Article
Agricultural Engineering
Lian Wang, Ning Li, Shiqin Yu, Jingwen Zhou
Summary: Caffeic acid, a widely used phenylpropanoid in the medical industry, can be produced through microbial fermentation as a green strategy. To enhance the production of caffeic acid in Escherichia coli, the competing pathways for L-tyrosine synthesis were deactivated and the biosynthesis pathway of the cofactor FAD and the expression of polyphenol transporters were improved. Transcriptomics analysis identified potential transporters that upregulated the production of caffeic acid in engineered E. coli. Overexpression of ycjP, a previously identified sugar ABC transporter permease, significantly increased the titer of caffeic acid to 775.7 mg/L. In a 5-L fermenter, the titer was further improved to 7922.0 mg/L, the highest achieved by microorganisms.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Yu Zhang, Xiaohui Tan, Zhen Lin, Fangping Li, Chunyan Yang, Haiying Zheng, Lingyu Li, Huazhong Liu, Jianghua Shang
Summary: The study demonstrated that fucoidan (FPS) effectively inhibits the expression induction of urate transporters URAT1 and GLUT9 induced by uric acid, through repressing the activation of NF-kappa B, JNK, and PI3K/Akt signal pathways.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Samir Batarni, Nanda Nayak, Audrey Chang, Fei Li, Surabhi Hareendranath, Lexi Zhou, Hongfei Xu, Robert Stroud, Jacob Eriksen, Robert H. Edwards
Summary: The solute carrier 17 family uses two different modes of coupling to transport diverse organic anions. Some transporters are driven by membrane potential and regulated by H+ and Cl-, while others couple organic anion flux to co-transport of H+. The study of Escherichia coli DgoT, a H+/galactonate cotransporter, reveals that specific residues play a crucial role in substrate recognition and proton translocation. The findings also suggest that the translocation of protons occurs in series and that a highly conserved glutamate residue is central to the coupling of H+ by DgoT.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ruixia Bao, Qian Chen, Zheng Li, Dan Wang, Yuzheng Wu, Mengyang Liu, Yi Zhang, Tao Wang
Summary: The study isolated a compound named eurycomanol from E. longifolia, which was found to promote uric acid excretion through kidney and intestine, decrease hepatic purine synthesis, and maintain uric acid homeostasis. This suggests the potential of eurycomanol to be developed as a novel drug for the treatment of under-excretion type hyperuricemia.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sakuntala Mutyala, Shuwei Li, Himanshu Khandelwal, Da Seul Kong, Jung Rae Kim
Summary: This study found that acetate can be converted to succinate under microaerobic conditions by overexpressing citrate synthase (gltA) in Pseudomonas putida. The gltA-KT strain showed a nearly 50% improvement in succinate production compared to the wild type. Under optimal pH of 7.5, the accumulation of succinate was approximately 400% higher than that of the wild type. Overall, gltA overexpression alone resulted in 9.5% of the maximum theoretical yield in a minimal medium with acetate as the sole carbon source. This highlights the importance of citrate synthase in acetate conversion to succinate by P. putida under microaerobic conditions.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Rui Zhao, Zimai Li, Yuqing Sun, Wei Ge, Mingyu Wang, Huaiwei Liu, Luying Xun, Yongzhen Xia
Summary: Hyperuricemia, the second most prevalent metabolic disease, can be effectively treated by introducing recombinant urate-degrading bacteria to enhance intestinal secretion, according to a study.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sang-Hoon Kim, Sangyun Park, Eunyoung Park, Jeong-Han Kim, Sunil Ghatge, Hor-Gil Hur, Sangkee Rhee
Summary: The study revealed the substrate specificity of the nitroreductase NfnB for dinitroaniline herbicides, with Tyr88 in the middle region playing a key role in determining the dimensions of the wall opening. Mutation of Tyr88 to other amino acids can significantly alter substrate selectivity.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
James A. Martin, Arthur G. Palmer
Summary: This study reveals the kinetic model of the handle region in the ribonuclease HI homologs, including transitions between different conformations. The research findings show that the homologs containing asparagine 88 have distinct structural features compared to those containing arginine or lysine 88.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ying Li, Xizhen Ge
Summary: This study investigates the impact of internal ionic interactions on the antibiotic resistance of E. coli by studying a representative MFS efflux pump called MdfA. The researchers found that extending the salt bridge on the cytoplasmic side of MdfA resulted in elevated antibiotic resistance, which was further enhanced by combining it with an artificial mutation. By analyzing molecular dynamics simulations, they discovered that enhanced interactions led to a larger surface for MdfA's protonation, indicating a higher possibility for its activation.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
George Diallinas
Summary: Elevator-type transporters are a group of proteins translocating nutrients and metabolites across cell membranes using a common mechanism. Recent research on the sliding elevator mechanism in a prototype fungal transporter sheds light on how specificity might be genetically modified. Flexible specificity alterations could potentially occur by 'loosening' the sliding mechanism from tight coupling to substrate binding.
TRENDS IN BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Alberte Regueira, Juan M. Lema, Miguel Mauricio-Iglesias
Summary: Microorganisms may extract energy from substrates in suboptimal ways, and resource allocation models help interpret this inefficiency by assigning different functional roles to enzymes. Future developments should focus on metabolic flexibility in response to uncertain environmental changes to enhance the predictive capabilities of resource allocation models. Resource allocation is crucial for understanding and promoting a biorefinery platform centered around lactate.
CURRENT OPINION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Michael J. Currie, Lavanyaa Manjunath, Christopher R. Horne, Phillip M. Rendle, Ramaswamy Subramanian, Rosmarie Friemann, Antony J. Fairbanks, Andrew C. Muscroft-Taylor, Rachel A. North, Renwick C. J. Dobson
Summary: The study found that the enzyme NanE may use a novel substrate-assisted proton displacement mechanism for catalysis, by re-evaluating the central role of Glu180 and the catalytic lysine, and identifying several active-site residues related to the mechanism. This discovery could be helpful in developing inhibitors for the enzyme or producing biocatalysts capable of changing the stereochemistry of molecules through enzyme engineering.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Organic
Jian Li, Hans Renata
Summary: A novel chemoenzymatic approach was developed for the synthesis of fasamycin A, a halogenated naphthacenoid with activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis. The synthesis involved combining two fragments through a Sammes annulation to form a dimethylnaphthacenone system, followed by enzymatic halogenation to introduce the necessary chlorine substituent at a later stage.
JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Ji-Xiao Zhu, Hai-Yan Yang, Wei-Qiong Hu, Jie Cheng, Yang Liu, Li-Tao Yi, Hong-Yu Cheng
Summary: Luteolin, luteoloside and apigenin can attenuate hyperuricemia by reducing the production and increasing the excretion of uric acid, mediated by inhibiting inflammatory signaling pathways.
INFLAMMOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kotaro Anamizu, Ryuichi Takase, Mamoru Hio, Daisuke Watanabe, Bunzo Mikami, Wataru Hashimoto
Summary: This study determined the different conformations of SPH1118 through X-ray crystallography, revealing its binding mechanism and conformational changes in response to substrate for pectin chemotaxis and assimilation. It is the first study to elucidate how a solute-binding protein with dual functions recognizes the substrate through flexible conformational changes in response to substrate size.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)