Rapid prototyping of microbial production strains for the biomanufacture of potential materials monomers.

Bio-based production of industrial chemicals using synthetic biology can provide alternative green routes from renewable resources, allowing for cleaner production processes. To efficiently produce chemicals on-demand through microbial strain engineering, biomanufacturing foundries have developed automated pipelines that are largely compound agnostic in their time to delivery. Here we benchmark the capabilities of a biomanufacturing pipeline to enable rapid prototyping of microbial cell factories for the production of chemically diverse industrially relevant material building blocks.

Immobilised whole-cell recombinant monoamine oxidase biocatalysis.

This work demonstrates the first example of the immobilisation of MAO-N whole cells to produce a biocatalyst that remained suitable for repetitive use after 11 months of storage and stable up to 15 months after immobilisation. The production of Escherichia coli expressing recombinant MAO-N was scaled up to bioreactors under regulated, previously optimised conditions (10% DO, pH 7), and the amount of biomass was almost doubled compared to flask cultivation. Subsequently, pilot immobilisation of the whole-cell biocatalyst using LentiKats technology was performed.

High throughput screens yield small molecule inhibitors of Leishmania CRK3:CYC6 cyclin-dependent kinase.

Background: Leishmania species are parasitic protozoa that have a tightly controlled cell cycle, regulated by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Cdc2-related kinase 3 (CRK3), an essential CDK in Leishmania and functional orthologue of human CDK1, can form an active protein kinase complex with Leishmania cyclins CYCA and CYC6. Here we describe the identification and synthesis of specific small molecule inhibitors of bacterially expressed Leishmania CRK3:CYC6 using a high throughput screening assay and iterative chemistry.

Design and synthesis of conformationally constrained cyclophilin inhibitors showing a cyclosporin-A phenotype in C. elegans.

Cyclophilin A (CypA) is a member of the immunophilin family of proteins and receptor for the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A (CsA). Here we describe the design and synthesis of a new class of small-molecule inhibitors for CypA that are based upon a dimedone template. Electrospray mass spectrometry is utilised as an initial screen to quantify the protein affinity of the ligands.

Selective chemical intervention in the proteome of Caenorhabditis elegans.

We present the first study of protein regulation by ligands in Caenorhabditis elegans. The ligands were peptidyl-prolyl isomerase inhibitors of cyclophilins. Up-regulation is observed for several heat shock proteins and one ligand in particular caused a greater than 2-fold enhancement of cyclophilin CYN-5.

Structure-based discovery of a family of synthetic cyclophilin inhibitors showing a cyclosporin-A phenotype in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Cyclophilins, which are found in all cellular compartments and with diverse biological roles, are now drug targets for a number of diseases including HIV infection, malaria and ischaemia. We used the database-mining program LIDAEUS and in silico screening to discover the dimedone family of inhibitors which show a conserved 'ball and socket' binding mode with a dimethyl group in the hydrophobic binding pocket of human cyclophilin A (CypA) mimicking a key interaction of the natural inhibitor cyclosporin A (CsA). The most potent derivative binds CypA with a K(d) of 11.

A surface plasmon resonance-based assay for small molecule inhibitors of human cyclophilin A.

A simple protocol for generating a highly stable and active surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor surface of recombinant human hexahistidine cyclophilin A (His-CypA) is described. The sensor surface was sensitive and stable enough to allow, for the first time, the screening and ranking of several novel small-molecule (Mr approximately 250-500 Da) ligands in a competition binding assay with cyclosporin A (CsA). It also allowed us to accurately determine the kinetic rate constants for the interaction between His-CypA and CsA.