Features and applications of bacterial glycosyltransferases: current state and prospects

The bioactivity of many natural products including valuable antibiotics and anticancer therapeutics depends on their sugar moieties. Changes in the structures of these sugars can deeply influence the biological activity, specificity and pharmacological properties of the parent compounds. The chemical synthesis of such sugar ligands is exceedingly difficult to carry out and therefore impractical to establish on a large scale. Therefore, glycosyltransferases are essential tools for chemoenzymatic and in vivo approaches for the development of complex glycosylated natural products. In the last 10 years, several examples of successful alteration and diversification of natural product glycosylation patterns via metabolic pathway engineering and enzymatic glycodiversification have been described. Due to the relaxed substrate specificity of many sugar biosynthetic enzymes and glycosyltransferases involved in natural product biosynthesis, it is possible to obtain novel glycosylated compounds using different methods. In this review, we would like to provide an overview of recent advances in diversification of the glycosylated natural products and glycosyltransferase engineering.     

天然产物的糖基化及糖基侧链改造

抗生素和抗癌药物等多种天然产物的活性都依赖于其糖基侧链,糖基侧链结构的变化对母体化合物的生物活性、底物适应性及药理学性质具有重要影响。糖基侧链结构变化多端,修饰、改变天然产物的糖基侧链已成为获得临床候选药物的重要方法。利用化学法和酶法,研究者创造了多种改造天然产物糖基化的方法。详细介绍了天然产物的糖基化过程,并从组合生物学、糖基转移酶改造、糖类随机化及新型糖类随机化和糖基转移酶可逆性四方面阐述了糖基侧链的改造方法。     

Development of a Streptomyces venezuelae-based combinatorial biosynthetic system for the production of glycosylated derivatives of doxorubicin and its biosynthetic intermediates

Doxorubicin, one of the most widely used anticancer drugs, is composed of a tetracyclic polyketide aglycone and l-daunosamine as a deoxysugar moiety, which acts as an important determinant of its biological activity. This is exemplified by the fewer side effects of semisynthetic epirubicin (4'-epi-doxorubicin). An efficient combinatorial biosynthetic system that can convert the exogenous aglycone ε-rhodomycinone into diverse glycosylated derivatives of doxorubicin or its biosynthetic intermediates, rhodomycin D and daunorubicin, was developed through the use of Streptomyces venezuelae mutants carrying plasmids that direct the biosynthesis of different nucleotide deoxysugars and their transfer onto aglycone, as well as the postglycosylation modifications. This system improved epirubicin production from ε-rhodomycinone by selecting a substrate flexible glycosyltransferase, AknS, which was able to transfer the unnatural sugar donors and a TDP-4-ketohexose reductase, AvrE, which efficiently supported the biosynthesis of TDP-4-epi-l-daunosamine. Furthermore, a range of doxorubicin analogs containing diverse deoxysugar moieties, seven of which are novel rhodomycin D derivatives, were generated. This provides new insights into the functions of deoxysugar biosynthetic enzymes and demonstrates the potential of the S. venezuelae-based combinatorial biosynthetic system as a simple biological tool for modifying structurally complex sugar moieties attached to anthracyclines as an alternative to chemical syntheses for improving anticancer agents.     

Expanded Natural Product Diversity Revealed by Analysis of Lanthipeptide-Like Gene Clusters in Actinobacteria

Lanthionine-containing peptides (lanthipeptides) are a rapidly growing family of polycyclic peptide natural products belonging to the large class of ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs). Lanthipeptides are widely distributed in taxonomically distant species, and their currently known biosynthetic systems and biological activities are diverse. Building on the recent natural product gene cluster family (GCF) project, we report here large-scale analysis of lanthipeptide-like biosynthetic gene clusters from Actinobacteria. Our analysis suggests that lanthipeptide biosynthetic pathways, and by extrapolation the natural products themselves, are much more diverse than currently appreciated and contain many different posttranslational modifications. Furthermore, lanthionine synthetases are much more diverse in sequence and domain topology than currently characterized systems, and they are used by the biosynthetic machineries for natural products other than lanthipeptides. The gene cluster families described here significantly expand the chemical diversity and biosynthetic repertoire of lanthionine-related natural products. Biosynthesis of these novel natural products likely involves unusual and unprecedented biochemistries, as illustrated by several examples discussed in this study. In addition, class IV lanthipeptide gene clusters are shown not to be silent, setting the stage to investigate their biological activities.     

Mechanisms and structures of vitamin B(6)-dependent enzymes involved in deoxy sugar biosynthesis

PLP is well-regarded for its role as a coenzyme in a number of diverse enzymatic reactions. Transamination, deoxygenation, and aldol reactions mediated by PLP-dependent enzymes enliven and enrich deoxy sugar biosynthesis, endowing these compounds with unique structures and contributing to their roles as determinants of biological activity in many natural products. The importance of deoxy aminosugars in natural product biosynthesis has spurred several recent structural investigations of sugar aminotransferases. The structure of a PMP-dependent enzyme catalyzing the C-3 deoxygenation reaction in the biosynthesis of ascarylose was also determined. These studies, and the crystal structures they have provided, offer a wealth of new insights regarding the enzymology of PLP/PMP-dependent enzymes in deoxy sugar biosynthesis. In this review, we consider these recent achievements in the structural biology of deoxy sugar biosynthetic enzymes and the important implications they hold for understanding enzyme catalysis and natural product biosynthesis in general. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Pyridoxal Phosphate Enzymology.     

Engineering the glycosylation of natural products in actinomycetes

Bioactive natural products are frequently glycosylated with saccharide chains of different length, in which the sugars contribute to specific interactions with the biological target. Combinatorial biosynthesis approaches are being used in antibiotic-producing actinomycetes to generate derivatives with novel sugars in their architecture. Recent advances in this area indicate that glycosyltransferases involved in the biosynthesis of natural products have substrate flexibility regarding the sugar donor but also, less frequently, with respect to the aglycon acceptor. Therefore, the possibility exists of altering the glycosylation pattern of natural products, thus enabling an increase in the structural diversity of natural products.     

A strategy for cloning glycosyltransferase genes involved in natural product biosynthesis

The soil-borne and marine gram-positive Actinomycetes are a particularly rich source of carbohydrate-containing metabolites. With the advent of molecular tools and recombinant methods applicable to Actinomycetes, it has become feasible to investigate the biosynthesis of glycosylated compounds at genetic and biochemical levels, which has finally set the basis for engineering novel natural product derivatives. Glycosyltransferases (GT) are key enzymes for the biosynthesis of many valuable natural products that contain sugar moieties and they are most important for drug engineering. So far, the direct cloning of unknown glycosyltransferase genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has not been described because glycosyltransferases do not share strongly conserved amino acid regions. In this study, we report a method for cloning of novel so far unidentified glycosyltransferase genes from different Actinomycetes strain. This was achieved by designing primers after a strategy named consensus-degenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primer (CODEHOP). Using this approach, 22 novel glycosyltransferase encoding genes putatively involved in the decoration of polyketides were cloned from the genomes of 10 Actinomycetes. In addition, a phylogenetic analysis of glycosyltransferases from Actinomycetes is shown in this paper.     

酵母生物多样性开发及工业应用

酵母是一类包括酿酒酵母和非常规酵母在内的多种单细胞真菌的总称,其中酿酒酵母是应用较多的重要工业微生物,广泛应用于生物医药、食品、轻工和生物燃料生产等不同生物制造领域。近年来,研究者从不同生态环境中分离了大量的酵母菌株,鉴定了多个新种,也发现了抗逆性不同以及具有多种活性产物合成能力的菌株,证明天然酵母资源具有丰富的生物多样性和功能多样性。利用基因组挖掘以及转录组、蛋白组等多组学分析研究,可进一步开发利用酵母遗传多样性,获得酶和调节蛋白的基因以及启动子等遗传元件改造酵母菌株。除了利用酵母的天然遗传多样性,还可通过诱变、驯化、代谢工程改造及合成生物学等技术产生具有多种非天然多样性的菌株。此外,对天然遗传元件也可以进行突变和定向进化,所产生的新遗传元件可用于有效提升菌株的性能。开发利用酵母的生物多样性,对构建高效酵母细胞工厂,生产生物酶、疫苗以及多种活性天然产物等产品具有重要意义。文中对酵母生物多样性的研究现状进行综述,并对未来高效开发利用酵母菌株资源和遗传资源的研究进行了展望。文中所总结的研究方法和思路也可为研究其他工业微生物的多样性及进行高效菌株的选育提供参考。     

Production of isoprenoid pharmaceuticals by engineered microbes

Throughout human history, natural products have been the foundation for the discovery and development of therapeutics used to treat diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer. Their chemical diversity and complexity have provided structural scaffolds for small-molecule drugs and have consistently served as inspiration for medicinal design. However, the chemical complexity of natural products also presents one of the main roadblocks for production of these pharmaceuticals on an industrial scale. Chemical synthesis of natural products is often difficult and expensive, and isolation from their natural sources is also typically low yielding. Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering offer an alternative approach that is becoming more accessible as the tools for engineering microbes are further developed. By reconstructing heterologous metabolic pathways in genetically tractable host organisms, complex natural products can be produced from inexpensive sugar starting materials through large-scale fermentation processes. In this Perspective, we discuss ongoing research aimed toward the production of terpenoid natural products in genetically engineered Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

Metabolic and functional diversity of saponins,biosynthetic intermediates and semi-synthetic derivatives

Abstract

Saponins are widely distributed plant natural products with vast structural and functional diversity. They are typically composed of a hydrophobic aglycone, which is extensively decorated with functional groups prior to the addition of hydrophilic sugar moieties, to result in surface-active amphipathic compounds. The saponins are broadly classified as triterpenoids, steroids or steroidal glycoalkaloids, based on the aglycone structure from which they are derived. The saponins and their biosynthetic intermediates display a variety of biological activities of interest to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food sectors. Although their relevance in industrial applications has long been recognized, their role in plants is underexplored. Recent research on modulating native pathway flux in saponin biosynthesis has demonstrated the roles of saponins and their biosynthetic intermediates in plant growth and development. Here, we review the literature on the effects of these molecules on plant physiology, which collectively implicate them in plant primary processes. The industrial uses and potential of saponins are discussed with respect to structure and activity, highlighting the undoubted value of these molecules as therapeutics.     

萜烯生物合成中关键酶的研究进展*

萜烯类化合物是一类高度多样化的天然产物,具有抗肿瘤、抗氧化及免疫调节等生理活性,因此被广泛应用于医药健康、食品、化妆品领域。然而,直接从自然资源中获取萜烯类化合物效率低、成本高,且往往对生态环境产生不利影响,不能实现绿色可持续生产。微生物合成萜烯类化合物近年来备受关注,研究人员从合成途径的构建与调控、关键酶的理性及半理性改造、发酵工艺优化等多个方面进行了探究,取得了丰硕的成果。其中,合成途径中关键酶的催化效率是影响微生物生产萜烯类化合物的重要因素。针对关键酶的研究对于提高微生物合成萜烯类化合物的能力,推动该类天然产物微生物生产的大规模应用具有重要意义。对萜烯类化合物合成途径中的3-羟基-3-甲基戊二酰辅酶A还原酶(HMGR)、1-脱氧-D-木酮糖-5-磷酸合酶(DXS)、异戊二烯基二磷酸合成酶(IDS)和萜烯合酶(TPS)4种关键酶的研究进行了综述,并总结讨论了如何通过代谢工程和蛋白质工程手段以及合成生物学技术调节关键酶的催化活性,提高微生物合成萜烯类化合物的效率,对未来利用微生物合成萜烯类化合物的发展进行了展望。     

Glycosyltransferases and their products: cryptococcal variations on fungal themes

Glycosyltransferases are specific enzymes that catalyse the transfer of monosaccharide moieties to biological substrates, including proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. These enzymes are present from prokaryotes to humans, and their glycoconjugate products are often vital for survival of the organism. Many glycosyltransferases found in fungal pathogens such as Cryptococcus neoformans do not exist in mammalian systems, making them attractive potential targets for selectively toxic agents. In this article, we present the features of this diverse class of enzymes, and review the fungal glycosyltransferases that are involved in synthesis of the cell wall, the cryptococcal capsule, glycoproteins and glycolipids. We specifically focus on enzymes that have been identified or studied in C. neoformans, and we consider future directions for research on glycosyltransferases in the context of this opportunistic pathogen.     

The Formation of Sugar Chains in Triterpenoid Saponins and Glycoalkaloids

Triterpenoid saponins and structurally related steroidal glycoalkaloids are a large and diverse family of plant glycosides. The importance of these compounds for chemical protection of plants against microbial pathogens and/or herbivores is now well-documented. Moreover, these compounds have a variety of commercial applications, e.g. as drugs or raw materials for pharmaceutical industry. Until recently there were only sparse data on the biosynthesis of saponins and glycoalkaloids, especially at the enzyme level. Substantial progress has recently been made, however, in our understanding of biosynthetic routes leading to the formation of the diverse array of aglycone skeletons found in these compounds as well as mechanisms of synthesis of their sugar moieties. This review highlights some of the advances made over past two decades in our understanding of the formation and modification of sugar moieties in triterpenoid saponins and glycoalkaloids.     

Pipecolic acid in microbes: biosynthetic routes and enzymes

Pipecolic acid is an important precursor of many useful microbial secondary metabolites. Pipecolic acid-derived moieties are often crucial for the biological activities of some microbial natural products with pharmaceutical applications. Understanding the biogenesis of pipecolic acid in microorganisms would be a significant step toward the mutasynthesis of novel analogs of choice. This review focuses on various microbial pathways and enzymes for pipecolic acid synthesis, especially those related to the origination of pipecolic acid moieties in secondary metabolites.     

Biological activities and potential cosmeceutical applications of bioactive components from brown seaweeds: a review

Seaweeds are the primary producers of all aquatic ecosystems. Chemical constituents isolated from diverse classes of seaweeds exert a wide range of nutritional, functional and biological activities. Unique metabolites of seaweeds possess specific biological properties that make them potential ingredients of many industrial applications such as functional foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals. Cosmeceuticals of natural origin are becoming more popular than synthetic cosmetics. Hence, the investigation of new seaweeds derived functional components, a different source of natural products, has proven to be a promising area of cosmeceutical studies. Brown seaweeds also produce a range of active components including unique secondary metabolites such as phlorotannins and many of which have specific biological activities that give possibilities for their economic utilization. Brown seaweeds derived active compounds have been shown various functional properties including, antioxidant, antiwrinkling, whitening, antiinflammatory and antiallergy. It is well-known that these kind of biological effects are closely associated with cosmeceutical preparations. This communication reviews the current knowledge on brown seaweeds derived metabolites with various biological activities and the potential use as cosmeceutical ingredients. It is hoped that the reviewed literature on multifunctional properties of brown seaweeds will improve access to the seaweed based natural products specially the ability to incorporate these functional properties in cosmeceutical applications.     

Plants as potential sources of natural immunomodulators

In recent years, the immunomodulating properties of plants are being studied extensively with greater interest due to the growing awareness on immune system modulation and to achieve the desirable effects on disease prevention. Several plant remedies well-known in traditional medicine exert their anti-infective effects not only by directly affecting the pathogen, but also by stimulating natural and adaptive defense mechanisms of the host. Therefore plant-remedies have become versatile means with improved immunotherapy. The aim of this review is to highlight the efficacy of available literature evidences on natural immunomodulators of plant origin. In addition, several aspects on plants and their phytoconstituents responsible for immunomodulation have been discussed. A brief explanation has also been given on the use and efficacy of chemical immunomodulators. Moreover, this review also discusses biological screening methods for various plant-based immunodrugs that focus on revealing the mechanism involved in immunomodulation. Hence, botanicals, the diverse chemical complexes, could provide appropriate combinations of synergistic moieties useful in immune drug discovery. In this article, we reviewed the importance of traditional medicines as natural products related to immunodrugs.     

Variability in the carbazole assay for N-desulfonated/N-acylated heparin derivatives

The carbazole assay is commonly employed to quantify heparin and other uronic acid-containing polysaccharides. Heparin-derived standard curves are often employed to quantify solutions of various natural and unnatural heparin structures that have different levels of sulfate substitution, different levels of N-sulfo and N-acetyl groups, and other structural changes as a consequence of reducing molecular weight. Recent studies in our laboratory have focused on chemically modified heparin derivatives comprised of structurally diverse N-acyl moieties substituted into heparin in place of N-sulfo groups. We report here that although differing degrees of 2-N-sulfo-, 2-N-acetyl- or 2-amino-d-glucosamine residues within heparin do not affect signal intensity in the carbazole assay, replacing N-sulfo groups in heparin with structurally diverse N-acyl moieties affords products that display significant variation in the assay. The structure of different N-acyl groups, and to a lesser extent the degree of N-acylation by individual N-acyl groups, is shown to variably alter signal intensity in the carbazole assay even though content and structure of uronic acid residues is unaltered.     

Application of MS and NMR to the structure elucidation of complex sugar moieties of natural products: exemplified by the steroidal saponin from Yucca filamentosa L

An approach, using well characterized procedures, is presented that should be of general applicability for the structural elucidation of complex sugar moieties of natural products. The methods used are exemplified by the structure elucidation of a new gitogenin-based steroidal saponin that has a strong leishmanicidal activity similar to preparations used in clinical practice and has been isolated by bioactivity-guided fractionation of the ethanolic extract of Yucca filamentosa L. leaves. The saponin has been characterized as 3-O-((beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3)- beta-D-glucopyranosy-(1-->2))(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3))-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-25R,5alpha-spirostan-2alpha,3beta-diol.     

酵母N-糖基化工程研究进展

酵母表达系统可用来生产具生物活性的重组糖蛋白,但其在N-糖基化过程中会生成高甘露糖型糖链。通过引入相关的甘露糖苷酶和糖基转移酶基因、切断酵母自身的高甘露糖链形成通道能够改变酵母宿主N-糖基化的类型。本对酵母N-糖基化工程的研究状况、最新进展及存在问题作简要阐述。