Bacterial glycobiotechnology: A biosynthetic route for the production of biopharmaceutical glycans

The recent advancement in the human glycome and progress in the development of an inclusive network of glycosylation pathways allow the incorporation of suitable machinery for protein modification in non-natural hosts and explore novel opportunities for constructing next-generation tailored glycans and glycoconjugates. Fortunately, the emerging field of bacterial metabolic engineering has enabled the production of tailored biopolymers by harnessing living microbial factories (prokaryotes) as whole-cell biocatalysts. Microbial catalysts offer sophisticated means to develop a variety of valuable polysaccharides in bulk quantities for practical clinical applications. Glycans production through this technique is highly efficient and cost-effective, as it does not involve expensive initial materials. Metabolic glycoengineering primarily focuses on utilizing small metabolite molecules to alter biosynthetic pathways, optimization of cellular processes for glycan and glycoconjugate production, characteristic to a specific organism to produce interest tailored glycans in microbes, using preferably cheap and simple substrate. However, metabolic engineering faces one of the unique challenges, such as the need for an enzyme to catalyze desired substrate conversion when natural native substrates are already present. So, in metabolic engineering, such challenges are evaluated, and different strategies have been developed to overcome them. The generation of glycans and glycoconjugates via metabolic intermediate pathways can still be supported by glycol modeling achieved through metabolic engineering. It is evident that modern glycans engineering requires adoption of improved strain engineering strategies for creating competent glycoprotein expression platforms in bacterial hosts, in the future. These strategies include logically designing and introducing orthogonal glycosylation pathways, identifying metabolic engineering targets at the genome level, and strategically improving pathway performance (for example, through genetic modification of pathway enzymes). Here, we highlight current strategies, applications, and recent progress in metabolic engineering for producing high-value tailored glycans and their applications in biotherapeutics and diagnostics.

Protein-polysaccharide nanoconjugates: Potential tools for delivery of plant-derived nutraceuticals

Protein-polysaccharide nanoconjugates are covalently interactive networks that are currently the subject of intense research owing to their emerging applications in the food nanotechnology field. Due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability properties, they have played a significant role as wall materials for the formation of various nanostructures to encapsulate nutraceuticals. The food-grade protein-polysaccharide nanoconjugates would be employed to enhance the delivery and stability of nutraceuticals for their real use in the food industry. The most common edible polysaccharides (cellulose, chitosan, pectin, starch, carrageenan, fucoidan, mannan, glucomannan, and arabic gum) and proteins (silk fibroin, collagen, gelatin, soy protein, corn zein, and wheat gluten) have been used as potential building blocks in nano-encapsulation systems because of their excellent physicochemical properties. This article broadens the discussion of food-grade proteins and polysaccharides as nano-encapsulation biomaterials and their fabrication methods, along with a review of the applications of protein-polysaccharide nanoconjugates in the delivery of plant-derived nutraceuticals.

Superior inhibition of virulence and biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 by phyto-synthesized silver nanoparticles through anti-quorum sensing activity

Quorum sensing (QS)-regulated bacterial biofilm formation is a crucial issue in causing resistance against existing antibiotics. There is a considerable necessity to disrupt the interrelationship between bacterial QS, virulence, and biofilm formation. Disabling QS could be a novel tactic of great clinical importance. Here, we biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (Ka-AgNPs) using the aqueous leaf extract of Koelreuteria paniculata as a reducing and capping agents. The UV-Vis spectroscopy confirmed the synthesis of Ka-AgNPs as a characterization peak observed at 420 nm. TEM image revealed the spherical shape distribution of Ka-AgNPs with average particle size of 30.0 ± 5 nm. The anti-QS activity of Ka-AgNPs was tested against a bio-indicator bacterium Chromobacterium violaceum 12472 and a multi-drug resistant model strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1). The results demonstrated that the Ka-AgNPs superiorly inhibited QS-regulated virulence factors in PAO1 without affecting cell viability compared to chemically synthesized AgNPs (Cs-AgNPs). The Ka-AgNPs effectively suppressed the formation of biofilm of PAO1. RT-PCR results revealed that the Ka-AgNPs inhibited the expression of QS-regulated virulence genes of PAO1. These results suggest that the phyto-synthesized AgNPs could be used as promising anti-infective agents for treating drug-resistant P. aeruginosa.