, efficient redox self-sufficient amination of aliphatic and aromatic (di)alcohols in vivo was achieved with 1-hexanol, 1,10-decanediol and benzylalcohol being aminated best.

Quantitative proteomics reveals the temperature-dependent proteins encoded by a series of cluster genes in thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis

Comprehensive and quantitative information of the thermophile proteome is an important source for understanding of the survival mechanism under high growth temperature. Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis (T. tengcongensis), a typical anaerobic thermophilic eubacterium, was selected to quantitatively evaluate its protein abundance changes in response to four different temperatures. With optimized procedures of isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation quantitative proteomics (iTRAQ), such as peptide fractionation with high-pH reverse phase (RP) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), tandem MS acquisition mode in LTQ Orbitrap Velos MS, and evaluation of the quantification algorithms, high quality of the quantitative information of the peptides identified were acquired. In total, 1589 unique proteins were identified and defined 251 as the temperature-dependent proteins. Analysis of genomic locations toward the correspondent genes of these temperature-dependent proteins revealed that more than 30% were contiguous units with relevant biological functions, which are likely to form the operon structures in T. tengcongensis. The RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data further demonstrated that these cluster genes were cotranscribed, and their mRNA abundance changes responding to temperature exhibited the similar trends as the proteomic results, suggesting that the temperature-dependent proteins are highly associated with the correspondent transcription status. Hence, the operon regulation is likely an energy-efficient mode for T. tengcongensis survival. In addition, evaluation to the functions of differential proteomes indicated that the abundance of the proteins participating in sulfur-respiration on the plasma membrane was decreased as the temperature increased, whereas the glycolysis-related protein abundance was increased. The energy supply in T. tengcongensis at high temperature is, therefore, speculated not mainly through the respiration chain reactions.

Redox self-sufficient biocatalyst network for the amination of primary alcohols

Driving the machinery: A biocatalytic redox-neutral cascade for the preparation of terminal primary amines from primary alcohols at the expense of ammonia has been established in a one-pot one-step method. Applying this artificial biocatalyst network, long-chain 1,ω-alkanediols were converted into diamines, which are building blocks for polymers, in up to 99 % conversion.

C68 from the Sulfolobus islandicus plasmid-virus pSSVx is a novel member of the AbrB-like transcription factor family

The genetic element pSSVx from Sulfolobus islandicus, strain REY15/4, is a hybrid between a plasmid and a fusellovirus. This plasmid-virus hybrid infects several species of the hyperthermophilic acidophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus. The open reading frame orfc68 of pSSVx encodes a 7.7 kDa protein that does not show significant sequence homology with any protein with known three-dimensional structure. EMSA (electrophoretic mobility-shift assay) experiments, DNA footprinting and CD analyses indicate that recombinant C68, purified from Escherichia coli, binds to two different operator sites that are located upstream of its own promoter. The three-dimensional structure, solved by a single-wavelength anomalous diffraction experiment on a selenomethionine derivative, shows that the protein assumes a swapped-hairpin fold, which is a distinctive fold associated with a family of prokaryotic transcription factors, such as AbrB from Bacillus subtilis. Nevertheless, C68 constitutes a novel representative of this family because it shows several peculiar structural and functional features.

7 Non-histone protein lysine methyltransferases: Structure and catalytic roles

Non-histone protein lysine methyltransferases (PKMTs) represent an exceptionally diverse and large group of PKMTs. Even accepting the possibility of multiple protein substrates, if the number of different proteins with methylated lysyl residues and the number of residues modified is indicative of individual PKMTs there are well over a hundred uncharacterized PKMTs. Astoundingly, only a handful of PKMTs have been studied, and of these only a few with identifiable and well-characterized structure and biochemical properties. Four representative PKMTs responsible for trimethyllysyl residues in ribosomal protein LI 1, calmodulin, cytochrome c, and Rubisco are herein examined for enzymological properties, polypeptide substrate specificity, functional significance, and structural characteristics. Although representative of non-histone PKMTs, and enzymes for whichcollectively there is a large amount of information, individually each of the PKMTs discussed in this chapter suffers from a lack of at least some critical information. Other than the obvious commonality in the AdoMet substrate cofactor and methyl group transfer, these enzymes do not have common structural features, polypeptide substrate specificity, or protein sequence. However, there may be a commonality that supports the hypothesis that methylated lysyl residues act as global determinants regulating specific protein-protein interactions.

A cold-active and thermostable alcohol dehydrogenase of a psychrotorelant from Antarctic seawater, Flavobacterium frigidimaris KUC-1

An NAD(+)-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase of a psychrotorelant from Antarctic seawater, Flavobacterium frigidimaris KUC-1 was purified to homogeneity with an overall yield of about 20% and characterized enzymologically. The enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of 160k and consists of four identical subunits with a molecular weight of 40k. The pI value of the enzyme and its optimum pH for the oxidation reaction were determined to be 6.7 and 7.0, respectively. The enzyme contains 2 gram-atoms Zn per subunit. The enzyme exclusively requires NAD(+) as a coenzyme and shows the pro-R stereospecificity for hydrogen transfer at the C4 position of the nicotinamide moiety of NAD(+). F. frigidimaris KUC-1 alcohol dehydrogenase shows as high thermal stability as the enzymes from thermophilic microorganisms. The enzyme is active at 0 to over 85 degrees C and the most active at 70 degrees C. The half-life time and k (cat) value at 60 degrees C were calculated to be 50 min and 27,400 min(-1), respectively. The enzyme also shows high catalytic efficiency at low temperatures (0-20 degrees C) (k(cat)/K(m) at 10 degrees C; 12,600 mM(-1)min(-1)) similar to other cold-active enzymes from psychrophiles. The alcohol dehydrogenase gene is composed of 1,035 bp and codes 344 amino acid residues with an estimated molecular weight of 36,823. The sequence identities were found with the amino acid sequences of alcohol dehydrogenases from Moraxella sp. TAE123 (67%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (65%) and Geobacillus stearothermophilus LLD-R (56%). This is the first example of a cold-active and thermostable alcohol dehydrogenase.

Crystal structure and amide H/D exchange of binary complexes of alcohol dehydrogenase from Bacillus stearothermophilus: insight into thermostability and cofactor binding

The crystal structure of NAD(+)-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Bacillus stearothermophilus strain LLD-R (htADH) was determined using X-ray diffraction data at a resolution of 2.35 A. The structure of homotetrameric htADH is highly homologous to those of bacterial and archaeal homotetrameric alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) and also to the mammalian dimeric ADHs. There is one catalytic zinc atom and one structural zinc atom per enzyme subunit. The enzyme was crystallized as a binary complex lacking the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) cofactor but including a zinc-coordinated substrate analogue trifluoroethanol. The binary complex structure is in an open conformation similar to ADH structures without the bound cofactor. Features important for the thermostability of htADH are suggested by a comparison with a homologous mesophilic enzyme (55% identity), NAD(+)-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli. To gain insight into the conformational change triggered by NAD(+) binding, amide hydrogen-deuterium exchange of htADH, in the presence and absence of NAD(+), was studied by HPLC-coupled electrospray mass spectrometry. When the deuteron incorporation of the protein-derived peptides was analyzed, it was found that 9 of 21 peptides show some decrease in the level of deuteron incorporation upon NAD(+) binding, and another 4 peptides display slower exchange rates. With one exception (peptide number 8), none of the peptides that are altered by bound NAD(+) are in contact with the alcohol-substrate-binding pocket. Furthermore, peptides 5 and 8, which are located outside the NAD(+)-binding pocket, are notable by displaying changes upon NAD(+) binding. This suggests that the transition from the open to the closed conformation caused by cofactor binding has some long-range effects on the protein structure and dynamics.

Propane monooxygenase and NAD+-dependent secondary alcohol dehydrogenase in propane metabolism by Gordonia sp. strain TY-5

A new isolate, Gordonia sp. strain TY-5, is capable of growth on propane and n-alkanes with C(13) to C(22) carbon chains as the sole source of carbon. In whole-cell reactions, significant propane oxidation to 2-propanol was detected. A gene cluster designated prmABCD, which encodes the components of a putative dinuclear-iron-containing multicomponent monooxygenase, including the large and small subunits of the hydroxylase, an NADH-dependent acceptor oxidoreductase, and a coupling protein, was cloned and sequenced. A mutant with prmB disrupted (prmB::Kan(r)) lost the ability to grow on propane, and Northern blot analysis revealed that polycistronic transcription of the prm genes was induced during its growth on propane. These results indicate that the prmABCD gene products play an essential role in propane oxidation by the bacterium. Downstream of the prm genes, an open reading frame (adh1) encoding an NAD(+)-dependent secondary alcohol dehydrogenase was identified, and the protein was purified and characterized. The Northern blot analysis results and growth properties of a disrupted mutant (adh1::Kan(r)) indicate that Adh1 plays a major role in propane metabolism. Two additional NAD(+)-dependent secondary alcohol dehydrogenases (Adh2 and Adh3) were also found to be involved in 2-propanol oxidation. On the basis of these results, we conclude that Gordonia sp. strain TY-5 oxidizes propane by monooxygenase-mediated subterminal oxidation via 2-propanol.

Alcohol dehydrogenases from thermophilic and hyperthermophilic archaea and bacteria

Many studies have been undertaken to characterise alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) from thermophiles and hyperthermophiles, mainly to better understand their activities and thermostability. To date, there are 20 thermophilic archaeal and 17 thermophilic bacterial strains known to have ADHs or similar enzymes, including the hypothetical proteins. Some of these thermophiles are found to have multiple ADHs, sometimes of different types. A rigid delineation of amino acid sequences amongst currently elucidated thermophilic ADHs and similar proteins is phylogenetically apparent. All are NAD(P)-dependent, with one exception that utilises the cofactor F(420) instead. Within the NAD(P)-dependent group, the thermophilic ADHs are orderly clustered as zinc-dependent ADHs, short-chain ADHs, and iron-containing/activated ADHs. Distance matrix calculations reveal that thermophilic ADHs within one type are homologous, with those derived from a single genus often showing high similarities. Elucidation of the enzyme activity and stability, coupled with structure analysis, provides excellent information to explain the relationship between them, and thermophilic ADHs diversity.

Probes of a role for remote binding interactions on hydrogen tunneling in the horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase reaction

A tunneling contribution to hydride transfer has been demonstrated previously in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol catalyzed by an active-site mutant (F93W) of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH) [Bahnson, B. J., et al. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 5503-5507]. Mutation of a residue that lies directly behind the nicotinamide ring of the bound cofactor has further shown that side-chain bulk can contribute to catalytic efficiency and tunneling in a correlated fashion [Bahnson, B. J., et al. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94, 12797-12802]. Second site mutations of F93W have now been made at positions more remote from the active site. In particular, we have focused on an isoleucine residue that interacts with the adenine moiety of the NAD(+) cofactor, 20 A from the nicotinamide ring. Replacement of this remote residue with glycine (F93W:I224G), alanine (F93W:I224A), valine (F93W:I224V), and leucine (F93W:I224L) is concluded to destabilize the binding of NAD(+). All double mutants exhibited a K(M) for NAD(+) that is 2-25 times higher than that for the F93W enzyme. However, neither the catalytic efficiency for turnover of benzyl alcohol [k(cat)/K(M(benzyl alcohol))] nor the relationship between the secondary k(H)/k(T) and k(D)/k(T) isotope effects for benzyl alcohol oxidation was significantly affected. The lack of differences observed in the isotope effects indicates that these mutations have little effect on the extent of hydrogen tunneling in the reaction. The complete removal of the side chain at position 224 in the F93W:I224G enzyme resulted in a less than 5% decrease in the ratio of the secondary isotope effects, maintaining the ratio above the semiclassical limit for the indication of tunneling in the reaction. By contrast, K(i) for NAD(+) increased 60-fold for this mutant. The results obtained with F93W:I224G are consistent with remote interactions that affect the association and binding of cofactor in a reactive conformation. However, once this conformation is achieved, hydride transfer and its tunneling component proceed as with the single F93W mutant enzyme, uninfluenced by the remote mutation. Replacement of other side chains, with alpha-carbon positions from about 8 to over 20 A from the C4 position of the nicotinamide ring, demonstrated a similar insensitivity of k(cat)/K(M(benzyl alcohol)) to protein modification. Comparison to earlier studies with active-site mutants of LADH implicates a role for proximal, but not distal, side chains in the modulation of hydrogen tunneling for this enzyme.

Instability, stabilization, and formulation of liquid protein pharmaceuticals

One of the most challenging tasks in the development of protein pharmaceuticals is to deal with physical and chemical instabilities of proteins. Protein instability is one of the major reasons why protein pharmaceuticals are administered traditionally through injection rather than taken orally like most small chemical drugs. Protein pharmaceuticals usually have to be stored under cold conditions or freeze-dried to achieve an acceptable shelf life. To understand and maximize the stability of protein pharmaceuticals or any other usable proteins such as catalytic enzymes, many studies have been conducted, especially in the past two decades. These studies have covered many areas such as protein folding and unfolding/denaturation, mechanisms of chemical and physical instabilities of proteins, and various means of stabilizing proteins in aqueous or solid state and under various processing conditions such as freeze-thawing and drying. This article reviews these investigations and achievements in recent years and discusses the basic behavior of proteins, their instabilities, and stabilization in aqueous state in relation to the development of liquid protein pharmaceuticals.

Enzyme dynamics and hydrogen tunnelling in a thermophilic alcohol dehydrogenase

Biological catalysts (enzymes) speed up reactions by many orders of magnitude using fundamental physical processes to increase chemical reactivity. Hydrogen tunnelling has increasingly been found to contribute to enzyme reactions at room temperature. Tunnelling is the phenomenon by which a particle transfers through a reaction barrier as a result of its wave-like property. In reactions involving small molecules, the relative importance of tunnelling increases as the temperature is reduced. We have now investigated whether hydrogen tunnelling occurs at elevated temperatures in a biological system that functions physiologically under such conditions. Using a thermophilic alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), we find that hydrogen tunnelling makes a significant contribution at 65 degrees C; this is analogous to previous findings with mesophilic ADH at 25 degrees C. Contrary to predictions for tunnelling through a rigid barrier, the tunnelling with the thermophilic ADH decreases at and below room temperature. These findings provide experimental evidence for a role of thermally excited enzyme fluctuations in modulating enzyme-catalysed bond cleavage.

Asn249Tyr substitution at the coenzyme binding domain activates Sulfolobus solfataricus alcohol dehydrogenase and increases its thermal stability

A mutant of the thermostable NAD+-dependent homotetrameric alcohol dehydrogenase from Sulfolobus solfataricus (SsADH), which has a single substitution, Asn249Tyr, located at the coenzyme binding domain, was obtained by error prone PCR. The mutant enzyme, which was purified from Escherichia coli to homogeneous form, exhibits a specific activity that is more than 6-fold greater than that of the wild type enzyme, as measured at 65 degrees C with benzyl alcohol as the substrate. The oxidation rate of aliphatic alcohols and the reduction rate of aromatic aldehydes were also higher. The dissociation constants for NAD+ and NADH determined at 25 degrees C and pH 8.8 were 3 orders of magnitude greater compared to those of the wild type enzyme. It is thought that the higher turnover of the mutant SsADH is due to the faster dissociation of the modified enzyme-coenzyme complex. Spectroscopic studies showed no relevant changes in either secondary or tertiary structure, while analysis with fluorescent probes revealed a significant increase in surface hydrophobicity for the mutant, with respect to that of the wild type molecule. The mutant SsADH displays improved thermal stability, as indicated by the increase in Tm from 90 to 93 degrees C, which was determined by the apparent transition curves. Kinetic thermal stability studies at pH 9.0 for mutant SsADH showed a marked increase in activation enthalpy compensated by an entropy gain, which resulted in a higher activation barrier against thermal unfolding of the enzyme. Ammonia analysis showed that the Asn249Tyr substitution produced the effect of markedly reducing the extent of deamidation during thermoinactivation, thus suggesting that Asn249 plays a significant role in the mechanism of irreversible thermal denaturation of the archaeal ADH. Furthermore, the decrease in the activating effect by moderate concentrations of denaturants and studies with proteases and chelating agents point to an increase in structural rigidity and a tightening of structural zinc as additional factors responsible for the improved thermal resistance of the mutant enzyme.

Identification of the Rhizobium meliloti alcohol dehydrogenase gene (adhA) and heterologous expression in Alcaligenes eutrophus

A screen for Rhizobium meliloti genes which improve the growth of Alcaligenes eutrophus on sucrose identified the first alcohol dehydrogenase gene (adhA) isolated from the Rhizobiaceae. R. meliloti adhA is constitutively expressed in A. eutrophus and has alcohol dehydrogenase activity. R. meliloti adhA mutants retain some alcohol dehydrogenase activity.

ppc, the gene for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Rhodothermus obamensis: cloning, sequencing and overexpression in Escherichia coli

The ppc gene, which encodes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) of an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Rhodothermus obamensis, was directly sequenced by the thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL) PCR method. An ORF for a 937 amino acid polypeptide was found in the gene. The ppc gene had a high G+C content (66.2 mol%) and the third position of the codon exhibited strong preference for G or C usage (85.0 mol%). The calculated molecular mass was 107,848 Da, which was consistent with the molecular mass of the enzyme as determined by SDS-PAGE (100 kDa). The amino acid sequence of R. obamensis PEPC was closely related to that of PEPC from another thermophile, a Thermus sp., and from a mesophile, Corynebacterium glutamicum, exhibiting 45.3% or 37.7% identity and 61.5% or 56.5% similarity, respectively. By Southern analysis, the ppc gene was found to be present in a single copy in the genomic DNA of this organism. The cloned gene was expressed in Escherichia coli using a pET expression vector system and a thermostable recombinant PEPC was obtained. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of the thermophilic and mesophilic PEPCs revealed distinct or common preferences for specific amino acid composition and substitutions in the two thermophilic enzymes.

Stabilization of Enzymes against Thermal Stress and Freeze-Drying by Mannosylglycerate

2-O-(beta)-Mannosylglycerate, a solute that accumulates in some (hyper)thermophilic organisms, was purified from Pyrococcus furiosus cells, and its effect on enzyme stabilization in vitro was assessed. Enzymes from hyperthermophilic, thermophilic, and mesophilic sources were examined. The thermostabilities of alcohol dehydrogenases from P. furiosus and Bacillus stearothermophilus and of glutamate dehydrogenases from Thermotoga maritima and Clostridium difficile were improved to a significant extent when enzyme solutions were incubated at supraoptimal temperatures in the presence of 2-O-(beta)-mannosylglycerate, but no effect on the thermostability of glutamate dehydrogenase from P. furiosus was detected. On the other hand, there was a remarkable effect on the thermal stabilities of rabbit muscle lactate dehydrogenase, baker's yeast alcohol dehydrogenase, and bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase, which were used as model systems to evaluate stabilization of enzymes of mesophilic origin. For all of the enzymes examined and at the highest temperatures tested, 2-O-(beta)-mannosylglycerate was a better thermoprotectant than trehalose. The stabilizing effect exerted by 2-O-(beta)-mannosylglycerate on enzymes suggests a role for this compound as a protein thermostabilizer under physiological conditions. 2-O-(beta)-Mannosylglycerate was also effective in the protection of enzymes against stress imposed by freeze-drying, with its protecting effect being similar to or better than that exerted by trehalose. The data show 2-O-(beta)-mannosylglycerate to be a potential enzyme stabilizer in biotechnological applications.

Comparative thermodynamic elucidation of the structural stability of thermophilic proteins

Differential scanning calorimetry, circular dichroism, and visible absorption spectrophotometry were employed to elucidate the structural stability of thermophilic phycocyanin derived from Cyanidium caldarium, a eucaryotic organism which contains a nucleus, grown in acidic conditions (pH 3.4) at 54 degrees C. The obtained results were compared with those previously reported for thermophilic phycocyanin derived from Synechococcus lividus, a procaryote containing no organized nucleus, grown in alkaline conditions (pH 8.5) at 52 degrees C. The temperature of thermal unfolding (t(d)) was found to be comparable between C. caldarium (73 degrees C) and S. lividus (74 degrees C) phycocyanins. The apparent free energy of unfolding (DeltaG([urea]=0)) at zero denaturant (urea) concentration was also comparable: 9.1 and 8.7 kcal/mole for unfolding the chromophore part of the protein, and 5.0 and 4.3 kcal/mole for unfolding the apoprotein part of the protein, respectively. These values of t(d) and DeltaG([urea]=0) were significantly higher than those previously reported for mesophilic Phormidium luridum phycocyanin (grown at 25 degrees C). These findings revealed that relatively higher values of t(d) and DeltaG([urea]=0) were characteristics of thermophilic proteins. In contrast, the enthalpies of completed unfolding (DeltaH(d)) and the half-completed unfolding (DeltaH(d)) 1 2 for C. caldarium phycocyanin were much lower than those for S. lividus protein (89 versus 180 kcal/mole and 62 versus 115 kcal/mole, respectively). Factors contributing to a lower DeltaH(d) in C. caldarium protein and the role of charged groups in enhancing the stability of thermophilic proteins were discussed.

Purification and characterization of the alcohol dehydrogenase from a novel strain of Bacillus stearothermophilus growing at 70 degrees C

The biocatalysts isolated from thermophilic microorganisms are the object of ever-growing scientific interest for (i) the comprehension of the molecular basis of their thermal tolerance, and (ii) their use in different bio-industrial fields. Here we report the purification and characterization of an alcohol dehydrogenase (designated ADH-hT) from the novel strain LLD-R of Bacillus stearothermophilus which grows at 70 degrees C. ADH-hT was obtained in pure form by anion exchange chromatography and two affinity chromatographies, with a final yield of about 30%. ADH-hT was found to be a tetramer of 37 kDa-subunits, and to have a pI of 4.9. ADH-hT displayed a broad substrate specificity; its activity was highest for aldehydes, and decreased progressively for alcohols and ketones. ADH-hT was endowed with catalytic activity and resistance in the presence of several denaturing agents (organic solvents, detergents, chaotropic agents). ADH-hT shared with ADH 1503 (the alcohol dehydrogenase from B. stearothermophilus strain NCA 1503 which grows at 55 degrees C) the optimal temperature of 65 degrees C, but it was more resistant than ADH 1503 towards heating. In conclusion, due to its stability and broad substrate specificity ADH-hT could be utilized in bio-industrial processes. Furthermore, we believe that ADH-hT could represent a good model system for studying the mechanism(s) which proteins exploit to gain heat resistance.

The purification, cloning, and high level expression of a glutaredoxin-like protein from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus

A protein has been purified to homogeneity from crude extracts of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus based on its ability to catalyze the reduction of insulin disulfides in the presence of dithiothreitol; the protein has a molecular mass of 24.8 kDa and a pI of 4.9, and it is highly heat-stable. The first 29 amino acid residues at the N terminus of the P. furiosus protein were determined by Edman degradation, and its gene was cloned in Escherichia coli. The amino acid sequence derived from the DNA sequence contains the CPYC sequence, which is typical of the active site of glutaredoxin (also called thioltransferase). The C-terminal portion of the P. furiosus protein, containing the conserved sequence, shows sequence similarity with glutaredoxins from different sources. The P. furiosus protein can reduce disulfide bonds in L-cystine in the presence of GSH (the thioltransferase activity) with an optimum pH of 8.0. The expression of the P. furiosus protein, with full activity, in E. coli at a very high level (21% of total soluble protein) is described; the recombinant protein was purified to homogeneity by merely two successive heat treatments and gel filtration chromatography. The features of the P. furiosus protein here described are discussed in light of the current knowledge about the ubiquitous family of protein disulfide oxidoreductases.