Michiyo Yanase

Potato D-enzyme Catalyzes the Cyclization of Amylose to Produce Cycloamylose, a Novel Cyclic Glucan

Potato D-enzyme was purified from recombinant Escherichia coli, and its action on synthetic amylose (average M of 320,000) was analyzed. D-enzyme treatment resulted in a decrease in the ability of the amylose to form a blue complex with iodine. Analysis of the products indicated that the enzyme catalyzes an intramolecular transglycosylation reaction on amylose to produce cyclic α-1,4-glucan (cycloamylose). Confirmation of the cyclic structure was achieved by demonstrating the absence of reducing and nonreducing ends, resistance to hydrolysis by glucoamylase (an exoamylase), and by “time of flight” mass spectrometry. The degree of polymerization of cycloamylose products was determined by time of flight mass spectrometry analysis and by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography following partial acid hydrolysis of purified cycloamylose molecules and was found to range from 17 to several hundred. The yield of cycloamylose increased with time and reached >95%. D-enzyme did not act upon purified cycloamylose, but if glucose was added as an acceptor molecule, smaller cyclic and linear molecules were produced. The mechanism of the cyclization reaction, the possible role of the enzyme in starch metabolism, and the potential applications for cycloamylose are discussed.

Cyclodextrins are not the major cyclic alpha-1,4-glucans produced by the initial action of cyclodextrin glucanotransferase on amylose.

The initial action of cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase, EC 2.4.1.19) from an alkalophilicBacillus sp. A2-5a on amylose was investigated. Synthetic amylose was incubated with purified CGTase then terminated in the very early stage of the enzyme reaction. When the reaction mixture was treated with glucoamylase and the resulting glucoamylase-resistant glucans were analyzed with high performance anion exchange chromatography, cyclic α-1,4-glucans, with degree of polymerization ranging from 9 to more than 60, in addition to well known α-, β-, and γ-cyclodextrin (CD), were detected. The time-course analysis revealed that larger cyclic α-1,4-glucans were preferentially produced in the initial stage of the cyclization reaction and were subsequently converted into smaller cyclic α-1,4-glucans and into the final major product, β-CD. CGTase from Bacillus maceransalso produced large cyclic α-1,4-glucans except that the final major product was α-CD. Based on these results, a new model for the action of CGTase on amylose was proposed, which may contradict the widely held view of the cyclization reaction of CGTase.

Bioengineering and Application of Novel Glucose Polymers

Abstract Glucan phosphorylase, branching enzyme, and 4-α-glucanotransferase were employed to produce glucose polymers with controlled molecular size and structures. Linear or branched glucan was produced from glucose-1-phosphate by glucan phosphorylase alone or together with bracnhing enzyme, where the molecular weight of linear glucan was strictly controlled by the glucose-1-phosphate/primer molar ratio, and the branching pattern by the relative branching enzyme/glucan phosphorylase activity ratio. Cyclic glucans were produced by the cyclization reaction of 5-αglucanotransferases and branching enzyme on amylose and amylopectin. Molecular size and structure of cyclic glucan was controlled by the type of enyzyme and substrate chosen and by the reaction conditions. This in vitro approach can be used to manufacture novel glucose polymers with applicable value.

Controlling Substrate Preference and Transglycosylation Activity of Neopullulanase by Manipulating Steric Constraint and Hydrophobicity in Active Center

The substrate specificity and the transglycosylation activity of neopullulanase was altered by site-directed mutagenesis on the basis of information from a three-dimensional structure predicted by computer-aided molecular modeling. According to the predicted three-dimensional structure of the enzyme-substrate complex, it was most likely that Ile-358 affected the substrate preference of the enzyme. Replacing Ile-358 with Trp, which has a bulky side chain, reduced the acceptability of α-(1→6)-branched oligo- and polysaccharides as substrates. The characteristics of the I358W-mutated enzyme were quite different from those of wild-type neopullulanase and rather similar to those of typical starch-saccharifying α-amylase. In contrast, replacing Ile-358 with Val, which has a smaller side chain, increased the preference for α-(1→6)-branched oligosaccharides and pullulan as substrates. The transglycosylation activity of neopullulanase appeared to be controlled by manipulating the hydrophobicity around the attacking water molecule, which is most likely used to cleave the glucosidic linkage in the hydrolysis reaction. We predicted three residues, Tyr-377, Met-375, and Ser-422, which were located on the entrance path of the water molecule might be involved. The transglycosylation activity of neopullulanase was increased by replacing one of the three residues with more hydrophobic amino acid residues; Y377F, M375L, and S422V. In contrast, the transglycosylation activity of the enzyme was decreased by replacing Tyr-377 with hydrophilic amino acid residues, Asp or Ser.

Enzymatic synthesis of amylose

Amylose is a linear polymer of α-1,4-linked glucose and is expected to be used in various industries as a functional biomaterial. However, pure amylose is currently not available for industrial purposes, since the separation of natural amylose from amylopectin is difficult. It is known that amylose has been synthesized using various enzymes. Glucan phosphorylase, together with its substrate, glucose-1-phosphate, is the most suitable system for the production of amylose since the molecular size of amylose can be controlled precisely. However, the problem with this system is that glucose-1-phosphate is too expensive for industrial purposes. This review summarizes our work on the enzymatic synthesis of essentially linear amylose, together with recent progress in the production of synthetic amylose using sucrose or cellobiose through the combined actions of phosphorylases.

Cumulative Effect of Amino Acid Replacements Results in Enhanced Thermostability of Potato Type L α-Glucan Phosphorylase

ABSTRACT The thermostability of potato type L α-glucan phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) was enhanced by random and site-directed mutagenesis. We obtained three single-residue mutations—Phe39→Leu (F39L), Asn135→Ser (N135S), and Thr706→Ile (T706I)—by random mutagenesis. Although the wild-type enzyme was completely inactivated, these mutant enzymes retained their activity even after heat treatment at 60°C for 2 h. Combinations of these mutations were introduced by site-directed mutagenesis. The simultaneous mutation of two (F39L/N135S, F39L/T706I, and N135S/T706I) or three (F39L/N135S/T706I) residues further increased the thermostability of the enzyme, indicating that the effect of the replacement of the residues was cumulative. The triple-mutant enzyme, F39L/N135S/T706I, retained 50% of its original activity after heat treatment at 65°C for 20 min. Further analysis indicated that enzymes with a F39L or T706I mutation were resistant to possible proteolytic degradation.

Enzymatic α-glucuronylation of maltooligosaccharides using α-glucuronic acid 1-phosphate as glycosyl donor catalyzed by a thermostable phosphorylase from Aquifex aeolicus VF5.

This paper describes thermostable phosphorylase-catalyzed α-glucuronylation of maltooligosaccharides for the direct synthesis of anionic oligosaccharides having a glucuronic acid residue at the non-reducing end. When the reaction of α-glucuronic acid 1-phosphate (GlcA-1-P) as a glycosyl donor and maltotriose as a glycosyl acceptor was performed in the presence of thermostable phosphorylase from Aquifex aeolicus VF5, high performance anion exchange chromatography analysis of the reaction mixture suggested the production of a glucuronylated tetrasaccharide, whose structure was also confirmed by the MALDI-TOF MS measurement of the crude products. Furthermore, treatment of the crude products with glucoamylase supported that the α-glucuronic acid unit was positioned at the non-reducing end of the tetrasaccharide and (1)H NMR analysis suggested that it was bound in an α-(1→4)-linkage. When the α-glucuronylation of maltotetraose using GlcA-1-P was conducted, α-glucuronylated oligosaccharides with various degrees of polymerization were produced. On the other hand, the α-glucuronylation of maltotetraose using GlcA-1-P in the presence of potato phosphorylase did not occur at all, indicating no recognition of GlcA-1-P by potato phosphorylase.

Cyclization Reaction Catalyzed by Glycogen Debranching Enzyme (EC 2.4.1.25/EC 3.2.1.33) and Its Potential for Cycloamylose Production

ABSTRACT Glycogen debranching enzyme (GDE) has 4-α-glucanotransferase and amylo-1,6-glucosidase activities in the single polypeptide chain. We analyzed the detailed action profile of GDE from Saccharomyces cerevisiae on amylose and tested whether GDE catalyzes cyclization of amylose. GDE treatment resulted in a rapid reduction of absorbance of iodine-amylose complex and the accumulation of a product that was resistant to an exo-amylase (glucoamylase [GA]) but was degraded by an endo-type α-amylase to glucose and maltose. These results indicated that GDE catalyzed cyclization of amylose to produce cyclic α-1,4 glucan (cycloamylose). The formation of cycloamylose was confirmed by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography, and the size was shown to range from a degree of polymerization of 11 to a degree of polymerization around 50. The minimum size and the size distribution of cycloamylose were different from those of cycloamylose produced by other 4-α-glucanotransferases. GDE also efficiently produced cycloamylose even from the branched glucan substrate, starch, demonstrating its potential for industrial production of cycloamylose.

Synthesis of highly branched anionic α-glucans by thermostable phosphorylase-catalyzed α-glucuronylation

Highly branched anionic α-glucans were enzymatically synthesized by thermostable phosphorylase-catalyzed α-glucuronylation of highly branched cyclic dextrin using α-D-glucuronic acid 1-phosphate (GlcA-1-P) as a glycosyl donor. The resulting products were characterized by ¹H NMR measurement as well as high performance anion exchange chromatographic and MALDI-TOF MS analyses after treatments with several amylases. α-D-Glucose 1-phosphate was detected in the reaction mixtures, suggesting the occurrence of phosphorolysis in the α-glucuronylation. The glucuronylation ratios of glucuronic acid residues to non-reducing ends were evaluated from quantification of α-D-glucose 1-phosphate and inorganic phosphate in the reaction mixtures, which were relatively in good agreement with those determined by ¹H NMR analysis of the products. The glucuronylation ratios increased with increasing feed ratios of GlcA-1-P/non-reducing ends.

Highly branched oligosaccharides produced by the transglycosylation reaction of neopullulanase

Abstract We previously reported a new way of producing isomalto-oligosaccharide syrup from starch by using the transglycosylation reaction of neopullulanase (Kuriki, T., Yanase, M., Takata, H., Takesada, Y., Imanaka, T., and Okada, S., Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 59, 953–959, 1993). The syrup contained isomaltose, a mixture of isopanose and panose, and 62-O-α-maltosyl-maltose as isomalto-oligosaccharides with degrees of polymerization (DP) of 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Isomalto-oligosaccharides with DP ≧ 5 were simultaneously obtained by the system, and the structures were analyzed. The results indicated that most of the isomalto-oligosaccharides with DP ≧ 5 contained two or three α-(1→6)-glucosidic linkages with α-(1→4)-glucosidic linkages. It was also proved that these highly branched oligosaccharides were not limit dextrins from the degradation of starch, but were synthesized by the transglycosylation reaction of neopullulanase.