Steroid modifications with immobilized biocatalysts--use of immobilized enzyme-requiring cofactor regeneration and of immobilized mycelium

Biotransformations of steroids

Different types of microbiological transformation of steroids are reviewed, with special attention given to bioconversions applied in the manufacturing of steroid hormones, i.e., 11 alpha- 11 beta-, 16 alpha-, 17 alpha-hydroxylations and 1-dehydrogenation. Availability and utilization of raw materials for industrial production of steroids of the estrane, androstane, and pregnane series are discussed. Among the current trends in steroid research of a practical nature, immobilization of enzymes and living cells and the spore process are emphasized as alternative techniques of steroid transformation of possible future importance. Efforts to recognize, in cell-free preparations, the components of steroid-transforming enzyme systems as well as the cellular mechanisms of control of their biosynthesis and activity are described in order to illustrate the main subjects of current basic investigation in steroid bioconversion.

Selection and microencapsulation of an "NADH-oxidizing" bacterium and its use for NAD regeneration

An alternative approach to the regeneration of coenzymes is described here using immobilized microorganisms possessing "NADH-oxidase" function. Bacteria containing NADH-oxidase activity are immobilized by microencapsulation within artificial cells. In this form, the microencapsulated bacteria can recycle NADH back to NAD in the presence of molecular oxygen as an electron acceptor. The only byproduct of the recycling reaction is water. In order to perform the biological regeneration of NAD, the activity of NADH-oxidase was investigated in 13 strains of aerobic bacteria and yeast. The NADH-oxidizing bacteria Leuconostoc mesenteroides exhibited the highest activity among the microorganisms tested. The permeabilized bacteria showed 10% of their initial activity after microencapsulation. Light and electron microscopy studies of bacteria loaded microcapsules have been done. Enzymatic properties of microcapsule-immobilized bacteria were investigated in comparison with those of the free enzyme complex. Leuconostoc mesenteroides, containing NADH-oxidase, has been microencapsulated together with 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 alpha-HSDH) for stereospecific steroid oxidation. In a batch reactor, 2 mg of NAD, with recycling, allowed the same substrate consumption as 4.4 mg of NAD without recycling. The microencapsulated system can be used repeatedly. The system is functional for 10 h, during which time each molecule of NAD has been used 7.6 times.

[Steroid transformation with immobilized microorganisms]

The application of immobilized microbial cells has been receiving increasing interest, in particular because of their potential for use in industrial fermentation processes and in analytical procedures. Since the first application of an immobilized microbial biocatalyst for steroid transformation in 1970 by MOSBACH and LARSSON many results have been published concerning the use of such type of biocatalyst in steroid biochemistry and steroid microbiology, respectively. The review deals with the present scientific state of the steroid transformations performed with immobilized biocatalysts, their applications and development trends. In particular the following aspects are discussed: 1(2)-dehydrogenation or hydrogenation, hydroxylation reactions, redox processes in 3,17- and 20-oxogroups, side chain splitting of sterols, 5 alpha-reduction, modification of cholic acid derivatives and the use of immobilized plant cells. The possibility for application of microbial membrane electrodes in steroid analysis has been shown. Up to now, many results of fundamental research are known. There are possibilities for producing expensive steroid derivatives in laboratory apparatus using immobilized biocatalysts. Some of the processes, described here, are of practical interest, and some of them are said to be used industrially, respectively.