Zhimeng Wu

One-step purification and immobilization of extracellularly expressed sortase A by magnetic particles to develop a robust and recyclable biocatalyst

Sortase A (SrtA) is a transpeptidase widely used to site-specifically modify peptides and proteins and shows promise for industrial applications. In this study, a novel strategy was developed for constructing immobilized-SrtA as a robust and recyclable enzyme via direct immobilization of extracellularly expressed SrtA in the fermentation supernatant using magnetic particles. Efficient extracellular SrtA expression was achieved in Escherichia coli through molecular engineering, including manipulation of the protein transport pathway, codon optimization, and co-expression of molecular chaperones to promote expressed SrtA secretion into the medium at high levels. Subsequently, a simple one-step protocol was established for the purification and immobilization of SrtA containing a His-tag from the fermentation supernatant onto a nickel-modified magnetic particle. The immobilized SrtA was proved to retain full enzymatic activity for peptide-to-peptide ligation and protein modification, and was successfully reused for five cycles without obvious activity loss.

Sortase A-mediated crosslinked short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases as novel biocatalysts with improved thermostability and catalytic efficiency

Abstract(S)-carbonyl reductase II (SCRII) from Candida parapsilosis is a short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase/reductase. It catalyses the conversion of 2-hydroxyacetophenone to (S)-1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol with low efficiency. Sortase was reported as a molecular “stapler” for site-specific protein conjugation to strengthen or add protein functionality. Here, we describe Staphylococcus aureus sortase A-mediated crosslinking of SCRII to produce stable catalysts for efficient biotransformation. Via a native N-terminal glycine and an added GGGGSLPETGG peptide at C-terminus of SCRII, SCRII subunits were conjugated by sortase A to form crosslinked SCRII, mainly dimers and trimers. The crosslinked SCRII showed over 6-fold and 4-fold increases, respectively, in activity and kcat/Km values toward 2-hydroxyacetophenone compared with wild-type SCRII. Moreover, crosslinked SCRII was much more thermostable with its denaturation temperature (Tm) increased to 60 °C. Biotransformation result showed that crosslinked SCRII gave a product optical purity of 100% and a yield of >99.9% within 3 h, a 16-fold decrease in transformation duration with respect to Escherichia coli/pET-SCRII. Sortase A-catalysed ligation also obviously improved Tms and product yields of eight other short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases/reductases. This work demonstrates a generic technology to improve enzyme function and thermostability through sortase A-mediated crosslinking of oxidoreductases.

Sortase A-mediated on-resin peptide cleavage and in situ ligation: an efficient one-pot strategy for the synthesis of functional peptides and proteins

Sortase A was firstly found to recognize a PEGA resin supported peptide donor containing a LPXTG motif and to ligate with a suitable acceptor containing oligo-glycine to afford conjugates in one-pot. This approach combining enzymatic on-resin cleavage, activation and in situ ligation, was employed to synthesize dual functional peptides, modify peptides with lipids, biotin and PEG, as well as protein N-terminal labeling in high efficiency.

Synthesis and immunological study of a wall teichoic acid-based vaccine against E. faecium U0317

ABSTRACT A repeat unit of cell wall teichoic acids (WTA) isolated from E. faecium U0317 was chemically synthesized efficiently by a stepwise strategy. It was derivatized with a 5-aminopentanyl linker to facilitate conjugation with carrier proteins KLH and HSA. Immunological studies of the KLH conjugate 1 demonstrated that it could provoke robust immune responses and high titers of IgG antibodies, which could successfully recognize the synthesized WTA repeat unit 3. This result suggested that synthetic glycoconjugate 1 could be a promising vaccine candidate against E. faecium for further studies. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

New potent and selective αvβ3 integrin ligands: Macrocyclic peptides containing RGD motif synthesized by sortase A-mediated ligation

Three 14-mer macrocyclic peptides 1-3 containing mono-, di- and tri-RGD structure motif were designed and synthesized by sortase A-mediated ligation in good yields. The results of in intro cell-based biological assays indicated that linear peptide 5 and macrocyclic peptide 1, containing di-RGD and mono-RGD motif respectively, showed remarkable potency and selectivity to αvβ3 integrin.

Immobilization of Staphylococcus aureus Sortase A on Chitosan Particles and Its Applications in Peptide-to-Peptide Ligation and Peptide Cyclization

Chitosan macro-particles prepared by the neutralization method were applied to Sortase A (SrtA) immobilization using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinking agent. The particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the immobilization process. An average specific activity of 3142 U (mg protein)−1 was obtained under optimized immobilization conditions (chitosan concentration 3%, SrtA concentration 0.5 mg·mL−1, glutaraldehyde concentration 0.5%, crosslinking and immobilization at 20 °C, crosslinking for 3 h, and an immobilization time of 8 h). The transpeptidase activity of immobilized SrtA was proved by a peptide-to-peptide ligation with a conversion yield approximately at 80%, and the immobilized catalyst was successfully reused for five cycles without obvious activity loss. Moreover, the scale-up capability of using immobilized SrtA to catalyze a head-to-tail peptide cyclization was investigated in a batch reaction and the conversion yield was more than 95% when using 20 mg of peptide as a substrate.

Enzymatic on-resin peptide cleavage and in situ cyclization one-pot strategy for the synthesis of cyclopeptide and cyclotide

A one-pot strategy combining sortase A mediated on-resin peptide cleavage and in situ cyclization was developed for the synthesis of cyclic peptides. This strategy was applied to synthesize head-to-tail cyclic antibacterial bovine lactoferricin peptide LFcinB20-35 in a yield of 67%. The one-pot strategy was compatible with an oxidative folding reaction, and complex cyclotides containing one or two disulfide bonds, such as sunflower trypsin inhibitors-1 and α-conotoxin MII, were successfully synthesized in one pot in a yield of 77% and 61%, respectively.

Efficient synthesis of thioglycosylated kojic acid by s-glycosyl isothiouronium salts

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ABSTRACT In this study, 7-S-glycosides of kojic acid were designed and synthesized as mimics of its 7-O-glycosides to improve its water solubility and metabolic stability. To achieve this synthesis, a one-pot approach involving S-glycosyl isothiouronium salts generated in situ as key intermediates was developed by using 7-chloro-kojic acid as the alkylation reagent. A series of water soluble 7-S-glycosides of kojic acid, incorporating monosaccharides and disaccharides, were prepared using this protocol. Thus, this work offers a mild, convenient, and efficient approach for the synthesis of 7-S-glycosides of kojic acid in medium to good yields.