聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯水解酶研究进展

塑料自20世纪首次合成以来给人类生活带来了极大的便利。然而,塑料稳定的高分子结构导致了塑料废弃物的持续堆积,对生态环境和人类健康均造成严重威胁。聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯[poly(ethylene terephthalate),PET]是产量最高的一种聚酯类塑料,近年来PET水解酶的相关研究展现出生物酶法对塑料进行降解、回收的巨大潜力,也为塑料生物降解机制研究建立了参考范例。本文综述了不同微生物来源的PET水解酶及其PET降解能力,阐述了最具代表性的PET水解酶—IsPETase降解PET的催化机理,并总结了近年来通过酶工程改造而获得的高效降解酶,为未来的PET降解机制研究、PET高效降解酶的进一步挖掘和改造提供参考。     

PET水解酶传统与智能分子设计研究进展

塑料由于其耐久性和耐降解性造成的环境污染日趋严重,而塑料废弃物的处理回收方法存在着缺陷。聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（polyethylene terephthalate,PET）是应用最广泛的塑料类型之一,但在自然条件下很难被降解。近年来,虽然多种具有PET降解活性的酶被发现,但这些酶的催化活性和热稳定性难以支撑实际工业所需,因此提高PET水解酶的降解能力已成为研究热点而备受关注。脂肪酶、角质酶、IsPETase和IsMHETase是目前研究最为广泛的PET水解酶,就这几种酶的结构、活性特征进行了总结,重点阐述了传统蛋白质工程和人工智能分子设计在增强PET水解酶应用性能方面的研究进展。期望塑料降解酶可以进一步发展优化,为循环塑料经济做出有价值的贡献。     

聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯降解酶的研究进展

聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(Polyethylene terephthalate,PET)因其良好的耐用性和可塑性,已在世界范围内的工业领域和日常生活中得到广泛应用。目前自然环境中大量PET使用废弃物的积累和迁移给全球生态系统带来了严重负担,因此PET的降解问题已成为全球性的热点问题。微生物酶降解法目前被认为是一种理想绿色PET降解方法,有希望应用于大规模降解PET废弃物降解处理。传统的PET降解酶主要包括脂肪酶、酯酶和角质酶等,但这些酶的PET降解活性相对不高。近期科学家从Ideonella sakaiensis细菌中分离了一种新型水解酶PETase,能够特异性高效降解PET。本文从结构生物学角度对多种PET降解酶进行梳理,重点总结了新近发现的PETase催化机制,为发展改造更有效的PET降解酶提供理论依据。     

赭曲霉毒素A降解菌株的筛选及脱毒酰胺水解酶的基因克隆和表达

【背景】赭曲霉毒素A (ochratoxin A, OTA)是一种可以致癌的真菌毒素,其污染严重影响食品安全,危害人类健康。生物降解法去除OTA污染是近些年的研究热点,发掘高效的OTA降解脱毒酶资源具有重要的意义。【目的】筛选高效的OTA降解菌株并从中克隆降解基因,为生物脱毒方法的开发提供基因和酶资源。【方法】利用OTA为唯一碳源的筛选培养基从土壤中筛选纯化OTA降解菌株,通过16S rRNA基因序列分析确定其分类地位,利用高效液相色谱(high performance liquid chromatography, HPLC)分析其降解产物。通过同源序列比对的方法克隆降解基因并与载体pET-29a(+)相连,然后在大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中表达。利用Ni²⁺亲和层析对表达产物进行纯化,研究其对OTA的降解活性和酶学特征。【结果】筛选到一株高效的OTA降解菌株,在12 h内能够完全降解1 μg/mL的OTA;初步鉴定该菌株属于Niastella,编号为JX-6;菌株JX-6通过酰胺键断裂途径降解OTA生成无毒的OTα;从菌株JX-6中鉴定了一个OTA酰胺水解酶,命名为NcOTase;NcOTase与已报道的OTA酰胺水解酶序列相似性较低,仅为31%–53%;纯化的NcOTase具有OTA水解活性,比酶活为60.3 U/mg,活性显著高于大部分已报道的OTA降解酶。【结论】NcOTase是一个高效的OTA降解脱毒酶,在去除食品和饲料中OTA污染方面具有很好的应用前景。     

体内外因素对大鼠肝脏加工ADAMs的影响研究

ADAMs是近年发现的一个新的具有多个结构域和多种功能的蛋白质家族。本文多方面比较了大鼠实质肝细胞和非实质肝细胞的ADAMs与再生肝的ADAMs异同。检测多种因子对ADAMs体外加工的影响发现,活性的最适pH为3.5-4的酸性蛋白水解酶在细胞ADAMs降解加工中起关键作用;活性的最适pH为7.5-8.5的偏碱性蛋白酶在基质ADAMs降解加工中起重要作用;外源的胶原酶能高效降解75kDADAMs和140kDMDC15,可见,体内胶原酶样的蛋白水解酶是ADAMs降解加工的重要酶类;Fe^3 和Zn^2 等可在体外活化ADAMs的降解,看来,体内降解加工ADAMs的酶属依赖于Fe^3 或Zn^2 的蛋白水解酶。根据研究结果推测,体内许多不同性能的蛋白水解酶,如丝氨酸蛋白水解酶,半胱氨酸蛋白水解酶,天冬氨酸蛋白水解酶和金属蛋白水解酶等参与ADAMs的降解加工。     

塑料生物降解检测方法的研究进展

塑料处理不当造成的污染问题已成为全球性难题。目前的解决办法除回收利用与使用可生物降解塑料替代之外,最主要途径仍是寻求高效的塑料降解方法。其中,采用微生物或酶处理塑料的方法因其具有条件温和、不产生次生环境污染的优势而受到越来越多的关注。塑料生物降解技术的核心是高效解聚微生物/酶,然而当前的分析检测方法无法满足塑料生物降解资源的高效筛选,因此开发准确、快速的塑料降解过程分析方法,对于生物降解资源筛选和降解效能评价具有重要意义。本文介绍了近年来在塑料生物降解领域的常用分析检测技术,包括高效液相色谱、红外光谱、凝胶渗透色谱以及透明圈测定等,重点讨论了荧光分析策略在快速表征塑料生物降解过程中的应用,为进一步规范塑料生物降解过程的表征与分析研究,以及开发更高效的塑料生物降解资源筛选方法提供借鉴。     

来源于糖丝菌双(2-羟乙基)对苯二甲酸酯水解酶的酶学性质表征及降解特性分析

聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯[poly(ethylene terephthalate),PET]降解酶的发掘是国内外研究的热点。双(2-羟乙基)对苯二甲酸酯[bis-(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalic acid,BHET]是PET降解过程的一种中间化合物,会与PET竞争酶的底物结合位点,从而抑制PET进一步降解。因此,探寻新型BHET降解酶,对进一步提高PET的降解效率具有促进作用。本研究通过基因挖掘发现了一种来源于浅黄糖丝菌(Saccharothrix luteola)参与PET降解过程的水解酶基因sle(ID:CP064192.1,5085270–5086049),其编码的蛋白质可以将BHET水解为单(2-羟乙基)对苯二甲酸酯[mono-(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate,MHET]和对苯二甲酸(terephthalic acid,TPA)。将BHET水解酶(Sle)通过重组质粒在大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)中异源表达,结果表明,在异丙基-β-D-硫代半乳糖苷(isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside,IPTG)诱导终浓度为0.4 mmol/L,诱导时长为12 h,诱导温度为20℃时蛋白的表达量最高。通过镍亲和层析、阴离子交换层析和凝胶过滤层析3步分离纯化,获得了高纯度的Sle重组蛋白;同时对其酶学性质进行了表征,Sle最适温度和pH分别为35℃和8.0,在25–35℃和pH 7.0–9.0区间内能保持80%以上的残余酶活,且金属离子Co^(2+)能提高酶活力;进一步通过同源序列及Sle复合物结构分析得知,该酶属于二烯酸内酯水解酶(dienelactone hydrolase,DLH)家族,具备该家族典型的催化三联体,预测其催化位点分别为S129、D175和H207,并初步分析了其催化机理。最后,利用高效液相色谱法(high performance liquid chromatography,HPLC)鉴定了该酶能够特异性降解BHET生成MHET和TPA,属于BHET降解酶。本研究为生物酶法高效降解PET塑料提供了新的酶资源。     

基于磷脂酶水解圈定向筛选高效聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯降解酶

【目的】目前自然环境中聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(polyethylene terephthalate, PET)废弃物的积累严重威胁生态健康,因此PET的降解问题已成为全球性的热点问题。生物酶法降解PET技术以其绿色环保而备受关注,但天然PET降解酶的催化活性普遍偏低,亟待进一步定向改造。现阶段定向进化为快速提高PET降解酶催化性能提供了可能,其中筛选方法是成功获得高性能突变体的关键所在。本研究旨在提出一种新型高效灵敏的筛选方法并应用于褐色喜热裂孢菌(Thermobifida fusca)来源角质酶Tfu-0883的定向改造,以期快速获得PET降解活性提高的突变体。【方法】基于易错PCR构建突变体文库,涂布于卵黄磷脂平板,以水解圈的大小作为筛选指标获得PET降解活性提高的突变体;对突变体进行酶学定性并筛选出潜在的分子改造位点,最终获得高性能突变体。【结果】从卵黄磷脂平板中挑取水解圈直径最大的单菌落,即突变体H10(N2D/D94H/A149E),其PET降解能力是野生型的1.5倍,最适温度与pH分别为60℃和8.0。突变体H10中第2位和第149位氨基酸残基远离底物结合凹槽,其突变会导致酶蛋白稳定性下降;第94位氨基酸残基则位于底物结合凹槽附近,由负电荷氨基酸Asp突变为正电荷氨基酸His,有利于吸附在带负电荷的PET表面,是突变体H10降解能力提升的关键因素;随后将野生型的第94位氨基酸残基Asp分别突变为His及同为正电荷且空间位阻更小的Lys和Arg,突变体D94H、D94K和D94R对PET降解能力均有提升,其中,突变体D94K降解PET能力是野生型的3.6倍。【结论】本研究基于磷脂酶水解圈构建了一种新的PET降解酶定向筛选方法,以此获得了降解活性提高的突变体,并证实角质酶Tfu-0883第94位氨基酸残基位点具有提升其PET降解活性的潜在能力。     

来源于嗜热氢化杆菌的新型对苯二甲酸双(羟乙)酯水解酶的表达纯化与酶学性质

石化来源的聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯(polyethylene terephthalate,PET)被广泛用于矿泉水瓶、食品包装和纺织品等领域,因其在自然界中不易分解,大量使用后的PET废弃物造成了严重的环境污染与资源浪费。使用生物酶法对PET废弃物进行解聚,并对解聚产物进行升级循环利用是进行塑料污染治理的重要方向之一,其中关键的是PET水解酶的解聚效率。对苯二甲酸双(羟乙基)酯(bis(hydroxyethyl)terephthalate,BHET)是PET生物酶解的中间产物,其累积是限制PET水解酶催化效率的一个重要因素,BHET水解酶和PET水解酶的联用能提升PET的整体水解效率。来源于嗜热氢化杆菌(Hydrogenobacter thermophilus)的双烯内酯酶(HtBHETase)对BHET有显著水解效果,将该酶在大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)中进行重组表达并纯化后,对其酶学性质进行了研究。结果显示,HtBHETase对短碳链的酯类如对硝基苯酚乙酸酯催化活性较高,HtBHETase以BHET为底物时的最适反应pH值和最适反应温度分别为5.0和55℃;该酶有较好的热稳定性,经80℃的条件处理1 h仍能保持80%以上活性,显示出了良好的热稳定性,HtBHETase有在PET塑料生物解聚中使用的潜力,本研究为推动生物酶法降解PET提供了新的参考。     

基于结构改造来源于大阪伊德氏杆菌201-F6的PET水解酶

聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯 (Polyethylene terephthalate,PET) 塑料是由对苯二甲酸 (Terephthalic acid,TPA) 和乙二醇 (Ethylene glycol,EG) 通过酯键聚合而成的高分子聚合物,具有性质稳定、不易分解等特点,目前已成为广泛使用的一种聚酯,然而大量产生的PET废弃物同时也造成严重的环境污染。2016年,一种有效降解PET的PET水解酶在大阪伊德氏杆菌201-F6中被鉴定发现 (命名为IsPETase),且多个IsPETase结构已被解析。为了设计获得PET降解效率更高的IsPETase,针对底物结合位点Ⅱc区的天冬氨酸233 (N233) 残基进行了多种突变测试,酶活性检测实验表明,用丙氨酸替代N233可以提高IsPETase的性能,尤其是结合R280A突变后,IsPETase活性增加更为显著。此外,解析了IsPETase N233A突变体的X射线晶体结构。IsPETase N233A突变体与IsPETase野生型整体结构相似,但丙氨酸取代N233后增加了底物识别位点Ⅱ末端的空间结构,推测因此增加了IsPETase的活性。这些结果为进一步基于结构改造PET水解酶提供了新的线索。     

Glacier as a source of novel polyethylene terephthalate hydrolases

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a major component of microplastic contamination globally, which is now detected in pristine environments including Polar and mountain glaciers. As a carbon-rich molecule, PET could be a carbon source for microorganisms dwelling in glacier habitats. Thus, glacial microorganisms may be potential PET degraders with novel PET hydrolases. Here, we obtained 414 putative PET hydrolase sequences by searching a global glacier metagenome dataset. Metagenomes from the Alps and Tibetan glaciers exhibited a higher relative abundance of putative PET hydrolases than those from the Arctic and Antarctic. Twelve putative PET hydrolase sequences were cloned and expressed, with one sequence (designated as GlacPETase) proven to degrade amorphous PET film with a similar performance as IsPETase, but with a higher thermostability. GlacPETase exhibited only 30% sequence identity to known active PET hydrolases with a novel disulphide bridge location and, therefore may represent a novel PET hydrolases class. The present work suggests that extreme carbon-poor environments may harbour a diverse range of known and novel PET hydrolases for carbon acquisition as an environmental adaptation mechanism.     

Thermostability enhancement of polyethylene terephthalate degrading PETase using self- and nonself-ligating protein scaffolding approaches

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hydrolase enzymes show promise for enzymatic PET degradation and green recycling of single-use PET vessels representing a major source of global pollution. Their full potential can be unlocked with enzyme engineering to render activities on recalcitrant PET substrates commensurate with cost-effective recycling at scale. Thermostability is a highly desirable property in industrial enzymes, often imparting increased robustness and significantly reducing quantities required. To date, most engineered PET hydrolases show improved thermostability over their parental enzymes. Here, we report engineered thermostable variants of Ideonella sakaiensis PET hydrolase enzyme (IsPETase) developed using two scaffolding strategies. The first employed SpyCatcher-SpyTag technology to covalently cyclize IsPETase, resulting in increased thermostability that was concomitant with reduced turnover of PET substrates compared to native IsPETase. The second approach using a GFP-nanobody fusion protein (vGFP) as a scaffold yielded a construct with a melting temperature of 80°C. This was further increased to 85°C when a thermostable PETase variant (FAST PETase) was scaffolded into vGFP, the highest reported so far for an engineered PET hydrolase derived from IsPETase. Thermostability enhancement using the vGFP scaffold did not compromise activity on PET compared to IsPETase. These contrasting results highlight potential topological and dynamic constraints imposed by scaffold choice as determinants of enzyme activity.     

Multidomain and Multifunctional Glycosyl Hydrolases from the Extreme Thermophile Caldicellulosiruptor Isolate Tok7B.1

DNA sequencing techniques have revealed widespread molecular diversity of the genomic organization of apparently closely related bacteria (as judged from SSU rDNA sequence similarity). We have previously described the extreme thermophile Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus, which is unusual in possessing multi-catalytic, multidomain arrangements for the majority of its glycosyl hydrolases. We report here the sequencing of three gene clusters of glycosyl hydrolases from Caldicellulosiruptor sp. strain Tok7B.1. These clusters are not closely linked, and each is different in its organization from any described for Cs. saccharolyticus. The catalytic domains of the enzymes belong to glycosyl hydrolase families 5, 9, 10, 43, 44, and 48. The cellulose binding domains (CBDs) of these enzymes from Caldicellulosiruptor sp. Tok7B.1 are types IIIb, IIIc, or VI. A number of individual catalytic and binding domains have been expressed in Escherichia coli, and biochemical data are reported on the purified enzymes for cellulose degradation encoded by engineered derivatives of celB and celE. Received: 12 November 1999 / Accepted: 30 November 1999     

Vacuolar pH is one factor that regulates hydrolase secretion

Lysosomal hydrolases are continually secreted by Acanthamoeba as a consequence of membrane cycling between the vacuolar compartment and the cell surface. In pinocytosing amoebae acid hydrolases can be separated into two groups on the basis of their secretion kinetics. We have previously shown that in Acanthamoeba acid hydrolases are almost exclusively restricted to a single compartment, digestive vacuoles, and that pH-dependent differential binding of hydrolases to vacuolar membrane can account for the different rates of hydrolase secretion from this compartment. In this report we show that the hydrolase secretion pattern changes and that all of the hydrolases are released with the same kinetics after phagocytosis of yeast or in growth media supplemented with ammonium acetate or chloroquine, but not after phagocytosis of polystyrene beads. The changes in the pattern of hydrolase secretion correlate with changes in vacuolar pH. The vacuolar pH of pinocytosing amoebae and amoebae saturated with beads is about 4.8. This value is increased to 6.8 by accumulation of weak bases and to about 6.1 when digestive vacuoles are saturated with yeast. These results indicate that vacuolar pH modulates hydrolase transport and secretion.     

Ester-prodrugs of ethambutol control its antibacterial activity and provide rapid screening for mycobacterial hydrolase activity

M. tuberculosis contains an unusually high number of serine hydrolases by proteome percentage compared to other common bacteria or humans. This letter describes a method to probe the global substrate specificity of mycobacterial serine hydrolases with ester-protected prodrugs of ethambutol, a first-line antibiotic treatment for TB. These compounds were synthesized directly from ethambutol using a selective o-acylation to yield products in high yield and purity with minimal workup. A library of derivatives was screened against M. smegmatis, a non-infectious model for M. tuberculosis, which displayed significantly lowered biological activity compared to ethambutol. Incubation with a general serine hydrolase reactivated each derivative to near-ethambutol levels, demonstrating that esterification of ethambutol should provide a simple screen for mycobacterial hydrolase activity.     

Click-generated triazole ureas as ultrapotent in vivo-active serine hydrolase inhibitors

Serine hydrolases are a diverse enzyme class representing ～1% of all human proteins. The biological functions of most serine hydrolases remain poorly characterized owing to a lack of selective inhibitors to probe their activity in living systems. Here we show that a substantial number of serine hydrolases can be irreversibly inactivated by 1,2,3-triazole ureas, which show negligible cross-reactivity with other protein classes. Rapid lead optimization by click chemistry-enabled synthesis and competitive activity-based profiling identified 1,2,3-triazole ureas that selectively inhibit enzymes from diverse branches of the serine hydrolase class, including peptidases (acyl-peptide hydrolase, or APEH), lipases (platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase-2, or PAFAH2) and uncharacterized hydrolases (α,β-hydrolase-11, or ABHD11), with exceptional potency in cells (sub-nanomolar) and mice (<1 mg kg(-1)). We show that APEH inhibition leads to accumulation of N-acetylated proteins and promotes proliferation in T cells. These data indicate 1,2,3-triazole ureas are a pharmacologically privileged chemotype for serine hydrolase inhibition, combining broad activity across the serine hydrolase class with tunable selectivity for individual enzymes.     

Copy number variation in the genome; the human DMD gene as an example

Recent developments have yielded new technologies that have greatly simplified the detection of deletions and duplications, i.e., copy number variants (CNVs). These technologies can be used to screen for CNVs in and around specific genomic regions, as well as genome-wide. Several genome-wide studies have demonstrated that CNV in the human genome is widespread and may include millions of nucleotides. One of the questions that emerge is which sequences, structures and/or processes are involved in their generation. Using as an example the human DMD gene, mutations in which cause Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy, we review the current data, determine the deletion and duplication profile across the gene and summarize the information that has been collected regarding their origin. In addition we discuss the methods most frequently used for their detection, in particular MAPH and MLPA.     

Comparative chemical and immunological characterization of five lipolytic enzymes (carboxylesterases) from rat liver microsomes

The chemical and immunological properties of five closely related microsomal serine hydrolases (carboxylesterases) from rat liver have been compared to evaluate whether they are variants of a single protein or independent proteins. These enzymes represent medium-chain-length acylcarnitine hydrolase, palmitoyl carnitine hydrolase, medium-chain-length monoglyceride hydrolase, and two long-chain monoglyceride hydrolases. All enzymes have similar subunit Mr's (58,000-61,000) and bear one active site per protein subunit, as could be shown by active sites with radioactive bis(4-nitrophenyl)phosphate, and have subsequently been cleft by proteases or by BrCN. The patterns of radioactive peptides obtained after electrophoresis or thin-layer chromatography indicated that the two long chain monoglyceride hydrolases were closely related, while all other hydrolases differed from these and from each other. The two long-chain monoglyceride hydrolases also had identical N- and C-termini that differed from those of the other hydrolases. All hydrolases contain low amounts of hexoses. It is concluded that the hydrolases investigated represent four independent enzymes with differing amino acid sequences. Three of the four hydrolases were microheterogenous. These results were confirmed with an immunological study using rabbit antisera against three of the hydrolases. Heparin-releasable liver lipase was not cross-reactive with the lipolytic enzymes investigated here.     

Immunochemical characterization of human lung epoxide hydrolases

Immunochemical techniques were used to investigate the biochemical properties of human lung epoxide hydrolases. Two epoxide hydrolases with different immunoreactive properties were identified. These two epoxide hydrolases were found in both cytosolic and microsomal cell fractions. Immunotitration of enzyme activity showed that enzymes that catalyze the hydration of benzo(a)pyrene 4,5-oxide react with antiserum to rat microsomal epoxide hydrolase; those that hydrate trans-stilbene oxide do not. Immunotitration and Western blot experiments showed that microsomal and cytosolic benzo(a)pyrene 4,5-oxide hydrolases have significant structural homology. Immunohistochemical staining of human lung benzo(a)pyrene 4,5-oxide hydrolase showed that the enzyme is localized primarily in the bronchial epithelium. No cell type-specific localization was observed. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed which allows direct quantitation of benzo(a)pyrene 4,5-oxide hydrolase protein. Levels of enzyme protein detected by this assay correlated well with enzyme levels determined by substrate conversion assays.