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Institute
The goal of this study is the selective oxyfunctionalization of steroids under mild and environmentally-friendly conditions using fungal enzymes. With this purpose, peroxygenases from three basidiomycete species were tested for hydroxylation of a variety of steroidal compounds, using H2O2 as the only cosubstrate. Two of them are wild-type enzymes from Agrocybe aegerita and Marasmius rotula, and the third one is a recombinant enzyme from Coprinopsis cinerea. The enzymatic reactions on free and esterified sterols, and steroid hydrocarbons and ketones were followed by gas chromatography, and the products were identified by mass spectrometry. Hydroxylation at the side chain over the steroidal rings was preferred, with the 25-hydroxyderivatives predominating (interestingly antiviral and other biological activities of 25-hydroxycholesterol have been recently reported). However, hydroxylation in the ring moiety and terminal hydroxylation at the side-chain was also observed in some steroids, the former favored by the absence of oxygenated groups at C3 and by the presence of conjugated double bonds in the rings. To understand the yield and selectivity differences between the different steroids, a computational study was performed using Protein Energy Landscape Exploration (PELE) software for dynamic ligand diffusion. These simulations showed that the active site geometry and hydrophobicity favors the entrance of the steroid side-chain, while the entrance of the ring is energetically penalized. Also, a direct correlation between the conversion rate and the side-chain entrance ratio could be established, that explains the varying reaction yields observed.
Immobilization of unspecific peroxygenases (EC 1.11.2.1) in PVA/PEG gel and hollow fiber modules
(2015)
The immobilization of enzymes has many advantages, such as higher stability, easier handling, and reuse of the catalyst. Here we report, for the first time, two effective methods for the immobilization of unspecific peroxygenase (UPO; EC 1.11.2.1). This biocatalyst type comprises heavily glycosylated heme-thiolate proteins that catalyze various biotechnologically relevant oxyfunctionalizations. Both the encapsulation in cryogel and the retention of the enzyme in hollow fiber modules were found to be efficient methods for their immobilization. After encapsulation, the enzyme still exhibited 60% of its initial activity. Interestingly, we did not find differences in the kinetic parameters of free and immobilized UPOs. In long-term experiments, the conversion of the pharmaceutical diclofenac with immobilized UPOs in different reactor types yielded between 62 mg and 154 mg of the major human drug metabolite 4′-hydroxydiclofenac. The maximal total turnover number was about 60-fold higher compared to the free enzyme. A test over 5 months showed that storage of encapsulated UPOs in non-polar solvents (e.g., cyclohexane) helps to preserve the enzyme stability and increases their relative activity (by about ∼150%, in the case of diclofenac hydroxylation). In addition to the hydrophilic substrate diclofenac, encapsulated UPOs also oxidized the hydrophobic model compound cyclohexane.
Unspecific peroxygenases (UPO, EC 1.11.2.1) secreted by fungi open an efficient way to selectively oxyfunctionalize diverse organic substrates including less activated hydrocarbons by transferring peroxide-borne oxygen. Herein, we investigated a cell-free approach to incorporate epoxy and hydroxyl functionalities directly into the bulky molecule of testosterone by a novel unspecific peroxygenase that was produced by the ascomycetous fungus Chaetomium globosum in a complex medium rich in carbon and nitrogen. Purification by fast protein liquid chromatography revealed two enzyme fractions with the same molecular mass of 36 kDa and specific activities of 4.4 to 12 U mg-1. Whereas well-known UPOs of Agrocybe aegerita (AaeUPO) and Marasmius rotula (MroUPO) failed to convert testosterone in a comparative study, the UPO of C. globosum (CglUPO) accepted testosterone as substrate and converted it with up to 7,000 total turnovers (TTN) into two oxygenated products: the 4,5-epoxide of testosterone in β-configuration and 16α-hydroxytestosterone. The reaction was performed at 100-mg scale resulting in the formation of about 90 % of the epoxide and 10 % of the hydroxylation product, which both could be isolated with purities above 96 %. Thus, CglUPO may be a promising biocatalyst for the oxyfunctionalization of bulky steroids and provide a useful tool for the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant steroidal molecules.
The catalase activity of three unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) from the agaric basidiomycetes Agrocybe aegerita, Coprinopsis cinerea and Marasmius rotula was investigated. The study included analysis of pH dependency of the catalase reaction and H₂O₂ mediated enzyme inactivation as well as experiments on the influence of a second substrate on the course of catalase reaction. Apparent kinetic parameters (Km, kcat) for the catalase activity of UPOs were determined. Inactivation of UPOs by H₂O₂ is discussed with regard to O₂ production and remaining UPO activity. Furthermore formation of biliverdin as heme destruction product was demonstrated along with the formation of UPO compound III as a possible intermediate that forces the destruction process. Radical trapping experiments with methyl benzoate gave indication for the formation of hydroxyl radicals in the presence of excess H₂O₂. Eventually, a plausible pathway of heme destruction has been proposed, proceeding via UPO compound III and subsequent hydroxyl radical formation, which in turn may cause heme bleaching and verdoheme and biliverdin formation.
Firewalls for the Web 2.0
(2016)
The widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies yields an increasing threat potential for users and related systems. Modern web applications and online services are nowadays based on Web 2.0 technologies, such as JavaScript and AJAX, and thus on the execution of active content in the browsers of the users. Firewalls are a common practice to securely connecting to the internet. In this paper, we propose a novel perimeter firewall architecture for web applications that addresses the entire process chain starting from the data transfer with HTTP via the analysis of manipulated web documents to the extraction and analysis of active contents. The basic idea is to allow only a restricted set of web applications to pass the firewall based on a model of their HTML and JavaScript structure. We evaluate the capability of the resulting models for identifying the underlying web applications and their ability to ward off additional malicious inputs.
Unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) are secreted fungal enzymes with promiscuity for oxygen transfer and oxidation reactions. Functionally, they represent hybrids of P450 monooxygenases and heme peroxidases; phylogenetically they belong to the family of heme-thiolate peroxidases. Two UPOs from the basidiomycetous fungi Agrocybe aegerita (AaeUPO) and Marasmius rotula (MroUPO) converted 35 out of 40 compounds listed as EPA priority pollutants, including chlorinated benzenes and their derivatives, halogenated biphenyl ethers, nitroaromatic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phthalic acid derivatives. These oxygenations and oxidations resulted in diverse products and-if at all-were limited for three reasons: (i) steric hindrance caused by multiple substitutions or bulkiness of the compound as such (e.g., hexachlorobenzene or large PAHs), (ii) strong inactivation of aromatic rings (e.g., nitrobenzene), and (iii) low water solubility (e.g., complex arenes). The general outcome of our study is that UPOs can be considered as extracellular counterparts of intracellular monooxygenases, both with respect to catalyzed reactions and catalytic versatility. Therefore, they should be taken into consideration as a relevant biocatalytic detoxification and biodegradation tool used by fungi when confronted with toxins, xenobiotics and pollutants in their natural environments.
A recently discovered peroxygenase from the
fungus Marasmius rotula (MroUPO) is able to catalyze the
progressive one-carbon shortening of medium and longchain mono- and dicarboxylic acids by itself alone, in the presence of H₂O₂. The mechanism, analyzed using H₂O, starts with an a-oxidation catalyzed by MroUPO generat- ing an α-hydroxy acid, which is further oxidized by the enzyme to a reactive α-keto intermediate whose decarboxylation yields the one-carbon shorter fatty acid. Compared with the previously characterized peroxygenase of Agrocybe aegerita, a wider heme access channel, enabling fatty acid positioning with the carboxylic end near the heme cofactor (as seen in one of the crystal structures available) could be at the origin of the unique ability of MroUPO shortening carboxylic acid chains.
Fungi produce heme-containing peroxidases and peroxygenases, flavin-containing oxidases and dehydrogenases, and different copper-containing oxidoreductases involved in the biodegradation of lignin and other recalcitrant compounds. Heme peroxidases comprise the classical ligninolytic peroxidases and the new dye-decolorizing peroxidases, while heme peroxygenases belong to a still largely unexplored superfamily of heme-thiolate proteins. Nevertheless, basidiomycete unspecific peroxygenases have the highest biotechnological interest due to their ability to catalyze a variety of regio- and stereo-selective monooxygenation reactions with H2O2 as the source of oxygen and final electron acceptor. Flavo-oxidases are involved in both lignin and cellulose decay generating H2O2 that activates peroxidases and generates hydroxyl radical. The group of copper oxidoreductases also includes other H2O2 generating enzymes - copper-radical oxidases - together with classical laccases that are the oxidoreductases with the largest number of reported applications to date. However, the recently described lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases have attracted the highest attention among copper oxidoreductases, since they are capable of oxidatively breaking down crystalline cellulose, the disintegration of which is still a major bottleneck in lignocellulose biorefineries, along with lignin degradation. Interestingly, some flavin-containing dehydrogenases also play a key role in cellulose breakdown by directly/indirectly “fueling” electrons for polysaccharide monooxygenase activation. Many of the above oxidoreductases have been engineered, combining rational and computational design with directed evolution, to attain the selectivity, catalytic efficiency and stability properties required for their industrial utilization. Indeed, using ad hoc software and current computational capabilities, it is now possible to predict substrate access to the active site in biophysical simulations, and electron transfer efficiency in biochemical simulations, reducing in orders of magnitude the time of experimental work in oxidoreductase screening and engineering. What has been set out above is illustrated by a series of remarkable oxyfunctionalization and oxidation reactions developed in the frame of an intersectorial and multidisciplinary European RTD project. The optimized reactions include enzymatic synthesis of 1-naphthol, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, drug metabolites, furandicarboxylic acid, indigo and other dyes, and conductive polyaniline, terminal oxygenation of alkanes, biomass delignification and lignin oxidation, among others. These successful case stories demonstrate the unexploited potential of oxidoreductases in medium and large-scale biotransformations.
Two unspecific peroxygenases (UPO, EC 1.11.2.1) from the basidiomycetous fungi Marasmius rotula and Marasmius wettsteinii oxidized steroids with hydroxyacetyl and hydroxyl functionalities at C17 - such as cortisone, Reichstein's substance S and prednisone - via stepwise oxygenation and final fission of the side chain. The sequential oxidation started with the hydroxylation of the terminal carbon (C21) leading to a stable geminal alcohol (e.g. cortisone 21-gem-diol) and proceeded via a second oxygenation resulting in the corresponding α-ketocarboxylic acid (e.g. cortisone 21-oic acid). The latter decomposed under formation of adrenosterone (4-androstene-3,11,17-trione) as well as formic acid and carbonic acid (that is in equilibrium with carbon dioxide); fission products comprising two carbon atoms such as glycolic acid or glyoxylic acid were not detected. Protein models based on the crystal structure data of MroUPO (Marasmius rotula unspecific peroxygenase) revealed that the bulky cortisone molecule suitably fits into the enzyme's access channel, which enables the heme iron to come in close contact to the carbons (C21, C20) of the steroidal side chain. ICP-MS analysis of purified MroUPO confirmed the presence of magnesium supposedly stabilizing the porphyrin ring system.