Enzymatic Strategies for the Preparation of Pharmaceutically Important Amino Acids through Hydrolysis of Amino Carboxylic Esters and Lactams

The most relevant lipase-catalyzed strategies for the synthesis of pharmaceutically important cyclic and acyclic α-, β- and γ-amino carboxylic acid enantiomers through hydrolysis of the corresponding amino carboxylic esters and lactams, over the last decade are overviewed. A brief Introduction part deals with the importance and synthesis of enantiomeric amino acids, and formulates the objectives of the actual work. The strategies are presented in the Main Text, in chronological order, classified as kinetic, dynamic kinetic and sequential kinetic resolution. Mechanistic information of the enzymatic transformations is also available at the end of this overview. The pharmacological importance of the enantiomeric amino acids is given next to their synthesis, in the Main Text, and it is also illustrated in the Conclusions and Outlook sections.

Mitochondria are targets for peroxisome-derived oxidative stress in cultured mammalian cells

Many cellular processes are driven by spatially and temporally regulated redox-dependent signaling events. Although mounting evidence indicates that organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria can function as signaling platforms for oxidative stress-regulated pathways, little is known about the role of peroxisomes in these processes. In this study, we employ targeted variants of the genetically encoded photosensitizer KillerRed to gain a better insight into the interplay between peroxisomes and cellular oxidative stress. We show that the phototoxic effects of peroxisomal KillerRed induce mitochondria-mediated cell death and that this process can be counteracted by targeted overexpression of a select set of antioxidant enzymes, including peroxisomal glutathione S-transferase kappa 1, superoxide dismutase 1, and mitochondrial catalase. We also present evidence that peroxisomal disease cell lines deficient in plasmalogen biosynthesis or peroxisome assembly are more sensitive to KillerRed-induced oxidative stress than control cells. Collectively, these findings confirm and extend previous observations suggesting that disturbances in peroxisomal redox control and metabolism can sensitize cells to oxidative stress. In addition, they lend strong support to the ideas that peroxisomes and mitochondria share a redox-sensitive relationship and that the redox communication between these organelles is not only mediated by diffusion of reactive oxygen species from one compartment to the other. Finally, these findings indicate that mitochondria may act as dynamic receivers, integrators, and transmitters of peroxisome-derived mediators of oxidative stress, and this may have profound implications for our views on cellular aging and age-related diseases.

Expression of dehydratase domains from a polyunsaturated fatty acid synthase increases the production of fatty acids in Escherichia coli

Increasing the production of fatty acids by microbial fermentation remains an important step toward the generation of biodiesel and other portable liquid fuels. In this work, we report an Escherichia coli strain engineered to overexpress a fragment consisting of four dehydratase domains from the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthase enzyme complex from the deep-sea bacterium, Photobacterium profundum. The DH1-DH2-UMA enzyme fragment was excised from its natural context within a multi-enzyme PKS and expressed as a stand-alone protein. Fatty acids were extracted from the cell pellet, esterified with methanol and quantified by GC-MS analysis. Results show that the E. coli strain expressing the DH tetradomain fragment was capable of producing up to a 5-fold increase (80.31 mg total FA/L culture) in total fatty acids over the negative control strain lacking the recombinant enzyme. The enhancement in production was observed across the board for all the fatty acids that are typically made by E. coli. The overexpression of the DH tetradomain did not affect E. coli cell growth, thus showing that the observed enhancement in fatty acid production was not a result of effects associated with cell density. The observed enhancement was more pronounced at lower temperatures (3.8-fold at 16 °C, 3.5-fold at 22 °C and 1.5-fold at 30 °C) and supplementation of the media with 0.4% glycerol did not result in an increase in fatty acid production. All these results taken together suggest that either the dehydration of fatty acid intermediates are a limiting step in the E. coli fatty acid biosynthesis machinery, or that the recombinant dehydratase domains used in this study are also capable of catalyzing thioester hydrolysis of the final products. The enzyme in this report is a new tool which could be incorporated into other existing strategies aimed at improving fatty acid production in bacterial fermentations toward accessible biodiesel precursors.