Exploring and applying the substrate promiscuity of a C-glycosyltransferase in the chemo-enzymatic synthesis of bioactive C-glycosides

Bioactive natural C-glycosides are rare and chemical C-glycosylation faces challenges while enzymatic C-glycosylation catalyzed by C-glycosyltransferases provides an alternative way. However, only a small number of C-glycosyltransferases have been found, and most of the discovered C-glycosyltransferases prefer to glycosylate phenols with an acyl side chain. Here, a promiscuous C-glycosyltransferase, AbCGT, which is capable of C-glycosylating scaffolds lacking acyl groups, is identified from Aloe barbadensis. Based on the substrate promiscuity of AbCGT, 16 C-glycosides with inhibitory activity against sodium-dependent glucose transporters 2 are chemo-enzymatically synthesized. The C-glycoside 46a shows hypoglycemic activity in diabetic mice and is biosynthesized with a cumulative yield on the 3.95gL(1) scale. In addition, the key residues involved in the catalytic selectivity of AbCGT are explored. These findings suggest that AbCGT is a powerful tool in the synthesis of lead compounds for drug discovery and an example for engineering the catalytic selectivity of C-glycosyltransferases.