No abstract

Bacillus paralicheniformis urease (BpUrease) has been shown to be a promising biocatalyst for degrading the carcinogenic chemical ethyl carbamate (EC or urethane) in rice wine. However, low EC affinity and catalytic efficiency limit the practical application of BpUrease. In this study, we improved the EC degradation capability of BpUrease by site-saturation mutagenesis (SSM). The best variant L253P/L287N showed a 49% increase in EC affinity, 1027% increase in catalytic efficiency (k cat/K m), and 583% increase in half-life (t 1/2) at 70 °C. Homology modeling analysis suggest that mutation of Leu253 to Pro increased the BpUrease EC specificity by affecting the interaction between Arg339 with the catalytic residue His323, while Leu287Asn mutation benefits EC specificity and affinity by changing the interaction networks among the residues in the catalytic pocket. Our results show that the L253P/L287N variant efficiently degraded urea and EC in a model rice wine, making it a good candidate for practical application in the food industry.

Background: Trypsin has many applications in food and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Although commercial trypsin is usually extracted from porcine pancreas, this source carries the risks of infectivity and immunogenicity. Microbial Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) is a prime alternative because it possesses efficient hydrolysis activity without such risks. However, the remarkable hydrolysis efficiency of SGT causes autolysis, and five autolysis sites, R21, R32, K122, R153, and R201, were identified from its autolysate. Results: The tbcf (K101A, R201V) mutant was screened by a directed selection approach for improved activity in flask culture (60.85 ± 3.42 U mL −1 , increased 1.5-fold). From the molecular dynamics simulation, in the K101A/R201V mutant the distance between the catalytical residues D102 and H57 was shortened to 6.5 Å vs 7.0 Å in the wild type, which afforded the improved specific activity of 1527.96 ± 62.81 U mg −1. Furthermore, the production of trypsin was increased by 302.8% (689.47 ± 6.78 U mL −1) in a 3-L bioreactor, with co-overexpression of chaperones SSO2 and UBC1 in Pichia pastoris. Conclusions: SGT protein could be a good source of trypsin for insulin production. As a result of the hydrolysates analysis and direct selection, the activity of the tbcf (K101A, R201V) mutant increased 1.5-fold. Furthermore, the production of trypsin was improved threefold by overexpressing chaperone protein in Pichia pastoris. Future studies should investigate the application of SGT to insulin and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Background: Trypsin has a plenty application in food and pharmaceutical manufacture. While, the commercial trypsin is usually extracted from pork pancreas, which has the risk of infectious and immunogenicity. Therefore, the microbial Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) is a prior alternation because it processes efficient hydrolysis activity without the aforementioned risk. The remarkable hydrolysis efficiency of SGT caused its autolysis, and five autolysis sites R21, R32, K122, R153, and R201 were identified from its' autolysate. Results: The tbcf (K101A, R201V) mutant was screened by directed selection approach for improved activity in flask culture (60.85 ± 3.42 U·mL -1 , increased 1.5-fold). From the molecular dynamics simulation, the K101A/R201V mutation shortened the distant between catalytical residues D102 and H57 from 6.5 Å vs 7.0 Å, which afforded the improved specific activity 1527.96 ± 62.81 U·mg -1 . Further, the production of trypsin was increased 302.8% (689.47 ± 6.78 U·mL −1 ) in 3-L bio-reactor, with co-overexpression of chaperones SSO2 and UBC1 in Pichia pastoris. Conclusions: The SGT protein could be an adequate trypsin for insulin production. When working with hydrolysates analysis and direction selection, the tbcf (K101A, R201V) mutant increased 1.5-fold activity. Further, the production of trypsin was improved 3-fold by overexpressing chaperone protein in Pichia pastoris . The future study should be emphasized on the application of SGT in insulin manufacture and pharmaceutical.