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Degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM) underlies loss of cartilage tissue in osteoarthritis, a common disease for which no effective disease-modifying therapy currently exists. Here we describe BNTA, a small molecule with ECM modulatory properties. BNTA promotes generation of ECM components in cultured chondrocytes isolated from individuals with osteoarthritis. In human osteoarthritic cartilage explants, BNTA treatment stimulates expression of ECM components while suppressing inflammatory mediators. Intra-articular injection of BNTA delays the disease progression in a trauma-induced rat model of osteoarthritis. Furthermore, we identify superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD3) as a mediator of BNTA activity. BNTA induces SOD3 expression and superoxide anion elimination in osteoarthritic chondrocyte culture, and ectopic SOD3 expression recapitulates the effect of BNTA on ECM biosynthesis. These observations identify SOD3 as a relevant drug target, and BNTA as a potential therapeutic agent in osteoarthritis.

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Enzymatic asymmetric sulfoxidation using molecular oxygen as the oxidant is a promising green chemistry approach to chiral sulfoxide production. Despite the broad substrate spectrum of cyclohexanone monooxygenases (CHMOs), some unnatural substrates with bulky functional groups, such as the pharmaceutically relevant omeprazole sulfide, cannot be effectively accepted by CHMOs. Herein, we describe a set of variants derived from an Acinetobacter calcoaceticus CHMO (AcCHMO), whose active sites adjacent to the substrate tunnel were altered to shift the substrate specificity from cyclohexanone monooxygenation toward omeprazole sulfide sulfoxidation. We performed homologous modeling and molecular docking to identify key residues that might affect the substrate specificity. Two libraries of residues lining the active center of AcCHMO were then constructed and screened by an effective halo-based selection method using the solubility difference between the substrate (omeprazole sulfide) and product (esomeprazole). Functional evaluation of the resultant variants showed that the substrate specificity of AcCHMO was markedly altered from the small natural substrate (cyclohexanone) toward the desired bulky substrate (omeprazole sulfide) despite the extremely poor activity detected even for the best variant, M2 (0.61 U/ g prot ). The crystal structure of M2 complexed with a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) prosthetic group was determined, which provided insight into the altered substrate specificity. To improve the activity of enzyme M2 toward pharmaceutical precursor omeprazole sulfide, we performed both local and global protein engineering among the two CASTing libraries surrounding FAD + and NADP + prosthetic groups and an error-prone PCR library of the full-length AcCHMO. As a result, variant M6 was obtained, giving a 50-fold higher activity compared to M2. This structure-guided protein engineering of AcCHMO provided a promising candidate for converting omeprazole sulfide into (S)-omeprazole using a green biocatalytic method.

Aliphatic α,ω‐dicarboxylic acids (DCAs) are a class of useful chemicals that are currently produced by energy-intensive, multistage chemical oxidations that are hazardous to the environment. Therefore, the development of environmentally friendly, safe, neutral routes to DCAs is important. We report an in vivo artificially designed biocatalytic cascade process for biotransformation of cycloalkanes to DCAs. To reduce protein expression burden and redox constraints caused by multi-enzyme expression in a single microbe, the biocatalytic pathway is divided into three basic Escherichia coli cell modules. The modules possess either redox-neutral or redox-regeneration systems and are combined to form E. coli consortia for use in biotransformations. The designed consortia of E. coli containing the modules efficiently convert cycloalkanes or cycloalkanols to DCAs without addition of exogenous coenzymes. Thus, this developed biocatalytic process provides a promising alternative to the current industrial process for manufacturing DCAs.

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Enzymatic preparation of l-menthol has been attracting much attention in the flavor and fragrance industry. A new ideal strain, Bacillus subtilis ECU0554, which exhibited high hydrolytic activity and excellent enantioselectivity towards l-menthyl ester, has been successfully isolated from soil samples through enrichment culture and identified as Bacillus subtilis by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. The esterase extracted from B. subtilis ECU0554 (BSE) showed the best catalytic properties (E > 200) for dlmenthyl acetate among the five menthyl esters examined. Enantioselective hydrolysis of 100 mM dlmenthyl acetate at 308C and pH 7.0, using crude BSE as biocatalyst and 10% ethanol (v/v) as cosolvent, resulted in 49.0% conversion (3 h) and 98.0% ee for the l-menthol produced, which were much better than those using commercial enzymes tested.Moreover, BSE exhibited strong tolerance against high substrate concentration (up to 500 mM), and the concentration of l-menthol produced could reach as high as 182 mM, and more importantly, the optical purity of l-menthol produced was kept above 97% ee, which were not found in previous reports. These results imply that BSE is a potentially promising biocatalyst for the large-scale enzymatic preparation of l-menthol. Using this excellent biocatalyst, the enzymatic production of l-menthol will become a mild, efficient, inexpensive and easy-to-use "green chemistry" methodology.