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Many industrial processes are performed using harmful chemicals. The current technical synthesis of N-acyl-amino acids relies on acyl chlorides, which are typically obtained from phosgene chemistry. A greener alternative is the application of whole cells or enzymes to carry out synthesis in an environmentally friendly manner. Aminoacylases belong to the hydrolase family and the resolution of racemic mixtures of N-acetyl-amino acids is a well-known industrial process. Several new enzymes accepting long-chain fatty acids as substrates were discovered in recent years. This article reviews the synthetic potential of aminoacylases to produce biobased N-acyl-amino acid surfactants. The focus lays on a survey of the different types of aminoacylases available for synthesis and their reaction products. The enzymes are categorized according to their protein family classification and their biochemical characteristics including substrate spectra, reaction optima and process stability, both in hydrolysis and under process conditions suitable for synthesis. Finally, the benefits and future challenges of enzymatic N-acyl-amino acid synthesis with aminoacylases will be discussed. KEY POINTS: • Enzymatic synthesis of N-acyl-amino acids, biobased surfactants by aminoacylases., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

N-Acyl-amino acids can act as mild biobased surfactants, which are used, e.g., in baby shampoos. However, their chemical synthesis needs acyl chlorides and does not meet sustainability criteria. Thus, the identification of biocatalysts to develop greener synthesis routes is desirable. We describe a novel aminoacylase from Paraburkholderia monticola DSM 100849 (PmAcy) which was identified, cloned, and evaluated for its N-acyl-amino acid synthesis potential. Soluble protein was obtained by expression in lactose autoinduction medium and co-expression of molecular chaperones GroEL/S. Strep-tag affinity purification enriched the enzyme 16-fold and yielded 15 mg pure enzyme from 100 mL of culture. Biochemical characterization revealed that PmAcy possesses beneficial traits for industrial application like high temperature and pH-stability. A heat activation of PmAcy was observed upon incubation at temperatures up to 80 °C. Hydrolytic activity of PmAcy was detected with several N-acyl-amino acids as substrates and exhibited the highest conversion rate of 773 U/mg with N-lauroyl-L-alanine at 75 °C. The enzyme preferred long-chain acyl-amino-acids and displayed hardly any activity with acetyl-amino acids. PmAcy was also capable of N-acyl-amino acid synthesis with good conversion rates. The best synthesis results were obtained with the cationic L-amino acids L-arginine and L-lysine as well as with L-leucine and L-phenylalanine. Exemplarily, L-phenylalanine was acylated with fatty acids of chain lengths from C8 to C18 with conversion rates of up to 75%. N-lauroyl-L-phenylalanine was purified by precipitation, and the structure of the reaction product was verified by LC-MS and NMR. KEY POINTS: • A novel aminoacylase from Paraburkholderia monticola was cloned, expressed in E. coli and purified. • The enzyme PmAcy exhibits exceptional temperature and pH stability and a broad substrate spectrum. • Synthesis of acyl amino acids was achieved in good yields., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Aminoacylases are highly promising enzymes for the green synthesis of acyl-amino acids, potentially replacing the environmentally harmful Schotten-Baumann reaction. Long-chain acyl-amino acids can serve as strong surfactants and emulsifiers, with application in cosmetic industries. Heterologous expression of these enzymes, however, is often hampered, limiting their use in industrial processes., Results: We identified a novel mycobacterial aminoacylase gene from Mycolicibacterium smegmatis MKD 8, cloned and expressed it in Escherichia coli and Vibrio natriegens using the T7 overexpression system. The recombinant enzyme was prone to aggregate as inclusion bodies, and while V. natriegens Vmax™ could produce soluble aminoacylase upon induction with isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), E. coli BL21 (DE3) needed autoinduction with lactose to produce soluble recombinant protein. We successfully conducted a chaperone co-expression study in both organisms to further enhance aminoacylase production and found that overexpression of chaperones GroEL/S enhanced aminoacylase activity in the cell-free extract 1.8-fold in V. natriegens and E. coli. Eventually, E. coli ArcticExpress™ (DE3), which co-expresses cold-adapted chaperonins Cpn60/10 from Oleispira antarctica, cultivated at 12 °C, rendered the most suitable expression system for this aminoacylase and exhibited twice the aminoacylase activity in the cell-free extract compared to E. coli BL21 (DE3) with GroEL/S co-expression at 20 °C. The purified aminoacylase was characterized based on hydrolytic activities, being most stable and active at pH 7.0, with a maximum activity at 70 °C, and stability at 40 °C and pH 7.0 for 5 days. The aminoacylase strongly prefers short-chain acyl-amino acids with smaller, hydrophobic amino acid residues. Several long-chain amino acids were fairly accepted in hydrolysis as well, especially N-lauroyl-L-methionine. To initially evaluate the relevance of this aminoacylase for the synthesis of N-acyl-amino acids, we demonstrated that lauroyl-methionine can be synthesized from lauric acid and methionine in an aqueous system., Conclusion: Our results suggest that the recombinant enzyme is well suited for synthesis reactions and will thus be further investigated., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Biobased polymers derived from plant oils are sustainable alternatives to petro based polymers. In recent years, multienzyme cascades have been developed for the synthesis of biobased ω-aminocarboxylic acids, which serve as building blocks for polyamides. In this work, we have developed a novel enzyme cascade for the synthesis of 12-aminododeceneoic acid, a precursor for nylon-12, starting from linoleic acid. Seven bacterial ω-transaminases (ω-TAs) were cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli and successfully purified by affinity chromatography. Activity towards the oxylipin pathway intermediates hexanal and 12-oxododecenoic acid in their 9(Z) and 10(E) isoforms was demonstrated for all seven transaminases in a coupled photometric enzyme assay. The highest specific activities were obtained with ω-TA from Aquitalea denitrificans (TR AD ), with 0.62 U mg -1 for 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid, 0.52 U mg -1 for 12-oxo-10(E)-dodecenoic acid and 1.17 U mg -1 for hexanal. A one-pot enzyme cascade was established with TR AD and papaya hydroperoxide lyase (HPL CP-N ), reaching conversions of 59% according to LC-ELSD quantification. Starting from linoleic acid, up to 12% conversion to 12-aminododecenoic acid was achieved with a 3-enzyme cascade comprising soybean lipoxygenase (LOX-1), HPL CP-N and TR AD . Higher product concentrations were achieved by the consecutive addition of enzymes compared to simultaneous addition at the beginning. KEY POINTS: • Seven ω-transaminases converted 12-oxododecenoic acid into its corresponding amine. • A three-enzyme cascade with lipoxygenase, hydroperoxide lyase, and ω-transaminase was established for the first time. • A one-pot transformation of linoleic acid to 12-aminododecenoic acid, a precursor of nylon-12 was achieved., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Hydroperoxide lyases (HPLs) catalyze the splitting of 13S-hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic acid (13S-HPODE) into the green note flavor hexanal and 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid, which is not yet used industrially. Here, HPL from Carica papaya (HPL CP ) was cloned and functionally expressed in Escherichia coli to investigate synthesis of 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid in detail. To improve the low catalytic activity of full-length HPL CP , the hydrophobic, non-conserved N-terminal sequence was deleted. This enhanced enzyme activity from initial 10 to 40 U/l. With optimization of solubilization buffer, expression media enzyme activity was increased to 2700 U/l. The tetrameric enzyme was produced in a 1.5 l fermenter and enriched by affinity chromatography. The enzyme preparation possesses a slightly acidic pH optimum and a catalytic efficiency (k cat /K M ) of 2.73 × 10 6  s -1 ·M -1 towards 13S-HPODE. Interestingly, HPL CP-N could be applied for the synthesis of 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid, and 1 mM of 13S-HPODE was transformed in just 10 s with a yield of 90%. At protein concentrations of 10 mg/ml, the slow formation of the 10(E)-isomer traumatin was observed, pointing to a non-enzymatic isomerization process. Bearing this in mind, a one-pot enzyme cascade starting from safflower oil was developed with consecutive addition of Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase, Glycine max lipoxygenase (LOX-1), and HPL CP-N . A yield of 43% was obtained upon fast extraction of the reaction mixtures after 1 min of HPL CP-N reaction. This work provides first insights into an enzyme cascade synthesis of 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid, which may serve as a bifunctional precursor for bio-based polymer synthesis., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is the major lignan of the creosote bush Larrea tridentata known for its antioxidative and pharmacological properties. Here we present the identification of glucansucrases for NDGA glucosylation and the physicochemical and biological characterization of the glucosides. Extracellular glucansucrase of L. pseudomesenteroides DSM 20193 was selected from 19 glucansucrase positive Leuconostoc and Weissella strains. Kinetic analysis of the PEG-fractionated enzyme revealed a K M of 6.6 mM and a k cat of 2.6 s -1 for NDGA. Full-factorial design methodology was used to optimize conversion resulting in 95.5% total NDGA glucosides. In total 7 glucosides were detected by LC-MS ranging from mono- to triglucoside. The 4-O-α-D-monoglucoside and the symmetrical 4,4'-O-α-D-diglucoside were the major products in all biotransformations. Water solubility and half-life stability at 45 °C increased significantly in the order diglucoside > monoglucoside > aglycon. Analysis of cellular antioxidative capacity exhibited a time-dependent activity increase pointing towards glucoside hydrolysis. Accordingly, NDGA-glucosides impaired metastasis of triple negative breast cancer cells to the same degree as the aglycon with 35% reduction of cell migration by the mono- and 34% reduction by the diglucoside after 20 h., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)