Secreted lipases from Malassezia globosa: recombinant expression and determination of their substrate specificities

Malassezia globosa, which is associated with skin conditions such as dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis, possesses 13 secreted lipases, but only MgLip1, MgMDL2 and MgLip2 have been characterized. To understand the substrate preferences of these lipases and by extension their potential role in colonizing human skin, we expressed all 13 predicted secreted lipases in Pichia pastoris and evaluated their ability to utilize mono-, di- and triolein substrates. The M. globosa family class 3 lipases were shown to be specific for mono- and diacylglycerols, but exhibited no regio-selective production of diacylglycerols, which are of special interest for industrial applications. Lipases belonging to the Lip family utilized all substrates. In a further step, five lipases previously demonstrated to be expressed on human skin were tested against the eight most common di- and triacylglycerols in human sebum. All lipases liberated free fatty acids from three to eight of these substrates, proving their ability to hydrolyse key components of human sebum. Again, only Lip family lipases showed activity on triacylglycerides. Based on the demonstrated activity and expression levels of MgLip2 in M. globosa, the Lip lipase family appears to have the highest impact for the pathogenicity of M. globosa.