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Jiang K, Luo P, Wang X, Lu L. Insight into advances for the biosynthetic progress of fermented echinocandins of antifungals. Microb Biotechnol 2024; 17:e14359. [PMID: 37885073 PMCID: PMC10832530 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Invasive fungal infections have increased remarkably, which have become unprecedented concern to human health. However, the effectiveness of current antifungal drugs is limited due to drug resistance and toxic side-effects. It is urgently required to establish the effective biosynthetic strategy for developing novel and safe antifungal molecules economically. Echinocandins become a promising option as a mainstay family of antifungals, due to specifically targeting the fungal specific cell wall. To date, three kinds of echinocandins for caspofungin, anidulafungin, and micafungin, which derived from pneumocandin B0 , echinocandin B, and FR901379, are commercially available in clinic and have shown potential in managing invasive fungal infections in a cost-effective manner. However, current echinocandins-derived precursors all are produced by environmental fungal isolates with long fermentation cycle and low yields, which challenge the production efficacy of these precursors in industry. Therefore, understanding their biosynthetic machinery is of great importance for improving antifungal titres and creating new echinocandins-derived products. With the development of genome-wide sequencing and establishment of gene-editing technology, there are a growing number of reports on echinocandins-derived products and their biosynthetic gene clusters. This review briefly summarizes the discovery and development history of echinocandins, compares their structural characteristics and biosynthetic processes, and sums up existed strategies for improving their production. Moreover, the genomic analysis of related biosynthetic gene clusters of echinocandins is discussed, highlighting the similarities and differences among the clusters. Last, the biosynthetic processes of echinocandins are compared, focusing on the activation and attachment of side-chains and the formation of the hexapeptide core. This review aims to provide insights into the development and production of new echinocandin drugs by modifying the structure of echinocandin-derived precursors and/or optimizing the fermentation processes; and achieve a new microbial chassis for efficient production of echinocandins in heterologous hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaili Jiang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu, Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life SciencesNanjing Normal UniversityNanjingChina
| | - Pan Luo
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu, Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life SciencesNanjing Normal UniversityNanjingChina
| | - Xinxin Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu, Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life SciencesNanjing Normal UniversityNanjingChina
| | - Ling Lu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu, Engineering and Technology Research Center for Microbiology, College of Life SciencesNanjing Normal UniversityNanjingChina
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Echinocandins: structural diversity, biosynthesis, and development of antimycotics. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 105:55-66. [PMID: 33270153 PMCID: PMC7778625 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-11022-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Abstract Echinocandins are a clinically important class of non-ribosomal antifungal lipopeptides produced by filamentous fungi. Due to their complex structure, which is characterized by numerous hydroxylated non-proteinogenic amino acids, echinocandin antifungal agents are manufactured semisynthetically. The development of optimized echinocandin structures is therefore closely connected to their biosynthesis. Enormous efforts in industrial research and development including fermentation, classical mutagenesis, isotope labeling, and chemical synthesis eventually led to the development of the active ingredients caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin, which are now used as first-line treatments against invasive mycosis. In the last years, echinocandin biosynthetic gene clusters have been identified, which allowed for the elucidation but also engineering of echinocandin biosynthesis on the molecular level. After a short description of the history of echinocandin research, this review provides an overview of the current knowledge of echinocandin biosynthesis with a special focus of the diverse structural elements, their biosynthetic background, and structure−activity relationships. Key points • Complex and highly oxidized lipopeptides produced by fungi. • Crucial in the design of drugs: side chain, solubility, and hydrolytic stability. • Genetic methods for engineering biosynthesis have recently become available. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00253-020-11022-y.
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Zhang K, Huang B, Yuan K, Ji X, Song P, Ding Q, Wang Y. Comparative Transcriptomics Analysis of the Responses of the Filamentous Fungus Glarea lozoyensis to Different Carbon Sources. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:190. [PMID: 32132986 PMCID: PMC7040073 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 01/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The natural product pneumocandin B0 is the precursor of the antifungal drug caspofungin. We found that replacing glucose in the initial fermentation medium with 20 g/L fructose is more conducive to pneumocandin B0 production and biomass accumulation. In order to explore the mechanism of the different metabolic responses to fructose and glucose, we used each as the sole carbon source, and the results showed that fructose increased the total pneumocandin B0 yield and biomass by 54.76 and 13.71%, respectively. Furthermore, we analyzed the differences of gene expression and metabolic pathways between the two different carbon sources by transcriptomic analysis. When fructose was used as the carbon source, genes related to the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), glycolysis and branched-chain amino acid metabolism were significantly upregulated, resulting in increased intracellular pools of NADPH and acetyl-CoA in Glarea lozoyensis for cell growth and pneumocandin B0 product synthesis. Interestingly, the pneumocandin B0 biosynthetic gene cluster and the genes of the TCA cycle were significantly downregulated, while the FAS genes were significantly upregulated, indicating that more acetyl-CoA was used for fatty acid synthesis. In particular, we found that excessive synthesis of fatty acids caused lipid accumulation, and lipid droplets can sequester lipophilic secondary metabolites such as pneumocandin B0 to reduce cell damage, which may also be an important reason for the observed increase of pneumocandin B0 yield. These results provide new insights into the relationship between pneumocandin B0 biosynthesis and carbon sources in G. lozoyensis. At the same time, this study provides important genomic information for improving pneumocandin B0 production through metabolic engineering strategies in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Zhang
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China.,Department of Geriatric Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Baoqi Huang
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Kai Yuan
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaojun Ji
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ping Song
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China.,School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
| | - Qingqing Ding
- Department of Geriatric Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuwen Wang
- School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
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Yuan K, Huang B, Qin T, Song P, Zhang K, Ji X, Ren L, Zhang S, Huang H. Effect of SDS on release of intracellular pneumocandin B 0 in extractive batch fermentation of Glarea lozoyensis. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2019; 103:6061-6069. [PMID: 31161390 PMCID: PMC6616208 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-019-09920-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Pneumocandin B0 is a hydrophobic secondary metabolite that accumulates in the mycelia of Glarea lozoyensis and inhibits fungal 1,3-β-glucan synthase. Extractive batch fermentation can promote the release of intracellular secondary metabolites into the fermentation broth and is often used in industry. The addition of extractants has been proven as an effective method to attain higher accumulation of hydrophobic secondary metabolites and circumvent troublesome solvent extraction. Various extractants exerted significant but different influences on the biomass and pneumocandin B0 yields. The maximum pneumocandin B0 yield (2528.67 mg/L) and highest extracellular pneumocandin B0 yield (580.33 mg/L) were achieved when 1.0 g/L SDS was added on the 13th day of extractive batch fermentation, corresponding to significant increases of 37.63 and 154% compared with the conventional batch fermentation, respectively. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is partly attributed to the release of intracellular pneumocandin B0 into the fermentation broth and the enhanced biosynthesis of pneumocandin B0 in the mycelia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Yuan
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China
| | - Baoqi Huang
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China
| | - Tingting Qin
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China
| | - Ping Song
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China. .,School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, 210023, China.
| | - Ke Zhang
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China
| | - Xiaojun Ji
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China
| | - Lujing Ren
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China.,School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Sen Zhang
- Jiangsu Collaboration Innovation Center of Chinese Medical Resources Industrialization, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Road, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - He Huang
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, China.,School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, 210023, China
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