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An α2,3‐Sialyltransferase from Photobacterium phosphoreum with Broad Substrate Scope: Controlling Hydrolytic Activity by Directed Evolution
Author(s) -
Mertsch Alexander,
He Ning,
Yi Dong,
Kickstein Michael,
Fessner WolfDieter
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202002277
Subject(s) - sialyltransferase , chemistry , hydrolysis , substrate (aquarium) , enzyme , biochemistry , sialic acid , photobacterium phosphoreum , stereochemistry , organic chemistry , biology , ecology , toxicity
Defined sialoglycoconjugates are important molecular probes for studying the role of sialylated glycans in biological systems. We show that the α2,3‐sialyltransferase from Photobacterium phosphoreum JT‐ISH‐467 (2,3SiaT pph ) tolerates a very broad substrate scope for modifications in the sialic acid part, including bulky amide variation, C5/C9 substitution, and C5 stereoinversion. To reduce the enzyme's hydrolytic activity, which erodes the product yield, an extensive structure‐guided mutagenesis study identified three variants that show up to five times higher catalytic efficiency for sialyltransfer, up to ten times lower efficiency for substrate hydrolysis, and drastically reduced product hydrolysis. Variant 2,3SiaT pph (A151D) displayed the best performance overall in the synthesis of the GM3 trisaccharide (α2,3‐Neu5Ac‐Lac) from lactose in a one‐pot, two‐enzyme cascade. Our study demonstrates that several complementary solutions can be found to suppress the common problem of undesired hydrolysis activity of microbial GT80 sialyltransferases. The new enzymes are powerful catalysts for the synthesis of a wide variety of complex natural and new‐to‐nature sialoconjugates for biological studies.