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Friedberg LM, Sen AK, Nguyen Q, Tonucci GP, Hellwarth EB, Gibbons WJ, Jones JA. "In vivo biosynthesis of N,N-dimethyltryptamine, 5-MeO-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, and bufotenine in E.coli". Metab Eng 2023; 78:61-71. [PMID: 37230161 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2023.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) and 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (bufotenine) are psychedelic tryptamines found naturally in both plants and animals and have shown clinical potential to help treat mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Advances in both metabolic and genetic engineering make it possible to engineer microbes as cell factories to produce DMT and its aforementioned derivatives to meet demand for ongoing clinical study. Here, we present the development of a biosynthetic production pathway for DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, and bufotenine in the model microbe Escherichia coli. Through the application of genetic optimization techniques and process optimization in benchtop fermenters, the in vivo production of DMT in E. coli was observed. DMT production with tryptophan supplementation reached maximum titers of 74.7 ± 10.5 mg/L under fed batch conditions in a 2-L bioreactor. Additionally, we show the first reported case of de novo production of DMT (from glucose) in E. coli at a maximum titer of 14.0 mg/L and report the first example of microbial 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenine production in vivo. This work provides a starting point for further genetic and fermentation optimization studies with the goal to increase methylated tryptamine production metrics to industrially competitive levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas M Friedberg
- Miami University, Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.
| | - Abhishek K Sen
- Miami University, Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.
| | - Quynh Nguyen
- Miami University, Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.
| | - Gabriel P Tonucci
- Miami University, Department of Microbiology, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.
| | - Elle B Hellwarth
- Miami University, Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.
| | - William J Gibbons
- Miami University, Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.
| | - J Andrew Jones
- Miami University, Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.
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