Epoxide hydrolysis as a model system for understanding flux through a branched reaction scheme.

The epoxide hydrolase StEH1 catalyzes the hydrolysis of -methylstyrene oxide to 1-phenyl-propane-1,2-diol. The (,)-epoxide is exclusively transformed into the (1,2)-diol, while hydrolysis of the (,)-epoxide results in a mixture of product enantiomers. In order to understand the differences in the stereoconfigurations of the products, the reactions were studied kinetically during both the pre-steady-state and steady-state phases.

Imaging single DNA molecules for high precision NIPT.

Cell-free DNA analysis is becoming adopted for first line aneuploidy screening, however for most healthcare programs, cost and workflow complexity is limiting adoption of the test. We report a novel cost effective method, the Vanadis NIPT assay, designed for high precision digitally-enabled measurement of chromosomal aneuploidies in maternal plasma. Reducing NIPT assay complexity is achieved by using novel molecular probe technology that specifically label target chromosomes combined with a new readout format using a nanofilter to enrich single molecules for imaging and counting without DNA amplification, microarrays or sequencing.

Laboratory-Evolved Enzymes Provide Snapshots of the Development of Enantioconvergence in Enzyme-Catalyzed Epoxide Hydrolysis.

Engineered enzyme variants of potato epoxide hydrolase (StEH1) display varying degrees of enrichment of (2R)-3-phenylpropane-1,2-diol from racemic benzyloxirane. Curiously, the observed increase in the enantiomeric excess of the (R)-diol is not only a consequence of changes in enantioselectivity for the preferred epoxide enantiomer, but also to changes in the regioselectivity of the epoxide ring opening of (S)-benzyloxirane. In order to probe the structural origin of these differences in substrate selectivity and catalytic regiopreference, we solved the crystal structures for the evolved StEH1 variants.

Expanding the Catalytic Triad in Epoxide Hydrolases and Related Enzymes.

Potato epoxide hydrolase 1 exhibits rich enantio- and regioselectivity in the hydrolysis of a broad range of substrates. The enzyme can be engineered to increase the yield of optically pure products as a result of changes in both enantio- and regioselectivity. It is thus highly attractive in biocatalysis, particularly for the generation of enantiopure fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Furaldehyde substrate specificity and kinetics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase 1 variants.

Background: A previously discovered mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase 1 (Adh1p) was shown to enable a unique NADH-dependent reduction of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a well-known inhibitor of yeast fermentation. In the present study, site-directed mutagenesis of both native and mutated ADH1 genes was performed in order to identify the key amino acids involved in this substrate shift, resulting in Adh1p-variants with different substrate specificities.

Results: In vitro activities of the Adh1p-variants using two furaldehydes, HMF and furfural, revealed that HMF reduction ability could be acquired after a single amino acid substitution (Y295C).

Obtaining optical purity for product diols in enzyme-catalyzed epoxide hydrolysis: contributions from changes in both enantio- and regioselectivity.

Enzyme variants of the plant epoxide hydrolase StEH1 displaying improved stereoselectivities in the catalyzed hydrolysis of (2,3-epoxypropyl)benzene were generated by directed evolution. The evolution was driven by iterative saturation mutagenesis in combination with enzyme activity screenings where product chirality was the decisive selection criterion. Analysis of the underlying causes of the increased diol product ratios revealed two major contributing factors: increased enantioselectivity for the corresponding epoxide enantiomer(s) and, in some cases, a concomitant change in regioselectivity in the catalyzed epoxide ring-opening half-reaction.