• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1346-1351
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• 2018

Oxidoreductases are effective biocatalysts, but their practical use is limited by the need for large quantities of NAD(P)H. In this study, a whole-cell biocatalyst for NAD(P)H cofactor regeneration was developed using the economical substrate glycerol. This cofactor regeneration system employs permeabilized Escherichia coli cells in which the glpD and gldA genes were deleted and the gpsA gene, which encodes $NAD(P)^+-dependent$ glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, was overexpressed. These manipulations were applied to block a side reaction (i.e., the conversion of glycerol to dihydroxyacetone) and to switch the glpD-encoding enzyme reaction to a gpsA-encoding enzyme reaction that generates both NADH and NADPH. We demonstrated the performance of the cofactor regeneration system using a lactate dehydrogenase reaction as a coupling reaction model. The developed biocatalyst involves an economical substrate, bifunctional regeneration of NAD(P)H, and simple reaction conditions as well as a stable environment for enzymes, and is thus applicable to a variety of oxidoreductase reactions requiring NAD(P)H regeneration.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.607-616
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• 2019

In this study, functionalized poplar powder (FPP) was used as a support material for the immobilization of enoate reductase (ER) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (GDH) by covalent binding. Under optimal conditions, the immobilization efficiency of ER-FPP and GDH-FPP was 95.1% and 84.7%, and the activity recovery of ER and GDH was 47.5% and 37.8%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis indicated that FPP was a suitable carrier for enzyme immobilization. ER-FPP and GDH-FPP exhibit excellent thermal stabilities and superior reusability. Especially, ER-FPP and GDH-FPP enable the continuous conversion of 4-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-3-buten-2-one with $NAD^+$ recycling. While the immobilization strategies established here were simple and inexpensive, they exploited a new method for the immobilization and application of ER and its cofactor recycling system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.218-224
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• 2013

The aldo-keto reductases catalyze reduction reactions using various aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes/ketones. Most reductases require NADPH exclusively as their cofactors. However, NADPH is much more expensive and unstable than NADH. In this study, we attempted to change the five amino acid residues that interact with the 2'-phosphate group of the adenosine ribose of NADPH. These residues were selected based on a docking model of the YOL151W reductase and were substituted with other amino acids to develop NADH-utilizing enzymes. Ten mutants were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed in Escherichia coli. Among them, four mutants showed higher reductase activities than wild-type when using the NADH cofactor. Analysis of the kinetic parameters for the wild type and mutants indicated that the $k_{cat}/K_{m}$ value of the Asn9Glu mutant toward NADH increased 3-fold. A docking model was used to show that the carboxyl group of Glu 9 of the mutant formed an additional hydrogen bond with the 2'-hydroxyl group of adenosine ribose. The Asn9Glu mutant was able to produce (R)-ethyl-4-chloro-3-hydroxyl butanoate rapidly when using the NADH regeneration system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1395-1402
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• 2013

Reductases convert some achiral ketone compounds into chiral alcohols, which are important materials for the synthesis of chiral drugs. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae reductase YOR120W converts ethyl-4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate (ECOB) enantioselectively into (R)-ethyl-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate ((R)-ECHB), an intermediate of a pharmaceutical. As YOR120W requires NADPH as a cofactor for the reduction reaction, a cofactor recycling system using Bacillus subtilis glucose dehydrogenase was employed. Using this coupling reaction system, 100 mM ECOB was converted to (R)-ECHB. A homology modeling and site-directed mutagenesis experiment were performed to determine the NADPH-binding site of YOR120W. Four residues (Q29, K264, N267, and R270) were suggested by homology and docking modeling to interact directly with 2'-phosphate of NADPH. Among them, two positively charged residues (K264 and R270) were experimentally demonstrated to be necessary for NADPH 2'-phosphate binding. A mutant enzyme (Q29E) showed an enhanced enantiomeric excess value compared with that of the wild-type enzyme.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.343-350
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• 2013

(R)-[3,5-Bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] ethanol is a key chiral intermediate for the synthesis of aprepitant. In this paper, an efficient synthetic process for (R)-[3,5- bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] ethanol was developed via the asymmetric reduction of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) acetophenone, catalyzed by Leifsonia xyli CCTCC M 2010241 cells using isopropanol as the co-substrate for cofactor recycling. Firstly, the substrate and product solubility and cell membrane permeability of biocatalysts were evaluated with different co-substrate additions into the reaction system, in which isopropanol manifested as the best hydrogen donor of coupled NADH regeneration during the bioreduction of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) acetophenone. Subsequently, the optimization of parameters for the bioreduction were undertaken to improve the effectiveness of the process. The determined efficient reaction system contained 200mM of 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) acetophenone, 20% (v/v) of isopropanol, and 300 g/l of wet cells. The bioreduction was executed at $30^{\circ}C$ and 200 rpm for 30 h, and 91.8% of product yield with 99.9% of enantiometric excess (e.e.) was obtained. The established bioreduction reaction system could tolerate higher substrate concentrations of 3,5- bis(trifluoromethyl) acetophenone, and afforded a satisfactory yield and excellent product e.e. for the desired (R)-chiral alcohol, thus providing an alternative to the chemical synthesis of (R)-[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] ethanol.