Đurđa Vasić-Rački

Guidelines for reporting of biocatalytic reactions.

Enzymes and whole cells are being increasingly applied in research and industry, but the adoption of biocatalysis relies strongly on useful scientific literature. Unfortunately, too many published papers lack essential information needed to reproduce and understand the results. Here, members of the scientific committee of the European Federation of Biotechnology Section on Applied Biocatalysis (ESAB) provide practical guidelines for reporting experiments. The document embraces the recommendations of the STRENDA initiative (Standards for Reporting Enzymology Data) in the context of pure enzymology and provides further guidelines and explanations on topics of crucial relevance for biocatalysis. In particular, guidelines are given on issues such as the selectivity, specificity, productivity and stability of biocatalysts, as well as on methodological problems related to reactions in multiphase systems. We believe that adoption and use of these guidelines could greatly increase the value and impact of published work in biocatalysis, and hence promote the further growth of applications.

Enzymatic production of l-phenylalanine from the racemic mixture of d,l-phenyllactate

SummaryThe production of l-phenylalanine from the racemate d,l-phenyllactate in an enzyme membrane reactor has been examined. In a first step the racemate is dehydrogenated to the prochiral intermediate phenylpyruvate by the enzymes d-and l-hydroxyisocaproate dehydrogenase. In a second step phenylpyruvate is reductively aminated to l-phenylalanine by l-phenylalanine dehydrogenase. Both steps are dependent on coenzyme, the first one requires NAD, the second one NADH in stoichiometric amounts; in this way the coenzyme is regenerated and only required catalytically. The coenzyme is covalently bound to polyethylene glyco-20 000 and can thus be retained in the reactor analogously to the three enzymes. In order to optimize the continuous production of l-phenylalanine from d,l-phenyllactate, models of the reaction kinetics and of the reactor system have been set up. By means of the reactor model, we can calculate the optimum ratio of the three enzymes, the optimum coenzyme concentration and the optimum phenylpyruvate concentration in the feed.In this process, at a substrate concentration of 50 mM d,l-phenyllactate we reached a spacetime-yield of 28 g l-Phe/(l*d).

Aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone to N-Cbz-3- aminopropanal catalyzed by two aldolases variants in microreactors

Aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone to N-Cbz-3-aminopropanal catalyzed by two d-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase variants, FSA A129S and FSA A129S/A165G, overexpressed in Escherichia coli was studied in microreactors. The presence of organic solvent was necessary due to poor solubility of N-Cbz-3-aminopropanal in water. Hence, three co-solvents were evaluated: ethyl acetate, acetonitrile and dimethylformamide (DMF). The influence of these solvents and their concentration on the enzyme activity was independently tested and it was found that all solvents significantly reduce the activity of FSA depending on their concentration. The reaction was carried out in three different microreactors; two without and one with micromixers. By increasing enzyme concentration, it was possible to achieve higher substrate conversion at lower residence time. Enzyme activity measured at the outlet flow of the microreactor at different residence time revealed that enzymes are more stable at lower residence times due to shorter time of exposure to organic solvent. The reaction in the batch reactor was compared with the results in microreactor with micromixers. Volume productivity was more than three fold higher in microreactor with micromixers than in the batch reactor for both aldolases. It was found to be 0.88Md(-1) and 0.80Md(-1) for FSA A129S and FSA A129S/A165G, respectively.

A new concept for production of (3S,4R)-6-[(benzyloxycarbonyl)amino]-5,6-dideoxyhex-2-ulose, a precursor of D-fagomine

A novel cascade reaction for the production of aldol adduct (3S,4R)-6-[(benzyloxycarbonyl)amino]-5,6-dideoxyhex-2-ulose was studied in this work. The strategy combines three enzymes in one pot: (i) horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase for the oxidation of N-Cbz-3-aminopropanol to the corresponding aldehyde, (ii) NADH oxidase for the regeneration of coenzyme NAD+ and (iii) D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase from E. coli A129S variant for the aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone to N-Cbz-3-aminopropanal. On the basis of preliminary experiments, optimization of the initial reaction conditions was done using statistical methods, i.e. factorial design of experiments. 79% yield of aldol adduct was achieved in the batch reactor after optimization.

A mathematical model of oxidative deamination of amino acid catalyzed by two D-amino acid oxidases and influence of aeration on enzyme stability

Two d-amino acid oxidases (DAAO) from different sources (Arthrobacter protophormiae and porcine kidney) were used to oxidatively deaminate d-methionine in the batch reactor. A mathematical model of the process was developed and validated by the experiments carried out without and with oxygen supply by aeration. Kinetic parameters of the model were estimated from the initial reaction rate experiments. Aeration increased the reaction rate in the initial part of the reaction and reduced the time necessary to achieve the final substrate conversion. However, it had a negative influence on the operational stability of enzymes. Operational stability decay rate constants estimated from the experimental data increased with the airflow rate, which indicated lower operational stability of enzymes. It was found that oxygen concentration significantly influenced the stability of DAAO from porcine kidney. Enzyme from microbial source had better operational stability and one order of magnitude lower values of decay rate constants.

Coenzyme regeneration in hexanol oxidation catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase.

The enzymatic ways of coenzyme regeneration include the addition of a second enzyme to the system or the addition of the co-substrate. In the present study, both methods of enzymatic coenzyme (NAD+) regeneration were studied and compared in the reaction of hexanol oxidation catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). As a source of ADH, commercial isolated enzyme and the whole baker’s yeast cells were used. First, coenzyme regeneration was employed in the reaction of acetaldehyde reduction catalyzed by the same enzyme that catalyzed the main reaction, and then NAD+ regeneration was applied in the reaction of pyruvate reduction catalyzed by l-lactate dehydrogenase (l-LDH). Hexanal was obtained as the product of hexanol oxidation catalyzed by isolated ADH while hexaonic acid was detected as a product of the same reaction catalyzed by baker’s yeast cells. All of the used biocatalysts were kinetically characterized. The mass reactions were described by the mathematical models. All models were validated in the batch reactor. One hundred percent hexanol conversion was obtained using permeabilized yeast cells using both methods of cofactor regeneration. By using isolated enzyme ADH, the higher conversion was achieved in a system with cofactor regeneration catalyzed by l-LDH.

Mathematical model for aldol addition catalyzed by two d-fructose-6-phosphate aldolases variants overexpressed in E. coli

Two D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase variants namely, single variant FSA A129S and double variant FSA A129S/A165G, were used as catalysts in the aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone (DHA) to N-Cbz-3-aminopropanal. Mathematical model for reaction catalyzed by both enzymes, consisting of kinetic and mass balance equations, was developed. Kinetic parameters were estimated from the experimental data gathered by using the initial reaction rate method. The model was validated in the batch and continuously operated ultrafiltration membrane reactor (UFMR). The same type of kinetic model could be applied for both enzymes. The operational stability of the aldolases was assessed by measuring enzyme activity during the experiments. FSA A129S/A165G had better operational stability in the batch reactor (half-life time 26.7 h) in comparison to FSA A129S (half-life time 5.78 h). Both variants were unstable in the continuously operated UFMR in which half-life times were 1.99 and 3.64 h for FSA A129S and FSA A129S/A165G, respectively.

Stabilization of D-amino acid oxidase via covalent immobilization and mathematical model of D-methionine oxidative deamination catalyzed by immobilized enzyme

Porcine kidney D-amino acid oxidase was stabilized by covalent immobilization on spherical particles of Eupergit C because of its low stability in soluble form. The main focus of this work was put on evaluation of operational stability of the immobilized enzyme. To evaluate D-amino acid oxidase’s operational stability during process conditions, repetitive batch reactor experiments of D-methionine oxidation reaction were carried out with continuous aeration for oxygen supply at air-flow rates: of 5 and 10 dm3 h-1. Kinetic analysis of the immobilized enzyme was done as well. The mathematical model of D-methionine oxidative deamination catalyzed by the immobilized D-amino acid oxidase was developed and it described the data well. It enabled the estimation of operational stability decay rate constant. It was possible to achieve 100 % substrate conversion in all batch experiments.

Mathematical model of the MenD-catalyzed 1,4-addition (Stetter reaction) of α-ketoglutaric acid to acrylonitrile

The Stetter reaction, a conjugate umpolung reaction, is well known for cyanide-catalyzed transformations of mostly aromatic aldehydes. Enzymatic Stetter reactions, however, have been largely unexplored, especially with respect to preparative transformations. We have investigated the kinetics of the MenD-catalyzed 1,4-addition of α-ketoglutaric acid to acrylonitrile which has shown that acrylonitrile, while an interesting candidate, is a poor substrate for MenD due to low affinity of the enzyme for this substrate. The kinetic model of the reaction was simplified to double substrate Michaelis-Menten kinetics where the reaction rate linearly depends on acrylonitrile concentration. Experiments at different initial concentrations of acrylonitrile under batch, repetitive batch, and fed-batch reactor conditions were carried out to validate the developed mathematical model. Thiamine diphosphate dependent MenD proved to be quite a robust enzyme; nevertheless, enzyme operational stability decay occurs in the reactor. The spontaneous reactivity of acrylonitrile towards polymerization was also taken into account during mathematical modeling. Almost quantitative conversion of acrylonitrile was achieved in all batch reactor experiments, while the yield of the desired product was dependent on initial acrylonitrile concentration (i.e., the concentration of the stabilizer additive). Using the optimized reactor parameters, it was possible to synthesize the product, 6-cyano-4-oxohexanoic acid, in a concentration of 250 mM. The highest concentration of product was achieved in a repetitive batch reactor experiment. A fed-batch reactor experiment also delivered promising results, especially regarding the short reaction time needed to achieve a 200 mM concentration of product. Hence, the enzymatic Stetter reaction with a highly reactive acceptor substrate can be performed on a preparative scale, which should enable similar transformations with acrylate, methacrylate, and methyl vinyl ketone.

Different strategies for multi-enzyme cascade reaction for chiral vic-1,2-diol production

The stereoselective three-enzyme cascade for the one-pot synthesis of (1S,2S)-1-phenylpropane-1,2-diol ((1S,2S)-1-PPD) from inexpensive starting substrates, benzaldehyde and acetaldehyde, was explored. By coupling stereoselective carboligation catalyzed by benzoylformate decarboxylase (BFD), L-selective reduction of a carbonyl group with alcohol dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus brevis (ADHLb) as well as the coenzyme regeneration by formate dehydrogenase (FDH), enantiomerically pure diastereoselective 1,2-diol was produced. Two different multi-enzyme system approaches were applied: the sequential two-step one-pot and the simultaneous one-pot cascade. All enzymes were kinetically characterized. The impact of acetaldehyde on the BFD and ADHLb stability was investigated. To overcome the kinetic limitation of acetaldehyde in the carboligation reaction and to reduce its influence on the enzyme stability, experiments were performed in two different excesses of acetaldehyde (100 and 300%). Due to the ADHLb deactivation by acetaldehyde, the simultaneous one-pot cascade proved not to be the first choice for the investigated three-enzyme system. In the sequential cascade with 300% acetaldehyde excess a 100% yield of vic 1,2-diol was reached.