Enzymic Synthesis of Gastrodin through Microbial Transformation and Purification of Gastrodin Biosynthesis Enzyme

Gastrodin, a major bioactive component of a famous Chinese herb B1., has diverse pharmaceutical functions. It is usually obtained by extraction from a plant or through chemical synthesis. However, traditional extraction from B1. is time and money consuming, while chemical synthesis is a complicated procedure and always leads to very serious environmental pollution. Thus it is urgent to explore a new gastrodin source which is more economical and environmental. The present study reports a novel approach to the production of gastrodin through biosynthesis and microbial transformation. S AS3.1165 was screened from about 50 fungal and bacterial strains and found capable of biotransforming -hydroxybenzaldehyde into gastrodin for use in gastrodin production. A series of purification steps including (NH ) SO precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration column chromatography was successfully used for purification of the gastrodin biosynthesis enzyme (GBE). The purity of GBE was above 95% and its molecular weight was about 63.2 kDa. We further characterized GBE's function condition, and found that the optimal temperature was 50 °C and the optimum pH 6.0. The enzyme was stable at a temperature lower than 50 °C and a pH between 6.0 and 9.0. The result indicated that gastrodin could be successfully synthesized by microbial transformation, providing a new approach for gastrodin production

Immune Safety Evaluation of Polymerized Porcine Hemoglobin (pPolyHb) - a Potential Red Blood Cell Substitutes.

Polymerized Porcine Hemoglobin (pPolyHb), a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier (HBOC), was developed as a potentialred blood substitute for clinical applications. Assessment of its effects on the immune system is an important component of the overallsafety evaluation of HBOC. For this purpose, we assessed three infl ammation indicators, including complement C3a, IL-6, and TNF- αin cultured cells and in a rat model when pPolyHb was incubated or administrated with the cells/animals. Our results suggested that thelevels of these three indicators were not statistically changed upon pPolyHb stimulation, indicating that pPolyHb is not immunotoxicto cells and animals in this aspect