scholarly journals Directed evolution of prenylated FMN-dependent Fdc supports efficient in vivo isobutene production

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annica Saaret ◽  
Benoît Villiers ◽  
François Stricher ◽  
Macha Anissimova ◽  
Mélodie Cadillon ◽  
...  

AbstractIsobutene is a high value gaseous alkene used as fuel additive and a chemical building block. As an alternative to fossil fuel derived isobutene, we here develop a modified mevalonate pathway for the production of isobutene from glucose in vivo. The final step in the pathway consists of the decarboxylation of 3-methylcrotonic acid, catalysed by an evolved ferulic acid decarboxylase (Fdc) enzyme. Fdc belongs to the prFMN-dependent UbiD enzyme family that catalyses reversible decarboxylation of (hetero)aromatic acids or acrylic acids with extended conjugation. Following a screen of an Fdc library for inherent 3-methylcrotonic acid decarboxylase activity, directed evolution yields variants with up to an 80-fold increase in activity. Crystal structures of the evolved variants reveal that changes in the substrate binding pocket are responsible for increased selectivity. Solution and computational studies suggest that isobutene cycloelimination is rate limiting and strictly dependent on presence of the 3-methyl group.

Synapse ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onofre T. Dejesus ◽  
Christopher J. Endres ◽  
Steven E. Shelton ◽  
R. Jerome Nickles ◽  
James E. Holden

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Tunnicliff ◽  
R. F. Butterworth ◽  
Y. Tsukada ◽  
A. Barbeau

Recent reports of the in vivo action of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) on glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity are contradictory. This investigation was undertaken to clarify the situation. Both acute (100 mg/kg and 1 g/kg) and chronic (1 g/kg) administration of L-DOPA to rats failed to produce any alteration in the activity of striatal or retinal GAD activity. These results are discussed in the light of a report relating L-DOPA therapy to modification of GAD activity in Parkinson's disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mădălina E. Moisă ◽  
Diana A. Amariei ◽  
Emma Z. A. Nagy ◽  
Nóra Szarvas ◽  
Monica I. Toșa ◽  
...  

Abstract Phenylalanine ammonia-lyases (PALs) catalyse the non-oxidative deamination of l-phenylalanine to trans-cinnamic acid, while in the presence of high ammonia concentration the reverse reaction occurs. PALs have been intensively studied, however, their industrial applications for amino acids synthesis remained limited, mainly due to their decreased operational stability or limited substrate specificity. The application of extensive directed evolution procedures to improve their stability, activity or selectivity, is hindered by the lack of reliable activity assays allowing facile screening of PAL-activity within large-sized mutant libraries. Herein, we describe the development of an enzyme-coupled fluorescent assay applicable for PAL-activity screens at whole cell level, involving decarboxylation of trans-cinnamic acid (the product of the PAL reaction) by ferulic acid decarboxylase (FDC1) and a photochemical reaction of the produced styrene with a diaryltetrazole, that generates a detectable, fluorescent pyrazoline product. The general applicability of the fluorescent assay for PALs of different origin, as well as its versatility for the detection of tyrosine ammonia-lyase (TAL) activity have been also demonstrated. Accordingly, the developed procedure provides a facile tool for the efficient activity screens of large mutant libraries of PALs in presence of non-natural substrates of interest, being essential for the substrate-specificity modifications/tailoring of PALs through directed evolution-based protein engineering.


1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (01) ◽  
pp. 111-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Levi ◽  
Jan Paul de Boer ◽  
Dorina Roem ◽  
Jan Wouter ten Cate ◽  
C Erik Hack

SummaryInfusion of desamino-d-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) results in an increase in plasma plasminogen activator activity. Whether this increase results in the generation of plasmin in vivo has never been established.A novel sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the measurement of the complex between plasmin and its main inhibitor α2 antiplasmin (PAP complex) was developed using monoclonal antibodies preferentially reacting with complexed and inactivated α2-antiplasmin and monoclonal antibodies against plasmin. The assay was validated in healthy volunteers and in patients with an activated fibrinolytic system.Infusion of DDAVP in a randomized placebo controlled crossover study resulted in all volunteers in a 6.6-fold increase in PAP complex, which was maximal between 15 and 30 min after the start of the infusion. Hereafter, plasma levels of PAP complex decreased with an apparent half-life of disappearance of about 120 min. Infusion of DDAVP did not induce generation of thrombin, as measured by plasma levels of prothrombin fragment F1+2 and thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) complex.We conclude that the increase in plasminogen activator activity upon the infusion of DDAVP results in the in vivo generation of plasmin, in the absence of coagulation activation. Studying the DDAVP induced increase in PAP complex of patients with thromboembolic disease and a defective plasminogen activator response upon DDAVP may provide more insight into the role of the fibrinolytic system in the pathogenesis of thrombosis.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 341-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Furihata ◽  
M. Yamashita ◽  
N. Kinae ◽  
T. Matsushima

MX is a strong direct acting mutagen on Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and is present in chlorinated tap water which contains organic compounds. MX was administered orally to 7-week-old male F344 rats, and its geno-toxicity in the pyloric mucosa of stomach was examined by analysis of DNA single strand scissions by the alkaline elution method. The effect of MX on cell proliferation was examined by assays of the inductions of replicative DNA synthesis and ornithine decarboxylase. MX at closes of 20-48 mg/kg body weight induced DNA single strand scissions dose-dependently (p<0.02) in the pyloric mucosa of the stomach 2 h after its administration. Moreover at doses of 10-60 mg/kg body weight, it induced up to 21-fold increase in replicative DNA synthesis (p<0.01) 16 h after its administration. At doses of 10-60 mg/kg body weight, it induced up to 100-fold increase in ornithine decarboxylase activity with a maximum 16 h after its administration. These results suggest that MX is genotoxic and induces cell proliferation in the glandular stomach of rats.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusaku Hontani ◽  
Mikhail Baloban ◽  
Francisco Velazquez Escobar ◽  
Swetta A. Jansen ◽  
Daria M. Shcherbakova ◽  
...  

AbstractNear-infrared fluorescent proteins (NIR FPs) engineered from bacterial phytochromes are widely used for structural and functional deep-tissue imaging in vivo. To fluoresce, NIR FPs covalently bind a chromophore, such as biliverdin IXa tetrapyrrole. The efficiency of biliverdin binding directly affects the fluorescence properties, rendering understanding of its molecular mechanism of major importance. miRFP proteins constitute a family of bright monomeric NIR FPs that comprise a Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) and cGMP-specific phosphodiesterases - Adenylyl cyclases - FhlA (GAF) domain. Here, we structurally analyze biliverdin binding to miRFPs in real time using time-resolved stimulated Raman spectroscopy and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations. Biliverdin undergoes isomerization, localization to its binding pocket, and pyrrolenine nitrogen protonation in <1 min, followed by hydrogen bond rearrangement in ~2 min. The covalent attachment to a cysteine in the GAF domain was detected in 4.3 min and 19 min in miRFP670 and its C20A mutant, respectively. In miRFP670, a second C–S covalent bond formation to a cysteine in the PAS domain occurred in 14 min, providing a rigid tetrapyrrole structure with high brightness. Our findings provide insights for the rational design of NIR FPs and a novel method to assess cofactor binding to light-sensitive proteins.


Author(s):  
Afsar Ali Mian ◽  
Isabella Haberbosch ◽  
Hazem Khamaisie ◽  
Abed Agbarya ◽  
Larissa Pietsch ◽  
...  

AbstractResistance remains the major clinical challenge for the therapy of Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) leukemia. With the exception of ponatinib, all approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are unable to inhibit the common “gatekeeper” mutation T315I. Here we investigated the therapeutic potential of crizotinib, a TKI approved for targeting ALK and ROS1 in non-small cell lung cancer patients, which inhibited also the ABL1 kinase in cell-free systems, for the treatment of advanced and therapy-resistant Ph+ leukemia. By inhibiting the BCR-ABL1 kinase, crizotinib efficiently suppressed growth of Ph+ cells without affecting growth of Ph− cells. It was also active in Ph+ patient-derived long-term cultures (PD-LTCs) independently of the responsiveness/resistance to other TKIs. The efficacy of crizotinib was confirmed in vivo in syngeneic mouse models of BCR-ABL1- or BCR-ABL1T315I-driven chronic myeloid leukemia–like disease and in BCR-ABL1-driven acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Although crizotinib binds to the ATP-binding site, it also allosterically affected the myristol binding pocket, the binding site of GNF2 and asciminib (former ABL001). Therefore, crizotinib has a seemingly unique double mechanism of action, on the ATP-binding site and on the myristoylation binding pocket. These findings strongly suggest the clinical evaluation of crizotinib for the treatment of advanced and therapy-resistant Ph+ leukemia.


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