Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Abhijit Das, Gregory Gauthier-Coles, Stefan Broer, Caroline D. Rae
Summary: This study examined the cycling of glutamine and alanine in the cerebellum by inhibiting amino acid transporters. The results indicate that the cerebellum has tightly coupled cells and that glutamate/glutamine, as well as alanine cycling, play a major role in this part of the brain.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kai Yang, Bin Huang, Charles Amanze, Zhen Yan, Guanzhou Qiu, Xueduan Liu, Hongbo Zhou, Weimin Zeng
Summary: In this study, the catalytic activity of DAAO towards D-glufosinate (D-PPT) was significantly increased through mutagenesis, leading to the establishment of an efficient enzymatic route for synthesizing L-PPT. This research also proposes a new perspective on enzyme engineering for the biosynthesis of unnatural amino acids.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Krit Charupanit, Varomyalin Tipmanee, Thana Sutthibutpong, Praopim Limsakul
Summary: This study utilized computational methods to construct the protein sequence space of PETase-PET binding energy and identified mutation sites and appropriate side-chain properties that could enhance PETase activity. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that PETase variants with S238C or Q119F may improve PETase efficiency. The findings have important implications for protein engineering and PETase improvement.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Veronica Saez-Jimenez, Simone Scrima, Matteo Lambrughi, Elena Papaleo, Valeria Mapelli, Martin K. M. Engqvist, Lisbeth Olsson
Summary: Pathway engineering is commonly used to improve the production of metabolites, but low catalytic activity can create bottlenecks in specific reaction steps. This study successfully obtained mutant variants of (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase with a 100-fold higher catalytic efficiency, paving the way for the bio-based production of adipic acid. Rational analysis revealed that mutation A206V played a key role in the improved activity.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ryushi Kawakami, Naoki Takami, Junji Hayashi, Kazunari Yoneda, Taketo Ohmori, Toshihisa Ohshima, Haruhiko Sakuraba
Summary: The crystal structures of Pseudomonas veronii L-arginine dehydrogenase in complex with different substrates were studied. The enzyme showed similarities with Archaeoglobus fulgidus L-AlaDH in terms of structure and specificity, but had different residues recognizing the substrates' amino groups.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Yang Yu, Peng Wang, Hai-Yan Cao, Zhao-Jie Teng, Yanping Zhu, Min Wang, Andrew McMinn, Yin Chen, Hua Xiang, Yu-Zhong Zhang, Xiu-Lan Chen, Yu-Qiang Zhang
Summary: A novel catabolic pathway for D-Glu was identified in marine bacteria and halophilic archaea, which helps to better understand the catabolism and recycling of D-Glu in these ecosystems. This study reveals the existence of two novel enzymes and a transcriptional regulator that play crucial roles in D-Glu catabolism. The findings highlight the importance of D-Glu as an overlooked pool of organic matter in global oceans.
Article
Microbiology
Yang Song, Rui Wang, Zixuan Zhang, Xinran Liu, Lulu Qi, Xuping Shentu, Xiaoping Yu
Summary: Alpha-keto acids are important raw materials for pharmaceuticals and functional foods. Improving the catalytic activity of L-AADs by modifying the membrane-bound region can enhance their efficiency.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Xinyu Fan, Yajun Bai, Tai-Ping Fan, Xiaohui Zheng, Yujie Cai
Summary: The study revealed that Tyr53 is the key site determining the substrate specificity of the enzyme, and single-point mutagenesis can dramatically affect the catalytic efficiency for various other substrates.
LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Carolin C. M. Schulte, Khushboo Borah, Rachel M. Wheatley, Jason J. Terpolilli, Gerhard Saalbach, Nick Crang, Daan H. de Groot, R. George Ratcliffe, Nicholas J. Kruger, Antonis Papachristodoulou, Philip S. Poole
Summary: In the symbiosis between rhizobia and legumes, bacteroids balance redox reactions in the microaerobic environment by synthesizing carbon polymers and secreting alanine, promoting ammonia secretion. Legumes promote ammonia secretion by bacteroids by tightly controlling oxygen supply and providing dicarboxylates as the energy and electron source donors for N-2 fixation.
Article
Physiology
Leyao Shen, Yilin Yu, Courtney M. M. Karner
Summary: Amino acids play an important role in regulating osteoblast differentiation and bone formation, with proline being identified as an essential amino acid for bone development. The amino acid transporter SLC38A2 is expressed in osteoblast lineage cells and provides proline and alanine to support osteoblast function. Genetic ablation of SLC38A2 results in decreased bone mass due to impaired osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. These findings highlight the necessity of SLC38A2-mediated amino acid uptake for postnatal bone formation and homeostasis.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Darly Concha, Karen Rodriguez-Nunez, Luis Castillo, Ronny Martinez, Claudia Bernal
Summary: This study demonstrates the potential enzymatic production of galactaric acid from galacturonic acid by protein engineering of glucose oxidase. Two variants of glucose oxidase with amino acid substitutions F414K and Y68W were identified and showed catalytic activity towards galacturonic acid with minimal glucose oxidation activity. Further experiments indicate structural and functional differences in the variants. Additionally, the study shows the possibility of simultaneous pectin depolymerization and galactaric acid production from citrus pectin using engineered glucose oxidases and pectinase.
BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Qingxin Zheng, Takuma Kato, Yuko Ito, Masayoshi Wagatsuma, Yuya Hiraga, Masaru Watanabe
Summary: The study identified porous sulfonated carbon as the most effective catalyst for the deamination of alanine under hydrothermal conditions. By optimizing parameters such as additive amount and alanine concentration, as well as exploring the effects of temperature and time, significant deamination yield and alanine conversion were achieved at 150 degrees C. Furthermore, the sulfonated carbon catalyst showed promising catalytic activity for other amino acids as well.
JOURNAL OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jiaojiao Guan, Yilei Lu, Zixuan Dai, Songyin Zhao, Yan Xu, Yao Nie
Summary: This study identified key residues for selective hydroxylation of L-Pip by cis-P3H through structural analysis and residue composition. Mutant R97M was found to enhance the catalytic efficiency by breaking the salt bridge and weakening the positive-positive interaction. This research provides a potential method for improving cis-P3H catalytic activity through rational protein engineering.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Xiumin Fu, Yinyin Liao, Sihua Cheng, Rufang Deng, Ziyin Yang
Summary: In tea plants, L-alanine is mainly located in vacuoles and mitochondria of root cells, while ethylamine is mainly found in the cortex with epidermis. Research discovered that in tea plants, L-alanine is converted to L-theanine via L-glutamate instead of ethylamine.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Begona Gonzalez-Moro, Itziar Gonzalez-Moro, Marlon de la Pena, Jose Maria Estavillo, Pedro M. Aparicio-Tejo, Daniel Marino, Carmen Gonzalez-Murua, Izargi Vega-Mas
Summary: Nitrate and ammonium are the main nitrogen sources in agricultural soils, with ammonium playing a diverse role in plant metabolism. Different plant species have varying strategies to maintain NH4+ balance, and the study analyzed metabolic responses in seven plant species and discussed the role of different anaplerotic enzymes in ammonium nutrition.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)