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Bahun M, Poklar Ulrih N. High selectivity of the hyperthermophilic subtilase propeptide domain toward inhibition of its cognate protease. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0148723. [PMID: 37655909 PMCID: PMC10580911 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01487-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbial extracellular subtilases are highly active proteolytic enzymes commonly used in commercial applications. These subtilases are synthesized in their inactive proform, which matures into the active protease under the control of the propeptide domain. In mesophilic bacterial prosubtilases, the propeptide functions as both an obligatory chaperone and an inhibitor of the subtilase catalytic domain. In contrast, the propeptides of hyperthermophilic archaeal prosubtilases act mainly as tight inhibitors and are not essential for subtilase folding. It is unclear whether this stronger inhibitory activity of hyperthermophilic propeptides results in their higher selectivity toward their cognate subtilases, in contrast to promiscuous mesophilic propeptides. Here, we showed that the propeptide of pernisine, a hyperthermostable archaeal subtilase, strongly interacts with and inhibits pernisine, but not the homologous subtilisin Carlsberg and proteinase K. Instead, the pernisine propeptide was readily degraded by subtilisin Carlsberg and proteinase K. In addition, the catalytic domain of unprocessed propernisine was also susceptible to degradation but became proteolytically stable after autoprocessing of propernisine into the inactive, noncovalent complex propeptide:pernisine. This allowed efficient transactivation of the autoprocessed complex propeptide:pernisine through degradation of pernisine propeptide by subtilisin Carlsberg and proteinase K at mesophilic temperature. Moreover, we demonstrated that active pernisine molecules are inhibited by the propeptide that is released after pernisine-catalyzed degradation of the unprocessed propernisine catalytic domain. This highlights the high inhibitory potency of the hyperthermophilic propeptide toward its cognate subtilase and its importance in regulating subtilase maturation, to prevent the degradation of the unprocessed subtilase precursors by the prematurely activated molecules. IMPORTANCE Many microorganisms secrete proteases into their environment to degrade protein substrates for their growth. The important group of these extracellular enzymes are subtilases, which are also widely used in practical applications. These subtilases are inhibited by their propeptide domain, which is degraded during the prosubtilase maturation process. Here, we showed that the propeptide of pernisine, a prion-degrading subtilase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon, strongly inhibits pernisine with extraordinarily high binding affinity. This interaction proved to be highly selective, as pernisine propeptide was rapidly degraded by mesophilic pernisine homologs. This in turn allowed rapid transactivation of propernisine by mesophilic subtilases at lower temperatures, which might simplify the procedures for preparation of active pernisine for commercial use. The results reported in this study suggest that the hyperthermophilic subtilase propeptide evolved to function as tight and selective regulator of maturation of the associated prosubtilase to prevent its premature activation under high temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miha Bahun
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Nataša Poklar Ulrih
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Centre of Excellence for Integrated Approaches in Chemistry and Biology of Proteins (CIPKeBiP), Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Bourgade B, Minton NP, Islam MA. Genetic and metabolic engineering challenges of C1-gas fermenting acetogenic chassis organisms. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2021; 45:fuab008. [PMID: 33595667 PMCID: PMC8351756 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuab008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Unabated mining and utilisation of petroleum and petroleum resources and their conversion to essential fuels and chemicals have drastic environmental consequences, contributing to global warming and climate change. In addition, fossil fuels are finite resources, with a fast-approaching shortage. Accordingly, research efforts are increasingly focusing on developing sustainable alternatives for chemicals and fuels production. In this context, bioprocesses, relying on microorganisms, have gained particular interest. For example, acetogens use the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway to grow on single carbon C1-gases (CO2 and CO) as their sole carbon source and produce valuable products such as acetate or ethanol. These autotrophs can, therefore, be exploited for large-scale fermentation processes to produce industrially relevant chemicals from abundant greenhouse gases. In addition, genetic tools have recently been developed to improve these chassis organisms through synthetic biology approaches. This review will focus on the challenges of genetically and metabolically modifying acetogens. It will first discuss the physical and biochemical obstacles complicating successful DNA transfer in these organisms. Current genetic tools developed for several acetogens, crucial for strain engineering to consolidate and expand their catalogue of products, will then be described. Recent tool applications for metabolic engineering purposes to allow redirection of metabolic fluxes or production of non-native compounds will lastly be covered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Bourgade
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK
| | - Nigel P Minton
- BBSRC/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), School of Life Sciences, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - M Ahsanul Islam
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK
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Insights into the Maturation of Pernisine, a Subtilisin-Like Protease from the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Aeropyrum pernix. Appl Environ Microbiol 2020; 86:AEM.00971-20. [PMID: 32561587 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00971-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Pernisine is a subtilisin-like protease that was originally identified in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Aeropyrum pernix, which lives in extreme marine environments. Pernisine shows exceptional stability and activity due to the high-temperature conditions experienced by A. pernix Pernisine is of interest for industrial purposes, as it is one of the few proteases that has demonstrated prion-degrading activity. Like other extracellular subtilisins, pernisine is synthesized in its inactive pro-form (pro-pernisine), which needs to undergo maturation to become proteolytically active. The maturation processes of mesophilic subtilisins have been investigated in detail; however, less is known about the maturation of their thermophilic homologs, such as pernisine. Here, we show that the structure of pro-pernisine is disordered in the absence of Ca2+ ions. In contrast to the mesophilic subtilisins, pro-pernisine requires Ca2+ ions to adopt the conformation suitable for its subsequent maturation. In addition to several Ca2+-binding sites that have been conserved from the thermostable Tk-subtilisin, pernisine has an additional insertion sequence with a Ca2+-binding motif. We demonstrate the importance of this insertion for efficient folding and stabilization of pernisine during its maturation. Moreover, analysis of the pernisine propeptide explains the high-temperature requirement for pro-pernisine maturation. Of note, the propeptide inhibits the pernisine catalytic domain more potently at high temperatures. After dissociation, the propeptide is destabilized at high temperatures only, which leads to its degradation and finally to pernisine activation. Our data provide new insights into and understanding of the thermostable subtilisin autoactivation mechanism.IMPORTANCE Enzymes from thermophilic organisms are of particular importance for use in industrial applications, due to their exceptional stability and activity. Pernisine, from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Aeropyrum pernix, is a proteolytic enzyme that can degrade infective prion proteins and thus has a potential use for disinfection of prion-contaminated surfaces. Like other subtilisin-like proteases, pernisine needs to mature through an autocatalytic process to become an active protease. In the present study, we address the maturation of pernisine and show that the process is regulated specifically at high temperatures by the propeptide. Furthermore, we demonstrate the importance of a unique Ca2+-binding insertion for stabilization of mature pernisine. Our results provide a novel understanding of thermostable subtilisin autoactivation, which might advance the development of these enzymes for commercial use.
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Bahun M, Hartman K, Poklar Ulrih N. Periplasmic production of pernisine in Escherichia coli and determinants for its high thermostability. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 104:7867-7878. [PMID: 32734388 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-10791-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Revised: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Pernisine is a subtilisin-like serine proteinase secreted by the hyperthermophilic archaeon Aeropyrum pernix. The significant properties of this proteinase are remarkable stability and ability to degrade the infectious prion proteins. Here we show the production of pernisine in the periplasm of Escherichia coli. This strategy prevented the aggregation of pernisine in the cytoplasm and increased the purity of the isolated pernisine. The thermostability of this recombinant pernisine was significantly increased compared with previous studies. In addition, several truncated pernisine variants were constructed and expressed in E. coli to identify the minimally active domain. The catalytic domain of pernisine consists of the αẞα structurally similar core flanked by the N-terminal and C-terminal outer regions. The deletion of the C-terminal α helix did not affect the pernisine activity at 90 °C. However, the complete deletion of the C-terminal outer region resulted in loss of proteolytic activity. The pernisine variant, in which the N-terminal outer region was deleted, had a reduced activity at 90 °C. These results underline the importance of the Ca2+ binding sites predicted in these outer regions for stability and activity of pernisine. KEY POINTS: • Aggregation of produced pernisine was prevented by translocation into periplasm. • Thermostability of mature pernisine was increased. • The outer regions of the catalytic core are required for pernisine thermostability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miha Bahun
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Kevin Hartman
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Nataša Poklar Ulrih
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. .,Centre of Excellence for Integrated Approaches in Chemistry and Biology of Proteins (CIPKeBiP), Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Šnajder M, Carrillo Rincón AF, Magdevska V, Bahun M, Kranjc L, Paš M, Juntes P, Petković H, Poklar Ulrih N. Extracellular production of the engineered thermostable protease pernisine from Aeropyrum pernix K1 in Streptomyces rimosus. Microb Cell Fact 2019; 18:196. [PMID: 31699090 PMCID: PMC6839199 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-019-1245-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 10/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The thermostable serine protease pernisine originates from the hyperthermophilic Archaeaon Aeropyrum pernix and has valuable industrial applications. Due to its properties, A. pernix cannot be cultivated in standard industrial fermentation facilities. Furthermore, pernisine is a demanding target for heterologous expression in mesophilic heterologous hosts due to the relatively complex processing step involved in its activation. RESULTS We achieved production of active extracellular pernisine in a Streptomyces rimosus host through heterologous expression of the codon-optimised gene by applying step-by-step protein engineering approaches. To ensure secretion of fully active enzyme, the srT signal sequence from the S. rimosus protease was fused to pernisine. To promote correct processing and folding of pernisine, the srT functional cleavage site motif was fused directly to the core pernisine sequence, this way omitting the proregion. Comparative biochemical analysis of the wild-type and recombinant pernisine confirmed that the enzyme produced by S. rimosus retained all of the desired properties of native pernisine. Importantly, the recombinant pernisine also degraded cellular and infectious bovine prion proteins, which is one of the particular applications of this protease. CONCLUSION Functional pernisine that retains all of the advantageous properties of the native enzyme from the thermophilic host was successfully produced in a S. rimosus heterologous host. Importantly, we achieved extracellular production of active pernisine, which significantly simplifies further downstream procedures and also omits the need for any pre-processing step for its activation. We demonstrate that S. rimosus can be used as an attractive host for industrial production of recombinant proteins that originate from thermophilic organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marko Šnajder
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.,Labena Ltd., Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | - Vasilka Magdevska
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.,AciesBio Ltd., Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Miha Bahun
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Luka Kranjc
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Maja Paš
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Polona Juntes
- Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Hrvoje Petković
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Nataša Poklar Ulrih
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia. .,The Centre of Excellence for Integrated Approaches in Chemistry and Biology of Proteins, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Mignon C, Mariano N, Stadthagen G, Lugari A, Lagoutte P, Donnat S, Chenavas S, Perot C, Sodoyer R, Werle B. Codon harmonization - going beyond the speed limit for protein expression. FEBS Lett 2018; 592:1554-1564. [PMID: 29624661 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2017] [Revised: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Codon usage distribution has been soundly used by nature to fine tune protein biogenesis. Alteration of the mRNA structure or sequential scheduling of codons can profoundly affect translation, thus altering protein yield, functionality, solubility, and proper folding. Building on these observations, here, we present an evaluation of different recently designed algorithms of sequence adaptation based on Codon Adaptation Index (CAI) profiling. The first algorithm globally harmonizes synonymous codons in the original sequence in full respect to the heterologous expression host codon usage. The second recodes the sequence in accordance with the native sequence CAI profile. Our data, generated on three model proteins, highlights the importance to consider gene recoding as a parameter itself for recombinant protein expression improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Mignon
- Protein and Expression System Engineering Unit, BIOASTER, Lyon, France
| | - Natacha Mariano
- Protein and Expression System Engineering Unit, BIOASTER, Lyon, France
| | | | - Adrien Lugari
- Protein and Expression System Engineering Unit, BIOASTER, Lyon, France
| | | | - Stéphanie Donnat
- Protein and Expression System Engineering Unit, BIOASTER, Lyon, France
| | | | | | | | - Bettina Werle
- Protein and Expression System Engineering Unit, BIOASTER, Lyon, France
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Ang KS, Kyriakopoulos S, Li W, Lee DY. Multi-omics data driven analysis establishes reference codon biases for synthetic gene design in microbial and mammalian cells. Methods 2016; 102:26-35. [PMID: 26850284 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2016.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2015] [Revised: 01/08/2016] [Accepted: 01/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we analyzed multi-omics data and subsets thereof to establish reference codon usage biases for codon optimization in synthetic gene design. Specifically, publicly available genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and translatomic data for microbial and mammalian expression hosts, Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, were compiled to derive their individual codon and codon pair frequencies. Then, host dependent and -omics specific codon biases were generated and compared by principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering. Interestingly, our results indicated the similar codon bias patterns of the highly expressed transcripts, highly abundant proteins, and efficiently translated mRNA in microbial cells, despite the general lack of correlation between mRNA and protein expression levels. However, for CHO cells, the codon bias patterns among various -omics subsets are not distinguishable, forming one cluster. Thus, we further investigated the effect of different input codon biases on codon optimized sequences using the codon context (CC) and individual codon usage (ICU) design parameters, via in silico case study on the expression of human IFNγ sequence in CHO cells. The results supported that CC is more robust design parameter than ICU for improved heterologous gene design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kok Siong Ang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117585, Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456, Singapore
| | - Sarantos Kyriakopoulos
- Bioprocessing Technology Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 20 Biopolis Way, #06-01 Centros, Singapore 138668, Singapore
| | - Wei Li
- Sangon Biotech (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 698 Xiangmin Road, SongJiang District, Shanghai 201611, China
| | - Dong-Yup Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117585, Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456, Singapore; Bioprocessing Technology Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 20 Biopolis Way, #06-01 Centros, Singapore 138668, Singapore.
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