Is energy excess the initial trigger of carbon overflow metabolism? Transcriptional network response of carbon-limited Escherichia coli to transient carbon excess

Minimizing acetate formation from overflow metabolism in Escherichia coli: comparison of genetic engineering strategies to improve robustness toward sugar gradients in large-scale fermentation processes

Introduction: Escherichia coli, a well characterized workhorse in biotechnology, has been used to produce many recombinant proteins and metabolites, but have a major drawback in its tendency to revert to overflow metabolism. This phenomenon occurs when excess sugar triggers the production of mainly acetate under aerobic conditions, a detrimental by-product that reduces carbon efficiency, increases cell maintenance, and ultimately inhibits growth. Although this can be prevented by controlled feeding of the sugar carbon source to limit its availability, gradients in commercial-scale bioreactors can still induce it in otherwise carbon-limited cells. While the underlying mechanisms have been extensively studied, these have mostly used non-limited cultures. In contrast, industrial production typically employs carbon-limited processes, which results in a substantially different cell physiology. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficiency of different metabolic engineering strategies with the aim to reduce overflow metabolism and increase the robustness of an industrial 2'-O-fucosyllactose producing strain under industrially relevant conditions. Methods: Three distinct metabolic engineering strategies were compared: i) alterations to pathways leading to and from acetate, ii) increased flux towards the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and iii) reduced glucose uptake rate. The engineered strains were evaluated for growth, acetate formation, and product yield under non-limiting batch conditions, carbon limited fed-batch conditions, and after a glucose pulse in fed-batch mode. Results and Discussion: The findings demonstrated that blockage of the major acetate production pathways by deletion of the pta and poxB genes or increased carbon flux into the TCA cycle by overexpression of the gltA and deletion of the iclR genes, were efficient ways to reduce acetate accumulation. Surprisingly, a reduced glucose uptake rate did not reduce acetate formation despite it having previously been shown as a very effective strategy. Interestingly, overexpression of gltA was the most efficient way to reduce acetate accumulation in non-limited cultures, whereas disruption of the poxB and pta genes was more effective for carbon-limited cultures exposed to a sudden glucose shock. Strains from both strategies showed increased tolerance towards a glucose pulse during carbon-limited growth indicating feasible ways to engineer industrial E. coli strains with enhanced robustness.

High-Yield Synthesis of 2'-Fucosyllactose from Glycerol and Glucose in Engineered Escherichia coli

2'-Fucosyllactose (2'-FL) is vital for the growth and development of newborns. In this study, we developed a synthesis pathway for 2'-FL in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). Then, we optimized the solubility of α-1,2-fucosyltransferase, thereby enhancing the production yield of 2'-FL. Based on this finding, we further enhanced the expression of guanosine inosine kinase Gsk and knocked out the isocitrate lyase regulator gene iclR. This strategy reduced the formation of byproduct acetate during the metabolic process and alleviated carbon source overflow effects in the strain, resulting in further improvement of the yield of 2'-FL. In a 3 L bioreactor, employing fed-batch fermentation with glycerol and glucose as substrates, the engineered strain BWLAI-RSZL exhibited impressive 2'-FL titers of 121.9 and 111.56 g/L, along with productivity levels of 1.57 and 1.31 g/L/h, respectively. The reported 2'-FL titers reached a groundbreaking level, irrespective of the carbon source employed (glycerol or glucose), highlighting the significant potential for large-scale industrial synthesis of 2'-FL.

Schwann cells-derived exosomal miR-21 participates in high glucose regulation of neurite outgrowth

As a common complication of diabetes, the pathogenesis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is closely related to high glucose but has not been clarified. Exosomes can mediate crosstalk between Schwann cells (SC) and neurons in the peripheral nerve. Herein, we found that miR-21 in serum exosomes from DPN rats was decreased. SC proliferation was inhibited, cell apoptosis was increased, and the expression of miR-21 in cells and exosomes was downregulated when cultured in high glucose. Increasing miR-21 expression reversed these changes, while knockdown of miR-21 led to the opposite results. When co-cultured with exosomes derived from SC exposed to high glucose, neurite outgrowth was inhibited. On the contrary, neurite outgrowth was accelerated when incubated with exosomes rich in miR-21. We further demonstrated that the SC-derived exosomal miR-21 participates in neurite outgrowth probably through the AKT signaling pathway. Thus, SC-derived exosomal miR-21 contributes to high glucose regulation of neurite outgrowth.

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The miR-21 was decreased in serum exosomes and sciatic nerve of DPN rats

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High glucose inhibited SC viability and downregulated the expression of miR-21

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Exosomes derived from SC cultured in high glucose inhibited the neurite outgrowth

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SC-derived exosomes rich in miR-21 accelerated the neurite outgrowth of neuron