Mechanistic study of manganese-substituted glycerol dehydrogenase using a kinetic and thermodynamic analysis

A cold‐active esterase enhances mesophilic properties through Mn 2+ binding

A key aspect of adaptation to cold environments is the production of cold-active enzymes by psychrophilic organisms. These enzymes not only have high activity at low temperatures, but also exhibit remarkable structural flexibility and thermolability. In this context, the role of metal ions has been little explored, and the few available studies seem to suggest that metal binding counteracts structural flexibility. This article reports an investigation into the role of the binding of manganese ion (Mn²⁺ ) in the thermal adaptation of an esterase (M-Est) of the GDSx family, identified in the genome of the Antarctic bacterium Marinomonas sp. ef1. M-Est is specific for esters containing acetate groups and turned out to be a highly thermolabile cold-active enzyme, with a catalysis optimum temperature of 5 °C and a melting temperature of 31.7 °C. A combination of biochemical and computational analyses, including molecular dynamics simulations, revealed that M-Est binds Mn²⁺ ions via a single binding site located on the surface of the enzyme, close to the active site. Although the interaction between M-Est and Mn²⁺ induces only local conformational changes involving the active site, quite surprisingly they trigger an improvement in both thermal stability and catalytic efficiency under mild temperature conditions. These results, together with the conservation of the Mn²⁺ binding site among psychrophilic and psychrotolerant homologues, suggest that Mn²⁺ binding may be a useful, albeit atypical, strategy to mitigate the detrimental effects of temperature on true cold-active enzymes.

Biochemical Investigation of 3-Sulfopropionaldehyde Reductase HpfD

Sulfoquinovose is the polar headgroup of plant sulfolipids and is a globally abundant organosulfur compound, and its degradation by bacteria is an important component of the sulfur cycle. Sulfoquinovose degradation by certain bacteria, including Escherichia coli, produces dihydroxypropanesulfonate (DHPS), which is further converted by anaerobic bacteria into 3-hydroxypropanesulfonate (3-HPS), through the catalytic action of DHPS dehydratase (a member of the glycyl radical enzyme family), and sulfopropionaldehyde reductase HpfD (a member of the metal-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase family). Here we report biochemical investigation of Hungatella hathewayi HpfD. In addition to 3-HPS, HpfD also displayed high catalytic activities for NAD⁺ -dependent oxidation of 4-hydroxybutanesulfonate (4-HBS) and γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB). The highest activity was obtained with Fe²⁺ or Mn²⁺ as the divalent metal cofactor. Bioinformatics studies suggest that, in addition to DHPS degradation, 3-HPS and γ-aminobutyrate (GABA) degradations also involve HpfD homologs.

Strategies and perspectives of assembling multi-enzyme systems

Multi-enzyme complexes have the potential to achieve high catalytic efficiency for sequence reactions due to their advantages in eliminating product inhibition, facilitating intermediate transfer and in situ regenerating cofactors. Constructing functional multi-enzyme systems to mimic natural multi-enzyme complexes is of great interest for multi-enzymatic biosynthesis and cell-free synthetic biotransformation, but with many challenges. Currently, various assembly strategies have been developed based on the interaction of biomacromolecules such as DNA, peptide and scaffolding protein. On the other hand, chemical-induced assembly is based on the affinity of enzymes with small molecules including inhibitors, cofactors and metal ions has the advantage of simplicity, site-to-site oriented structure control and economy. This review summarizes advances and progresses employing these strategies. Furthermore, challenges and perspectives in designing multi-enzyme systems are highlighted.

Bioinspired Immobilization of Glycerol Dehydrogenase by Metal Ion-Chelated Polyethyleneimines as Artificial Polypeptides

In this study, a novel, simple and generally applicable strategy for multimeric oxidoreductase immobilization with multi-levels interactions was developed and involved activity and stability enhancements. Linear polyethyleneimines (PEIs) are flexible cationic polymers with molecular weights that span a wide range and are suitable biomimic polypeptides for biocompatible frameworks for enzyme immobilization. Metal ion-chelated linear PEIs were applied as a heterofunctional framework for glycerol dehydrogenase (GDH) immobilization by hydrogen bonds, electrostatic forces and coordination bonds interactions. Nanoparticles with diameters from 250-650 nm were prepared that exhibited a 1.4-fold enhancement catalytic efficiency. Importantly, the half-life of the immobilized GDH was enhanced by 5.6-folds in aqueous phase at 85 °C. A mechanistic illustration of the formation of multi-level interactions in the PEI-metal-GDH complex was proposed based on morphological and functional studies of the immobilized enzyme. This generally applicable strategy offers a potential technique for multimeric enzyme immobilization with the advantages of low cost, easy operation, high activity reservation and high stability.

Key enzymes catalyzing glycerol to 1,3-propanediol

Biodiesel can replace petroleum diesel as it is produced from animal fats and vegetable oils, and it produces about 10 % (w/w) glycerol, which is a promising new industrial microbial carbon, as a major by-product. One of the most potential applications of glycerol is its biotransformation to high value chemicals such as 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD), dihydroxyacetone (DHA), succinic acid, etc., through microbial fermentation. Glycerol dehydratase, 1,3-propanediol dehydrogenase (1,3-propanediol-oxydoreductase), and glycerol dehydrogenase, which were encoded, respectively, by dhaB, dhaT, and dhaD and with DHA kinase are encompassed by the dha regulon, are the three key enzymes in glycerol bioconversion into 1,3-PD and DHA, and these are discussed in this review article. The summary of the main research direction of these three key enzyme and methods of glycerol bioconversion into 1,3-PD and DHA indicates their potential application in future enzymatic research and industrial production, especially in biodiesel industry.