Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Manish Kumar, Nitin Dhaka, Tahseen Raza, Prikshat Dadhwal, Hanudatta S. Atreya, Sulakshana P. Mukherjee
Summary: The NF-kappa B family of transcription factors plays a key role in the immune response of vertebrates, with the thermodynamic stability of different NF-kappa B dimers impacting the activation of specific genes. The relatively low stability of the RelA-RelA homodimer facilitates the formation of the more stable RelA-p50 heterodimer, providing insights into the regulation of specific target genes by RelA-RelA in physiology.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Aipeng Li, Ting Wang, Qing Tian, Xiaohong Yang, Dongming Yin, Yong Qin, Lianbing Zhang
Summary: The study focused on the control of enzyme stereoselectivity, successfully designing the variant Q139G which switched stereoselectivity without compromising activity. The mutant showed preference towards antiPrelog with beta-ketoesters, while not leading to reversed stereoselectivity with aromatic ketones.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Angelina Subeska, Merlin Ekodo Voundi, Walburga Hanekamp, Dennis Mulac, Klaus Langer, Matthias Lehr
Summary: Cytosolic phospholipase A(2)alpha (cPLA(2)alpha) is an interesting target for new anti-inflammatory drug development. The metabolic stability and permeability of potent inhibitors can be improved by introducing alkyl substituents or increasing rigidity near the ketone group. The polar ketone group is a decisive factor in the reverse transport of molecules, and its removal significantly increases permeability. However, these structural variations may lead to a decrease in the inhibitory potency against cPLA(2)alpha.
BIOORGANIC & MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Hua-Tao Liu, Chun-Yue Weng, Lei Zhou, Hao-Bo Xu, Zhen-Yu Liao, Han-Yue Hong, Yuan-Fan Ye, Shu-Fang Li, Ya-Jun Wang, Yu-Guo Zheng
Summary: In this study, protein engineering was used to enhance the catalytic efficiency and thermal stability of CR enzyme. The mutant enzyme LsCR(M4) showed improved performance in bioreduction of carbonyl substrates in both organic phase and neat substrate reaction system.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Su-Young Park, Jung-Won An, Ji-Hu Baek, Hyun-Jae Woo, Woo-Jae Lee, Se-Hun Kwon, Susanta Bera
Summary: This study evaluates the activity and stability of in situ crystallized antimony-doped tin oxide (Sb-SnO2)@RuOx heterostructure nanosheets (NSs) for acidic water oxidation. The catalyst prepared by atomic layer deposition and heat treatment exhibits comparable activity but longer stability than the ex situ catalyst. The controlled interface stability of heterostructure catalysts plays a significant role in enhancing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity and stability.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Shaun F. Sutton, Chase H. Rotteger, Dane M. Miller, Lenin M. Quiroz, Pilarisetty Tarakeshwar, Scott G. Sayres
Summary: Femtosecond laser pulses were used to drive multiple ionization in gas-phase formic acid clusters. The results showed that the clusters formed higher charge states and had increased kinetic energy release values compared to individual molecules. The stability of certain clusters was found to be enhanced at lower laser intensities. Molecular dynamics simulation indicated that highly charged atomic ions mostly originated from larger clusters, while the production of CO3+ was more likely from molecules.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jennifer S. S. Strehse, Daniel Hoffmann, Nikolaos Protopapas, Hans-Jorg Martin, Edmund Maser
Summary: This study investigated the products formed during the reduction of 4ONE and 4HNE by Sniffer proteins from Daphnia magna and Daphnia pulex. The results showed that 4HNE is the main product formed from the sniffer-mediated reduction of 4ONE. These findings are important for understanding the reductive metabolism of lipid peroxidation products.
CHEMICO-BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yu Yan, Rongzun Zhang, Yadong Yu, Zhimei Sun, Renchao Che, Bin Wei, Alec P. LaGrow, Zhongchang Wang, Wei Zhou
Summary: This study introduces two-dimension monolayer Ti3C2 MXene sheets to support PtNi octahedrons, enhancing the activity and stability of PtNi nanoparticles in alkaline electrolyte. The resulting PtNi@Ti3C2 MXene exhibits excellent mass activity and stability, outperforming commercial Pt/C catalysts and other recent Pt-based alkaline HER catalysts. Interface interactions between PtNi and Ti3C2 MXene contribute to the improved performance by promoting stability and maintaining activity through interfacial electron transfer.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Guozheng Li, Tong Sun, Hua-Jie Niu, Yu Yan, Tong Liu, Sisi Jiang, Qinglin Yang, Wei Zhou, Lin Guo
Summary: Researchers have successfully synthesized a Ru@1T-MoS2-MXene composite material in which Ru nanograins are uniformly grown on 1T-MoS2-decorated Ti3C2Tx MXene sheets. The material exhibits high mass activity and a small Ru dissolution rate. Electrochemical tests and DFT calculations reveal the role of triple interface optimization in improving activity and stability.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Shiye Lin, Haolin Zhang, Jesus Simal-Gandara, Ka-Wing Cheng, Mingfu Wang, Hui Cao, Jianbo Xiao
Summary: This study investigated the stability of quercetin in boiling water using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS-MS and identified the major degradation products. The results showed that quercetin gradually degraded with increasing boiling time, resulting in the formation of various degradation products.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Shane J. F. Cronin, Nick A. A. Andrews, Alban Latremoliere
Summary: The development of novel analgesics for chronic pain has been challenging due to lack of efficacy and side effects. Excessive tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) has been identified as a key factor in chronic pain and inhibiting its production in peripheral tissues could be an effective and safe approach. This review discusses the role of different cell types in BH4 overproduction, the potential safety profile of peripheral SPR inhibition, and strategies for achieving peripherally restricted inhibition to treat chronic pain and other conditions associated with excessive BH4.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Feng Cheng, Qiu-Yao Zhai, Xiao-Fan Gao, Hua-Tao Liu, Shuai Qiu, Ya-Jun Wang, Yu-Guo Zheng
Summary: Enzyme engineering towards catalytic-tetrad residues often leads to activity loss, but a directed evolution campaign on carbonyl reductase KmCR resulted in a beneficial residue A100, leading to variants with improved enzymatic activities. The KmCR variant KmCR_A100S exhibited increased catalytic efficiency, improved stereoselectivity, and extended substrate scope compared to the wild-type KmCR. This study's findings have universal significance to carbonyl reductase engineering.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Feng Cheng, Yi Chen, Shuai Qiu, Qiu-Yao Zhai, Hua-Tao Liu, Shu-Fang Li, Chun-Yue Weng, Ya-Jun Wang, Yu-Guo Zheng
Summary: Key residues regulating the stereopreference of a carbonyl reductase from Kluyveromyces marxianus (KmCR) were identified through semi-rational engineering, leading to the successful conversion of Prelog selectivity to complete anti-Prelog selectivity. This knowledge was then used to successfully predict and engineer the stereopreferences of other CRs sharing sequence identities with KmCR.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Hongliu Zhang, Xi Chen, Tong Lv, Qian Li, Weidong Liu, Jinhui Feng, Xiangtao Liu, Peiyuan Yao, Qiaqing Wu, Dunming Zhu
Summary: In this study, a mutant M242F/Q245T of the carbonyl reductase from Sporobolomyces salmonicolor was found to enhance its activity toward both methyl 2-phthalimidomethyl-3-oxobutanoate(1a) and isopropanol, enabling the dynamic kinetic asymmetric reduction of 1a to a single stereoisomer of the product by hydrogen transfer from isopropanol. Structural and computational analysis suggested that the synergic effect of 242F and 245T reshaped the substrate entrance tunnel and enzyme active site. This study demonstrated that a carbonyl reductase can be engineered to improve its activity toward bulky ketones and isopropanol, and enable efficient preparation of the target chiral alcohol via substrate-coupled cofactor regeneration.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Chun-Yue Weng, Xiao-Fan Gao, Hua-Tao Liu, Rong-Liang Chu, Wei -Bang Xie, Ya-Jun Wang, Yu-Guo Zheng
Summary: This study reports a carbonyl reductase capable of enantioselective reduction of 2-chloro-1-(3,4-difluorophenyl)ethanone and improves its stereoselectivity and catalytic activity through mutation and PCR techniques. Furthermore, the synthesis of the key chiral intermediate of the antiplatelet inhibitor ticagrelor was successfully achieved by coupling with other enzymes, and the substrate scope of the carbonyl reductase was expanded.
BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Subrata Pramanik, Haiyang Cui, Gaurao V. Dhoke, Can Bora Yildiz, Markus Vedder, Karl-Erich Jaeger, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Mehdi D. Davari
Summary: Biocatalysis in ionic liquids has attracted significant interest, but enzymes often have low catalytic activity in these solvents. This study investigated the effect of amino acid substitutions on enzyme resistance in ionic liquids using molecular dynamics simulations. The results showed that surface charge engineering can enhance the IL resistance of the enzyme and improve its activity. This research provides insights into enhancing biocatalysis in ionic liquids and demonstrates the potential of molecular dynamics for screening beneficial substitutions.
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Jonas Dittrich, Christin Brethauer, Liudmyla Goncharenko, Jens Buehrmann, Viktoria Zeisler-Diehl, Shyam Pariyar, Felix Jakob, Tetiana Kurkina, Lukas Schreiber, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Holger Gohlke
Summary: In the face of growing world population and food demand, sustainable agriculture is crucial. The rainfastness of plant protection agents plays a critical role in reducing the use of nutrients, herbicides, and fungicides. However, the current method of achieving rainfastness through polymeric adjuvants poses environmental concerns, necessitating the development of environmentally friendly alternatives. Anchor peptides show promise as biobased and biodegradable adhesion promoters, but their adhesion to biological surfaces remains challenging.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Georgette Koerfer, Volkan Besirlioglu, Mehdi D. Davari, Ronny Martinez, Ljubica Vojcic, Ulrich Schwaneberg
Summary: The combination of diversity generation methods and ultrahigh-throughput screening is crucial for exploring the sequence space and understanding the structure-function relationships of enzymes. The use of the InVitroFlow screening technology resulted in the discovery of an improved cellulase variant with significantly increased activity.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Maria L. Corrado, Tanja Knaus, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Francesco G. Mutti
Summary: In this work, two multienzyme pathways were developed for the conversion of L-phenylalanine into enantiomerically pure 2-phenylglycinol and phenylethanolamine. The optimized multienzyme process achieved high yields and enantiomeric excess. Both pathways involved multiple steps and achieved controlled selectivity through enzymatic reactions.
ORGANIC PROCESS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Ruizhi Han, Ke Gao, Yulin Jiang, Jieyu Zhou, Guochao Xu, Jinjun Dong, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Yu Ji, Ye Ni
Summary: A one-pot multi-enzyme cascade pathway was developed using tyrosine aminotransferase and D-isomer-specific 2-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase to synthesize DSS from L-DOPA. Glutamate dehydrogenase was also introduced for a self-sufficient system. The pathway achieved high yields and provides a sustainable approach for DSS production.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Daniel F. Sauer, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Johannes Schiffels, Jun Okuda, Ulrich Schwaneberg
Summary: Protein engineering is a powerful method for tailoring protein properties, enabling the design of biohybrid catalysts and materials. The ferric hydroxamate uptake protein FhuA has been used as a versatile scaffold with a large cavity and stability towards temperature and organic solvents. Applications of FhuA have been explored in biocatalysis, materials science, and the construction of artificial metalloenzymes, showcasing its potential for creating hybrid catalysts and materials.
ACCOUNTS OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lilin Feng, Liang Gao, Volkan Besirlioglu, Khalil Essani, Malte Wittwer, Tetiana Kurkina, Yu Ji, Ulrich Schwaneberg
Summary: In this study, a versatile and robust flow cytometry-based screening platform FlOxi was developed for directed oxidase evolution. FlOxi utilizes hydrogen peroxide produced by oxidases to oxidize Fe2+ and immobilize a His-tagged eGFP on the E. coli cell surface, allowing for the identification of beneficial oxidase variants. The platform was successfully validated with two oxidases and resulted in the discovery of improved variants with lower K-m values and higher k(cat) values.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Prachi Desai, Anshuman Dasgupta, Alexandros Marios Sofias, Quim Pena, Robert Goestl, Ioana Slabu, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Thomas Stiehl, Wolfgang Wagner, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Julia Stingl, Rafael Kramann, Christian Trautwein, Tim H. Bruemmendorf, Fabian Kiessling, Andreas Herrmann, Twan Lammers
Summary: Drug delivery systems (DDS) control drug availability and activity to achieve a balance between therapeutic efficacy and side effects. They overcome biological barriers encountered by drug molecules and are explored for modulating host-material interfaces. This article provides an overview of barriers and interfaces encountered by DDS in different administration routes and highlights material engineering advances for improved disease treatment.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Zohreh N. Pourhassan, Haiyang Cui, Neele Muckhoff, Mehdi D. Davari, Sander H. J. Smits, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Lutz Schmitt
Summary: Protein secretion is advantageous for recombinant protein production. Type 1 secretion systems (T1SS) have a simple architecture and are attractive for biotechnological applications. The hemolysin A type 1 secretion system (HlyA T1SS) from Escherichia coli has been used for secretion of heterologous proteins, but its commercial utility is limited by low secretion titers. To improve this, we engineered the inner membrane complex of the system using KnowVolution strategy, resulting in a novel HlyB variant with improved secretion for two hydrolases.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Coatings & Films
Rahel Heesemann, Isa Bettermann, Roshan Paul, Milena Rey, Thomas Gries, Lilin Feng, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Claus Hummelsheim
Summary: The fire protection of materials is crucial in everyday life, especially in public areas such as construction and transport, electronic devices, furnishings, and textiles. The use of harmful flame retardant additives based on bromides, chlorides, phosphates, or antimony is being restricted due to their environmental and health impact. Therefore, innovative and sustainable solutions are needed to reduce the use of these additives and replace them with safer alternatives.
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yi Lu, Kai-Wolfgang Hintzen, Tetiana Kurkina, Yu Ji, Ulrich Schwaneberg
Summary: In order to ensure a sustainable future, the responsible use of plastics in a climate-neutral and circular economy is crucial. This study focuses on developing a method to efficiently recycle bioplastic polymers, such as PLA, from petroleum-based plastics. Through the use of engineered material binding peptides, accelerated degradation of PLA in a mixed suspension of PLA and PS nanoparticles is achieved. The research identifies a specific peptide, Cg-Def, for PLA binding and develops a high-throughput screening system to enhance material-specific binding to PLA in the presence of PS. The results demonstrate improved PLA binding specificity and accelerated PLA depolymerization by fusing Cg-Def with a PLA degrading enzyme.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Minghui Wang, Haiyang Cui, Chenlei Gu, Anni Li, Jie Qiao, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Lihui Zhang, Junnan Wei, Xiujuan Li, He Huang
Summary: Producing bioethanol from biomass can reduce the consumption of crude oil and environmental damage. The Two-Gene Recombination Process (2GenReP) approach was used to improve the cellulase CBHI for better ethanol fermentation. The optimized CBHI variants (R2 and R4) showed enhanced ethanol resistance, solvent inhibitor tolerance, and enzymolysis stability, resulting in significantly improved ethanol yield.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hendrik Puetz, Christoph Janknecht, Francisca Contreras, Mariia Vorobii, Tetiana Kurkina, Ulrich Schwaneberg
Summary: A sensitive high-throughput screening system has been developed to improve the efficiency of polyamide and polyurethane recycling by tailoring polyamidases through directed depolymerase evolution. With global polymer production set to exceed 400 megatons annually, the development of recycling methods that enable a climate-neutral, circular polymer economy is crucial to address environmental pollution and climate change. This study presents the first validated high-throughput screening system for optimizing polyamidases in polyamide degradation, enabling the detection of degradation products in cell-free extract and resulting in a 1.9-fold increase in turnover frequency with just one round of random mutagenesis.
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yi Lu, Kai-Wolfgang Hintzen, Tetiana Kurkina, Yu Ji, Ulrich Schwaneberg
Summary: Polylactic acid (PLA) is considered as a promising biopolymer to replace petrochemical-based polymers and is often blended with other polymers like polypropylene (PP) for improved properties. A technical challenge in recycling PLA/PP blends is the separation of PLA from PP. This study reports the development of a protein engineering approach to improve the material-specific binding of PLA by designing material binding peptides (MBPs) and successfully obtaining a variant with 2.3-fold improved PLA binding specificity compared to PP. The established screening platform provides a general methodology for designing material-specific MBPs for applications in PLA detection, sorting, and degradation in mixed plastics.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Nan Zhang, Jianhua Yang, Zhimin Li, Junaid Haider, Yingying Zhou, Yu Ji, Ulrich Schwaneberg, Leilei Zhu
Summary: This study systematically investigated the influence of four new carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) on the performance of starch-active AA13 lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs). The results showed that CBMs greatly enhanced the substrate binding, H2O2 production activity, and oxidative product yields of the AA13 LPMOs. These findings are important for understanding the role of CBMs in starch degradation.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2023)
