BiS/BiO(OH) nanorods with internal electric field throughout the entire bulk phase as photoelectrochemical sensing platforms for CYFRA21-1 immunoassay.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensors are highly promising tools for monitoring biochemical molecules. Constructing high-performance heterojunctions is a general method to improve the sensitivity of PEC immunosensors. The internal electric field (IEF) formed at the heterojunction interface plays a crucial role in coordinating the separation of photogenerated carriers.

Engineering of L-threonine and L-proline biosensors by directed evolution of transcriptional regulator SerR and application for high-throughput screening.

Amino acids are important bio-based products with a multi-billion-dollar market. The development of efficient high-throughput screening technologies utilizing biosensors is essential for the rapid identification of high-performance amino acid producers. However, there remains a pressing need for biosensors that specifically target certain critical amino acids, such as L-threonine and L-proline.

Quantitative analysis of Fumonisin B1 using photoelectrochemical aptamer sensing strategy based on dual type II heterojunction KPWO/CdS/CoS.

Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is a highly toxic fungal toxin that poses a serious threat to human health. Accordingly, realizing highly sensitive detection of FB1 is essential to safeguard people's health. In this study, a photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptamer sensor was successfully constructed with KPWO/CdS/CoS as the substrate material and with AgBiS as the aptamer marker.

Engineered Imine Reductase for Asymmetric Synthesis of Dextromethorphan Key Intermediate.

()-1-(4-Methoxybenzyl)-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydroisoquinoline (()-1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-OHIQ) is the key intermediate of the nonopioid antitussive dextromethorphan. In this study, ()-IR61-V69Y/P123A/W179G/F182I/L212V (M4) was identified with a 766-fold improvement in catalytic efficiency compared with wide-type IR61 through enzyme engineering. M4 could completely convert 200 mM of 1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-3,4,5,6,7,8-hexahydroisoquinoline into ()-1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-OHIQ in 77% isolated yield, with >99% enantiomeric excess and a high space-time yield of 542 g L day, demonstrating a great potential for the synthesis of dextromethorphan intermediate in industrial applications.

Identification and structure-based engineering of a dipeptidase CpPepD from Clostridium perfringens for the synthesis of l-carnosine.

l-Carnosine (l-Car), an endogenous dipeptide presents in muscle and brain tissues of various vertebrates, has a wide range of application values. The enzymatic preparation of l-Car is a promising synthetic method because it avoids the protection and deprotection steps. In the present study, a dipeptidase gene (CpPepD) from Clostridium perfringens with high l-Car synthetic activity was cloned and characterized.

Photoredox/Enzymatic Catalysis Enabling Redox-Neutral Decarboxylative Asymmetric C-C Coupling for Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral 1,2-Amino Alcohols.

Photocatalysis offers tremendous opportunities for enzymes to access new functions. Herein, we described a redox-neutral photocatalysis/enzymatic catalysis system for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral 1,2-amino alcohols via decarboxylative radical C-C coupling of -arylglycines and aldehydes by combining an organic photocatalyst, eosin Y, and carbonyl reductase RasADH. Notably, this protocol avoids using any sacrificial reductants.

Reshaping the Substrate Binding Pocket of β-Amino Acid Dehydrogenase for the Synthesis of Aromatic β-Amino Acids.

By reshaping the substrate-binding pocket of β-amino acid dehydrogenase (β-AADH), some variants were obtained with up to 2560-fold enhanced activity toward the model substrates ()-β-homophenylalanine and ()-β-phenylalanine. A few aromatic β-amino acids were prepared with >99% ee and high isolated yields via either kinetic resolution of racemates or reductive amination of the corresponding β-keto acids. This work expands the catalytic capability of β-AADHs and highlights their practical application in the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant β-amino acids.

[Construction of strains for bioconversion of steroid key intermediates and intelligent industrial production].

Steroidal hormone pharmaceuticals are the second largest class of medicines after antibiotics. At present, the initial materials of the steroidal industry have shifted from sapogenins, which were extracted from plants of the genus Dioscore to phytosterols. As a byproduct of soybean oil production, phytosterols are readily available and of low prices.

Semirational Engineering of a Thermostable Carbonyl Reductase for the Precision Synthesis of (2,3)-2-Methyl-2-benzyl-3-hydroxycyclopentanone and Its Analogues.

2,2-Disubstituted-3-hydroxycyclopentanones are important chiral intermediates for natural products and pharmaceuticals. Through semirational engineering of a thermostable carbonyl reductase CBCR from sp. BIS7, a mutant L91C/F93I was obtained.

Engineering of the DNA replication and repair machinery to develop binary mutators for rapid genome evolution of Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Corynebacterium glutamicum is an important industrial workhorse for production of amino acids and chemicals. Although recently developed genome editing technologies have advanced the rational genetic engineering of C. glutamicum, continuous genome evolution based on genetic mutators is still unavailable.

Directed evolution of a neutrophilic and mesophilic methanol dehydrogenase based on high-throughput and accurate measurement of formaldehyde.

Methanol is a promising one-carbon feedstock for biomanufacturing, which can be sustainably produced from carbon dioxide and natural gas. However, the efficiency of methanol bioconversion is limited by the poor catalytic properties of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent methanol dehydrogenase (Mdh) that oxidizes methanol to formaldehyde. Herein, the neutrophilic and mesophilic NAD-dependent Mdh from DSM 2334 (Mdh) was subjected to directed evolution for enhancing the catalytic activity.

Correlation of systemic immune-inflammatory response index with clinical data in patients with malignant ovarian tumor.

Objective: To determine the correlation of the systemic immune-inflammatory response index (SIRI) with clinical data in patients with malignant ovarian tumor.

Methods: The clinical data of 118 patients with ovarian cancer (OC) treated in Ningbo Women's and Children's Hospital from February 2016 to January 2018 were retrospectively studied. Patients were divided into high and low SIRI expression groups according to the receiver operator curve (ROC) optimal cut-off (Cut-off) value, and the association of SIRI with the patient's clinical data was analyzed.

Enantiodivergent Synthesis of 1-Heteroaryl Tetrahydroisoquinolines Catalyzed by Imine Reductases.

Two enantiocomplementary imine reductases (IREDs) with high enantioselectivity were identified with catalytic activity toward the reduction of 1-heteroaryl dihydroisoquinolines through a screening of wild-type IREDs and enzyme engineering. Furthermore, ()-IR141-L172M/Y267F and ()-IR40 were applied to access a series of different 1-heteroaryl tetrahydroisoquinolines with high to excellent ee values (82 to >99%) and isolated yields (80 to 94%), thereby providing an effective method to construct this class of pharmaceutically important alkaloids, such as the intermediate of kinase inhibitor TAK-981.

Systems metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for hyper-production of 5‑aminolevulinic acid.

Background: 5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a promising biostimulant, feed nutrient, and photodynamic drug with wide applications in modern agriculture and therapy. Although microbial production of 5-ALA has been improved realized by using metabolic engineering strategies during the past few years, there is still a gap between the present production level and the requirement of industrialization.

Results: In this study, pathway, protein, and cellular engineering strategies were systematically employed to construct an industrially competitive 5-ALA producing Escherichia coli.

Photoelectrochemical Immunosensor Based on a 1D FeO/3D Cd-ZnInS Heterostructure as a Sensing Platform for Ultrasensitive Detection of Neuron-Specific Enolase.

Lung cancer is a high-mortality cancer related to the concentration of neuron-specific enolase (NSE). In this work, a sandwich-type photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensor was constructed for ultrasensitive detection of NSE, which is based on iron trioxide/indium zinc cadmium sulfide (FeO/Cd-ZnInS) as a sensing platform and Ag-modified polyaniline (Ag@PANI) as a signal amplification label. The 1D FeO porous nanorods with a large specific surface area were synthesized by calcination of Fe-MIL-88A and etching of NaOH.

Tunable 0D/2D/2D Nanocomposite Based on Green Zn-Doped CuInS Quantum Dots and MoS/rGO as Photoelectrodes for Solar Hydrogen Production.

Charge separation, transmission, and light absorption properties are critical to determining the performance of photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices. An important strategy to control such properties is based on using heterostructured materials. Herein, a tunable zero-dimensional (0D)/two-dimensional (2D) heterostructure is designed based on quantum dots (QDs) and 2D nanosheets (NSs).

"PP-type" self-assembling peptides with superior rheological properties.

The ionic-complementary self-assembling peptides discovered by Zhang Shuguang have solution-to-gel (sol-gel) transition capacity and one such peptide RADA16 has been commercialized into hemostatic agents. However, their sol-gel transition ability was not obvious because the peptide aqueous solution with a concentration greater than 1% w/v appeared to be thick and viscous. The current report describes PP-type self-assembling peptides.

Engineering of the Translesion DNA Synthesis Pathway Enables Controllable C-to-G and C-to-A Base Editing in .

Expanding the base conversion type is expected to largely broaden the application of base editing, whereas it requires decipherment of the machinery controlling the editing outcome. Here, we discovered that the DNA polymerase V-mediated translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) pathway controlled the C-to-A editing by a glycosylase base editor (GBE) in . However, C-to-G conversion was surprisingly found to be the main product of the GBE in and subsequent gene inactivation identified the decisive TLS enzymes.

A Direct Z-Scheme AgBr/CuBiO Photocathode for Ultrasensitive Detection of Ciprofloxacin and Ofloxacin by Controlling the Release of Luminol in Self-Powered Microfluidic Photoelectrochemical Aptasensors.

An innovative self-powered microfluidic photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor was developed that uses photoactive AgBr/CuBiO (ACO) composites as the photocathode matrix for ultrasensitive detection of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and ofloxacin (OFL). The formation of direct Z-scheme heterojunctions in ACO composites greatly aided electron/hole pair separation. Meanwhile, ZnInS-decorated CdS nanorod arrays (CZIS) as the photoanode were used instead of a platinum counter electrode to provide electrons.

CuO Nanozymes as Multifunctional Signal Labels for Efficiently Quenching the Photocurrent of ZnO/Au/AgSbS Hybrids and Initiating a Strong Fluorescent Signal in a Dual-Mode Microfluidic Sensing Platform.

A novel dual-mode microfluidic sensing platform based on CuO nanozymes as a photoelectrochemical (PEC)-fluorescent (FL) multifunctional signal label was developed for ultrasensitive neuron specific enolase (NSE) detection. Herein, ZnO/Au/AgSbS hybrids, possessing excellent PEC properties, were first exploited as a sensing matrix to provide a stable photocurrent. The controlled synthesis of photoactive ZnO nanoflowers (NFs) was successfully conducted using a microfluidic reactor in the scale of seconds.

A New 3-Ketosteroid-Δ-Dehydrogenase with High Activity and Broad Substrate Scope for Efficient Transformation of Hydrocortisone at High Substrate Concentration.

3-Ketosteroid-Δ-dehydrogenases (KstDs [EC 1.3.99.

CRISPR-assisted rational flux-tuning and arrayed CRISPRi screening of an L-proline exporter for L-proline hyperproduction.

Development of hyperproducing strains is important for biomanufacturing of biochemicals and biofuels but requires extensive efforts to engineer cellular metabolism and discover functional components. Herein, we optimize and use the CRISPR-assisted editing and CRISPRi screening methods to convert a wild-type Corynebacterium glutamicum to a hyperproducer of L-proline, an amino acid with medicine, feed, and food applications. To facilitate L-proline production, feedback-deregulated variants of key biosynthetic enzyme γ-glutamyl kinase are screened using CRISPR-assisted single-stranded DNA recombineering.