紫杉醇及其类似物生产的代谢工程研究进展

大量生产抗癌新药紫杉醇是目前生物技术的研究热点之一。通过对紫杉醇生物合成途径中关键酶基因的分离、克隆与遗传转化等方面最新研究结果进行评述 ,指出通过紫杉醇次生代谢途径中关键酶的基因改造及遗传转化 ,构建高效表达紫杉醇或其重要前体紫杉烷的基因工程细胞株 ,并建立其相应的基因表达调控方法 ,是解决紫杉醇药源问题的最有前途的方法之一。     

Detailed Structure–Function Correlations of Bacillus subtilis Acetolactate Synthase

Isobutanol is deemed to be a next‐generation biofuel and a renewable platform chemical. 1 Non‐natural biosynthetic pathways for isobutanol production have been implemented in cell‐based and in vitro systems with Bacillus subtilis acetolactate synthase (AlsS) as key biocatalyst. 2 – 6 AlsS catalyzes the condensation of two pyruvate molecules to acetolactate with thiamine diphosphate and Mg²⁺ as cofactors. AlsS also catalyzes the conversion of 2‐ketoisovalerate into isobutyraldehyde, the immediate precursor of isobutanol. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that the ALS enzyme family forms a distinct subgroup of ThDP‐dependent enzymes. To unravel catalytically relevant structure‐function relationships, we solved the AlsS crystal structure at 2.3 Å in the presence of ThDP, Mg²⁺ and in a transition state with a 2‐lactyl moiety bound to ThDP. We supplemented our structural data by point mutations in the active site to identify catalytically important residues.     

前体物质对辅酶Q_(10)生物合成的影响

首次研究了以辅酶Q10 (CoQ10 )主要侧链供给前体物质———茄尼醇和醌环供给前体———羟基苯甲酸和辅酶Q0 对粟酒裂殖酵母(Schizosaccharomycespromb 2 1794 - 2 3) 生产CoQ10 产量的影响,并对前体的转化工艺进行了初步研究。确定了适宜于粟酒裂殖酵母生长及高转化前体生成CoQ10 的条件为:酵母在2 8℃下,2 2 0r/min于发酵培养基中培养18h后,加入0 5 g/L茄尼醇继续发酵培养18h ,进行前体转化反应。结果表明,单独添加茄尼醇能达到最大产量33 1mg/L ,比对照样品增加了91% ,任2种前体物质共同添加都要比单独添加茄尼醇时产量低。茄尼醇和CoQ0 共同添加时,单位细胞胞外辅酶CoQ10 的产量达到最高的1 35mg/g ,比对照样品增加了117%。     

Chloroplastic glycolipids fuel aldehyde biosynthesis in the marine diatom Thalassiosira rotula

Enzymatic preparations and specialized analytical tools have shown that chloroplast-derived glycolipids are the main substrates for the biosynthetic pathway that produces antiproliferative polyunsaturated aldehydes in broken cells of the marine diatom Thalassiosira rotula. This process, which is associated with the formation of free fatty acids and lyso compounds from polar lipids but not triglycerides, is largely dependent on glycolipid hydrolytic activity, rather than phospholipase A(2) as previously suggested. Preliminary characterization of lipolytic enzymes has revealed protein bands of 40-45 kDa. Under native conditions these proteins seem to be associated with soluble aggregates that have an apparent molecular weight of approximately 200 kDa. The biochemical process, which is similar to that described in the algal-bloom forming diatom Skeletonema costatum, suggests a mechanism based on decompartmentalization and mixing of preexisting enzymes and substrates.     

脱氮假单胞杆菌耗氧合成V_(B_(12))发酵条件的研究

对脱氮假单胞杆菌(Pseudomonas denitri ficans)耗氧合成V_(B_(12))的培养模式研究表明,分批补料发酵比分批发酵合成V_(B_(12))提高71.42%;其中液糖补料与糖蜜补料在同等条件下,产物浓度前者比后者高出19.08%。最适V_(B_(12))合成的培养条件如种龄、接种量和初始pH值分别为18h,10%和7.0;发酵过程中摇床的转速对V_(B_(12))的合成影响显著,其中最佳转速为260r/min。在以上优化条件下,V_(B_(12))的最高单位能达到140 g/L。     

CYP51: A Major Drug Target in the Cytochrome P450 Superfamily

The cytochrome P540 (CYP) superfamily currently includes about 9000 proteins forming more than 800 families. The enzymes catalyze monooxygenation of a vast array of compounds and play essentially two roles. They provide biodefense (detoxification of xenobiotics, antibiotic production) and participate in biosynthesis of important endogenous molecules, particularly steroids. Based on these two roles, sterol 14/*alpha*/-demethylases (CYP51) belong to the second group of P450s. The CYP51 family, however, is very special as its members preserve strict functional conservation in enzyme activity in all biological kingdoms. At amino acid identity across the kingdoms as low as 25-30%, they all catalyze essentially the same three-step reaction of oxidative removal of the 14/*alpha*/-methyl group from the lanostane frame. This reaction is the required step in sterol biosynthesis of pathogenic microbes. We have shown that specific inhibition of protozoan CYP51 can potentially provide treatment for human trypanosomiases. Three sets of CYP51 inhibitors tested in vitro and in trypanosomal cells in this study include azoles [best results being 50% cell growth inhibition at <1 and at 1.3 muM for Trypanosoma cruzi (TC) and Trypanosoma brucei (TB), respectively], non-azole compounds (50% TC cell growth inhibition at 5 microM) and substrate analogs of the 14/*alpha*/-demethylase reaction. 32-Methylene cyclopropyl lanost-7-enol exhibited selectivity toward TC with 50% cell growth inhibition at 3 microM.     

Large-scale in vivo synthesis of the carbohydrate moieties of gangliosides GM1 and GM2 by metabolically engineered Escherichia coli

Two metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains have been constructed to produce the carbohydrate moieties of gangliosides GM2 (GalNAcbeta-4(NeuAcalpha-3)Galbeta-4Glc; Gal = galactose, Glc = glucose, Ac = acetyl) and GM1 (Galbeta-3GalNAcbeta-4(NeuAcalpha-3)Galbeta-4Glc. The GM2 oligosaccharide-producing strain TA02 was devoid of both beta-galactosidase and sialic acid aldolase activities and overexpressed the genes for CMP-NeuAc synthase (CMP = cytidine monophosphate), alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase, UDP-GlcNAc (UDP = uridine diphosphate) C4 epimerase, and beta-1,4-GalNAc transferase. When this strain was cultivated on glycerol, exogenously added lactose and sialic acid were shown to be actively internalized into the cytoplasm and converted into GM2 oligosaccharide. The in vivo synthesis of GM1 oligosaccharide was achieved by taking a similar approach but using strain TA05, which additionally overexpressed the gene for beta-1,3-galactosyltransferase. In high-cell-density cultures, the production yields for the GM2 and GM1 oligosaccharides were 1.25 g L(-1) and 0.89 g L(-1), respectively.     

Cloning and heterologous expression of three type II PKS gene clusters from Streptomyces bottropensis

Mensacarcin is a potent cytotoxic agent isolated from Streptomyces bottropensis. It possesses a high content of oxygen atoms and two epoxide groups, and shows cytostatic and cytotoxic activity comparable to that of doxorubicin, a widely used drug for antitumor therapy. Another natural compound, rishirilide A, was also isolated from the fermentation broth of S. bottropensis. Screening a cosmid library of S. bottropensis with minimal PKS-gene-specific primers revealed the presence of three different type II polyketide synthase (PKS) gene clusters in this strain: the msn cluster (mensacarcin biosynthesis), the rsl cluster (rishirilide biosynthesis), and the mec cluster (putative spore pigment biosynthesis). Interestingly, luciferase-like oxygenases, which are very rare in Streptomyces species, are enriched in both the msn cluster and the rsl cluster. Three cosmids, cos2 (containing the major part of the msn cluster), cos3 (harboring the mec cluster), and cos4 (spanning probably the whole rsl cluster) were introduced into the general heterologous host Streptomyces albus by intergeneric conjugation. Expression of cos2 and cos4 in S. albus led to the production of didesmethylmensacarcin (DDMM, a precursor of mensacarcin) and the production of rishirilide A and B (a precursor of rishirilide A), respectively. However, no product was detected from the expression of cos3. In addition, based on the results of isotope-feeding experiments in S. bottropensis, a putative biosynthesis pathway for mensacarcin is proposed.