Fusion of self-assembling amphipathic oligopeptides with cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase improves 2-O-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid synthesis with soluble starch as the glycosyl donor

Enhancing heterologous expression of a key enzyme for the biosynthesis of 2'-fucosyllactose

BACKGROUND

2'-Fucosyllactose (2'-FL) is the most abundant human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) in human milk and has important physiological functions. The market demand of 2'-FL is continuing to grow, but high production cost has limited its availability. To solve the dilemma, biosynthesis of 2'-FL has been proposed and is considered the most promising pathway for massive production. α-1,2-Fucosyltransferase is one of the key elements involved in its biosynthesis, but the limited intracellular accumulation and unstable properties of α-1,2-fucosyltransferases when expressed in host strains have become a major hurdle for the effective biosynthesis of 2'-FL.

RESULTS

A combinatorial engineering strategy of synergic modification of ribosome binding site, fusion peptide and enzyme gene was leveraged to enhance the soluble expression of α-1,2-fucosyltransferases and promote enzyme activity. The preferable combination was to employ an optimized ribosome binding site region to drive 3 × FLAG as a fusion partner along with the α-1,2-fucosyltransferase for expression in Escherichia coli (DE3) PlySs, and protein yield and enzyme activity were remarkably improved by 11.51-fold and 13.72-fold, respectively.

CONCLUSION

After finely tuning the synergy among different elements, the abundant protein yield and high enzyme activity confirmed that the drawbacks of heterologous expression in α-1,2-fucosyltransferase had been properly addressed. A suitable external environment further drives the efficient synthesis of α-1,2-fucosyltransferases. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a systematic and effective modification of α-1,2-fucosyltransferase expression, which could potentially serve as a guideline for industrial application. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Biocatalytic synthesis of 2-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid using an extracellular expressed α-glucosidase from Oryza sativa

BACKGROUND

2-O-α-D-Glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2G) is an important derivative of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA), which has the distinct advantages of non-reducibility, antioxidation, and reproducible decomposition into L-AA and glucose. Enzymatic synthesis is a preferred method for AA-2G production over alternative chemical synthesis owing to the regioselective glycosylation reaction. α-Glucosidase, an enzyme classed into O-glycoside hydrolases, might be used in glycosylation reactions to synthesize AA-2G.

MAIN METHODS AND MAJOR RESULTS

Here, an α-glucosidase from Oryza sativa was heterologously produced in Pichia pastoris GS115 and used for biosynthesis of AA-2G with few intermediates and byproducts. The extracellular recombinant α-glucosidase (rAGL) reached 9.11 U mL^-1 after fed-batch cultivation for 102 h in a 5 L fermenter. The specific activity of purified rAGL is 49.83 U mg^-1 at 37°C and pH 4.0. The optimal temperature of rAGL was 65°C, and it was stable below 55°C. rAGL was active over the range of pH 3.0-7.0, with the maximal activity at pH 4.0. Under the condition of 37°C, pH 4.0, equimolar maltose and ascorbic acid sodium salt, 8.7 ± 0.4 g L^-1  of AA-2G was synthesized by rAGL.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The production of rAGL in P. pastoris was proved to be beneficial in providing enough enzyme and promoting biocatalytic synthesis of AA-2G. These studies lay the basis for the industrial application of α-glucosidase.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT LAY SUMMARY

2-O-α-D-Glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2G) is an important industrial derivative of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA), which has the distinct advantages of non-reducibility, antioxidation, and reproducible decomposition into L-AA and glucose. In this study, the authors characterized an α-glucosidase from Oryza sativa, which was recombinantly produced in Pichia pastoris GS115, and its potential for AA-2G production via transglycosylation of L-AA was investigated. These studies lay the basis for the industrial application of recombinant α-glucosidase.

Comprehensive study on transglycosylation of CGTase from various sources

Transglycosylation is the in-vivo or in-vitro process of transferring glycosyl groups from a donor to an acceptor, which is usually performed by enzymatic reactions because of their simplicity, low steric hindrance, high region-specificity, low production cost, and mild processing conditions. One of the enzymes commonly used in the transglycosylation reaction is cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase). The transglycosylated products, catalyzed by CGTase, are widely used in food additives, supplements, and personal care and cosmetic products. This is due to improvements in the solubility, stability, bioactivity and length of the synthesized products. This paper's focus is on the importance of enzymes used in the transglycosylation reaction, their characteristics and mechanism of action, sources and production yield, and donor and acceptor specificities. Moreover, the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the enzymatic reaction, catalysis of glycosidic linkages, and advantages of CGTase transglycosylation reactions are discussed in detail.

Engineering of Cyclodextrin Glycosyltransferase Reveals pH-Regulated Mechanism of Enhanced Long-Chain Glycosylated Sophoricoside Specificity

Sophoricoside glycosylated derivatives, especially long-chain glycosylated sophoricosides (LCGS), have greatly improved water solubility compared with sophoricoside. Here, cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase from Paenibacillus macerans (PmCGTase) was employed for sophoricoside glycosylation. Saturation mutagenesis of alanine 156, alanine 166, glycine 173, and leucine 174 was performed due to their nonconservative properties among α-, β-, and γ-CGTases with different product specificities. Variants L174P, A156V/L174P, and A156V/L174P/A166Y greatly improved the product specificity for LCGS. pH significantly affected the extent of glycosylation catalyzed by the variants. Further investigations revealed that the pH-regulated mechanism for LCGS synthesis mainly depends on a disproportionation route at a lower pH (pH 4) and a cyclization-coupling route at a higher pH (pH 8) and equivalent effects of cyclization-coupling and disproportionation routes at pH 5. Whereas short-chain glycosylated sophoricosides (SCGS) are primarily produced via disproportionation of maltodextrin at pH 4 and secondary disproportionation of LCGS at pH 8. At pH 5, SCGS synthesis mainly depends on a hydrolysis route by the wild type (WT) and a secondary disproportionation route by variant A156V/L174P/A166Y. Kinetics analysis showed a decreased K_m value of variant A156V/L174P/A166Y. Dynamics simulation results demonstrated that the improved LCGS specificity of the variant is possibly attributed to the enhanced affinity to long-chain substrates, which may be caused by the changes of hydrogen bond interactions at the -5, -6, and -7 subsites. Our results reveal a pH-regulated mechanism for product specificity of CGTase and provide guidance for engineering CGTase toward products with different sugar chain lengths.IMPORTANCE The low water solubility of sophoricoside seriously limits its applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Long-chain glycosylated sophoricosides show greatly improved water solubility. Here, the product specificity of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) for long-chain glycosylated sophoricosides was significantly affected by pH. Our results reveal the pH-regulated mechanism of the glycosylated product specificity of CGTase. This work adds to our understanding of the synthesis of long-chain glycosylated sophoricosides and provides guidance for exploring related product specificity of CGTase based on pH regulation.

Current studies on the enzymatic preparation 2-O-α-d-glucopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid with cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase

2-O-α-d-glucopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid (AA-2G) is one of the most important l-ascorbic acid derivatives because of its resistance to reduction and oxidation and its easy degradation by α-glucosidase to release l-ascorbic acid and glucose. Thus, AA-2G has commercial uses in food, medicines and cosmetics. This article presents a review of recent studies on the enzymatic production of AA-2G using cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase. Reaction mechanisms with different donor substrates are discussed. Protein engineering, physical and biological studies of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase are introduced from the viewpoint of effective AA-2G production. Future prospects for the production of AA-2G using cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase are reviewed.

High production of genistein diglucoside derivative using cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase from Paenibacillus macerans

Genistein has been regarded as one important soy isoflavone with multiple health benefits, whereas its applications are limited by the low hydrophilicity. To improve the water solubility, codon optimized cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase from Paenibacillus macerans was employed for genistein transglycosylation in this study. At least four transglycosylation products were produced and identified by HPLC and LC-MS: genistein monoglucoside, diglucoside, triglucoside, and tetraglucoside derivatives. Obviously, the yields of genistein monoglucoside and genistein diglucoside exhibited great superiority compared with other two products. To maximize the yield of genistein diglucoside, various reaction conditions such as genistein dissolvents, glycosyl donors, substrates concentrations and ratios, enzyme concentrations, reaction pH, temperature, and time were optimized. Finally, the yield of genistein diglucoside was enhanced by 1.5-fold under the optimum reaction system. Our study demonstrates that the production of genistein diglucoside could be specifically enhanced, which is one important genistein derivative with better water solubility and stability.

The promises and challenges of fusion constructs in protein biochemistry and enzymology

Fusion constructs are used to improve the properties of or impart novel functionality to proteins for biotechnological applications. The biochemical characteristics of enzymes or functional proteins optimized by fusion include catalytic efficiency, stability, activity, expression, secretion, and solubility. In this review, we summarize the parameters of enzymes or functional proteins that can be modified by fusion constructs. For each parameter, fusion strategies and molecular partners are examined using examples from recent studies. Future prospects in this field are also discussed. This review is expected to increase interest in and advance fusion strategies for optimization of enzymes and other functional proteins.