Daniela Ubiali

Modulation of penicillin acylase properties via immobilization techniques: one-pot chemoenzymatic synthesis of cephamandole from cephalosporin C

The modulation of penicillin G acylase (PGA) properties via immobilization techniques has been performed studying the acylation of 7-aminocephalosporanic acid with R-mandelic acid methyl ester. PGA from Escherichia coli, immobilized onto agarose activated with glycidol (glyoxyl-agarose), has been used for the design of a novel one-pot synthesis of Cephamandole in aqueous medium and without isolation of intermediates, through three consecutive biotransformations catalyzed by D-amino acid oxidase, glutaryl acylase and PGA.

Different phyllosilicates as supports for lipase immobilisation

The aim of this work was to determine the enzymatic activities resulting from the adsorption of Rhizomucor miehei lipase (RML) and Candida cylindracea lipase (CCL) onto three different phyllosilicates (sepiolite, palygorskite and montmorillonite), comparing the resultant activities with those obtained following similar immobilisation technique on a widely used resin (Duolite A-568). Due to the different adsorption mechanisms produced, different derivatives with higher hydrolytic activities can be obtained. Comparing the clays tested, the results showed that, in comparison with the laminar silicate (montmorillonite sample) and Duolite A-568 (spherical particles), fibrous materials (palygorskite and sepiolite) resulted in derivatives with higher hydrolytic activities in the hydrolysis of different ethyl esters. Moreover, according to the data obtained with the electrophoresis, the selectivity of immobilisation for RML in the case of fibrous silicates was optimal. As a conclusion, and according to the activities and selectivities measured, at least two out of the four studied materials (sepiolite and palygorskite) would be useful as supports for immobilisation for proteins of relatively low molecular weight (such as RML) for further use in biotransformations, while for C. cylindracea the immobilisation onto duolite rendered a derivative specially active in the hydrolysis of ethyl formiate (esterasic activity).

Selective Interaction of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Reverse Transcriptase Nonnucleoside Inhibitor Efavirenz and Its Thio-Substituted Analog with Different Enzyme-Substrate Complexes

ABSTRACT Accumulating data have brought the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (NNRTIs) into the forefront of antiretroviral therapy. Among the emerging compounds in this class, a particularly attractive one is efavirenz (Sustiva), recently approved for clinical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In the present study, the equilibrium dissociation constants for efavirenz binding to the different catalytic forms of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RT as well as the association and dissociation rates have been determined using a steady-state kinetic approach. In addition, the same enzymological analysis has been extended to the thio-substituted analog, sefavirenz, which showed comparable activity in vitro against RT. Both compounds have been found to act as purely uncompetitive inhibitors at low drug concentrations (5 to 50 nM) and as mixed noncompetitive inhibitors at higher doses (50 to 500 nM). This behavior can be interpreted in terms of the relative affinities for the different catalytic forms of the enzyme. Both efavirenz and sefavirenz showed increasing affinities for the different forms of RT in the following order: free enzyme < (i.e., bound with lower affinity) binary RT–template-primer (TP) complex < ternary RT-TP-deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) complex. The rate of binding of the two inhibitors to the different enzyme-substrate complexes was well below the diffusion limit (on the order of 104M−1 s−1); however, both inhibitors, when bound to the ternary RT-TP-dNTP complex, showed very low dissociation rates, on the order of 10−4 s−1 for both compounds, typical of tightly binding inhibitors. Thus, efavirenz and its thio-substituted derivative sefavirenz appear to be peculiar in their mechanism of action, being selective tightly binding inhibitors of the ternary RT-TP-dNTP complex. Efavirenz is the first clinically approved NNRTI to show this property.

3H-[1,2]Dithiolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3-thione and its derivatives Synthesis and antimicrobial activity

A series of 2-substituted isothiazolo[5,4-b]pyridine-3(2H)-thiones, isothiazolo[5,4-b]pyridin-3(2H)-ones, N-substituted 2-sulfanylnicotinamides and the corresponding carbothioamide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against several strains of Gram+ and Gram- bacteria and fungi. Chemical syntheses were resumed into a comprehensive cyclic route that enables the reversible conversion for each derivative of the series considered. Among the tested compounds the N-(aralkyl)-2-sulfanylnicotinamides show the highest fungitoxicity (MIC = 1.25-5 microg/ml). The best activity towards Gram-positive bacteria was in the range of 2.5-5 microg/ml. Activity against Gram-negative bacteria was generally very poor for all compounds.

New active site oriented glyoxyl-agarose derivatives of Escherichia coli penicillin G acylase.

BackgroundImmobilized Penicillin G Acylase (PGA) derivatives are biocatalysts that are industrially used for the hydrolysis of Penicillin G by fermentation and for the kinetically controlled synthesis of semi-synthetic β-lactam antibiotics. One of the most used supports for immobilization is glyoxyl-activated agarose, which binds the protein by reacting through its superficial Lys residues. Since in E. coli PGA Lys are also present near the active site, an immobilization that occurs through these residues may negatively affect the performance of the biocatalyst due to the difficult diffusion of the substrate into the active site. A preferential orientation of the enzyme with the active site far from the support surface would be desirable to avoid this problem.ResultsHere we report how it is possible to induce a preferential orientation of the protein during the binding process on aldehyde activated supports. A superficial region of PGA, which is located on the opposite side of the active site, is enriched in its Lys content. The binding of the enzyme onto the support is consequently forced through the Lys rich region, thus leaving the active site fully accessible to the substrate. Different mutants with an increasing number of Lys have been designed and, when active, immobilized onto glyoxyl agarose. The synthetic performances of these new catalysts were compared with those of the immobilized wild-type (wt) PGA. Our results show that, while the synthetic performance of the wt PGA sensitively decreases after immobilization, the Lys enriched mutants have similar performances to the free enzyme even after immobilization.We also report the observations made with other mutants which were unable to undergo a successful maturation process for the production of active enzymes or which resulted toxic for the host cell.ConclusionThe desired orientation of immobilized PGA with the active site freely accessible can be obtained by increasing the density of Lys residues on a predetermined region of the enzyme. The newly designed biocatalysts display improved synthetic performances and are able to maintain a similar activity to the free enzymes. Finally, we found that the activity of the immobilized enzyme proportionally improves with the number of introduced Lys.

Modulation of the Microenvironment Surrounding the Active Site of Penicillin G Acylase Immobilized on Acrylic Carriers Improves the Enzymatic Synthesis of Cephalosporins

The catalytic properties of penicillin G acylase (PGA) from Escherichia coli in kinetically controlled synthesis of β-lactam antibiotics are negatively affected upon immobilization on hydrophobic acrylic carriers. Two strategies have been here pursued to improve the synthetic performance of PGA immobilized on epoxy-activated acrylic carriers. First, an aldehyde-based spacer was inserted on the carrier surface by glutaraldehyde activation (immobilization yield = 50%). The resulting 3-fold higher synthesis/hydrolysis ratio (vs/vh1 = 9.7 ± 0.7 and 10.9 ± 0.7 for Eupergit® C and Sepabeads® EC-EP, respectively) with respect to the unmodified support (vs/vh1 = 3.3 ± 0.4) was ascribed to a facilitated diffusion of substrates and products as a result of the increased distance between the enzyme and the carrier surface. A second series of catalysts was prepared by direct immobilization of PGA on epoxy-activated acrylic carriers (Eupergit® C), followed by quenching of oxiranes not involved in the binding with the protein with different nucleophiles (amino acids, amines, amino alcohols, thiols and amino thiols). In most cases, this derivatization increased the synthesis/hydrolysis ratio with respect to the non derivatized carrier. Particularly, post-immobilization treatment with cysteine resulted in about 2.5-fold higher vs/vh1 compared to the untreated biocatalyst, although the immobilization yield decreased from 70% (untreated Eupergit® C) to 20%. Glutaraldehyde- and cysteine-treated Eupergit® C catalyzed the synthesis of cefazolin in 88% (±0.9) and 87% (±1.6) conversion, respectively, whereas untreated Eupergit® C afforded this antibiotic in 79% (±1.2) conversion.

Characterization and study of the orientation of immobilized enzymes by tryptic digestion and HPLC-MS: design of an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of cephalosporins.

An innovative approach to determine the orientation of penicillin G acylase (PGA) from Escherichia coli covalently immobilized onto solid supports has been developed. This method is based on tryptic digestion of immobilized PGA followed by HPLC-MS analysis of the released peptides which are supposed to be only those exposed toward the reaction medium and not directly bound to the solid support. To this purpose, PGA was immobilized on Eupergit C (acrylic hydrophobic resin) and glyoxyl-agarose (hydrophilic resin) functionalized with epoxy and aldehyde groups, respectively, both involving the Lys residues of the protein. The peptide maps obtained were analyzed to derive the orientation of immobilized PGA, as the position of the detected Lys gave indication concerning the accessibility of the different areas of the protein. The results indicate that PGA immobilization on both supports involves mainly Lys located near the binding pocket (70%). Some differences in the enzyme orientation on the two supports can be deduced by the presence of different unbound Lys residues in the released peptides, specific to each support (Lys 117alpha for PGA-Eupergit C; Lys 163alpha and Lys 165alpha for PGA-glyoxyl-agarose). These results have been correlated with the data obtained in the kinetically controlled synthesis and indicate that the orientation of PGA on both supports is partially unfavorable, driving the active site near the support surface. This type of orientation of the enzyme enhances the effect of the nature of the support and of the binding chemistry on the catalytic properties. The information obtained indicated the most suitable support and activation strategy to design an immobilized acylase with good synthetic properties for preparative processes. The glyoxyl-Eupergit C support with enhanced porosity synergically combines the mechanical stability and synthetic performances of immobilized PGA and was successfully used in the synthesis of several cephalosporins.

Enzymatic synthesis of cephalosporins. The immobilized acylase from Arthrobacter viscosus: a new useful biocatalyst.

The acylase from Arthrobacter viscosus was immobilized, studied in the enzymatic synthesis of some cephalosporins by kinetically controlled N-acylation (kcNa) of different cephem nuclei, and compared with the penicillin G acylase (PGA) from Escherichia coli. The reaction outcomes were dependent on the acylase microbial source and on the type of immobilization support. Generally, both enzymes, when immobilized onto hydrophilic resins such as glyoxyl-agarose (activated with aldehyde groups), displayed higher synthetic performances in comparison with hydrophobic acrylic epoxy-supports like Eupergit C. The kcNa of 7-amino cephalosporanic acid catalyzed by A. viscosus immobilized on glyoxyl-agarose afforded a quantitative conversion in 7-[(1-hydroxy-1-phenyl)-acetamido]-3-acetoxymethyl-Δ3-cephem-4-carboxylic acid, a useful intermediate for the synthesis of Cefamandole and Cefonicid. Similar results were obtained in the synthesis of these cephalosporins by direct acylation of the corresponding 3′-functionalized nucleus. In these reactions, A. viscosus displayed higher synthetic performances than the PGA from E. coli.

Potentiation of Inhibition of Wild-Type and Mutant Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Reverse Transcriptases by Combinations of Nonnucleoside Inhibitors and d- and l-(β)-Dideoxynucleoside Triphosphate Analogs

ABSTRACT Combinations of reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors are currently used in anti-human immunodeficiency virus therapy in order to prevent or delay the emergence of resistant virus and to improve the efficacy against viral enzymes carrying resistance mutations. Drug-drug interactions can result in either positive (additive or synergistic inhibition) or adverse (antagonistic interaction, synergistic toxicity) effects. Elucidation of the nature of drug interaction would help to rationalize the choice of antiretroviral agents to be used in combination. In this study, different combinations of nucleoside and nonnucleoside inhibitors, including d- andl-(β)-deoxy- and -dideoxynucleoside triphosphate analogues, have been tested in in vitro RT assays against either recombinant wild-type RT or RT bearing clinically relevant nonnucleoside inhibitor resistance mutations (L100I, K103N, Y181I), and the nature of the interaction (either synergistic or antagonistic) of these associations was evaluated. The results showed that (i) synergy of a combination was not always equally influenced by the individual agents utilized, (ii) a synergistic combination could improve the sensitivity profile of a drug-resistant mutant enzyme to the single agents utilized, (iii) l-(β)-enantiomers of nucleoside RT inhibitors were synergistic when combined with nonnucleoside RT inhibitors, and (iv) inter- and intracombination comparisons of the relative potencies of each drug could be used to highlight the different contributions of each drug to the observed synergy.

Redesigning the synthesis of vidarabine via a multienzymatic reaction catalyzed by immobilized nucleoside phosphorylases

We here report on the enzymatic synthesis of the antiviral drug vidarabine (arabinosyladenine, araA) starting from arabinosyluracil and adenine. To this aim, uridine phosphorylase from Clostridium perfringens (CpUP) and a purine nucleoside phosphorylase from Aeromonas hydrophila (AhPNP) were used as covalently immobilized biocatalysts. Upon investigation of the optimal conditions for the enzyme activity (phosphate buffer 25 mM, pH 7.5, 25 °C, DMF 12.5–30%), the synthesis of araA was scaled up (2 L) and the product was isolated in 53% yield (3.5 g L−1) and 98.7% purity. An E-factor comparison between the enzymatic synthesis of araA and the classical chemical procedure clearly highlighted the “greenness” of the enzymatic route over the chemical one (E-factor: 423 vs. 1356, respectively).