Release of an enantioselective nitrilase from Alcaligenes faecalis MTCC 126: a comparative study

Arylacetonitrilases: Potential Biocatalysts for Green Chemistry

Nitrilases are the enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of nitriles to corresponding carboxylic acid and ammonia. They are broadly categorized into aromatic, aliphatic, and arylacetonitrilases based on their substrate specificity. Most of the studies pertaining to these enzymes in the literature have focused on aromatic and aliphatic nitrilases. However, arylacetonitrilases have attracted the attention of academia and industry in the last several years due to their aryl specificity and enantioselectivity. They have emerged as interesting biocatalytic tools in green chemistry to synthesize useful aryl acids such as mandelic acid and derivatives of phenylacetic acid. The aim of the present review is to collate information on the arylacetonitrilases and their catalytic properties including enantioselectivity and potential applications in organic synthesis.

Ultrasonic disruption of Pseudomonas putida for the release of arginine deiminase: Kinetics and predictive models

The responses of the ultrasound-mediated disruption of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 were modelled as the function of biomass concentration in the cell suspension; the treatment time of sonication; the duty cycle and the acoustic power of the sonicator. For the experimental data, the response surface (RSM), the artificial neural network (ANN) and the support vector machine (SVM) models were compared for their ability to predict the performance parameters. The satisfactory prediction of the unseen data of the responses implied the proficient generalization capabilities of ANN. The extent of the cell disruption was mainly dependent on the acoustic power and the biomass concentration. The cellmass concentration in the slurry most strongly influenced the ADI and total protein release. Nearly 28U/mL ADI was released when a biomass concentration of 300g/L was sonicated for 6min with an acoustic power of 187.5W at 40% duty cycle. Cell disruption obeyed first-order kinetics.

Disruption of Pseudomonas putida by high pressure homogenization: a comparison of the predictive capacity of three process models for the efficient release of arginine deiminase

Disruption of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 by high-pressure homogenization in a French press is discussed for the release of arginine deiminase (ADI). The enzyme release response of the disruption process was modelled for the experimental factors of biomass concentration in the broth being disrupted, the homogenization pressure and the number of passes of the cell slurry through the homogenizer. For the same data, the response surface method (RSM), the artificial neural network (ANN) and the support vector machine (SVM) models were compared for their ability to predict the performance parameters of the cell disruption. The ANN model proved to be best for predicting the ADI release. The fractional disruption of the cells was best modelled by the RSM. The fraction of the cells disrupted depended mainly on the operating pressure of the homogenizer. The concentration of the biomass in the slurry was the most influential factor in determining the total protein release. Nearly 27 U/mL of ADI was released within a single pass from slurry with a biomass concentration of 260 g/L at an operating pressure of 510 bar. Using a biomass concentration of 100 g/L, the ADI release by French press was 2.7-fold greater than in a conventional high-speed bead mill. In the French press, the total protein release was 5.8-fold more than in the bead mill. The statistical analysis of the completely unseen data exhibited ANN and SVM modelling as proficient alternatives to RSM for the prediction and generalization of the cell disruption process in French press.

Purification and characterization of arylacetonitrile-specific nitrilase of Alcaligenes sp. MTCC 10675

Arylacetonitrile-hydrolyzing nitrilase (E.C. 3.5.5.5) of Alcaligenes sp. MTCC 10675 has been purified by up to 46-fold to homogeneity and 32% yield using ammonium sulfate fractionation, Sephacryl S-300 gel permeation, and anion exchange chromatography. The molecular weight of the native enzyme was estimated to be 520 ± 60 kDa. The subunit has a molecular weight of 60 ± 14 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The optimum pH and temperature of the purified enzyme were 6.5 and 50 °C, respectively. The purified arylacetonitrilase has a half-life of 3 H 20 Min at its optimum temperature. The value for Vmax, Km , kcat , and ki of enzyme for mandelonitrile as a substrate was 50 ± 05 µmol/Min/mg, 13 ± 02 mM, 26 ± 03 Sec(-) , and 32.4 ± 03 mM, respectively. Alcaligenes sp. MTCC 10675 arylacetonitrilase amino acid sequence has variations from other reported arylacetonitrilase, namely, A11G, N21H, D149N, S170T, P171R, S179A, Q180N, and S191A, and it has a high thermal stability and catalytic rate as compared with the already purified arylacetonitrilase.

Discovery and characterization of a highly efficient enantioselective mandelonitrile hydrolase from Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 by phylogeny-based enzymatic substrate specificity prediction

BACKGROUND

A nitrilase-mediated pathway has significant advantages in the production of optically pure (R)-(-)-mandelic acid. However, unwanted byproduct, low enantioselectivity, and specific activity reduce its value in practical applications. An ideal nitrilase that can efficiently hydrolyze mandelonitrile to optically pure (R)-(-)-mandelic acid without the unwanted byproduct is needed.

RESULTS

A novel nitrilase (BCJ2315) was discovered from Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 through phylogeny-based enzymatic substrate specificity prediction (PESSP). This nitrilase is a mandelonitrile hydrolase that could efficiently hydrolyze mandelonitrile to (R)-(-)-mandelic acid, with a high enantiomeric excess of 98.4%. No byproduct was observed in this hydrolysis process. BCJ2315 showed the highest identity of 71% compared with other nitrilases in the amino acid sequence. BCJ2315 possessed the highest activity toward mandelonitrile and took mandelonitrile as the optimal substrate based on the analysis of substrate specificity. The kinetic parameters Vmax, Km, Kcat, and Kcat/Km toward mandelonitrile were 45.4 μmol/min/mg, 0.14 mM, 15.4 s(-1), and 1.1×10(5) M(-1)s(-1), respectively. The recombinant Escherichia coli M15/BCJ2315 had a strong substrate tolerance and could completely hydrolyze mandelonitrile (100 mM) with fewer amounts of wet cells (10 mg/ml) within 1 h.

CONCLUSIONS

PESSP is an efficient method for discovering an ideal mandelonitrile hydrolase. BCJ2315 has high affinity and catalytic efficiency toward mandelonitrile. This nitrilase has great advantages in the production of optically pure (R)-(-)-mandelic acid because of its high activity and enantioselectivity, strong substrate tolerance, and having no unwanted byproduct. Thus, BCJ2315 has great potential in the practical production of optically pure (R)-(-)-mandelic acid in the industry.

Stereo-selective conversion of mandelonitrile to (R)-(−)-mandelic acid using immobilized cells of recombinant Escherichia coli

Immobilized cells of a recombinant Escherichia coli expressing nitrilase from Pseudomonas putida were used to catalyze the hydrolysis of mandelonitrile (2-hydroxy-2-phenylacetonitrile) to (R)-(−)-mandelic acid. The cells had been immobilized by entrapment in an alginate matrix. Conditions for the hydrolysis reaction were optimized in shake flasks and in a packed bed reactor. In shake flasks the best conditions for the reaction were a temperature of 40 °C, pH 8, biocatalyst bead diameter of 4.3 mm, sodium alginate concentration in the gel matrix of 2 % (w/v, g/100 mL), a cell dry mass concentration in the bead matrix of 20 mg/mL, an initial substrate concentration of 50 mM and a reaction time of 60 min. Under these conditions, the conversion of mandelonitrile was nearly 95 %. In the packed bed reactor, a feed flow rate of 20 mL/h at a substrate concentration of 200 mM proved to be the best at 40 °C, pH 8, using 4.3 mm beads (2 % w/v sodium alginate in the gel matrix, 20 mg dry cell concentration per mL of gel matrix). This feed flow rate corresponded to a residence time of 0.975 h in the packed bed.

Immobilization of intracellular carbonyl reductase from Geotrichum candidum for the stereoselective reduction of 1-naphthyl ketone

Different cell disintegration methods were used for the liberation of intracellular carbonyl reductase from Geotrichum candidum, in its active form. Solid shear (bead milling) was proved to be the best method for the extraction of the enzyme. Various solid supports were checked for the immobilization of the purified enzyme. Carbonyl reductase was immobilized on silica with an optimized protein loading of 4 mg/g support. Cross-linking with glutaraldehyde rendered the preparation more stable and suitable for use in consecutive batches. Carbonyl reductase of G. candidum immobilized on silica support and cross-linked by glutaraldehyde was found to be highly efficient biocatalyst formulation for the production of S(-)-1-(1'-naphthyl) ethanol.

H pylori stimulates proliferation of gastric cancer cells through activating mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade

AIM: To explore the mechanism by which H pylori causes activation of gastric epithelial cells.

METHODS: A VacA (+) and CagA (+) standard H pylori line NCTC 11637 and a human gastric adenocarcinoma derived gastric epithelial cell line BGC-823 were applied in the study. MTT assay and ³H-TdR incorporation test were used to detect the proliferation of BGC-823 cells and Western blotting was used to detect the activity and existence of related proteins.

RESULTS: Incubation with H pylori extract increased the proliferation of gastric epithelial cells, reflected by both live cell number and DNA synthesis rate. The activity of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) signal transduction cascade increased within 20 min after incubation with H pylori extract and appeared to be a sustained event. MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor PD98059 abolished the action of H pylori extract on both ERK activity and cell proliferation. Incubation with H pylori extract increased c-Fos expression and SRE-dependent gene expression. H pylori extract caused phosphorylation of several proteins including a protein with molecular size of 97.4 kDa and tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein inhibited the activation of ERK and the proliferation of cells caused by H pylori extract.

CONCLUSION: Biologically active elements in H pylori extract cause proliferation of gastric epithelial cells through activating tyrosine kinase and ERK signal transduction cascade.

Purification and characterization of an enantioselective arylacetonitrilase from Pseudomonas putida

The highly enantioselective arylacetonitrilase of Pseudomonas putida was purified to homogeneity using a combination of (NH4)2SO4 fractionation and different chromatographic techniques. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 412 kDa and consisted of approximately nine to ten identical subunits (43 kDa). The purified enzyme exhibited a pH optimum of 7.0 and temperature optimum of 40 degrees C. The nitrilase was highly susceptible to thiol-specific reagents and metal ions and also required a reducing environment for its activity. These reflected the presence of a catalytically essential thiol group for enzyme activity which is in accordance with the proposed mechanism for nitrilase-catalyzed reaction. The enzyme was highly specific for arylacetonitriles with phenylacetonitrile and its derivatives being the most preferred substrates. Higher specificity constant (kcat/K(m)) values for phenylacetonitrile compared to mandelonitrile also revealed the same. Faster reaction rate achieved with this nitrilase for mandelonitrile hydrolysis was possibly due to the low activation energy required by the protein. Incorporation of low concentration (<5%) of organic solvent increased the enzyme activity by increasing the availability of the substrate. Higher stability of the enzyme at slightly alkaline pH and ambient temperature provides an excellent opportunity to establish a dynamic kinetic resolution process for the production of (R)-(-)-mandelic acid from readily available mandelonitrile.