Aeromonas hydrophila strains as biocatalysts for transglycosylation

Microbial transglycosylation is useful as a green alternative in the preparation of purine nucleosides and analogues, especially for those that display pharmacological activities. In a search for new transglycosylation biocatalysts, two Aeromonas hydrophila strains were selected. The substrate specificity of both micro-organisms was studied and, as a result, several nucleoside analogues have been prepared. Among them, ribavirin, a broad spectrum antiviral, and the well-known anti HIV didanosine, were prepared, in 77 and 62% yield using A. hydrophila CECT 4226 and A. hydrophila CECT 4221, respectively. In order to scale-up the processes, the reaction conditions, product purification and biocatalyst preparation were analyzed and optimized.Fil: Nóbile, Matías Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Terreni, Marco. Universita degli Studi di Pavia; ItaliaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; Argentin

Biocatalysed halogenation of nucleobase analogues

The synthesis of halogenated nucleosides and nucleobases is of interest due to their chemical and pharmacological applications. Herein, the enzymatic halogenation of nucleobases and analogues catalysed by microorganisms and by chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago has been studied. This latter enzyme catalysed the chlorination and bromination of indoline and uracil. Pseudomonas, Citrobacter, Aeromonas, Streptomyces, Xanthomonas, and Bacillus genera catalysed the chlorination and/or bromination of indole and indoline. Different products were obtained depending on the substrate, the biocatalyst and the halide used. In particular, 85% conversion from indole to 5-bromoindole was achieved using Streptomyces cetonii.Fil: Médici, Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Garaycoechea, Juan Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; ArgentinaFil: Dettorre, Lucas Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; ArgentinaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentin

Aldolases: useful enzymes for the synthesis of anticholesterolemic products

Las aldolasas – enzimas pertenecientes al grupo de las liasas – son biocatalizadores efectivos para realizar reacciones de adición aldólica en medios acuosos, con elevado rendimiento y alta estereoselectividad. Según el sustrato que utilice la enzima, las aldolasas se clasifican en cinco tipos. En particular, 2-desoxy-D-ribosa-5-fosfato aldolasa (DERA) es la única aldolasa capaz de aceptar acetaldehído como sustrato dador nucleofílico. A la vez, se ha comprobado que DERA es capaz de catalizar una doble adición empleando tres moléculas de acetaldehído cuando éste es el único sustrato. Esta particularidad ha hecho que, en los últimos años, DERA sea utilizada en la síntesis de estatinas, drogas empleadas para el control del nivel de colesterol en sangre. Constantemente se invierten esfuerzos para lograr estructuras análogas que reduzcan efectos secundarios adversos y que resulten más potentes médicamente. En nuestro laboratorio se están desarrollando nuevos análogos de estatinas empleando DERA de Pectobacterium atrosepticum.Aldolases, enzymes that belong to the group of lyases, are useful biocatalysts to perform aldol addition reactions in aqueous media, in high yields and stereo selectively. According to the donor substrate, aldolases are classified into five types. In particular, 2-deoxy-D-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA) is the only aldolase capable of accepting acetaldehyde as donor substrate. In addition, it has been shown that when acetaldehyde is the only availabre substrate, DERA is able to catalyze a double aldol addition using three acetaldehyde molecules.. As a result, in recent years, DERA has been employed for the synthesis of statins, drugs used to control cholesterol level in blood. Efforts are constantly being made to achieve new structures with fewer adverse side effects and improved medicinal efficiency. In our laboratory we are developing new statin analogs using DERA from Pectobacterium atrosepticum.Fil: Fernández Varela, Romina Noelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres". Grupo Vinculado al INGEBI- Laboratorio de Biocatálisis y Biotransformaciones - LBB - UNQUI; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres". Grupo Vinculado al INGEBI- Laboratorio de Biocatálisis y Biotransformaciones - LBB - UNQUI; ArgentinaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres". Grupo Vinculado al INGEBI- Laboratorio de Biocatálisis y Biotransformaciones - LBB - UNQUI; Argentin

Synthetic Activity of Recombinant Whole Cell Biocatalysts Containing 2-Deoxy-D-ribose-5-phosphate Aldolase from Pectobacterium atrosepticum

In nature 2-deoxy-D-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA) catalyses the reversible formation of 2-deoxyribose 5-phosphate from D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and acetaldehyde. In addition, this enzyme can use acetaldehyde as the sole substrate, resulting in a tandem aldol reaction, yielding 2,4,6-trideoxy-D-erythro-hexapyranose, which spontaneously cyclizes. This reaction is very useful for the synthesis of the side chain of statin-type drugs used to decrease cholesterol levels in blood. One of the main challenges in the use of DERA in industrial processes, where high substrate loads are needed to achieve the desired productivity, is its inactivation by high acetaldehyde concentration. In this work, the utility of different variants of Pectobacterium atrosepticum DERA (PaDERA) as whole cell biocatalysts to synthesize 2-deoxyribose 5-phosphate and 2,4,6-trideoxy-D-erythro-hexapyranose was analysed. Under optimized conditions, E. coli BL21 (PaDERA C-His AA C49M) whole cells yields 99 % of both products. Furthermore, this enzyme is able to tolerate 500 mM acetaldehyde in a whole-cell experiment which makes it suitable for industrial applications.Fil: Fernández Varela, Romina Noelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres". Grupo Vinculado al INGEBI- Laboratorio de Biocatálisis y Biotransformaciones - LBB - UNQUI; ArgentinaFil: Valino, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; ArgentinaFil: Abdelraheem, Eman. Delft University of Technology; Países BajosFil: Médici, Rosario. Delft University of Technology; Países BajosFil: Martínez Sayé, Melisa Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Pereira, Claudio Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Hagedoorn, Peter-Leon. Delft University of Technology; Países BajosFil: Hanefeld, Ulf. Delft University of Technology; Países BajosFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres". Grupo Vinculado al INGEBI- Laboratorio de Biocatálisis y Biotransformaciones - LBB - UNQUI; ArgentinaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres". Grupo Vinculado al INGEBI- Laboratorio de Biocatálisis y Biotransformaciones - LBB - UNQUI; Argentin

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Whole cell biocatalysts for the preparation of nucleosides and their derivatives

Nucleosides constitute an extensive group of natural and chemically modified compounds that display a wide range of structures and activities. Different biocatalysts have been developed for their preparation, but the choice of commercially available enzymes is limited. Therefore, the search of new biocatalysts is particularly attractive. In this sense, microorganisms are a vast source of enzymatic diversity that can be directly used as whole cell biocatalysts providing a potential cheaper and suitable route for industrial applications. Methods: This work makes particular emphasis on the following methods: the biocatalyzed whole cell synthesis of nucleosides mediated by phosphorylases, key biocatalyzed steps involved in other chemoenzymatic routes to prepare nucleoside analogues and the transformation of nucleosides in derivatives with particular properties. Results: The literature covered in this work confirms that biocatalytic procedures that make use of whole cell systems can be successfully applied to obtain a wide variety of nucleoside analogues and their derivatives, providing alternative and complementary routes to traditional chemistry. The direct use of microbial whole cells as biocatalysts affords competitive results since it avoids the cumbersome procedures involved in enzyme isolation and facilitates multienzymatic processes. These biocatalysts also maintain the enzymes in their natural environment, protecting their activities from reaction conditions. Conclusion: Although the information presented herein shows that these methodologies have reached a high degree of development, it is expected that future contributions of protein engineering and nucleoside metabolism knowledge, among other disciplines, will expand the already wide range of applications in nucleoside chemistry of whole cell biocatalysis.Fil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Area Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Area Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

New biocatalysts for one pot multistep enzymatic synthesis of pyrimidine nucleoside diphosphates from readily available reagents

Since the preparation of nucleoside 5′-diphosphates by classical methodologies is complex, multistep enzymatic systems were explored to synthesize pyrimidine nucleoside 5′-diphosphates starting from readily available reagents. Different strategies were combined to prepare uridine- and thymidine 5′-diphosphates as ribo- and deoxyribonucleoside models, respectively. For uridine 5′-diphosphate synthesis, conversions between 38 and 66% were achieved, using a simple methodology that involves commercial yeast extract as biocatalyst and biocatalytically in situ prepared uridine 5′-monophosphate. Corynebacterium ammoniagenes ATCC 19350 was used for the first time as biocatalyst to synthesize uridine 5′-monophosphate from uracil and orotic acid while Raoultella planticola was the selected biocatalyst for uridine 5′-monophosphate synthesis from uridine. The overall performances of all the tested approaches were similar but the use of uracil leads to a more suitable and cheaper process. Alternatively, for thymidine 5′-diphosphate synthesis two consecutive one pot multistep enzyme systems were assayed. In the first biotransformation, 2′-deoxyribose 5-phosphate was formed from glucose by Erwinia carotovora whole cells followed by the action of phosphopentomutase and thymidine phosphorylase affording thymidine in 85% conversion relative to 2′-deoxyribose 5-phosphate. Finally, in the second one pot reaction, the nucleoside was converted to thymidine 5′-diphosphate by the combined action of Escherichia coli BL21 pET22b-phoRp and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.Fil: Valino, Ana Laura. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Area Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Area Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentin

Citrobacter koseri immobilized on agarose beads for nucleoside synthesis: a potential biocatalyst for preparative applications

The biocatalyzed synthesis of purine nucleosides and their analogs is a case widely studied due to the high pharmaceutical interest of these compounds, providing the whole-cell biocatalysts, a useful tool for this purpose. Vidarabine and fludarabine are commercial examples of expensive bioactive nucleosides that can be prepared using a microbial transglycosylation approach. Citrobacter koseri whole-cells immobilized on agarose beads proved to be an interesting option to transform this biotransformation in a preparative process. The entrapment matrix provided a useful and resistant multipurpose biocatalyst regarding its stability, mechanical strength, microbial viability and reuse. Immobilized biocatalyst retained the initial activity for up to 1 year storage and after 10 years, the biocatalyst did not show cell leaking and still exhibited residual activity. In addition, the biocatalyst could be reused in batch 68 times keeping up to 50% of the initial biocatalytic activity and for at least 124 h in a continuous process.Fil: Nóbile, Matías Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentin

Alternative low-cost process for large-scale production of Bacillus thuringiensis in a simple and novel culture system

An industrial-scale, profitable method for production of the most widely used bioinsecticide, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), is challenging because of its widespread application. The aim of this study is to present a strategy to develop a low-cost, large-scale bioprocess to produce Bt H14. This study was first focused on the design of a culture medium composed of economical and available components, such as glycerol and lysed Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The production goal of 1200 ITU was achieved using a medium composed of 20:20 g L −1 of glycerol:lysed yeast in batch cultures. Efforts were subsequently focused on the design of an appropriate culture system, and an original two-stage culture system was proposed. First, yeast (the primary component of the culture medium) are cultivated using a minimal mineral medium and lysed, and in the second stage, Bt is cultivated in the same bioreactor using the lysed yeasts as culture medium (supplemented with a feeding pulse of 10 g L −1 glycerol). This system was called fed batch one pot (FOP). A new inoculation strategy is also presented in this study, since these Bt cultures were inoculated directly with heat pre-treated spores instead of vegetative bacteria to facilitate the bioprocess. This study was developed from the laboratory to production-scale bioreactors (measuring from 500 mL to 2500 L), and the efficiency of the proposed strategy was evident in LD 50 tests results, achieving 1796 ITU in large-scale processes. Both the use of non-conventional sources and the process development for biomass production are important for cost-effective production of Bt-based insecticides in mosquito control projects.Fil: Rojas, Natalia Lorena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Nobile, Matias L.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Área Química. Laboratorio de Biotransformaciones; Argentin

Streptomyces griseus: a new biocatalyst with N-oxygenase activity

Aromatic nitro compounds are key building blocks for many industrial syntheses and are also components of explosives, drugs and pesticides. Due to the environmentally unfriendly experimental conditions involved in their chemical syntheses, industrial processes would benefit from the use of biocatalysts. Among potentially useful enzymes, N-oxygenases, whose role is to oxygenate primary amines, are becoming relevant. These enzymes are involved in different secondary metabolic pathways in Streptomyces and in few other bacteria, forming part of the enzyme pools implicated in antibiotic synthesis. In this work, a group of Streptomyces strains, whose biomass was obtained from simple and novel culture media, were identified as new sources of N-oxygenase activity. Furthermore, the use of unspecific metabolic stimulation strategies allowed substantial improvements in the activity of whole cells as biocatalysts. It is remarkable the 6 to 50-fold increase in nitro compound yields compared to the biotransformation under standard conditions when Streptomyces griseus was the biocatalyst. In addition, biocatalyst substrate acceptance was studied in order to determine the biocatalytic potential of this enzyme.Fil: Nóbile, Matías Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Stricker, Abigail M.. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Adolfo Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Lewkowicz, Elizabeth Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentin