Heterologous expression and characterization of plant Taxadiene-5α-Hydroxylase (CYP725A4) in Escherichia coli.

Taxadiene-5α-Hydroxylase (CYP725A4) is a membrane-bound plant cytochrome P450 that catalyzes the oxidation of taxadiene to taxadiene-5α-ol. This oxidation is a key step in the production of the valuable cancer therapeutic and natural plant product, taxol. In this work, we report the bacterial expression and purification of six different constructs of CYP725A4.

Orthogonal Assays Clarify the Oxidative Biochemistry of Taxol P450 CYP725A4.

Natural product metabolic engineering potentially offers sustainable and affordable access to numerous valuable molecules. However, challenges in characterizing and assembling complex biosynthetic pathways have prevented more rapid progress in this field. The anticancer agent Taxol represents an excellent case study.