A novel 7α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase: Magnesium ion significantly enhances its activity and thermostability.

7α-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (7α-HSDH) plays an important role in the efficient biotransformation of taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA) to tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA). In this paper, a novel NADP(H)-dependent 7α-HSDH (named J-1-1) was discovered, heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and biochemically characterized. J-1-1 exhibited high enzymatic activities.

Structural and functional characterization of a novel acidophilic 7α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.

7α-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (7α-HSDH) is an NAD(P)H-dependent oxidoreductase belonging to the short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases. In vitro, 7α-HSDH is involved in the efficient biotransformation of taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA) to tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA). In this study, a gene encoding novel 7α-HSDH (named as St-2-1) from fecal samples of black bear was cloned and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli.

Engineering Clostridium absonum 7α-hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase for Enhancing Thermostability Based on Flexible Site and ΔΔG Prediction.

Background: Enhancing thermostability of the 7α-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (7α-HSDHs) is beneficial to its industrial application broadly. For protein engineering to enhance thermostability the nonrational strategy, directed evolution, has been applied in obtaining more stable proteins through error-prone PCR or DNA rearrangement generating random mutations. However, the successful application of directed evolution needs to build a large mutant library.

Functional contribution of coenzyme specificity-determining sites of 7α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from Clostridium absonum.

Studies of the molecular determinants of coenzyme specificity help to reveal the structure-function relationship of enzymes, especially with regards to coenzyme specificity-determining sites (CSDSs) that usually mediate complex interactions. NADP(H)-dependent 7α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from Clostridium absonum (CA 7α-HSDH), a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily (SDRs), possesses positively charged CSDSs that mainly contain T15, R16, R38, and R194, forming complicated polar interactions with the adenosine ribose C2 phosphate group of NADP(H). The R38 residue is crucial for coenzyme anchoring, but the influence of the other residues on coenzyme utilization is still not clear.

The β-Sheet Core is the Favored Candidate of Engineering SDR for Enhancing Thermostability but not for Activity.

Background: 7α-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (7α-HSDHs) can stereoselectively catalyze steroids, aromatic α-ketoesters, and benzaldehyde analogues playing a critical role in the biotransformation and poor thermostability that hinders their biomedical and industrial applications.

Objective: This study was to investigate how to enhance the thermostability of 7α-HSDH from Clostridium absonum (CA 7α-HSDH).

Method: Based on the three-dimensional structure of CA 7α-HSDH, recently reported program MAESTRO was used to compute the ΔΔG and predict the single-point mutants that could enhance its thermostability.