Preparation of Isotope Labeled/Unlabeled Key Intermediates in 2-Methyl-D-erythritol 4-Phosphate Terpenoid Biosynthetic Pathway

Determination of the Activity of 1-Deoxy-D-Xylulose 5-Phosphate Synthase by Pre-column Derivatization-HPLC Using 1,2-Diamino-4,5-Methylenedioxybenzene as a Derivatizing Reagent

α-Ketoacids can be determined by HPLC through pre-column derivatization with 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene (DMB) as a derivatizing reagent. Using this method, the specific activity and the steady-state kinetic of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS) were measured. Firstly, DXS substrate pyruvate was derivatized with DMB in acidic solution; then the corresponding quinoxalinone was elucidated by LC-ESI-MS and quantified by HPLC-UV. The optimum derivatization conditions were as follows: aqueous medium at pH 1.0, reaction temperature 80 °C, reaction time 60 min, molar ratio of DMB to pyruvate 10:1. The HPLC was run with isocratic elution using the mixture of methanol and water (60:40, v/v) as a mobile phase. The detective limit and the linear correlation range of the method were 0.05 µM and 0.002-1.0 mM (R = 0.994), respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of six determinations was 2.48%. The steady-state kinetic parameters of DXS for pyruvate determined with the method were identical to the reported data. The established method is a practical route for evaluation of DXS activity, especially in the research and development of DXS inhibitors.

A Specific Process to Purify 2-Methyl-D-Erythritol-4-Phosphate Enzymatically Converted from D-Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate and Pyruvate

A one-pot enzymatic cascade was established to synthesize MEP, one of the key intermediates in the MEP terpenoid biosynthetic pathway. D-GAP and sodium pyruvate were converted to MEP in a reaction catalyzed by DXP synthase and DXP reductoisomerase (DXR) in the presence of the coenzymes ThPP, NADPH, and Mg2+. The product was then isolated by using a specific two-step purification process and MEP was obtained in a yield of nearly 60% and high purity. Importantly, MEP prepared by this way was totally free from contamination by minor amounts of DXP that was not completely convertible by DXR.