Nabil Smichi

A grey mullet enzyme displaying both lipase and phospholipase activities: Purification and characterization

A lipase from the golden grey mullet viscera was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulphate precipitation, gel filtration, anionic and cation exchange chromatographies. The pure enzyme tentatively named grey mullet digestive lipase (GmDL) is a monomer having a molecular mass of about 35 kDa, as determined by SDS-PAGE analysis. No similarity was found between the NH2-terminal amino acid residues of GmDL and those of other known digestive lipases. GmDL is a serine enzyme, like all known lipases from different origins. Interestingly, GmDL has not only lipase activity but also a phospholipase activity which requires the presence of Ca(2+) and bile salts. Specific activities of 64 U/mg, 55 U/mg and 63 U/mg were measured using tributyrin, olive oil emulsion or phosphatidylcholine as substrate, respectively at pH 8 and at 50°C. GmDL is therefore a thermo-active enzyme as compared to other fish lipases studied so far. It is worth to notice that grey mullet lipase was active in the presence of salt concentrations as high as 0.8M.

A thermoactive uropygial esterase from chicken: Purification, characterisation and synthesis of flavour esters

A lipolytic activity was located in the chicken uropygial glands, from which a carboxylesterase (CUE) was purified. Pure CUE has an apparent molecular mass of 50 kDa. The purified esterase displayed its maximal activity (200 U/mg) on short-chain triacylglycerols (tributyrin) at a temperature of 50°C. No significant lipolytic activity was found when medium chain (trioctanoin) or long chain (olive oil) triacylglycerols were used as substrates. The enzyme retained 75% of its maximal activity when incubated during 2h at 50°C. The NH(2)-terminal amino acid sequence showed similarities with the esterase purified recently from turkey pharyngeal tissue. Esterase activity remains stable after its incubation during 30 min in presence of organic solvents such as hexane or butanol. CUE is a serine enzyme since it was inactivated by phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride (PMSF), a serine-specific inhibitor. The purified enzyme, which tolerates the presence of some organic solvent and a high temperature, can be used in non-aqueous synthesis reactions. Hence, the uropygial esterase immobilised onto CaCO(3) was tested to produce the isoamyl and the butyl acetate (flavour esters). Reactions were performed at 50°C in presence of hexane. High synthesis yields of 91 and 67.8% were obtained for isoamyl and butyl acetate, respectively.

Physicochemical Characterization and Nutritional Quality of Fish By-Products:In vitro Oils Digestibility and Synthesis of Flavour Esters

Three fish species (Annular sea bream, sardine and golden grey mullet) were examined as the most Tunisian fishes consumed and could be used as a valuable bio-resource. The fillet and the pyloric caeca from these fish have been investigated for their proximate composition, minerals, nutritional quality and oil physicochemical properties. Fish fillets and viscera showed higher macro-mineral concentrations. Moreover, unsaturated fatty acids were found to be predominant over the saturated ones. The lipid health indexes and the predominance of PUFAs acids in all studied fish could meet people’s needs. Interestingly, a higher stability of polyene, peroxide values and carotenoids were observed during the storage for 30 days at -20°C, which allows higher oils stability. In vitro digestibility model showed that fish oils were efficiently hydrolyzed by pancreatic lipase, which suggests the higher assimilation of fish oils by consumers. Furthermore, fish lipases revealed an acceptable potential to produce aromatic esters.

A newly thermoactive and detergent‐stable lipase from annular sea bream (Diplodus annularis): Biochemical properties

A lipolytic activity was located in the annular seabream pyloric caeca, from which a digestive lipase (AsDL) was purified. Pure AsDL has an apparent molecular mass of 50 kDa. The purified lipase is thermoactive as it displays its maximal activity on short‐ and long‐chain triacylglycerols at a temperature of 50 °C. The enzyme is alkaline resistant as it retains 90% of its maximal activity when incubated during 1 H at pH 10. No colipase was detected in the annular seabream pyloric caeca. Similar results were reported for the sardine and the gray mullet digestive systems. This is in line with the idea that colipase might have evolved in mammal animals simultaneously with the appearance of an exocrine pancreas. AsDL is a serine enzyme, like all known lipases from different origins. Interestingly, the pure lipase was found to be insensitive to Triton X‐100, a synthetic detergent, addition even at a concentration as high as 12 mM. The purified enzyme has potential applications in detergent and food industry because of its thermal activity and alkaline nature.

Functional and Structural Characterization of a Thermostable Phospholipase A2 from a Sparidae Fish (Diplodus annularis)

Novel phospholipase (PLA2) genes from the Sparidae family were cloned. The sequenced PLA2 revealed an identity with pancreatic PLA2 group IB. To better understand the structure/function relationships of these enzymes and their evolution, the Diplodus annularis PLA2 (DaPLA2) was overexpressed in E. coli. The refolded enzyme was purified by Ni-affinity chromatography and has a molecular mass of 15 kDa as determined by MALDI-TOF spectrometry. Interestingly, unlike the pancreatic type, the DaPLA2 was active and stable at higher temperatures, which suggests its great potential in biotechnological applications. The 3D structure of DaPLA2 was constructed to gain insights into the functional properties of sparidae PLA2. Molecular docking and dynamic simulations were performed to explain the higher thermal stability and the substrate specificity of DaPLA2. Using the monolayer technique, the purified DaPLA2 was found to be active on various phospholipids ranging from 10 to 20 mN·m-1, which explained the absence of the hemolytic activity for DaPLA2.

The smooth-hound lipolytic system: Biochemical characterization of a purified digestive lipase, lipid profile and in vitro oil digestibility

In order to identify fish enzymes displaying novel biochemical properties, we choose the common smooth-hound (Mustelus mustelus) as a starting biological material to characterize the digestive lipid hydrolyzing enzyme. A smooth-hound digestive lipase (SmDL) was purified from a delipidated pancreatic powder. The SmDL molecular weight was around 50kDa. Specific activities of 2200 and 500U/mg were measured at pH 9 and 40°C using tributyrin and olive oil emulsion as substrates, respectively. Unlike known mammal pancreatic lipases, the SmDL was stable at 50°C and it retained 90% of its initial activity after 15min of incubation at 60°C. Interestingly, bile salts act as an activator of the SmDL. Its worth to notice that the SmDL was also salt-tolerant since it was active in the presence of high salt concentrations reaching 0.8M. Fatty acid (FA) analysis of oil from the smooth-hound viscera showed a dominance of unsaturated ones (UFAs). Interestingly, the major n-3 fatty acids were DHA and EPA with contents of 18.07% and 6.14%, respectively. In vitro digestibility model showed that the smooth hound oil was efficiently hydrolyzed by pancreatic lipases, which suggests the higher assimilation of fish oils by consumers.

Biochemical characterization, cloning and molecular modeling of a digestive lipase from red seabream (Pagrus major): Structural explanation of the interaction deficiency with colipase and lipidic interface

Red seabream digestive lipase (RsDL) was purified from fresh pyloric caeca. Pure RsDL has an apparent molecular mass of 50 kDa. The RsDL is more active on short‐chain triacylglycerols (TC4), and enzymatic activity decreases when medium (TC8) or long‐chain (olive oil) triacylglycerols were used as substrates. The specific activities of RsDL are very weak as compared to those obtained with classical pancreatic lipases. No colipase was detected in the red seabream pyloric caeca. Furthermore, the RsDL was not activated by a mammal colipase. Similar results were reported for annular seabream lipase. In order to explain structurally the discrepancies between sparidae and mammal lipases, genes encoding mature RsDL and five other lipases from sparidae fish species were cloned and sequenced. Phylogenetic studies indicated the closest homology of sparidae lipases to bird pancreatic ones. Structural models were built for annular seabream and RsDL under their closed and open forms using mammal pancreatic lipases as templates. Several differences were noticed when analyzing the amino acids corresponding to those involved in HPL binding to colipase. This is likely to prevent interaction between the fish lipase and the mammalian colipase and may explain the fact that mammalian colipase is not effective in activating sparidae lipases. In addition, several hydrophobic residues, playing a key role in anchoring pancreatic lipase onto the lipid interface, are replaced by polar residues in fish lipases. This might explain the reason why the latter enzymes display weak activity levels when compared to mammalian pancreatic lipases.