聚苹果酸的微生物合成及应用研究进展

聚苹果酸是一种优良的完全可生物降解的生物活性材料,在医学和药学领域有着极大的应用潜力。文中结合我们的工作总结了近年来聚苹果酸代谢、聚苹果酸的微生物发酵合成以及聚苹果酸在医药领域的应用等方面的研究进展,并对聚苹果酸的深入研究作了展望。     

解脂耶氏酵母表达调控工具的开发及天然产物合成的研究进展

解脂耶氏酵母是一种重要的产油酵母,由于其能利用多种疏水性底物,具有良好的耐酸、耐盐等胁迫耐受性,具有高通量的三羧酸循环,可提供充足的乙酰辅酶A前体等特点,被认为是生产萜类、聚酮类和黄酮类等天然产物的理想宿主,在代谢工程领域有着广泛的应用。近年来,越来越多的基因编辑、表达和调控工具被逐渐开发,这促进了解脂耶氏酵母合成各种天然产物的研究。文中综述了近年来解脂耶氏酵母中基因表达和天然产物合成方面的研究进展,并探讨了在该酵母中异源合成天然产物所面临的挑战和可能的解决方案。     

聚谷氨酸衍生物及其在生物医药领域中的应用

聚谷氨酸衍生物是在γ-聚谷氨酸的基础上发展而来的,具有独特的结构和性能,在医药领域中有潜在的应用价值。聚谷氨酸衍生物按照其设计和制备特点,可分成3种类型:γ-聚谷氨酸修饰衍生物、含谷氨酸结构单元的衍生物和γ-聚谷氨酸交联衍生物。现分别介绍不同类型衍生物的合成思路、性质特征和具体应用。这将有助于γ-聚谷氨酸衍生物在医药领域的研究和应用,同时也能为这一领域其他高分子材料的开发提供借鉴。     

基于生物信息学分析从Streptomyces albofaciens JCM 4342中发现2,3-二羟基苯甲酸酯-L-丝氨酸脱水三聚体和二聚体天然产物

[背景] 铁是细菌生长的基本元素,而三价铁在自然水环境中几乎无法溶解。细菌已经进化出产生各种铁载体的能力,以促进铁的吸收。对于链霉菌,其特有的铁载体是去铁胺,同时它们也可以产生其他结构的铁载体,如ceolichelin、白霉素、肠杆菌素（enterobactin）和griseobactin。[目的] 揭示链霉菌中铁载体生物合成基因簇（Biosynthetic Gene Clusters,BGCs）的分布特点和基因簇特征,并探索其所合成铁载体的化合物结构。[方法] 利用生物信息学工具系统地分析308个具有全基因组序列信息的链霉菌中的铁载体生物合成基因簇,并用色谱和波谱方法分离和表征肠杆菌素相关天然产物。[结果] 发现Streptomyces albofaciens JCM 4342和其他少数菌株同时含有一个缺少2,3-二羟基苯甲酸（2,3-DHB）生物合成基因的孤立的肠杆菌素生物合成基因簇和另外一个推测可合成griseobactin的基因簇。从S.albofaciens JCM 4342发酵液中鉴定出4个肠杆菌素衍生的天然产物,包括链状2,3-二羟基苯甲酸酯-l-丝氨酸（2,3-DHBS）的三聚体和二聚体以及它们的脱水产物。[结论] 2个基因簇间存在一种特别的协同生物合成机制。推测是griseobactin基因簇负责合成2,3-DHB,而孤立的肠杆菌素基因簇编码的生物合成酶可夺取该底物,进而完成上述4种肠杆菌素衍生天然产物的生物合成。     

生物酶法合成L-精氨酸衍生物的研究进展

L-精氨酸是一种碱性氨基酸,具有多样化的官能团,是合成多种有用化合物的前体,其衍生物广泛应用于医疗、食品和化妆品等领域。L-精氨酸衍生物的合成方法有化学法、发酵法和酶法。在当前绿色经济和可持续发展的背景下,对比各种生产方法,生物酶法合成L-精氨酸衍生物具有明显优势。因此本文重点介绍了L-精氨酸衍生化的典型产品和合成技术,并介绍了生物酶法合成L-精氨酸衍生物未来可能的发展方向。     

微生物异源合成咖啡酸及其酯类衍生物研究进展

咖啡酸及其酯类衍生物如绿原酸、迷迭香酸和咖啡酸苯乙酯等具有天然抗氧化、抗肿瘤、抗病毒和抗炎等重要的药理活性,具有广阔的药用开发前景。从天然药物中提取或者化学合成咖啡酸及其酯类衍生物,存在含量低、提取效率不高、催化成本高昂以及环境污染等问题。随着咖啡酸及其酯类衍生物合成途径解析和合成生物学的快速发展,微生物异源合成咖啡酸及其酯类衍生物的研究已逐渐展开。对微生物异源合成咖啡酸及其酯类衍生物合成途径的最新进展以及代谢工程策略进行了综述,并讨论了目前存在的问题和未来的发展趋势。     

珊瑚来源真菌Parengyodontium album SCSIO SX7W11中聚酮化合物的发现及其生物合成途径分析

海洋来源真菌的天然产物因其独特的结构与生物学活性而备受关注,而利用基因组信息对其代谢产物进行深入挖掘也成为研究策略之一。[目的] 本文以一株南海珊瑚来源的真菌Parengyodontium album SCSIO SX7W11为目标菌株,挖掘其生产聚酮类化合物的潜能。[方法] 本研究利用Illumina Miseq技术对SX7W11菌株进行全基因组扫描测序,运用生物信息学手段对其基因组的生物合成基因簇进行预测和基因功能注释,挖掘可能产生新颖聚酮化合物的基因簇。对SX7W11进行放大发酵后,利用正相色谱、中压反相色谱、Sephadex LH-20凝胶色谱、HPLC半制备等分离手段分离纯化出单体化合物。再利用高分辨质谱（HR-ESI-MS）、¹H NMR、¹³C NMR、X-ray单晶衍射等波谱手段确定化合物的结构,并根据生物合成基因簇对化合物的生物合成途径进行推导。[结果] 全基因组扫描测序结果显示,P.album SCSIO SX7W11基因组大小为34.0 Mb,含有24个生物合成基因簇,包括6个聚酮合酶基因簇以及3个萜烯合酶基因簇。从发酵产物中分离鉴定到3个聚酮类化合物：emodin（1）、alternaphenol B（2）和sydowinin A（3）,其中化合物3获得了单晶结构数据。通过生物信息学方法从菌株基因组中定位到了sydowinin A的生物合成基因簇。结合文献对emodin（1）、alternaphenol B（2）和sydowinin A（3）的生物合成途径进行了分析。[结论] 本研究通过基因组挖掘及培养基优化,发现1株珊瑚来源的真菌P.album SCSIO SX7W11具有生产sydowinins类聚酮类化合物的能力,为该类化合物生物合成机制深入研究奠定了基础。     

微生物合成丙二酰辅酶A衍生物的代谢工程

丙二酰辅酶A是一种重要的微生物胞内代谢中间产物,由于其独特的结构,可衍生为几类具有独特结构的化合物,包括:脂肪酸类化合物、生物基化学品和植物源黄酮及聚酮类天然产物等。这些化合物广泛应用于食品、医药、化工和能源等领域。目前,微生物大量合成上述丙二酰辅酶A衍生物的限制性因素是其胞内较低的丙二酰辅酶A含量。本文中,笔者以提高微生物合成丙二酰辅酶A衍生物为核心,综述了提高其前体丙二酰辅酶A导向目标产物的代谢工程策略,包括丙二酰辅酶A合成途径的强化、竞争支路途径的消减以及其含量的精细调控等,以期为微生物合成丙二酰辅酶A衍生物的进一步研究提供参考。     

过表达乙酰辅酶A乙酰基转移酶2基因(RKAcat2)对红冬孢酵母产类胡萝卜素的影响

[背景] 乙酰辅酶A乙酰基转移酶（Acetyl Coenzyme A Acyltransferase,Acat）是硫解酶家族的一员,分为I型和II型,而II型作为甲羟戊酸（Mevalonate,MVA）途径的第一个限速酶,其表达水平和催化活性会影响萜类及其衍生物的合成量。[目的] 分析Acat II型基因的过表达对红冬孢酵母产类胡萝卜素的影响。[方法] 从红冬孢酵母YM25235菌株中克隆编码Acat II型的基因RKAcat2,将其回转到红冬孢酵母YM25235菌株中,构建一株RKAcat2基因过表达菌株进行分析。[结果] 与对照菌株相比,RKAcat2基因过表达使YM25235菌株中类胡萝卜素含量提高了50.53%,而菌株中油脂含量降低了22.80%,脂肪酸组成中油酸含量显著下降了17.78%,而且菌株中乙酰辅酶A （Coenzyme A,CoA）的含量也下降了13.64%。[结论] 过表达RKAcat2基因促进更多乙酰CoA进入MVA途径中,从而提高了类胡萝卜素的合成水平,这与部分MVA途径和类胡萝卜素合成途径中基因的转录分析结果一致。研究结果可为进一步通过代谢工程手段提高产油红酵母中类胡萝卜素及其特定组分含量的研究提供参考。     

粉尘螨线粒体样苹果酸脱氢酶基因cDNA克隆和分子特征分析

摘要 目的：获取粉尘螨线粒体样苹果酸脱氢酶蛋白（mitochondrial-like malate dehydrogenase，mMDH）的编码基因并了解其分子特征。方法：以粉尘螨Total RNA为模板，RT-PCR扩增获得mMDH编码基因后、构建原核表达质粒，转化E.coil BL21(DE3)感受态细胞中，IPTG诱导表达，SDS-PAGE和Western Blot鉴定目的蛋白表达情况。采用NCBI、EXPASY在线生物信息学软件分析该基因编码蛋白质的生物学特征。结果：获得粉尘螨线粒体样苹果酸脱氢酶蛋白的编码基因，全长1032bp。构建的原核表达质粒pET28a(+)-mMDH，经转化和诱导表达后，SDS-PAGE和Western Blot可见目的蛋白条带。该基因编码的蛋白质由343个氨基酸组成，相对分子质量（Mr）36014.54Da，亚细胞定位主要在细胞质和细胞核，含有34个磷酸化位点（19个丝氨酸，12个苏氨酸和3个酪氨酸）。糖基化预测结果显示其含有2个N-糖基化位点（123位存在糖基化位点NASI和151位存在糖基化位点NSTV）和1个0-糖基化位点。二级结构主要为?琢-螺旋和无规则卷曲。三维建模可观察到该蛋白为二聚体结构，CD-Search保守区域分析后显示其属于NADB-Rossmann家族，具有MDH-glyoxysomal-mitochondrial结构域。PyMol可视化后可在三维结构中观察到保守区域位点。将该基因推导出的氨基酸序列进行Blast获得同源基因，粉尘螨与屋尘螨、梅氏嗜霉螨进化关系较近，独成一簇。结论：获得粉尘螨线粒体样苹果酸脱氢酶蛋白的编码基因全长及其原核表达质粒，并对其生物学特征进行分析，为进一步探讨该基因的生理功能、开发尘螨控制措施奠定基础。     

Poly(β-<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-malic acid) (PMLA) from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aureobasidium</Emphasis> spp. and its current proceedings

Poly(β-l-malic acid) is one natural biopolymer that has the outstanding features of biocompatibility, biodegradability, water solubility, and non-immunogenicity, and it is easily chemically modified. So poly(β-l-malic acid) (PMLA) and its derivatives may have a great potential application as a novel drug delivery system and in the production of advanced biomaterials which have attracted so much research attention. The fungi of Aureobasidium spp. have been discovered to be the most suitable candidates for PMLA production in large quantities which satisfy the demand of either research or industry. In this review, we will give an overall summary about the PMLA produced by Aureobasidium spp. based on related research in the last decades and the elaboration of this PMLA producer will also be accomplished. More importantly, the latest proceedings will be specified and some suggestions to the elucidation of a PMLA biosynthesis pathway which remains undefined up to date will be proposed. Finally, through this review, the further exploitation for the application of PMLA from Aureobasidium spp. can be emphasized and promoted.     

High-level production of poly (β-<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-malic acid) with a new isolated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aureobasidium pullulans</Emphasis> strain

Poly (β-l-malic acid) (PMLA) is a water-soluble polyester with many attractive properties in chemical industry and medicine development. However, the low titer of PMLA in the available producer strains limits further industrialization efforts and restricts its many potential applications. In order to solve this problem, a new strain with the distinguished high productivity of PMLA was isolated from fresh plants samples. It was characterized as the candidate of Aureobasidium pullulans based on the morphology and phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer sequences. After the optimization of culture conditions, the highest PMLA concentration (62.27 g l⁻¹) could be achieved in the shake flask scale. In addition, the contribution of the carbon flux to exopolysaccharide (EPS) and PMLA could be regulated by the addition of CaCO₃ in the medium. This high-level fermentation process was further scaled up in the 10 l benchtop fermentor with a high PMLA concentration (57.2 g l⁻¹) and productivity (0.35 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹), which are the highest level in all the literature. Finally, the suitable acid hydrolysis conditions of PMLA were also investigated with regard to the production of l-malic acid, and the kinetics of PMLA acid hydrolysis was modeled to simulate the whole degradation process. The present work paved the road to produce this multifunctional biomaterial (PMLA) at industrial scale and promised one alternative method to produce l-malic acid in the future.     

Thermotropic and structural effects of poly(malic acid) on fully hydrated multilamellar DPPC–water systems

The thermotropic and structural effects of low molecular weight poly(malic acid) (PMLA) on fully hydrated multilamellar dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)–water systems were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FFTEM). Systems of 20 wt% DPPC concentration and 1 and 5 wt% PMLA to lipid ratios were studied. The PMLA derivatives changed the thermal behavior of DPPC significantly and caused a drastic loss in correlation between lamellae in the three characteristic thermotropic states (i.e., in the gel, rippled gel and liquid crystalline phases). In the presence of PBS or NaCl, the perturbation was more moderate. The structural behavior on the atomic level was revealed by FTIR spectroscopy. The molecular interactions between DPPC and PMLA were simulated via modeling its measured infrared spectra, and their peculiar spectral features were interpreted. Through this interpretation, the poly(malic acid) is inferred to attach to the headgroups of the phospholipids through hydrogen bonds between the free hydroxil groups of PMLA and the phosphodiester groups of DPPC.     

Design,synthesis, biological activities,and dynamic simulation study of novel thiourea derivatives with gibberellin activity towards Arabidopsis thaliana

Computer-aided drug design has advanced by leaps and bounds, and has been widely used in various fields, and especially in the field of drug discovery. Although the crystal structure of the gibberellin (GA) receptor GID1A had been reported in previous studies, there is still a lack of designs of gibberellin functional analogue based GID1A. In the present study, a series of 30 thiourea derivatives were designed, synthesized and biologically assayed. The results suggested that the synthetic compounds had good GA-like activities. Furthermore, the structure-activity relationship of the synthetic compounds was discussed, and the dynamic simulation and docking study revealed the binding properties of the GID1A receptor and compounds Y1, Y11, and Y21.     

β‐poly(l‐malic acid) production by fed‐batch culture of Aureobasidium pullulans ipe‐1 with mixed sugars

β‐poly(l ‐malic acid) (PMLA) is a biopolyester, which has attracted growing attention due to its potential applications in medicine and other industries. In this study, the biosynthetic pathway of PMLA and the fermentation strategies with mixed sugars were both investigated to enhance PMLA production by Aureobasidium pullulans ipe‐1. Metabolic intermediates and inhibitors were used to study the biosynthetic pathway of PMLA. It showed that exogenous addition of l ‐malic acid, succinic acid, TFA, and avidin had negligible effect on PMLA production, while pyruvic acid and biotin were the inhibitors, indicating that PMLA biosynthesis was probably related to phosphoenolpyruvate via oxaloacetate catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Sucrose was suitable for achieving the highest PMLA concentration, while fructose generated a higher yield of PMLA (PMLA produced per biomass). Furthermore, the fed‐batch culture using fed solution with different sugar mixture for PMLA production was implemented. During the fed‐batch culture with mixed solution, fructose could increase PMLA production. Compared with the batch culture, the feeding with mixed sugar (sucrose and glucose) increased PMLA concentration by 23.9%, up to 63.2 g/L, and the final volume of the broth was increased by 25%. These results provide a good reference for process development and optimization of PMLA production.     

Abiotic stress protection by ecologically abundant dimethylsulfoniopropionate and its natural and synthetic derivatives: insights from Bacillus subtilis

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is an abundant osmolyte and anti‐stress compound produced primarily in marine ecosystems. After its release into the environment, microorganisms can exploit DMSP as a source of sulfur and carbon, or accumulate it as an osmoprotectant. However, import systems for this ecophysiologically important compatible solute, and its stress‐protective properties for microorganisms that do not produce it are insufficiently understood. Here we address these questions using a well‐characterized set of Bacillus subtilis mutants to chemically profile the influence of DMSP import on stress resistance, the osmostress‐adaptive proline pool and on osmotically controlled gene expression. We included in this study the naturally occurring selenium analogue of DMSP, dimethylseleniopropionate (DMSeP), as well as a set of synthetic DMSP derivatives. We found that DMSP is not a nutrient for B. subtilis, but it serves as an excellent stress protectant against challenges conferred by sustained high salinity or lasting extremes in both low and high growth temperatures. DMSeP and synthetic DMSP derivatives retain part of these stress protective attributes, but DMSP is clearly the more effective stress protectant. We identified the promiscuous and widely distributed ABC transporter OpuC as a high‐affinity uptake system not only for DMSP, but also for its natural and synthetic derivatives.     

Improved Synthesis of 2′,3′-Dideoxycytidine (d2C) and Its Correlated Nucleoside Analogues

Abstract

2′,3′-dideoxy- and 2′,3′-dideoxy-2′,3′-didehydrocy-tidine (d2C and d4C) have been synthesized in good yields from 2′-deoxyuridine via dichlorinated derivatives 7a-b. The same synthetic strategy was used in the synthesis of d2C^Me and d4C^Me from thymidine. Following this method the evaluable 3′-chloro-2′-deoxycytidine derivatives 9-12 can easily be obtained.     

β-Poly(l-malate) production by Physarum polycephalum

β-Poly(l-malate) (PMLA) production in Physarum polycephalum has been followed by using d-[1-¹³C]glucose and Ca¹³CO₃. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of PMLA showed that the ¹³C label from [1-¹³C]glucose was incorporated in the presence of CaCO₃ into positions C-3 (-CH₂-) and C-4 (-CO-) of the l-malate repeating unit of PMLA. The ¹³C label from Ca¹³CO₃ was incorporated into position C-4 and indicated that not only the endogenous CO₂ but also the exogenous CO₂ from CaCO₃ served significantly as a carbon source for PMLA production. In the absence of CaCO₃, the ¹³C labeling pattern of PMLA from d-[1-¹³C]glucose was almost indistinguishable from that for the natural abundance ¹³C-NMR spectrum of the polymer. These results indicated that l-malate used for PMLA production is synthesized either via carboxylation of pyruvate and reduction of oxaloacetate in the presence of CaCO₃ or via the oxidative tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in the absence of CaCO₃. Avidin strongly inhibited the formation of l-malate via carboxylation; the ¹³C labeling pattern of PMLA in the presence of CaCO₃ was almost identical with that for the natural abundance spectrum when avidin was added, indicating that l-malate utilized for PMLA production was supplied under this condition by the oxidative TCA cycle. Received: 16 March 1999 / Received revision: 5 May 1999 / Accepted: 7 May 1999     

Effects of culture conditions on β-poly(l-malate) production by Physarum polycephalum

Culture conditions for the fermentative production of β-poly(l-malate) (PMLA) by microplasmodia of Physarum polycephalum were investigated and optimized. Optimal production was achieved in the presence of CaCO₃. For 1.5% (w/v) d-glucose, 1% bactotryptone and 1% CaCO₃, a maximum of 1.7 g PMLA/l was secreted in 3 days. For 4.5% glucose and otherwise the same conditions, 2.7 g PMLA/l was produced in 6 days. The contribution of carbonate was inhibited by avidin. PMLA and biomass production were not strictly coupled: PMLA was also synthesized at the beginning of the stationary phase. At pH 5.5 PMLA production was twice that at pH 4.0, while biomass was not changed. Optimal temperatures were 24–28 °C. Received: 12 November 1998 / Received revision: 10 February 1999 / Accepted: 12 February 1999     

Designing of benzothiazole derivatives as promising EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors: a pharmacoinformatics study

Abstract

Benzothiazole derivatives represent an important class of therapeutic chemical agents and are widely used for interesting biological activities and therapeutic functions including anticancer, antitumor and antimicrobial. In this study, we have performed similarity/substructure-based search of eMolecule database to find out promising benzothiazole derivatives as EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Several screening criteria that included molecular docking, pharmacokinetics and synthetic accessibility were used on initially derived about 7000 molecules consisting of benzothiazole as major component. Finally, four molecules were found to be promising EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The best docked pose of each molecule was considered for binding interactions followed by molecular dynamics (MD) and binding energy calculation. Molecular docking clearly showed the final proposed derivatives potential to form a number of binding interactions. MD simulation trajectories undoubtedly indicated that the EGFR protein becomes stable when proposed derivatives bind to the receptor cavity. Strong binding affinity was found for all molecules toward the EGFR which was substantiated by the binding energy calculation using the MM-PBSA approach. Therefore, proposed benzothiazole derivatives may be promising EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors for potential application as cancer therapy.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma