微生物脂肪酶资源挖掘及其催化性能改良策略

脂肪酶催化在食品、医药、化工、能源等领域发挥重要作用.开发新型微生物脂肪酶资源,对脂肪酶进行修饰改良,是脂肪酶催化领域的重要研发内容.极端微生物和不可培养微生物脂肪酶的发掘是获取新型工业催化剂的热点;体外定向进化、杂合酶、表面展示等蛋白质工程等分子生物学技术手段为开发特定性质"新酶"提供了有力工具;生物印迹、pH记忆、定向固定化、交联酶晶体、脂质体包埋等高效物理化学修饰方法拓宽了脂肪酶原有的催化性质.微生物脂肪酶资源挖掘及其改良将推动脂肪酶的生物催化产业快速发展.     

酪氨酸酶、漆酶和谷氨酰胺转氨酶催化交联蛋白质的比较分析

蛋白质交联在食品加工、组织工程、酶工程和药物传递等领域具有广泛用途。以酪蛋白和牛血清白蛋白(BSA)为模式蛋白,考察酪氨酸酶、漆酶和谷氨酰胺转氨酶催化蛋白质交联的底物特异性及交联规律,揭示酶对底物蛋白质结构及反应条件的要求。采用十二烷基磺酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(SDS-PAGE)分析酶催化蛋白质交联规律,激光粒度分布仪测量交联产物粒径。结果表明：酪氨酸酶、漆酶和谷氨酰胺转氨酶对底物的特异性有共同特征,即均可以催化结构松散的蛋白质分子(酪蛋白)交联,但不能催化结构紧密的蛋白质分子(BSA)交联;还原剂二硫苏糖醇(DTT)的加入能促进酶催化BSA交联反应;DTT对酪氨酸酶和谷氨酰胺转氨酶催化酪蛋白交联无影响,但抑制漆酶对酪蛋白的交联。     

微生物谷氨酰胺转胺酶的表达及分子改造研究进展

微生物谷氨酰胺转胺酶具有催化蛋白质和某些非蛋白物质交联的功能,被广泛应用于食品、医药及纺织等领域.为提高该酶的产量及建立相应的分子改造平台,上世纪90年代日本味之素公司便开展了微生物谷氨酰胺转胺酶重组菌构建的研究.目前,该酶已在多个表达系统中实现活性表达,部分重组菌较野生菌的产酶能力有显著提高.近年来,谷氨酰胺转胺酶的分子改造研究也取得了初步进展,酶的催化活力、热稳定性及底物专一性得到提升.文中对上述研究中涉及的蛋白质表达及改造策略进行了简要的总结及分析,并指出相关研究的发展趋势.     

α-羟酸脱氢酶催化机制及其应用前景

简述α-羟酸脱氢酶家族中的乙醇酸氧化酶、乳酸单加氧酶、乳酸氧化酶、细胞色素氧化酶b2和扁桃酸脱氢酶等几种酶的蛋白质分子结构和催化机理,对该类酶的催化机制进行了比较,揭示α-羟酸脱氢酶蛋白质分子结构与功能之间的关系,为其在食品、医疗检测、重要的医药化工中间体的合成等方面的应用提供理论指导。     

工业酶制剂新产品开发和产业化情况分析

生物酶是一类从动物、植物、微生物中提取的,具有生物催化能力的蛋白质,酶制剂在饲料、食品、纺织及造纸、化工、医药、环境保护等领域具有广阔的应用前景。文章对工业酶制剂新产品开发和产业化情况进行了分析。     

右旋糖酐酶研究进展

右旋糖酐酶是一种将高分子右旋糖酐催化降解为低分子量多糖的水解酶。该酶及其催化产物在医药、食品、化工等工业领域具有重要的应用价值与广泛的工业用途,因此近年来国内外对右旋糖酐酶的研究逐渐增多。结合文献记载及本实验室研究成果,对右旋糖酐酶的研究进展及其工业应用进行综述,并对当前有关该酶研究的热点和重点、国内右旋糖酐酶研究存在的问题以及未来的研究趋势提出了见解。     

蛋白质环化的研究进展

天然蛋白质在生物体内主要以线性形式存在,由于多数蛋白质(酶)热稳定性较差,制约了其在工业催化、食品制造、医药领域的高效应用。自然界中发现的天然环肽类物质具有首尾相连的环化结构,使蛋白质具有较高的稳定性,为改造酶的结构、提高其热稳定性及拓宽其应用范围提供了新思路。本文根据国内外在蛋白质环化领域的新动态并结合本实验室的研究,系统介绍了内含肽介导的蛋白质反式剪接、表达蛋白连接、转肽酶催化的转肽作用等几种传统蛋白质环化方法,着重介绍了基于新型超强分子粘合剂Spy Tag/Spy Catcher介导的蛋白质环化的研究。     

酶及其生物催化技术的研究与应用

与传统化学催化工艺相比,基于酶的生物催化工艺具有反应条件温和、环境友好、操作简便、立体选择性优良等优势。当前已有多个生物催化工艺应用于生产精细大宗化学品和高附加值医药中间体,此外在食品、化妆品等领域也有广泛的应用。主要综述了酶及其生物催化技术的研究进展,包括酶序的构建、酶的定向进化,以及酶与生物催化技术在大宗化学品、医药中间体、食品、化妆品、纺织以及纸浆造纸工业中的应用。     

脂肪酶及其在化学品合成中的应用

脂肪酶催化过程具有高效和高选择性、条件温和以及环境友好等特点。目前可再生能源和绿色化工领域对新型酶催化转化技术的迫切需求使得越来越多的脂肪酶被应用到生物柴油、精细化学品和医药中间体合成的领域。本文主要介绍了脂肪酶的催化技术及其在化学品合成中的应用。     

综述——新型纳米生物材料的研发：纳米酶的发现与应用

自2007年发现四氧化三铁纳米材料具有类似辣根过氧化物酶的催化特性以来,纳米酶研究领域迅速崛起．不同形貌、尺度和材料各异的纳米酶相继出现,同时其催化机制逐渐被认识．由于纳米酶具有催化效率高、稳定、经济和规模化制备的特点,它在医学、化工、食品、农业和环境等领域的应用研究便应运而生．纳米酶的发现,不仅推动了纳米科技的基础研究,还拓展了纳米材料的应用．本文将介绍纳米酶研究领域的最新研究进展．     

Protein Neighbors and Proximity Proteomics

Within cells, proteins can co-assemble into functionally integrated and spatially restricted multicomponent complexes. Often, the affinities between individual proteins are relatively weak, and proteins within such clusters may interact only indirectly with many of their other protein neighbors. This makes proteomic characterization difficult using methods such as immunoprecipitation or cross-linking. Recently, several groups have described the use of enzyme-catalyzed proximity labeling reagents that covalently tag the neighbors of a targeted protein with a small molecule such as fluorescein or biotin. The modified proteins can then be isolated by standard pulldown methods and identified by mass spectrometry. Here we will describe the techniques as well as their similarities and differences. We discuss their applications both to study protein assemblies and to provide a new way for characterizing organelle proteomes. We stress the importance of proteomic quantitation and independent target validation in such experiments. Furthermore, we suggest that there are biophysical and cell-biological principles that dictate the appropriateness of enzyme-catalyzed proximity labeling methods to address particular biological questions of interest.     

Involucrin acts as a transglutaminase substrate at multiple sites

Involucrin is a keratinocyte protein with a specialized function in terminal differentiation. Synthesized initially as a soluble protein, it later becomes a preferred substrate for a membrane-bound transglutaminase and becomes cross-linked into an insoluble envelope. When a crude keratinocyte extract containing about 2% involucrin is heated to 95 degrees, most proteins precipitate, but all of the involucrin remains in solution, where it is over 90% pure. This step has been incorporated into a simplified procedure for purification of the protein. Like intact involucrin, polypeptide fragments formed by the tryptic hydrolysis of involucrin are good substrates for the keratinocyte transglutaminase. Evidently amino acid residues participating in the enzyme-catalyzed cross-linking are distributed at numerous sites along the involucrin molecule.     

Perspectives for the industrial enzymatic production of glycosides

Glycosides are of commercial interest for industry in general and specifically for the pharmaceutical and food industry. Currently chemical preparation of glycosides will not meet EC food regulations, and therefore chemical preparation of glycosides is not applicable in the food industry. Thus, enzyme-catalyzed reactions are a good alternative. However, until now the low yields obtained by enzymatic methods prevent the production of glycosides on a commercial scale. Therefore, high yields should be established by a combination of optimum reaction conditions and continuous removal of the product. Unfortunately, a bioreactor for the commercial scale production of glycosides is not available. The aim of this article is to discuss the literature with respect to enzymatic production of glycosides and the design of an industrially viable bioreactor system.     

Biologically active decorin is a monomer in solution

It has been reported that decorin and its protein core can have molecular masses nearly double the size of those previously published, suggesting a dimeric structure. In this study we tested whether biologically active decorin and its glycoprotein core would form dimers in solution. We used homo- and hetero-bifunctional chemical cross-linking reagents, BS3 and sulfo-SMPB, respectively, as well as glutaraldehyde and found no preferential dimer formation, whether chemical cross-linking was performed in the presence or absence of live cells. Under the same experimental conditions, we easily detected dimers of epidermal growth factor receptor and basic fibroblast growth factor, two glycoproteins known to dimerize. Only at very high cross-linker to decorin molar ratios (2000:1) were trimers and multimers observed, but performing the chemical cross-linking in the presence of a reducing agent abolished these. The elution of decorin protein core in Superose 6 gel chromatography gave masses compatible with monomeric proteins, both before and after denaturation with 2.5 M guanidine HCl. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization gave a mass of 44,077 Da for decorin protein core, without any evidence of dimers or oligomers. Extensive oligomerization of the decorin protein core was observed only after dialysis against water and freeze-drying. These oligomers were considered artifacts because they were independent of chemical cross-linking and were resistant to heat denaturation and disulfide-bond reduction. Oligomeric preparations showed markedly reduced biological activity in both phosphorylation and collagen fibrillogenesis assays. Thus, biologically active decorin is a monomer in solution and, as such, is a monovalent ligand for various extracellular matrix proteins, growth factors, and cell surface receptors.     

The advancement of chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry for structural proteomics: from single proteins to protein interaction networks

During the last 15 years, chemical cross-linking combined with mass spectrometry (MS) and computational modeling has advanced from investigating 3D-structures of isolated proteins to deciphering protein interaction networks. In this article, the author discusses the advent, the development and the current status of the chemical cross-linking/MS strategy in the context of recent technological developments. A direct way to probe in vivo protein–protein interactions is by site-specific incorporation of genetically encoded photo-reactive amino acids or by non-directed incorporation of photo-reactive amino acids. As the chemical cross-linking/MS approach allows the capture of transient and weak interactions, it has the potential to become a routine technique for unraveling protein interaction networks in their natural cellular environment.     

Enhancing catalytic promiscuity for biocatalysis

Catalytic promiscuity - the ability of a single active site to catalyse more than one chemical transformation - has a natural role in evolution and occasionally in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Catalytic promiscuity is more widespread than often recognized. Recent success in adding and enhancing such catalytic activities by protein engineering suggests new potential applications in enzyme-catalyzed organic synthesis.     

Effect of N-linked glycosylation on glycopeptide and glycoprotein structure

Asparagine-linked glycosylation is an enzyme-catalyzed, co-translational protein modification reaction that has the capacity to influence either the protein folding process or the stability of the native glycoprotein conjugate. Advances in both glycoconjugate chemical synthesis and glycoprotein expression methods have increased the availability of these once elusive biopolymers. The application of spectroscopic methods to these proteins has begun to illuminate the various ways in which the saccharide affects the structure, function and stability of the proteins.     

The ligand binding site of the platelet integrin receptor GPIIb-IIIa is proximal to the second calcium binding domain of its alpha subunit

The extreme carboxyl-terminal amino acid sequence of the gamma chain of fibrinogen is involved in the binding of this adhesive protein to the platelet integrin glycoprotein (GP) IIb-IIIa, and synthetic peptides corresponding to this region inhibit fibrinogen as well as fibronectin and von Willebrand factor binding to platelets. A chemical cross-linking approach was used to characterize the interaction of a 16-amino acid fibrinogen gamma chain peptide with platelets and to localize the site of its binding to GPIIb-IIIa. This peptide became specifically cross-linked to GPIIb, and platelet stimulation selectively enhanced its cross-linking to this alpha subunit. The cross-linking reaction was specifically inhibited by fibrinogen and an Arg-Gly-Asp peptide but not by an unrelated protein or a substituted peptide. Utilizing a combination of immunochemical mapping, enzymatic and chemical digestions, and amino acid sequencing, the cross-linking site of the gamma chain peptide in GPIIb was localized to a stretch of 21 amino acids. The identified region, GPIIb 294-314, contains the second putative calcium binding domain within GPIIb. The primary structure of this region is highly conserved among alpha subunits of other integrin adhesion receptors. These results identify a discrete region of GPIIb that resides in close proximity to a ligand binding site within GPIIb-IIIa. The homologous region may be involved in the functions of other integrin receptors.     

Covalent cross-linking of proteins without chemical reagents

A facile method for the formation of zero-length covalent cross-links between protein molecules in the lyophilized state without the use of chemical reagents has been developed. The cross-linking process is performed by simply sealing lyophilized protein under vacuum in a glass vessel and heating at 85 degrees C for 24 h. Under these conditions, approximately one-third of the total protein present becomes cross-linked, and dimer is the major product. Chemical and mass spectroscopic evidence obtained shows that zero-length cross-links are formed as a result of the condensation of interacting ammonium and carboxylate groups to form amide bonds between adjacent molecules. For the protein examined in the most detail, RNase A, the cross-linked dimer has only one amide cross-link and retains the enzymatic activity of the monomer. The in vacuo cross-linking procedure appears to be general in its applicability because five different proteins tested gave substantial cross-linking, and co-lyophilization of lysozyme and RNase A also gave a heterogeneous covalently cross-linked dimer.     

Effect of N-linked glycosylation on glycopeptide and glycoprotein structure

Asparagine-linked glycosylation is an enzyme-catalyzed, co-translational protein modification reaction that has the capacity to influence either the protein folding process or the stability of the native glycoprotein conjugate. Advances in both glycoconjugate chemical synthesis and glycoprotein expression methods have increased the availability of these once elusive biopolymers. The application of spectroscopic methods to these proteins has begun to illuminate the various ways in which the saccharide affects the structure, function and stability of the proteins.