底物特异性的生物催化与酶设计改造

随着生物产业的发展,生物酶催化发挥着越来越重要的作用。然而,部分酶在应用过程中仍然存在诸多问题,影响了生物催化的进一步发展。本文以酶的底物特异性为切入点,回顾了酶的专一性、高效性和环保性;介绍了酶在药物合成和天然产物改性领域的应用以及所遇到的问题;综述了酶的底物特异性改造过程中各种方法的应用,包括化学修饰、非理性和理性设计。化学修饰作为一种直观的修饰方法,通过化学反应对酶分子进行改造;非理性设计是利用易错PCR和DNA Shuffling等手段获得底物特异性提高的突变体;理性设计是基于序列和结构信息对酶分子进行改造。本文从重塑活性口袋提高酶的底物特异性和重塑活性口袋改变酶促反应类型两个方面出发,详述了理性设计改变酶的底物特异性的方法,为酶的特异性改造提供借鉴。     

Mutational analysis of a key residue in the substrate specificity of a cephalosporin acylase

beta-Lactam acylases are crucial for the synthesis of semisynthetic cephalosporins and penicillins. Unfortunately, there are no cephalosporin acylases known that can efficiently hydrolyse the amino-adipic side chain of Cephalosporin C. In a previous directed evolution experiment, residue Asn266 of the glutaryl acylase from Pseudomonas SY-77 was identified as being important for substrate specificity. In order to explore the function of this residue in substrate specificity, we performed a complete mutational analysis of position 266. Codons for all amino acids were introduced in the gene, 16 proteins that could be functionally expressed in Escherichia coli were purified to homogeneity and their catalytic parameters were determined. The mutant enzymes displayed a broad spectrum of affinities and activities, pointing to the flexibility of the enzyme at this position. Mutants in which Asn266 was changed into Phe, Gln, Trp and Tyr displayed up to twofold better catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m))than the wild-type enzyme when adipyl-7-aminodesacetoxycephalosporanic acid (adipyl-7-ADCA) was used as substrate, due to a decreased K(m). Only mutants SY-77(N266H) and SY-77(N266M) showed an improvement of both catalytic parameters, resulting in 10- and 15-times higher catalytic efficiency with adipyl-7-ADCA, respectively. Remarkably, the catalytic activity (k(cat)) of SY-77(N266M) when using adipyl-7-ADCA as substrate was as high as when glutaryl-7-aminocephalosporanic acid (glutaryl-7-ACA) was used, and approaches commercially interesting activity. SY-77(N266Q), SY-77(N266H) and SY-77(N266M) mutants showed a modest improvement in hydrolysing Cephalosporin C. Since these mutants also have a good catalytic efficiency when adipyl-7-ADCA is used and are still active towards glutaryl-7-ACA, they can be regarded as broad substrate acylases. These results demonstrate that the combination of directed evolution for the identification of important positions, together with saturation mutagenesis for finding the optimal amino acid, is a very effective method for finding improved biocatalysts.     

Approaches to enzyme and substrate design of the murine Dnmt3a DNA methyltransferase

Dnmt3a‐C, the catalytic domain of the Dnmt3a DNA‐(cytosine‐C5)‐methyltransferase, is active in an isolated form but, like the full‐length Dnmt3a, shows only weak DNA methylation activity. To improve this activity by directed evolution, we set up a selection system in which Dnmt3a‐C methylated its own expression plasmid in E. coli, and protected it from cleavage by methylation‐sensitive restriction enzymes. However, despite screening about 400 clones that were selected in three rounds from a random mutagenesis library of 60 000 clones, we were not able to isolate a variant with improved activity, most likely because of a background of uncleaved plasmids and plasmids that had lost the restriction sites. To improve the catalytic activity of Dnmt3a‐C by optimization of the sequence of the DNA substrate, we analyzed its flanking‐sequence preference in detail by bisulfite DNA‐methylation analysis and sequencing of individual clones. Based on the enrichment and depletion of certain bases in the positions flanking >1300 methylated CpG sites, we were able to define a sequence‐preference profile for Dnmt3a‐C from the ?6 to the +6 position of the flanking sequence. This revealed preferences for T over a purine at position ?2, A over G at ?1, a pyrimidine at +1, and A and T over G at +3. We designed one “good” substrate optimized for methylation and one “bad” substrate designed not to be efficiently methylated, and showed that the optimized substrate is methylated >20 times more rapidly at its central CpG site. The optimized Dnmt3a‐C substrate can be applied in enzymatic high‐throughput assays with Dnmt3a‐C (e.g., for inhibitor screening), because the increased activity provides an improved dynamic range and better signal/noise ratio.     

Modulation of infectivity in phage display as a tool to determine the substrate specificity of proteases

Proteases play an important role in human and animal diseases. Rapid determination of substrate specificity is possible through the use of substrate phage display; however, current methods possess several drawbacks. They require phage-immobilization and cannot be used for infectivity-destroying or affinity tag-destroying proteases; this can make entire libraries useless. To overcome these limitations, here we introduce infectivity-modulated phage display (IMOP). IMOP uses a protease-resistant and infectivity-reducing tag fused to substrate-displaying polyvalent phages, and the specific cleavage of the substrate increases the infectivity of the phages by releasing the infectivity-reducing tag. The resulting phages were first tested with the infectivity-destroying detergent protease subtilisin; this resulted in a highly specific substrate at a 200-fold enrichment. In a second example, the protease ompT was used and led to an enrichment of the known double-arginine motif. The IMOP system thus substantially improves and simplifies previous systems.     

Joining of titanium diboride-based ultra high-temperature ceramics to refractory metal tantalum using diffusion bonding technology

The use of ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) requires effective methods to overcome the problems associated with manufacturing parts with complex shapes. In this study, a titanium diboride (TiB₂)-based ultra-high-temperature ceramic, TiB₂-20 vol.%TiC-20 vol.%SiC (TTS), was joined to refractory metal tantalum (Ta) using titanium (Ti) interlayer. The interface microstructure and mechanical properties of joints obtained at different bonding temperatures were investigated. The bonding mechanism of the joint was discussed based on TEM analysis and theoretical calculation. The results revealed that a (Ti, Ta)B + TiC + Ti₅Si₃ reaction layer formed adjacent to the TTS ceramic substrate while a β-(Ta, Ti)+β-(Ti, Ta)+α-Ti layer formed adjacent to the Ta substrate. The α-Ti was gradually replaced by β-(Ta, Ti) and β-(Ti, Ta), and the reaction layer of the ceramic side became thicker as the bonding temperature increased. The maximum joint shear strength of room temperature was 176 MPa when the joint was bonded at 1200 °C for 60 min under 20 MPa, and cracks propagated in the ceramic. The shear strength of the joint tested at 800 °C was 86 MPa, and fracture occurred at the β-(Ti, Ta).     

Oxidation of benzyl alcohols to ketones and aldehydes by O3 process enhanced using high-gravity technology

In this study, a practical process for ozonization of benzyl alcohols to ketones and aldehydes in a rotating packed bed(RPB-O_3) reactor has been developed. Using 1-phenylethanol as a model reactant, the performance of RPB-O_3 process in different solvents has been compared with the commonly used stirred tank reactor(STR-O_3). Ethyl acetate was the optimum solvent for the conversion of 1-phenylenthanol to acetophenone in RPB-O_3 process, with 78% yield after 30 min. In a parallel STR-O_3 experiment, the yield of acetophenone was50%. Other experimental variables, i.e. O_3 concentration, reaction time, high-gravity factor and liquid flow rate were also optimized. The highest yield of acetophenone was obtained using O_3 concentration of 80 mg·L~(-1),reaction time of 30 min, high gravity factor of 40 and liquid flow rate of 120 L·h~(-1). Under the optimized reaction conditions, a series of structurally diverse primary and secondary alcohols was oxidized with(19%–92%) yield.The ozonization mechanism was studied by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance(EPR) spectroscopy, monitoring the radical species formed upon self-decomposition of O_3. The characteristic quadruple peak with the 1:2:2:1 intensity ratio that corresponds to hydroxyl radicals(·OH) was observed in the electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR) spectrum, indicating an indirect oxidation mechanism of alcohols via ·OH radical.     

Interception of the enzymatic conversion of farnesyl diphosphate to 5-epi-aristolochene by using a fluoro substrate analogue: 1-fluorogermacrene A from (2E,6Z)-6-fluorofarnesyl diphosphate

Tobacco 5-epi-aristolochene synthase (TEAS) catalyzes the Mg(II)-dependent cyclizations and rearrangements of (E,E)-farnesyl diphosphate (PP) to the bicyclic sesquiterpene hydrocarbon via a tightly bound (+)-germacrene A as a deprotonated intermediate. With the native enzyme, only a few percent of the putative germacrene A intermediate is released from the active site during the catalytic cycle. 6-Fluorofarnesyl PP was designed and synthesized with the aim of arresting the cyclization-rearrangement mechanism en route to 5-epi-aristolochene. Indeed, incubation of (2E,6Z)-6-fluorofarnesyl PP with recombinant TEAS afforded (-)-1-fluorogermacrene A as the sole product in 58% yield. Steady-state kinetic experiments with farnesyl PP and the 6-fluoro analogue showed that the overall catalytic efficiencies (k(cat)/K(m)) are essentially the same for both substrates. 1-Fluorogermacrene A was characterized by chromatographic properties (TLC, GC), MS, optical rotation, UV, IR and (1)H NMR data, and by heat-induced Cope rearrangement to (+)-1-fluoro-beta-elemene. (1)H NMR spectra at room temperature revealed that this (E,E)-configured fluorocyclodecadiene exists in solution as a 7:3 mixture of UU and UD conformers. 1-Fluorogermacrene A underwent trifluoroacetic acid-catalyzed cyclization to give three 1alpha-fluoroselinene isomers at a rate estimated to be about 1000 times slower than that of the similar cyclization of (+)-germacrene A to the parent selinenes.