Biosynthesis and metabolic engineering of 1-hydroxyphenazine in Pseudomonas chlororaphis H18

Background 1-Hydroxyphenazine (1-OH-PHZ) is a phenazine microbial metabolite with broad-spectrum antibacterial activities against a lot of plant pathogens. However, its use is hampered by the low yield all along. Metabolic engineering of microorganisms is an increasingly powerful method for the production of valuable organisms at high levels. Pseudomonas chlororaphis is recognized as a safe and effective plant rhizosphere growth-promoting bacterium, and faster growth rate using glycerol or glucose as a renewable carbon source. Therefore, Pseudomonas chlororaphis is particularly suitable as the chassis cell for the modification and engineering of phenazines. Results In this study, enzyme PhzS (monooxygenase) was heterologously expressed in a phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) generating strain Pseudomonas chlororaphis H18, and 1-hydroxyphenazine was isolated, characterized in the genetically modified strain. Next, the yield of 1-hydroxyphenazine was systematically engineered by the strategies including (1) semi-rational design remodeling of crucial protein PhzS, (2) blocking intermediate PCA consumption branch pathway, (3) enhancing the precursor pool, (4) engineering regulatory genes, etc. Finally, the titer of 1-hydroxyphenazine reached 3.6 g/L in 5 L fermenter in 54 h. Conclusions The 1-OH-PHZ production of Pseudomonas chlororaphis H18 was greatly improved through systematically engineering strategies, which is the highest, reported to date. This work provides a promising platform for 1-hydroxyphenazine engineering and production. Graphical Abstract

Albumin and fibrinogen kinetics in sepsis: a prospective observational study

Background The measurement of circulating substrate concentrations does not provide information about substrate kinetics. It, therefore, remains unclear if a decrease in plasma concentration of albumin, as seen during critical illness, is a consequence of suppressed production in the liver or increased peripheral clearance. In this study, using stable isotope tracer infusions, we measured albumin and fibrinogen kinetics in septic patients and in a control group of non-septic subjects. Methods With the approval from the institutional Research Ethics Board and after obtaining written informed consent from patients or their substitute decision maker, mechanically ventilated patients with sepsis and patients scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass grafting were enrolled. Patients in the non-sepsis group were studied on the day before surgery. The stable isotope L-[ring-2H5]phenylalanine was used to measure absolute synthesis rates (ASR) of albumin and fibrinogen. A priming dose of L-[ring-2H5]phenylalanine (4 µmol/kg) was given followed by a six-hour infusion at a rate of 0.15 µmol/kg/min. At baseline and hourly thereafter, blood was drawn to measure isotope enrichments by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Very low density lipoprotein apolipoprotein-B 100 isotopic enrichment was used to represent the isotopic enrichment of the phenylalanine precursor pool from which the liver synthesizes proteins. Plasma albumin and fibrinogen concentrations were also measured. Results Mean plasma albumin in septic patients was decreased when compared to non-septic patients, while synthesis rates were comparable. Mean plasma fibrinogen and ASR in septic patients was increased when compared to non-septic patients. In non-septic patients, no statistically significant correlation between plasma albumin and ASR was observed but plasma fibrinogen significantly correlated with ASR. In septic patients, plasma albumin and fibrinogen significantly correlated with ASR. Conclusions While septic patients showed lower plasma albumin levels than non-septic patients, albumin synthesis was similar in the two groups suggesting that hypoalbuminemia during sepsis was not caused by suppressed hepatic production but a result of enhanced clearance from the circulation. Hyperfibrinogenemia in septic patients was a consequence of increased fibrinogen production. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02865408 (registered on August 12, 2016) and ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02549443 (registered on September 15, 2015).

SORLA is required for insulin-induced expansion of the adipocyte precursor pool in visceral fat

Visceral adipose tissue shows remarkable plasticity, constantly replacing mature adipocytes from an inherent pool of adipocyte precursors. The number of precursors is set in the juvenile organism and remains constant in adult life. Which signals drive precursor pool expansion in juveniles and why they operate in visceral but not in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) are unclear. Using mouse models, we identified the insulin-sensitizing receptor SORLA as a molecular factor explaining the distinct proliferative capacity of visceral WAT. High levels of SORLA activity in precursors of juvenile visceral WAT prime these cells for nutritional stimuli provided through insulin, promoting mitotic expansion of the visceral precursor cell pool in overfed juvenile mice. SORLA activity is low in subcutaneous precursors, blunting their response to insulin and preventing diet-induced proliferation of this cell type. Our findings provide a molecular explanation for the unique proliferative properties of juvenile visceral WAT, and for the genetic association of SORLA with visceral obesity in humans.

Metabolic Perturbation and Synthetic Biology Strategies for Plant Terpenoid Production—An Updated Overview

Terpenoids represent one of the high-value groups of specialized metabolites with vast structural diversity. They exhibit versatile human benefits and have been successfully exploited in several sectors of day-to-day life applications, including cosmetics, foods, and pharmaceuticals. Historically, the potential use of terpenoids is challenging, and highly hampered by their bioavailability in their natural sources. Significant progress has been made in recent years to overcome such challenges by advancing the heterologous production platforms of hosts and metabolic engineering technologies. Herein, we summarize the latest developments associated with analytical platforms, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology, with a focus on two terpenoid classes: monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids. Accumulated data showed that subcellular localization of both the precursor pool and the introduced enzymes were the crucial factors for increasing the production of targeted terpenoids in plants. We believe this timely review provides a glimpse of current state-of-the-art techniques/methodologies related to terpenoid engineering that would facilitate further improvements in terpenoids research.

Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 Based Combination Immunotherapy to Boost Antigen-Specific CD8+ T Cell Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Thirty to fifty percent of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) display an immune class genetic signature. In this type of tumor, HCC-specific CD8 T cells carry out a key role in HCC control. Those potential reactive HCC-specific CD8 T cells recognize either HCC immunogenic neoantigens or aberrantly expressed host’s antigens, but they become progressively exhausted or deleted. These cells express the negative immunoregulatory checkpoint programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) which impairs T cell receptor signaling by blocking the CD28 positive co-stimulatory signal. The pool of CD8 cells sensitive to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment is the PD-1dim memory-like precursor pool that gives rise to the effector subset involved in HCC control. Due to the epigenetic imprints that are transmitted to the next generation, the effect of PD-1 blockade is transient, and repeated treatments lead to tumor resistance. During long-lasting disease, besides the TCR signaling impairment, T cells develop other failures that should be also set-up to increase T cell reactivity. Therefore, several PD-1 blockade-based combinatory therapies are currently under investigation such as adding antiangiogenics, anti-TGFβ1, blockade of other negative immune checkpoints, or increasing HCC antigen presentation. The effect of these combinations on CD8+ T cells is discussed in this review.

SAT-114 Loss of DHEA-Targeting SULT2b1b Sulfotransferase Exacerbates Aggressive Traits of Prostate Cancer

The prostate-expressed sulfotransferase SULT2B1b (SULT2B) regulates intracrine androgen homeostasis by mediating 3β-sulfation of DHEA, thus reducing the precursor pool in the androgen biosynthesis pathway. We explored how loss of SULT2B might influence prostate cancer progression. Results show that SULT2B ablation in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells, generated by stable RNA interference or gene knockout, led to robust activation of the ERK1/2 Map kinase survival signal and induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT activation was concluded on the basis of increased levels of vimentin (a mesenchymal protein) and the EMT-activating transcription factors SNAI1 (Snail) and TWIST1, shown by Western blotting, mass spectrometry and single-cell mass cytometry. Loss of SULT2B was associated with enhanced motility and invasive activity of CRPC cells in vitro and their growth escalation in vivo as xenografts. Higher invasion and metastasis potential of SULT2B-ablated CRPC cells was further indicated by results that these cells are less adhesive (i.e. easily detachable) and less stiff (i.e. more pliable) based on atomic force microscopy analysis of individual cells. Notably, AKR1C3, an aldo-keto reductase, which is elevated frequently in advanced prostate cancer, showed marked upregulation in SULT2B-deficient cells. AKR1C3 regulates androgen receptor (AR) signaling by promoting androgen biosynthesis and functioning as an AR-selective coactivator. While levels of AR and DHT did not change, AR activity was elevated, since PSA and FKBP5 mRNA induction by DHT-activated AR was several fold higher in SULT2B-silenced cells. The DHT-metabolizing AKR1C2 aldo-keto reductase was also upregulated, which likely accounts for a steady-state androgen level despite elevated AKR1C3 expression. Phosphorylation of ERK decreased in AKR1C3-silenced cells, signifying a causal link between AKR1C3 upregulation and ERK1/2 activation. SULT2B was undetectable immunohistochemically in tissue microarrays of clinical CRPC metastases, while SULT2B-negative samples showed AKR1C3-positive immunostaining. Primary prostate cancer exhibited variable, Gleason score independent SULT2B levels -- varying from strong positive to significantly reduced or undetectable. The reciprocal expression pattern for SULT2B and AKR1C3 in clinical CRPC suggests that AKR1C3 upregulation, ERK1/2 activation and increased aggressive traits of SULT2B-ablated cells, observed in vitro in cell models, may be clinically significant. Pathways regulating the inhibitory SULT2B-AKR1C3 axis may inform new avenue(s) for delaying disease progression in SULT2B-deficient prostate cancer.Funding Support: 1I01BX000280, VA (BC); W81XWH-14-1-0606, DOD (BC); IK6 BX004207, VA (BC); P50 CA97186, NIH & W81XWH-12-1-0208, DOD (EAM)

IL-2 production by self-reactive CD4 thymocytes scales regulatory T cell generation in the thymus

Regulatory T (T reg) cells, a specialized subset of CD4+ T cells, are essential to prevent fatal autoimmunity. Expression of the T reg lineage-defining transcription factor Foxp3, and therefore their differentiation in the thymus, is dependent upon T cell receptor (TCR) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) signaling. Here, we report that the majority of IL-2–producing cells in the thymus are mature CD4 single-positive (CD4SP) thymocytes and that continuous IL-2 production sustained thymic T reg cell generation and control of systemic immune activation. Furthermore, single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of CD4 thymocyte subsets revealed that IL-2 was expressed in self-reactive CD4SP thymocytes, which also contain T reg precursor cells. Thus, our results suggest that the thymic T reg cell pool size is scaled by a key niche factor, IL-2, produced by self-reactive CD4SP thymocytes. This IL-2–dependent scaling of thymic T reg cell generation by overall self-reactivity of a mature post-selection thymic precursor pool may likely ensure adequate control of autoimmunity.

Recent Progress of Carbon Dot Precursors and Photocatalysis Applications

Carbon dots (CDs), a class of carbon-based sub-ten-nanometer nanoparticles, have attracted great attention since their discovery fifteen years ago. Because of the outstanding photoluminescence properties, photostability, low toxicity, and low cost, CDs have potential to replace traditional semiconductor quantum dots which have serious drawbacks of toxicity and high cost. This review covers the common top-down and bottom-up methods for the synthesis of CDs, different categories of CD precursors (small molecules, natural polymers, and synthetic polymers), one-pot and multi-step methods to produce CDs/photocatalyst composites, and recent advances of CDs on photocatalysis applications mostly in pollutant degradation and energy areas. A broad range of precursors forming fluorescent CDs are discussed, including small molecule sole or dual precursors, natural polymers such as pure polysaccharides and proteins and crude bio-resources from plants or animals, and various synthetic polymer precursors with positive, negative, neutral and hydrophilic, hydrophobic, or zwitterionic feature. Because of the wide light absorbance, excellent photoluminescence properties and electron transfer ability, CDs have emerged as a new type of photocatalyst. Recent work of CDs as sole photocatalyst or in combination with other materials (e.g., metal, metal sulfide, metal oxide, bismuth-based semiconductor, or other traditional photocatalysts) to form composite catalyst for various photocatalytic applications are reviewed. Possible future directions are proposed at the end of the article on mechanistic studies, production of CDs with better controlled properties, expansion of polymer precursor pool, and systematic studies of CDs for photocatalysis applications.

Coordinated Biosynthesis of the Purine Nucleoside Antibiotics Aristeromycin and Coformycin in Actinomycetes

ABSTRACT Purine nucleoside antibiotic pairs, concomitantly produced by a single strain, are an important group of microbial natural products. Here, we report a target-directed genome mining approach to elucidate the biosynthesis of the purine nucleoside antibiotic pair aristeromycin (ARM) and coformycin (COF) in Micromonospora haikouensis DSM 45626 (a new producer for ARM and COF) and Streptomyces citricolor NBRC 13005 (a new COF producer). We also provide biochemical data that MacI and MacT function as unusual phosphorylases, catalyzing an irreversible reaction for the tailoring assembly of neplanocin A (NEP-A) and ARM. Moreover, we demonstrate that MacQ is shown to be an adenosine-specific deaminase, likely relieving the potential “excess adenosine” for producing cells. Finally, we report that MacR, an annotated IMP dehydrogenase, is actually an NADPH-dependent GMP reductase, which potentially plays a salvage role for the efficient supply of the precursor pool. Hence, these findings illustrate a fine-tuned pathway for the biosynthesis of ARM and also open the way for the rational search for purine antibiotic pairs. IMPORTANCE ARM and COF are well known for their prominent biological activities and unusual chemical structures; however, the logic of their biosynthesis has long been poorly understood. Actually, the new insights into the ARM and COF pathway will not only enrich the biochemical repertoire for interesting enzymatic reactions but may also lay a solid foundation for the combinatorial biosynthesis of this group of antibiotics via a target-directed genome mining strategy.